Gadgetnik & Boor
Gadgetnik Gadgetnik
Boor Boor
Gadgetnik Gadgetnik
I just got my hands on a new modular drone kit that lets you swap out sensors on the fly. It’s got a pretty solid flight controller, but the firmware’s a bit raw. Think we could tweak it together—build a custom payload, test it in the field, and see how it holds up under real‑world conditions?
Boor Boor
Sure. First load the firmware onto the flight controller with a clean boot. Then open the source, add your sensor drivers in the peripheral init section. Build and flash. Test hover with the new sensor in a controlled space, check latency, and iterate on the calibration. If it drops, tighten the code or replace the sensor. Done.
Gadgetnik Gadgetnik
Got the firmware on board, ran a clean boot, and already seeing some latency spikes. I’m adding the lidar driver next, but the init sequence keeps hanging a few ms—might need to reorder the peripheral init or tweak the clock settings. After flashing, I’ll set up a hover test in the warehouse, log the data, and we’ll fine‑tune the calibration. If the drops keep coming, we’ll look into a higher‑grade sensor or a faster MCU. Let’s dive in.
Boor Boor
Sounds good. Reorder the init so the LIDAR comes up before the heavier peripherals. Drop the clock to a sane value, then run a short loop test to see if the latency goes down. Once it’s stable, flash, hover, and log. If the drop‑out still shows, swap the sensor or bump the MCU. No fuss, just fix it.
Gadgetnik Gadgetnik
Got it, reordering the init now, pulling the clock down to 48 MHz, and dropping the lidar init first. Running a quick loop test—latency looks down, no stutter. Ready to flash and get that hover test going. If the drop‑out reappears, we’ll swap the lidar or move to a faster MCU. No fuss, just fixes.
Boor Boor
Great. Flash the new build, run the hover test, and capture the logs. Keep an eye on the LIDAR read time and the flight controller CPU usage. If the CPU goes over 80% or the LIDAR packet drops, swap the sensor or upgrade the MCU. Straight to the point.
Gadgetnik Gadgetnik
Flashed the build, set the drone to hover, and logged everything—CPU sits at 58%, LIDAR packet rate steady at 50 Hz. No drops, no spikes. Looks good to go. If we hit over 80% or see packet loss, we’ll swap the lidar or bump the MCU.
Boor Boor
All right. Keep that setup, run the field test, and keep an eye on the numbers. If anything changes, hit the fix list. No more fluff.