New plan 4 U

So basically, decided not to continue with microprocessors of any kind and focus instead on inertial measurement devices, a much cheaper proposition. Someday we'll build a new STR9 board from the ground up and leave the current one unchanged until the new one proves it's unequivocably broken.

Now the idea is to use our collection of antique wireless equipment to offload the computation to a laptop until the system is proven. Only then can the microprocessor issue resurface.

Plan:

Prove current X/Y/Z gyroscope inventory works. If unsuccessful, consider spending $70 on just X/Y gyros.

Dump gyroscope data to PIC serial port and capture it on laptop.

Transmit PIC telemetry to laptop during flight using 2.4Ghz TV transmitter.

Achieve heading lock by using an antique transmitter to transmit commands from the laptop to the PIC. Our Airtronics from 1988 or
cordless phone from 1995 should do the job.

Expand envelope to cyclic and tail lock, using only gyroscopes.

Order $30 X/Y/Z accelerometer and add accelerometer data to telemetry during flight.

Achieve autonomous hover with laptop and dual transmitter scheme.

Buy $200 Gumstix. Achieve autonomous hover with Gumstix.

$50 GPS module.