Kestrel
An autonomous drone built at every layer: a custom flight controller PCB, STM32 firmware, and object detection and flight algorithms of my own, with an open-source flight stack for initial bring-up.
- Stack
- CSTM32Embedded SystemsAltiumArduPilotControl SystemsCAD
- Highlights
- Custom flight controller PCB designed in Altium
- STM32 firmware written from scratch
- Open-source flight stack for bring-up, custom algorithms after
- Object detection and autonomous flight logic
The problem
You can buy a drone. You can also buy a flight controller, flash ArduPilot, and have something flying in an afternoon. Neither teaches you what happens between a gyroscope reading and a motor changing speed.
Kestrel is the version where I own every layer — airframe, board, firmware, and the autonomy on top.
Approach
Bring-up on a known-good stack. The first flight uses an open-source flight controller (ArduPilot or PX4) on my own hardware. This separates two sources of failure: if the board is wrong, I find out while the software is known-good. Debugging custom firmware on a custom board with nothing verified is how projects like this die.
Custom PCB, STM32 target. The flight controller board is designed in Altium around an STM32 MCU — sensor interfaces, power design, and the layout constraints that come with putting an IMU on a board bolted to four vibrating motors.
Custom algorithms after the platform is trusted. Object detection and the autonomous flight logic come once the airframe holds a stable hover under the open-source stack. Sequencing it this way means every new failure has one plausible cause.
Where it stands
In active development — PCB design and firmware bring-up. Airframe CAD is done.
The interesting unknown is how much of the control loop I end up writing myself versus keeping from the open-source stack. My guess is I keep the sensor fusion and replace the mission logic, but that is a guess I intend to test rather than assume.