Welcome to the Open Source Next Generation Multicopter

This is a community-driven open source project to build a modern autonomously flying Multicopter. The abbreviation UAVP stands for "Universal Aerial Video Platform". It is a flying object, ideally suited for making aerial videos and photos (aerial photography), but is also a lot of fun to fly whether indoors or outdoors.

Note

Please be aware that the UAVP-NG Project and the old UAVP Project are completely separate projects with different developers and different philosophy. The NG has a new, very different software and hardware design!

Note

MoinMoin Wiki SPAM increased in the last months and we had to close down new account creation to counter that. Currently only NG Developers are able to create new accounts for you! Please join us on IRC Chat and ask for an account if you would like to have write access to this Wiki.

UAVP-NG Hardware 0.30-r1 & 0.30-mini-r1

The new UAVP-NG hardware HW-0.30-r1 and HW-0.30-mini-r1 are finally available for everyone in our non-profit Shop.

Amongst many feature upgrades, the most important difference to the HW0.1x/HW0.2x series is the switch from our trusty old ARM7 based LPC2148 to the more contemporary STM32F4 (Cortex M4) MCU running at 168Mhz with floating point support.

We also worked hard to reorganize our source code base to reflect those changes and improving the portability. We will continue to support both platforms, but the new MCUs will give us the resources to move forward.

The HW0.30 and HW0.30-mini represent the two form-factors we used previously for the HW0.2x and HW0.2x-mini, each with a different focus on features and use cases. For the full-sized HW0.30-r1 we chose a Dual-MCU architecture that offers the possibility to split tasks between an "FC" - MCU handling the flight-critical tasks and a "User" - MCU where for example higher-order control functions or application specific tasks can be implemented. Both MCUs are interconnected via a 32kB dual-port RAM for real-time access. Both form factors feature a lot more interfaces for connectivity compared to the HW0.2x series, all of which will be described in detail here.

UAVP-NG Hardware 0.24-mini

The new UAVP-NG Hardware 0.24-mini consists of one PCB of 5.5cm x 5.5cm in 4 layer called the flight controller board (FC). It contains the 32bit LPC2148 main CPU. The peripherial CPU called RC/Cam-Controller (RCC) is located on a separate small PCB which can be optionally attached to the FC. Additionally it comes with PCBs for the GPS antenna, a JTAG adapter, a push button PCB, an external compass PCB and as mentioned before, the PCB for the RCC.

This is a feature enhanced miniaturized version of the Hardware 0.22-mini. The LPC2148 is directly soldered to the FC and the FC contains all the digital sensors needed for stabilizing the UAVP-NG and making it easier to fly than other model-helicopters. The flight-controlboard processes the sensor and remote-control data and sends commands to the motors.

The PCB's are designed to contain any features that anybody could want on a multicopter:

• 1 main CPU (LPC2148) plus 1 peripherial CPUs (Atmel ATmega644P) on a separate PCB
• 3D gyroscope (MPU6000), two 3D accelerometer (MPU6000 + LIS3LV02DQ)
• A barometer (MS5611B)
• A compass (HMC5883L) and a Venus GPS
• Two AD inputs for distance sensors (Sharp IR) and similar
• A sum-signal and 4 serial inputs for several remote-control receivers, GPS and Consoles
• outputs for up to 16 motors and 5 Servos

• much more, see Features

They are optimized for size, weight, features and extensibility, not for easy soldering.

UAVP-NG Quad Brushless Controller NGblc-4mini

The new UAVP-NG Quad Brushless Controller for Mini-NGs and normal NGs consists of one PCB of 80mm x 80mm which can be broken down 12. Next Generation Multicopter Meeting in Heidelberg to 55mm x 55mm for use on Mini-NGs. It supports up to 30A peak per channel.

UAVP-NG Hardware 0.22-mini

The UAVP-NG Hardware 0.22-mini consists of one PCB of 5.5cm x 5.5cm in 4 layer called the flight controller board (FC). It contains the 32bit LPC2148 main CPU. The peripherial CPU called RC/Cam-Controller (RCC) is located on a separate small PCB which can be optionally attached to the FC. Additionally it comes with PCBs for the 3 gyros, a JTAG adapter and as mentioned before, the PCB for the RCC.

This is a feature compatible miniaturized version of the Hardware 0.22. The LPC2148 is directly soldered to the FC and the FC contains all the sensors needed for stabilizing the UAVP-NG and making it easier to fly than other model-helicopters. The flight-controlboard processes the sensor and remote-control data and sends commands to the motors.

The PCB's are designed to contain any features that anybody could want on a multicopter:

• 1 main CPU (LPC2148) plus 1 peripherial CPUs (Atmel ATmega644P) on a separate PCB
• 3 gyroscopes, a 3D accelerometer, a barometer
• A sum-signal and 4 serial inputs for several remote-control receivers, GPS and Consoles
• outputs for up to 16 motors and 5 Servos

• much more, see Features

They are optimized for size, weight, features and extensibility, not for easy soldering.

UAVP-NG Hardware 0.22

The UAVP-NG Hardware 0.22 consists of two PCBs, the flight-controller board (FC) and the sensor board (SB). Both contain a peripherial CPU called RC-Controller (RCC) and SB-Controller (SBC).

The main CPU, an LPC2148, is attached to the Flight-Controller board. The sensor board contains all the sensors needed (and some more...) for stabilizing the UAVP-NG and making it easier to fly than other model-helicopters. The flight-controlboard processes the sensor and remote-control data and sends commands to the motors.

The PCB's are designed to contain any features that anybody could want on a multicopter:

• 1 main CPU (LPC2148, 32bit) plus 2 peripherial CPUs (Atmel ATmega644P and 328P)
• 3 gyroscopes, a 3D accelerometer, a 3D compass, a barometer and thermometer
• A sum-signal and 5 serial inputs for several remote-control receivers, GPS and Consoles
• outputs for up to 16 motors and 5 Servos

• much more, see Features

They are not optimized for size, weight or costs, but for features, extensibility and for easy soldering.

UAVP-NG Copter Software

The UAVP-NG Software, called NGOS, is running on a LPC2148 ARM7 CPU on the flight-control board. It is a modular framework with a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to use the same on control algorithms on different Hardware (like Quadcopters, Hexacopters, Oktocopters, in different configurations). The Controllers (flight-control algorithms) are modular too, it is even possible to change the used Controller during flight. Customizations can be made through user defined behaviors, where behavior actions can be executed on certain behavior conditions (remote-control action, battery low, remote-control reception lost, whatever).

This modularity enables programmers and non-programmers to work on specific parts of the code without need to understand the complete 80'000 lines of code of the main projects.

If you want to contribute, have a look at the Development Page. You can get access to the source code, which is available under the GPLv3, there.

UAVP-NG Ground Control

There are serveral UAVP-NG Ground Station softwares, which all use a library called libng for communication with NGOS. The library contains several communication APIs of which NGCTRL2 is the newest.

The currently most advanced ground control client is called qngctrl, uses NGCTRL2 and allows visualisation and control of nearly all on-board parameters. The data can be plotted, shown on a map or it can even be used to turn a 3D model.

On the following pictures you see data plots of gyro, acc and angles as well as the NGs position on a Map while GPS and compass have been attached.

The attitude and orientation of the copter can be visualized using an animaled 3D model and nearly all parameters of the NGOS configuration can be inspected and changed.

Get your own

If you want to build a UAVP-NG as well, start with reading trough our Documentation starting at the Requirements page.
You probably should also check our FAQ page which answers common questions.

Note

This is a community development project and no nice and shiny finished product! This means you should at least have an idea how to solder electronic parts on a board or what a microcontroller is and how to flash it.

Sidenote

Having more and more vistors from China we would like make a political statement here:

• Fight to free Tibet! 自由西藏! Free speech to everyone! Stop Internet censoring now!
  
  We would also like to send our congratulations to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December for writing a manifesto calling for freedom of expression and multiparty elections, who won the Nobel Peace Prize Award 2010!

Events

The next events sorted by date:

News

Highlights

Other language

Please note that there is a german Frontpage: StartSeite.

BitCoin Donations

If you would like to donate BitCoins to the project use the following address to send your BTC to:

• 1HQMMR98ofevuE4U5dBNPPDxJPEoujhtau