MicroCART History
MicroCART (Microproccessor controlled aerial robotics team) has been around since 1998. In the past, the MicroCART worked on developing their own large-scale drones from the ground up. Several of the previous prototypes can be seen in the Coover 3050 lab.
2021 - 2022 MicroCart Team
Our task this year was to use the Crazyflie quadcopters to develop a lab for CPRE 488 students. The Crazyflie is much better suited to a lab environment due to the lower risk and reduced complexity for students. The larger drones of the past are quite dangerous when testing software that may crash spectacularly. Furthermore, the Crazyflie are much more resistant to crashing than larger drones.
Additionally, we were tasked with developing an impressive demonstration to show off the capabilities of the Crazyflie and the abilities of ISU CPRE students.
Our project can be broken down into two main parts with a few subparts
- Develop infrastructure for 488 lab
- Prepare firmware for students
- Develop a Test Stand for students
- Develop a Ground station as a means of communication with the Crazyflie
- Develop a GUI to aid in the tuning of drone
- Interesting demo with the Crazyflie
- Use lighthouse and VIVE controller