SENSOR ARCHITECTURE
Hardware integration deep dives. Understanding drivers, bus priorities, and fusion logic for GPS, Rangefinders, and IMUs.
Hardware Integration
GPS Integration
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), commonly referred to as GPS, provide the absolute position reference for autonomous vehicles. While a s...
Rangefinders: Tilt Compensation
Rangefinders (Lidar, Sonar, Radar) provide the critical "Height Above Ground" (AGL) metric needed for automated landing and terrain following. Whil...
Optical Flow: Sensor Drivers & Quality
Optical Flow sensors (like the PX4Flow or HereFlow) give drones the ability to hold position without GPS. They work like an optical mouse, tracking...
Airspeed Sensors (Pitot)
For fixed-wing aircraft, Airspeed is life. While GPS gives "Ground Speed", only a Pitot Tube measures "Airspeed" (the speed of air over the wings)....
Barometer Physics
The Barometer is the primary source of relative altitude for most drones. It measures atmospheric pressure. However, pressure changes with Weather,...
Magnetometer Management
The Magnetometer (Compass) is critical for heading, but also the most problematic sensor due to electromagnetic interference. ArduPilot supports mu...
RPM Sensors: The Harmonic Notch
Vibration is the enemy of stability. Propellers create massive vibration spikes at specific frequencies related to their RPM. A static Low-Pass Fil...
IMU Architecture & Fusion
The Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is the heart of the flight controller. It consists of **Gyroscopes** (rotation rate) and **Accelerometers** (fo...