Hello everyone!
I am currently a computer engineering student interested in embedded systems and robotics and i feel, that studying all that theory quickly leads to boredom since i personally learn the fastest while doing something practical - which is why i wanted to start my own project. The thing is, that i don't know where to start.
What i have in mind:
I was thinking of an ARM based Quadcopter, that is both capable of autonomous and human-controlled flight. The copter would have all the basic sensors needed for successful flight. I have also added an image (attachment) to describe what i have in mind and what the abstract schematic of the system would look like. Also what i would like to know is wheter an, lets say a 32bit ARM would be capable of handling all communications(includes video transmitting via RF) and sensor processing? Or should all subsystems have their own microcontrollers that communicate with the main ARM MCU? I know, that Flight Control Unit must have its own Microcontroller to handle motor speeds and high voltage for motors, that needs to be isolated from main circuit.
I would like to interface the copter to my PC so that it sends telemetry and flight data to GUI application, which acts kind of as a cockpit, from where i could change flight settings etc, the copter would also be controlled with a joystick through computer and through this application. I was planning to write the GUI application in Java (Java for its easy GUI building) and the software for the copter in ... Should i use C or C++? I thought, that for hardware related programming i should ofcourse use C, but for control and flight logics, because they could highly benefit from OOP?
I KNOW, that this is a very massive project and i have no intentions building it with weeks, or even months. I am ready to learn and study everything i need to know to build such a system, however long it takes.
As a first goal i would be happy to interface the ARM to PC via USB and switch some LEDs on and off from my GUI application. As a next step maybe add a sensor and get it to work reliably, then just see on from there.
SO what i really want to ask is: How should i start and with what? Which would be the firsts steps towards building such an embedded system. ALSO if you see any problems or flaws in my concept - PLEASE point them out to me and maybe even suggest an alternative. If You have any comments regarding this project please be so nice and speak them out loud.
Thank You, all, who are willing to help me study and become more familiar with this world of embedded systems!
I am currently a computer engineering student interested in embedded systems and robotics and i feel, that studying all that theory quickly leads to boredom since i personally learn the fastest while doing something practical - which is why i wanted to start my own project. The thing is, that i don't know where to start.
What i have in mind:
I was thinking of an ARM based Quadcopter, that is both capable of autonomous and human-controlled flight. The copter would have all the basic sensors needed for successful flight. I have also added an image (attachment) to describe what i have in mind and what the abstract schematic of the system would look like. Also what i would like to know is wheter an, lets say a 32bit ARM would be capable of handling all communications(includes video transmitting via RF) and sensor processing? Or should all subsystems have their own microcontrollers that communicate with the main ARM MCU? I know, that Flight Control Unit must have its own Microcontroller to handle motor speeds and high voltage for motors, that needs to be isolated from main circuit.
I would like to interface the copter to my PC so that it sends telemetry and flight data to GUI application, which acts kind of as a cockpit, from where i could change flight settings etc, the copter would also be controlled with a joystick through computer and through this application. I was planning to write the GUI application in Java (Java for its easy GUI building) and the software for the copter in ... Should i use C or C++? I thought, that for hardware related programming i should ofcourse use C, but for control and flight logics, because they could highly benefit from OOP?
I KNOW, that this is a very massive project and i have no intentions building it with weeks, or even months. I am ready to learn and study everything i need to know to build such a system, however long it takes.
As a first goal i would be happy to interface the ARM to PC via USB and switch some LEDs on and off from my GUI application. As a next step maybe add a sensor and get it to work reliably, then just see on from there.
SO what i really want to ask is: How should i start and with what? Which would be the firsts steps towards building such an embedded system. ALSO if you see any problems or flaws in my concept - PLEASE point them out to me and maybe even suggest an alternative. If You have any comments regarding this project please be so nice and speak them out loud.
Thank You, all, who are willing to help me study and become more familiar with this world of embedded systems!
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