The beginning: (5/30/11) It has been a long-time goal of mine to build my own guidance/navigation system for my own UAV. I began such an endeavor several years ago, but didn't get too far. Now, several years later, I've gotten the itch to try again. First step, research. Lots and lots of research. It's amazing how much more information is out there now. There's a whole community of people building and using such systems in their own RC aircraft. Many of them can be found at DIYDrones.com, which is a wonderful resource.
On these pages, I plan to document the beginning stages of my INS project, specifically the IMU, including some basic code examples. I greatly appreciate the efforts of others before me to share their own work through various websites and publications, so I shall do the same. Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcomed!Project Scope: To design an Inertial Navigation System capable of maintaining an aircrafts attitude, position and course using 3 gyros, 3 accelerometers, 1 GPS module and an altitude measurement system. Aircraft is only expected to perform normal flight maneuvers with standard-rate turns, no aerobatics, inverted flight or any bank angles reaching 90 degrees. Specific navigation requirements are still being determined. The capabilities of the INS will not be expected to exceed these requirements.
This quote really sums up my philosophy for the whole project: