The multicopter brain – the guidance system

All guidance systems work on the same principle. They take in a boatload of positional data, compare the data points, and estimate what the multicopter is doing. Keep this in mind: the guidance system has to guess. The difference between systems is how well they guess and how quickly. They all use the same types of sensors, and the difference between the sensors is their accuracy and speed. These are what you need to consider in a guidance system: accuracy and speed. If a guidance system guesses wrong, you could have a Flip of Death or a fly-away on your hands. First, let's take a look at the types of sensors.

Multicopter guidance system sensor types

Multicopters use a variety of sensors to tell where they are and what they are currently doing. They sample this data anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of times a second. Let's take a look at them one by one.

Global Positioning System

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a modern...