Design of an autopilot communications software based on open source

Abstract

Paparazzi is a free and open-source hardware and so ftware project encompassing an exceptionally powerful an d versatile autopilot system for fixed wing aircrafts as well as multicopters. The project includes both ground station and airframe solution. Due to initial constraints, onboard co mmunications code (as well as other subsystems) had been done in a way that re sulted in a very optimized program but lead some limitations as static configurations and non-optimal data treatment. Those constraints affected bot h communication architecture (concept level) and communication code (programming level). The goal of this project has been t he design of a new communication system for the airframe by developing a new architecture using code solutions that provide dynamic configurations. In addition, this new design introduces priorities on messages transmission while taking into account the difficulties of the prioritized data m anagement in an embedded system.