Heading feedback for indoor flight

ArduCopter Copter 4.0
1

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to do indoor flight in my lab that has VICON system. At the moment, We’ve been able to get the VICON data as UBX GPS message that is sent over to the pixhawk for its position feedback using onboard Particle Photon (Microcontroller with wifi) which acts like GPS simulators, and we’ve been able to do waypoint tracking with it.
However, I still have no reliable way of getting heading data as I am still relying on using internal compass that is prone to disturbances indoors, and I am looking for options to combat this. Things that comes to my mind are as follows :

  1. Using GSF
    From the page on compass less operation Compass-less Operation — Copter documentation I learned that GSF can be used to estimate headings, will this work reliably for indoor flights providing I have good GPS data?

  2. Using 2 GPS modules
    I also consider using 2 GPS to provide orientation as explained in GPS for Yaw (aka Moving Baseline) — Copter documentation Will this work with my GPS simulator providing that it’s sending UBX signal or will it require special kind of GPS module?

  3. Using Intel RealSense T265
    as explained in Intel RealSense T265 — Copter documentation the camera can provide yaw estimate. However, I wonder if it is possible to use this camera for the yaw AND have the GPS provide position? because I am under the impression that this camera is a substitute for the GPS altogether

Thank you very much for your time

2

First update to ArduCopter 4.1.1, it has improved external heading support

3

Thank you for your reply. Which of the 3 options I mentioned that I can choose once I update to 4.1.1?

4

1 and 2.

more words mmmmmm

1 Like
6

Thank you very much. I’ll try the GSF first to see if it gives satisfactory result