Abstract:
Multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles are transitioning from the
niche hobbyist domain to “the next big thing.” Until recently, price,
component technology, software, and domain-specific expertise kept most people
from experiencing multirotors directly. This is about to change. Price, hardware, software, and the technical
expertise involved have combined to create a confluence of opportunity. While the
potential multirotor field is vast, the technology is varied, compatibility
issues abound, jargon runs wild, the literature is informal, and governmental
regulation is uncertain. We leave government regulation discussions to others,
instead focusing on the “brains” of a multirotor system—the flight controller.
We discuss the pedigree, capability, and compatibility of contemporary flight
controllers and explore the architecture of a modern, low-cost, open-source
flight controller. We give a very brief “getting started with multirotors”
checklist and demystify the lingo. Finally, we consider the future of the
multirotor field. Multirotors are now within reach of the masses. Prospects for
multirotors are very bright, and are poised to grow substantially.
Take a look!
