GPS would be a nice addition, even for something this small. I have a DJI Phantom, which is big in comparison, but still a small aircraft. It uses GPS to maintain its altitude and position; you can set down the controller and it will hover more or less in the same spot. When you toggle GPS mode off, it will skid around like it’s on ice and blow away with the wind. Keeping the Crazyflie hovering manually in one spot at a steady altitude is definitely a chore, even with the practice I’ve had with my Traxxas QR-1 (would recommend tearing one of these up before the Crazyflie). I find that I’m so scared of crashing it that I hesitate to fly it unless I’m in an open building of some kind. So it makes perfect sense why getting these little guys to be halfway autonomous is foremost on people’s minds. (I’m guessing most of us have dinged ours up a little bit by now).
It seems that “phiamo” is already coming up with a “hovering solution”, but as someone noted, I imagine the Crazyflie will still drift around a lot. I wondered about adding some ultrasonic sensors. I’ve used a “Ping” sensor with Arduino before and was able to detect distance up to 10ft down to inches. I’m thinking the rotorwash might interfere though. Even if it did work, it would only be able to keep its position relative to a wall, and no wall existed, it would be useless.
http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/produc ... 36461|plid|
GPS seems like the only solid way to maintain a position, but even that would probably only be accurate in terms of meters, not inches or centimeters, which is what the crazy would need.
