README.md

Quadcopter

The quad/ directory contains all code that programs the quadcopter. This includes any C libraries we have written, any HDL to program the Zybo on the quad, and the XSDK main project that runs on the Zybo.

Intro

There are three main portions to the system that runs the quad

• Quad Hardware
• Quad Software Drivers
• Control Loop

Quad Hardware

The quad hardware is located at xsdk_workspace/system_hw_platform. This consists of the vhdl and associated wrapper code that specifies the hardware on the FPGA.

Below is a block diagram of the hardware/software implementation:

Quad Software Drivers

The quad software drivers is all of the code that interacts with the sensors of the quad and collects the data for the control loop to use. For example receiving coordinates over wifi and reading measurements from the accelerometer.

To run this application on the Zybo, we need to implement the hardware drivers, and provide a main function. This is done in xsdk_workspace/real_quad/src To build the XSDK project, refer to the XSDK instructions.

We can also run this application on our own laptops for testing. We call this implementation the "virtual quad". This is modified in src/virt_quad.

Control Loop

The control loop is the algorithm that runs within the quad software drivers. This code determines what the code should do to keep the quad flying and as close to the waypoint as possible.

The main quad control application is located at src/quad_app/. This entails a group of C and header files that work as drivers/interfaces to the various sensors and communications that are on the quad.

Building

Primarily Libraries and Executables

To build the libraries and executables:

make

You can also build each library individually inside their respective project directories:

cd src/<project> && make

NOTE: All build artifacts will be placed in lib or bin (depending on whether it is a library or executable, respectively)

To learn more about the makefiles, see Makefiles.md

Testing

Automated Tests

Write tests! It makes automating things so much easier.

Run the unit and functional tests:

make test

And glad to hear you are interested in writing your own unit tests! Look at the README and examples in the Unity testing library at Unity/. A few notes about using Unity are here.

Manually testing the hardware interface

Of course, we cannot run automated tests on code that needs the Zybo. But we have manual tests that you can use to test each specific driver in the hardware interface.

Look in xsdk_workspace/real_quad/src/hw_impl_zybo_tests.c for instructions. Ideally, you would run these tests from the XSDK IDE.

Sections

• The Quad Application
• Quad App on the Zybo (Real Quad)
• Quad App on Unix (Virtual Quad)
• XSDK Instructions

Other Documents

• Hardware Block Diagram
• Zybo Pinout Assignments
• How to use Xilinx software tools
• How to use the makefile structure
• Unity notes