Foundations and Flight Readiness
Foundations and Flight Readiness
Foundations and Flight Readiness
Overview
This course introduces students to the full development workflow behind an autonomous drone system. Rather than focusing on isolated concepts, students work with simulation, ground control software, companion computers, and real hardware as a single integrated system.
Students begin in simulation using ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) and ground stations to understand vehicle behavior, telemetry, and command flow. From there, they integrate an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano as a companion computer, connecting perception and control software directly into the flight stack. The course culminates in operating both simulated and physical drones under programmatic control, including a real-time AI perception demonstration using the Operation Squirrel autonomy stack.
By the end of the course, students are equipped to modify, extend, and experiment with real autonomy codebases using the same tools and workflows found in professional robotics and autonomy teams.
Overview
This course introduces students to the full development workflow behind an autonomous drone system. Rather than focusing on isolated concepts, students work with simulation, ground control software, companion computers, and real hardware as a single integrated system.
Students begin in simulation using ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) and ground stations to understand vehicle behavior, telemetry, and command flow. From there, they integrate an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano as a companion computer, connecting perception and control software directly into the flight stack. The course culminates in operating both simulated and physical drones under programmatic control, including a real-time AI perception demonstration using the Operation Squirrel autonomy stack.
By the end of the course, students are equipped to modify, extend, and experiment with real autonomy codebases using the same tools and workflows found in professional robotics and autonomy teams.
Overview
This course introduces students to the full development workflow behind an autonomous drone system. Rather than focusing on isolated concepts, students work with simulation, ground control software, companion computers, and real hardware as a single integrated system.
Students begin in simulation using ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) and ground stations to understand vehicle behavior, telemetry, and command flow. From there, they integrate an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano as a companion computer, connecting perception and control software directly into the flight stack. The course culminates in operating both simulated and physical drones under programmatic control, including a real-time AI perception demonstration using the Operation Squirrel autonomy stack.
By the end of the course, students are equipped to modify, extend, and experiment with real autonomy codebases using the same tools and workflows found in professional robotics and autonomy teams.
Outcomes
-
Set up and run ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) simulations independently and with Mission Planner
-
Connect a real drone to a ground station and safely command it in assisted flight modes
-
Send and receive MAVLink commands and telemetry between the Jetson Orin Nano and ArduPilot (SITL and real hardware)
-
Control a simulated drone directly from the Jetson Orin Nano without a ground station
-
Control a real drone from the Jetson Orin Nano using MAVLink communication
-
Run a real-time AI object detection pipeline on the Jetson Orin Nano and visualize detections live
Outcomes
-
Set up and run ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) simulations independently and with Mission Planner
-
Connect a real drone to a ground station and safely command it in assisted flight modes
-
Send and receive MAVLink commands and telemetry between the Jetson Orin Nano and ArduPilot (SITL and real hardware)
-
Control a simulated drone directly from the Jetson Orin Nano without a ground station
-
Control a real drone from the Jetson Orin Nano using MAVLink communication
-
Run a real-time AI object detection pipeline on the Jetson Orin Nano and visualize detections live
Outcomes
-
Set up and run ArduPilot Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) simulations independently and with Mission Planner
-
Connect a real drone to a ground station and safely command it in assisted flight modes
-
Send and receive MAVLink commands and telemetry between the Jetson Orin Nano and ArduPilot (SITL and real hardware)
-
Control a simulated drone directly from the Jetson Orin Nano without a ground station
-
Control a real drone from the Jetson Orin Nano using MAVLink communication
-
Run a real-time AI object detection pipeline on the Jetson Orin Nano and visualize detections live