Ellingson, Gary (Brigham Young University), McLain, Timothy W. (Brigham Young University)

ROSplane: Fixed-Wing Autopilot for Education and Research

Scheduled for presentation during the "Bio Inspired UASs, Autonomy, and Training" (FrB1), Friday, June 16, 2017, 15:05−15:25, Salon E

2017 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, June 13-16, 2017, Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, Miami, FL,

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 19, 2024

Abstract

This paper presents a fixed-wing autopilot code base called ROSplane. ROSplane utilizes the ROSflight board, firmware, and driver, which was developed to make autopilot development faster, easier and cheaper. By leveraging a textbook and university course content, the autopilot facilitates education and accelerates research and development. The textbook provides high-level documentation for the code. The code is structured to facilitate learning by providing a framework for student assignments. The addition of ROSplane software and documentation make ROSflight closer to a plug-and-play solution while maintaining simplicity and usability for researchers and students. ROSplane has been used in a graduate level flight dynamics class, demonstrated through test flights, and modified for research purposes.