Following the maiden flight of SZTAKI DJI M300 drone last year, the first autonomous flights with custom autopilot were executed on 1st August 2023. Utilizing the DJI OSDK functions the same autopilot functionalities were applied as on the DJI M600 drone after minimal adaptation of the program codes.
The custom autopilot commanded the quadcopter through velocity, altitude and heading references. Implemented basic functions are hovering with position hold, ascend and descend and flying to commanded waypoints. The higher level functionalities include flight along a triangle with stop and turn at the waypoints or with smooth continuous turns.
All the functionalities worked flawless, including also the emergency switch stopping the autopilot and returning to manual control. The image shows back and forth flight between waypoints and flight along a triangle with smooth turns. The ascends before the flights are also shown. The video shows the same flights.
The successful tests give ground to the application of SZTAKI DJI M300 with custom autopilot functionalities. Future application of the drone is planned in frame of Sensor and actuator fault detection and UAV and ground vehicle cooperation subprojects.