Chapter 9. Adding Raspberry Pi Zero to a Quadcopter

You've had the opportunity to build lots of different types of robot, so now let's end with the one that can be truly amazing, a robot that can fly.

Note

Before we start, there are a number of safety warnings to be considered. Of course, never fly near people or buildings. Also, be very careful about flying outside your viewing range. In many countries, there are restrictions on where and when you can fly a quadcopter. Some countries, including the United States, require you to register your quadcopter.

It is also important to note that this chapter is not designed to be a complete step-by-step guide to the construction of a quadcopter for flying. That would take many chapters. This chapter is designed to get you started if you consider building a quadcopter that can be controlled using the Raspberry Pi Zero. In this chapter, you'll learn about the following topics:

• Building the basic quadcopter platform

• Interfacing Raspberry Pi Zero with the...

Constructing the platform

Constructing the quadcopter hardware can be daunting; however, there are several excellent websites that can lead you through the process, from component selection to build details and programming and controlling your quadcopter with a radio. The http://www.arducopter.co.uk/ website is a great place to start for those who are new to quadcopter flight. Go to http://copter.ardupilot.com/, which is another excellent website with lots of information.

For this project, you'll want to choose a project that uses the Pixhawk flight controller. There are other flight controllers that are significantly less expensive, but this particular flight controller provides easy access for Raspberry Pi Zero. Here are some possible websites that can guide you through the construction process: http://learnrobotix.com/uavs/quadcopter-build/pixhawk/connecting-the-q-brain-esc.html, http://learnrobotix.com/uavs/quadcopter-build/pixhawk/connecting-components-pixhawk-flight-controller.html...

Mission planning software

The mission planning software is available at http://planner.ardupilot.com/. There are actually two applications available that perform similar actions, but the Mission Planner is a good place to get familiar with how to talk with your quadcopter from a computer program.

To do this, you'll need to make sure that you have telemetry radios connected to the Pixhawk and the computer. This will prevent the need to directly connect to the Pixhawk with a long USB cable. When you begin the mission planning software, you will see the following screen:

This is the basic screen. You'll then need to configure your radio's COM port and then press the CONNECT button in the corner on the upper right-hand side of the screen. As you move the quadcopter around, you will see the measurements change. If you are having problems connecting to the Pixhawk, there is lot of help available on the website.

Now that you have connected, you can actually see how your quadcopter is flying with this...

Summary

That's it. You now have a wide array of different robotics platforms that run with Raspberry Pi Zero as the central controller. These chapters have just introduced you to some of the most fundamental capabilities of your platforms; you can now explore each and expand their capabilities. The only limit is your imagination and time.