Navio2 or The Raspberry Pi Flight Controller

The world of consumer and professional drones is evolving very fast and so are flight controller systems for UAVs & Drones. At the same time, many developments are being made for consumer electronics at a low cost and the Raspberry Pi is one of the leaders in this field. This raised questions in the minds of people at Emlid and they therefore mixed both systems into an ArduPilot for Raspberry Pi based system with the creation of a HAT that adds all the needed hardware of a flight controller to the original Raspberry Pi board. They also completely ported the ArduPilot project to Linux based which provides a real flight controller solution.

Navio2 HAT only

Navio2 & Raspberry Pi 3

By doing this, the Emlid team increased possibilities greatly as the Raspberry Pi processor is far more advanced than the standard microcontrollers found in flight controllers already on the market. Based on Raspberry Pi, this system can be hacked easily and new features added without compromise. This can open a large number of possibilities like new sensors and fully autonomous platforms. Since the ArduPilot project is not only limited to Multirotors, the Navio2 can also be used for many different applications including Planes and ground Rovers.

Navio2 MultiRotor

Navio2 Plane

Navio2 Rover

 

Some of the Features advertised by the Emlid team:

APM FLIGHT STACK

Navio2 runs well proven APM flight stack and can operate in different flight modes including manual, stabilize, follow-me and auto. Code is executed directly on Raspberry Pi with real-time Linux kernel and you can run your applications alongside. Copters, Planes and Rovers are supported.

MULTI-PLATFORM GCS

APM supports MAVLink communication with a wide variety of GCS choices for Win, Mac, Linux, as well as for Android and IOS. Navio will send telemetry over Wi-Fi, LTE, BT or any other modem. With remote login you can monitor system, execute commands and run scripts in flight.

INTERNET CONNECTIVITY

Use LTE modem or high power Wi-Fi to make your drone accessible over the internet or on your local network. Stream video from Raspberry Pi camera, use joystick to control your drone from anywhere in the world. Navio is a multimedia autopilot and we can’t wait to see what you are able to do with it.

What's included:

• Navio2 Raspberry Pi Hat
• Power Module for 2s to 4s LiPo batteries (include Voltage and Current sensors)
• GPS Antenna
• Wire Pack
• Mounting Hardware

Navio2 HAT

Power Module

GPS Antenna

Wire Pack

Hardware

 

Navio2 HAT Features:

• MPU9250 9DOF IMU
• LSM9DS1 9DOF IMU
• MS5611 Barometer
• U-blox M8N Glonass/GPS/Beidou
• RC I/O co-processor
• HAT EEPROM
• RGB LED

Specifications:

• 14 PWM servo outputs
• PPM/S.Bus input
• Triple redundant power supply
• Power module connector
• UART, I2C, ADC for extensions
• Size: 55x65mm
• Weight: 23gr

Buy at RobotShop:

Navio2 Autopilot Kit for Raspberry Pi A+ / B+ / 2 

Emlid Navio2 Resources:

Emlid Navio2 docs (github)