1. Hardware Overview
Autopilot Control Board- Serves as common platform for other components and has autopilot code and flight plans
Battery- Powers the board and servos as well as motor
Modem/Antenna- Facilitate communications
Ground Control Station- Used to control UAV midflight
GPS- Used for altitude and navigating to waypoints
IR Sensors- Determines control movements
Motor and Controller- Manages the motor functioning
Servos- Adjust control surfaces

2. Autopilot Control Board (Tiny)
The main control board is the Tiny v2.11 is the brain of the UAV and controls:
Servos (via Pulse-pulse-modulation)
Infrared sensors
GPS
Any applicable payload (CAM)
The autopilot board design is released by and updated by the Paparazzi development team

3. Battery 2100mAh 11.1V Li-Poly battery
6.1 – 18 VDC autopilot input voltage

4. Datalink Radio (Modem & Antenna)
Autopilot – Groundstation communication
Serial channel

5. GPS Receiver Receiver & Antenna built into autopilot
uBlox LEA-4 serial receiver – 4Hz update

6. GPS configuration
Proprietary control software

7. IR Sensors One x-y sensor + one z sensor
Each axis is a thermopile pair
Differential output from each pair

8. IR Sensor Modification
Driven by 3.3V instead of 5V
Changes amplifier gain
Replace biasing resistors for unity gain

9. Motor & Controller
Brushless motor and electronic speed control

10. Servos
Hitec HS-55 servos

11. Payload
We never officially implemented a payload, though this would not require extensive work
Ostensibly, we would have added a camera to feed back images or video over the modem
Due to data transmission rate limitations (9600 baudrate) any video taken would be of very low quality, though images could certainly be sent at a decent frequency
Payload would likely be placed on the side of the modem transmitter beneath and partially embedded in a wing

12. Hardware Preparation

13. Custom Cables

14. Software Setup
Paparazzi software requires Debian based Linux distribution
We used Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” for all our testing
Can build source locally or install prebuilt binary package

15. Install Bootloader
Bootloader must be flashed to a new board before it can be programmed
Allows Tiny to be programmed via USB
Flashed via custom serial cable
This procedure only needs to be done once per board

16. Program GPS Receiver Install GPS Tunnel Program to Tiny
Allows direct communication to GPS Receiver
Program GPS using U-BLOX software
Uses custom serial cable
Software runs on Windows

17. Programming Autopilot
Tiny is programmed directly from the Paparazzi software
Configuration files are modified and tuned as required for a given configuration
Direct USB connection to Tiny