WARPWING: A complete open source control platform for miniature robots

The electronics packages for many robot control systems have very similar requirements, yet are often redesigned for each custom application. To reduce wasted time and effort, the project presented in this paper (the Wireless Autonomous Robot Platform with Inertial Navigation and Guidance, WARP-WING) is intended to create a complete and easily customizable general purpose control system for miniature robotic systems, in particular micro air vehicles. In its default configuration, hardware designs, firmware, and software are all available to deliver an out-of-the-box robot control solution comprising 6 degree-of-freedom inertial sensors, a microprocessor, and wireless communication, along with general purpose input/output pins, serial ports, and control outputs for interfacing to additional sensors and actuators. The entire project is open source and a process is in place to enable modification of any component, allowing for easy adaptation to any need. WARPWING is already in use in a number of labs, with each research group contributing its expertise to enhance the platform and make such modifications available to others as well.