Hardware, firmware, and autonomous control — the brain and nervous system of the drone.
The Embedded Systems subteam sits at the intersection of hardware and software. We design and integrate the electronics that make the drone tick — flight controllers, companion computers, sensors, power systems, and communication links.
We also develop the autonomous control algorithms that allow the drone to navigate, stabilize, and execute competition missions without a human pilot in the loop.
Configuring and tuning the flight controller (e.g., Pixhawk / ArduPilot / PX4) that handles low-level stabilization, motor mixing, and attitude control.
Integrating an onboard companion computer (e.g., Raspberry Pi / Jetson) that runs high-level autonomy, communicates with the flight controller via MAVLink, and interfaces with perception outputs.
Integrating GPS, IMU, rangefinders, telemetry radios, and camera interfaces to give the drone a rich picture of its environment and enable ground-station communication.
Designing battery selection, power distribution boards, and ESC wiring to ensure safe, efficient power delivery to motors and electronics under competition loads.
Developing the control loops, state machines, and mission planners that allow the drone to autonomously navigate waypoints, avoid obstacles, and execute mission tasks.
Our autonomy software stack is built on ROS 2 and interfaces with the flight controller via MAVLink / MAVROS. Below is a high-level diagram of the stack architecture.
Key layers of the stack include:
Major
Year · Embedded Systems Lead
TO BE FINISHED LATER — add team member cards
Computer Engineering
Focus: Flight controller & firmware
Electrical Engineering
Focus: Power & sensors
Computer Science
Focus: Autonomous controls
Embedded Systems meets for hardware integration, firmware development, and controls testing.
TO BE FINISHED LATER
TO BE FINISHED LATER