Developing a Low-Cost UAV Avionics Package

Abstract

The term 'unmanned Aerial Vehicle' (UAV) refers to flying vehicles not populated with humans. They are frequently used by a variety of groups, including the military, scientific researchers, and search-and-rescue workers to do things and go places that are impossible, dangerous, or just inconvenient for humans. The cost of these UAVs, however, is prohibitive in many cases. The UAV Research Group at the University of Minnesota is working on a low-cost UAV platform to alleviate this problem. The off-the-shelf components used to keep costs down, however, come with limited capabilities. Addressed here is the limited sensor and actuator connectivity available on the board used by the group. By creating an add-on board to read and write to sensors and actuators, we expanded the number of parts that can be added to the UAV, making this low-cost solution more feasible for practical applications.