UAV::Pilot v0.6 Released

2013-10-16

UAV::Pilot version 0.6 is now on CPAN. Lots of little changes this time. The big thing is an API change, where Control::ARDrone and Driver::ARDrone were instead named ARDrone::Control and ARDrone::Driver, respectively. This keeps everything related to a single type of UAV under one namespace directory, which I think will be nicer going forward as I implement other UAV systems.

I had hoped to get multiconfig working, which would have made the 720p stream work. I ran into problems getting it to work, though, and my message on the ARDrone dev forums has so far gone unanswered. No idea what I’m doing wrong, but I didn’t want to hold up this release any longer. Might have to see how (or if) Nodecopter handles this.

For version 0.7, I’m building a rover. This is my backup plan since the WumpusUAV Indiegogo campaign didn’t work out (because I suck at marketing). I have an old RC car that I’ve upgraded with a brushless motor and LiPo battery, and retrofitting with a Raspberry Pi and Arduino. The Raspberry Pi will handle the WiFi and video stream (the Rapsberry Pi camera module is supposed to be really nice), while the Arduino handles motor control.

The protocol will be the Ardupilot protocol, or at least something close to it. I won’t be testing it against an actual Ardupilot, at least not at first. It should get the system close enough that we can implement an actual Ardupilot later.