TALON SYSTEMS
UAV Design Team
AUTOPILOT
The autopilot module is at the heart of any unmanned system. Responsible for safely executing pre-programmed functions, maneuvers, automatic waypoint navigation and Fly-By-Wire flight, it is the single most critical aircraft component, particularly when operating beyond line-of-sight. Talon Systems has currnetly chosen to operate with two existing independent autopilot systems within it's fleet.
ARDUPILOT MEGA 2.0 (APM 2.0)
DIY Drones Autopilot Develompent Community.
The APM 2.0 autopilot system developed by the DIY Drones community has been selected as the primary autopilot platform for the Talon Systems Vulture UAV project. It has an advanced Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) built into it's board, made possible by MEMS technology. It was chosen as the projects backbone due to its relative simplicity when compared to other available autopilots and familiarity of the Arduino system and SDK that the team currently possesses. This has allowed us to focus more on developing advanced payload operation functions.
STA 34 UAV AUTOPILOT
Beijing Micropilot UAV Control Systems. Ltd
Modelled after Micropilot's MP2128G autopilot board, the STA 34 UAV is a reverse engineered autopilot board that goes on further to include additional optional control features for payload and modification of its software architecture. It's competitive price, additional features and ease of access makes the system extremely competitive. The team plans to eventually develop one platform within it's fleet in parallel to the ardupilot system using this off-the-shelf autopilot package.
XBEE TELEMETRY MODULES
Sparkfun Electronics
Communication between the aircraft and ground station is achieved by the Xbee telemetry system. Selected because of it's lightweight and universal compatibility with multiple autopilot platforms, the module is modestly priced and all components are easily replaceable. This communication link allows real-time waypoint updates and "Go-To" commands from the ground station.
QGroundControl GCS
Multiple UAV System Control
Capable of controlling multiple airborne UAV's as well as available support for vision systems and aerial image stitch overlay, qgroundcontrol is a natural GCS choice for operation of the Talon system. The GCS can be easily customized and supports the MAVLink protocol used by a wide range of autopilot platforms for telemetry packet communicaton. A number of screen stations are available allowing a flight engineer, pilot and payload operator to have specialized layouts during an operation.
