README.md
Open-source Linux-based Raspberry drone and ground controller.

Features


Supports Raspberry Pi 1/2/3/4/zero boards
Mid CPU (~25% at 4KHz update rate on Raspberry Pi 4) and low RAM (~100MB) usage
Sensors and stabilizer update rate up to 8kHz (on rPi4)
Up to 8 motors with customizable configuration matrix
DShot (150 & 300), OneShot125 and standard PWM motor protocols
Supports SPI and I²C sensors
LUA-based configuration, with fully configurable event-handling and user code execution
Homemade communication protocol over Wifi & FSK/LoRa radio, also supports S-BUS with limited functionnality
~5ms controls latency
~50ms video latency over composite output to 5GHz VTX module
~100ms video latency over Ethernet / WiFi / RawWifi
Live camera view over HDMI / Composite output with On-Screen Display (showing telemetry, battery status, fly speed, acceleration...)
Supports multiple cameras recording in MKV file format (for a total max throughput of ~120 MPix/s without overclock)
Produces ]]>Gyroflow]]> GCSV output


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]]>https://www.youtube.com/@drichfpv/videos]]>

Pre-built binaries

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Pre-built 32-bits binaries for Raspberry Pi 4 can be found here : ]]>https://ci.drich.fr/]]>

Pre-built images

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These images are generated using the tools/image-builder/generate-flight-image.sh script. The root filesystem is set to read-only on boot to prevent data corruption, this can be changed by running rw command in terminal.

Root SSH is enabled by default with password bcflight. The flight binary sits in the /var/flight folder.

The flight service is disabled by default, this helps to easily setup the flight controler. Once correctly working, this can be set to automatically start on boot by running rw && systemctl enable flight




  
File
  
Based on
  
DShot support
  
Analog video output




  
]]>2023-07-18-raspbian-bcflight.img]]>
  
2023-05-03-raspios-bullseye-armhf-lite
  

  





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¹ DShot and composite output can be enabled by changing /boot/config.txt and /var/flight/config.lua settings.

Supported sensors

IMUs


InvenSense ICM-42605
InvenSense ICM-20608
InvenSense MPU-9250
InvenSense MPU-9150
InvenSense MPU-6050
STMicroelectronics L3GD20H
STMicroelectronics LSM303


Barometers / Altimeters


Bosch BMP180
Bosch BMP280


Distance sensors


HC-SR04


ADC


Texas Instruments ADS1015
Texas Instruments ADS1115


Supported communication systems


standard TCP/UDP/IP over ethernet / wifi
raw wifi (based on ]]>wifibroadcast]]>)
Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01
Semtech SX1276/77/78/79 FSK/LoRa / RFM95W
SBUS (limited functionnality)


Hardware

Any form-factors of Raspberry Pi can be used, connecting sensors and peripherals using GPIO header and other dedicated connectors.
For smaller size and weight it's recommended to use a Compute Module 4 with a custom carrier board like this one (can be found in ./electronics) :

View this project on CADLAB.io









This carrier board has the following features :
 * 5V 3A LM22676 low dropout regulator (with 42V max input)
 * ADS1115 ADC, channel 0 used to measure battery voltage
 * microsd card socket
 * dual RFM95W radio sockets with seperate status LEDs and external antennas plugs
 * optional S-BUS input (with TTL inverter)
 * ICM-42605 high-precision IMU
 * BMP581 barometer / altimeter
 * dual camera CSI connectors
 * exposed IO pads :
   * 8 PWM / OneShot125 / DSHOT outputs
   * ADC channels 1-2-3
   * I2C (for additionnal sensors and peripheral drivers)
   * UART (for external GPS)
   * USB
   * Video composite output (can be directly connected to any FPV drone VTX)

Building controller_pc

For cmake to run properly, the below dependecies should be installed first. Below commands are working for: Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish), Kernel: 5.15.0-69-lowlatency x86_64, bits: 64, Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 
1. Install dependencies


Qt:


sudo apt-get install qtmultimedia5-dev qtbase5-dev qtchooser qt5-qmake qtbase5-dev-tools libnl-3-dev libnl-genl-3-dev libnl-route-3-dev libiw-dev libfftw3-de

nasm:


sudo apt install nasm

QScintilla:


sudo apt install libqscintilla2-qt5-dev
If that doesn't work, try building source from ]]>HERE]]>, by running:


tar -xzf  QScintilla_src-2.13.4.tar.gz
cd QScintilla_src-2.13.4/src
qmake
make
make install


MP4V2: repo located ]]>HERE]]>


git clone https://github.com/enzo1982/mp4v2.git
cd mp4v2
cmake . && make
make install

shine: repo located ]]>HERE]]>


git clone https://github.com/toots/shine
cd shine
autoreconf --install --force
automake
./configure
make
make install

PF_RING: Download latest release ]]>HERE]]>


tar -xzf PF_RING-8.4.0.tar.gz
cd PF_RING-8.4.0/
make
make install




Build


git clone https://github.com/dridri/bcflight.git
cd bcflight/controller_pc
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -S . -B build
cd build
make -j$(nproc)
./controller_pc



🎉







Building flight

Currently only Raspberry Pi boards are supported, the 4'th variants are the recommended ones. Below commands are working for: Distro: Raspbian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye), Kernel: 6.1.21-v7l+ armv7l, bits: 32


Install dependencies


sudo apt update
sudo apt install git pkg-config cmake make g++ libc6-dev libraspberrypi-dev libiw-dev libdrm-dev libgbm-dev libcamera-dev libgles2-mesa-dev libgps-dev libasound2-dev libcrypt-dev zlib1g-dev libpng-dev libshine-dev libavformat-dev libavutil-dev libavcodec-dev libpigpio-dev lua5.3 libfftw3-dev

Build


git clone https://github.com/dridri/bcflight
cd bcflight/flight
cmake -Dboard=rpi -Ddebug=1 -S . -B build
cd build
make -j$(nproc)



This will produce two files : flight_unstripped which contains all debugging symbols, and flight which is a lightweight regular executable.
  * flight_unstripped can be run via gdb, or Valgrind using flight/valgrind.sh
  * flight is intended to be used on final product