IMU modules?

[AXI Motor Models]

I would like to stabilise an airframe in the roll and pitch axis just the way the FMA co-pilot does but with an IMU (I don't want thermopile sensors). I need it so that I can just plug in the aileron and pitch servo.

I want to eventually buy a 2 axis wing/plane leveler for under $200. Does anyone know any sources for IMU plane levelers?

Thanks

[zik]

Sparkfun has a bunch of IMU stuff:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?cPath=23_85

And here are some more expensive ones from O-Navi:

http://www.o-navi.com/products.htm

[AXI Motor Models]

Thanks for the links.
But I need a plug and play plane leveler with no programming needed. <$200

[Unterhausen]

Thanks for the links.
But I need a plug and play plane leveler with no programming needed. <$200that may never exist. The copilot is great at that, you didn't really tell us why it wasn't good enough for you.

[BarrelRoll]

I would like to stabilise an airframe in the roll and pitch axis just the way the FMA co-pilot does but with an IMU (I don't want thermopile sensors). I need it so that I can just plug in the aileron and pitch servo.

I want to eventually buy a 2 axis wing/plane leveler for under $200. Does anyone know any sources for IMU plane levelers?

Thanks

That would require the same set of hardware and software (rate gyros and accelerometers, Kalman filtering...) as fully functional autopilots have. The hardware alone could cost more than $200 :)

[clolson]

That would require the same set of hardware and software (rate gyros and accelerometers, Kalman filtering...) as fully functional autopilots have. The hardware alone could cost more than $200 :)

And if you want to get that as a plugin module with no "programming" requried, you might need to add another zero to the end of your target price.

Curt.

[Unterhausen]

I think the hardware cost will happen at some point. Sparkfun has theirs for $300, including GPS. In his other post, Mr. Axi talks about unstable airplanes, that's going to be a chore. But for plun'n'play, no-brainer wing leveling, why compete with the copilot? It's a very nice solution. Lots of people are using it as a significant part of their autopilot.

[Jack Crossfire]

This is a working IMU that hovers a helicopter. Sparkfun is always out of stock. Get what U can when they have it. U don't really need to spend $300 on a professionally made package. This is the first time anyone has ever strapped the sensors on a cube of wood. The IDG300's are a disaster.

[murmur]

This is the first time anyone has ever strapped the sensors on a cube of wood.

Jack, I think a literature search will show that if anyone ever had "strapped the sensors on a cube of wood", they probably wouldn't have thought it worthy of mention in the literature. ;)

[Jack Crossfire]

Then this is the first time anyone ever wrote it as a response to a question about where to get an IMU.

[Unterhausen]

This is a working IMU that hovers a helicopter. ... The IDG300's are a disaster.which chip is that?

[Jack Crossfire]

This unit uses ADXRS150's. The ideal gyro is the MLX90609 75 deg/sec.

[dmgoedde]

Post #8 picture #2 looks like the "gadget" (Fatman implosion bomb).

[air]

In addition to an IMU module, you also need a controller that will read the angular rates output by the IMU and translate this to an XYZ orientation, this should be used by a control mechanism - PID perhaps, to judge how much to move your control surfaces in order to return the craft to the desired position.
I have a Carvec helicopter autopilot stabilisation system that does all this very effectively but it costs around $4000, I havent come across anything else like it that has a ready to fly system with mature software and hardware.

[AXI Motor Models]

Thanks for the replies,
I'll have to stick with using the FMA co-pilot

Unterhausen, The co-pilot is great and I have one but I can't take off in dense vegetation, next to buildings or at the bottom of steep hills

[Unterhausen]

I just saw that the 3 axis sensor module that Analog Devices has announced will only cost $360. Pretty good deal.

http://www.analog.com/en/prod/0%2C2877%2CADIS16355%2C00.html

[MZanders]

I'd be pleased to join in on this. So you'll buy the 1000pcs required then? :-)

[Unterhausen]

I'd be pleased to join in on this. So you'll buy the 1000pcs required then? :-)after I posted, I noticed it was for 1k pieces, but I was too lazy to edit :) I'm in for 10, so we only need 989 more people to order.