So having concluded the first few flight tests and achieved a aircraft platform that will be suitable to test the first version of the autopilot, the time came to start the HILS (hardware-in-the-loop simulation) phase.
The first step was to make sure that the ESC (electronic speed controller) will be able to supply current and the motor could still be controlled by the transmitter.
The next step was to connect the Rx and Tx to the autopilot board and have the display of signals coming to the board via the Serial Monitor. These inputs will in turn be converted to servo object angle inputs. The reason this is required is two fold:
- The Arduino IDE already has a servo library. So converting the pulses coming from the input channels to servo angles will be transmitted to the servo).
- The simplicity of this route will enable easy debugging in the event improper relaying of signals does not occur.
The end goal of the HILS test is to establish a level of confidence that the board processes the signals as expected in a safe environment and the logging sequence is performed correctly prior to the first logged flight.
The glider airframe still requires a number of transmitter-controlled flights as to better understand its dynamic behaviour.
The next few posts will be HILS setup layout with test results (hopefully).
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