Drones, a.k.a. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), that were once limited to military applications are now
being rapidly adopted in commercial, scientific, and consumer markets. Advancements in semiconductor
technology that have led to smaller and more energy efficient processors, reductions in manufacturing
costs, and open source software frameworks have all contributed to the widespread adoption of drones.
For example, a fleet of drones were featured during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening
ceremonies to create a magnificent, memorable display)
Compared to manned aircrafts, drones can be significantly smaller, lighter, and cheaper. They come in
all different sizes and configurations such as “fixed wing”, “multi-rotor’, or “mini” (i.e. drones that can
fit on the palm of your hand). They can also be semi-autonomous (remote controlled by human
operator) or fully autonomous (controlled by an on-board computer). Although military drones, like the
US Army's Predator Drone, use airplane fuel or fuel cells, most consumer and commercial drones use
battery power. Therefore, an energy efficient, robust, computationally powerful processor (capable of
supporting Linux and open-source libraries like ArduPilot) with small footprint is necessary for the
development of drones. These requirements make the 0SD335x family of devices based on the Texas
Instruments AM335x S0C, ideal for this application.
The OSD335x System-in-Package (SiP) integrates a 1GHz Texas Instruments Sitara ARM Cortex-A8
‘AM335x processor, up to 1GB of DDR3 memory, and a Power Management system into a small
(21x21mm) System-in-Package (SiP). It also contains two Programmable Real-Time Units (PRUs) to
manage real time tasks efficiently. The OSD335x family can run Linux, and already supports ArduPilot
thereby, helping you to jump-start your next drone design.
Octavo Systems LLC System-in-Package Solutions
www.octavosystems.com
Copyright 2020‘ARM Cortex-A8 Processor and 2 PRUs:
To achieve good stability and performance, the
drone should be able to read data from all of
its sensors, process the data and then control
the speed of the drone’s motors, as well as.
optionally, the camera gimbal, in real time. A
CPU such as the ARM Cortex-A8 might be the
first thing that comes to mind for this,
application. However, high performance ARM
cores typically run a non-real-time OS, like
Debian Linux, which have difficulty achieving,
the tight timings needs to precisely control the
drone. Fortunately, this is where the
Programmable Real-Time Units (PRUs) of the
GHz Texas Instruments Sitara™ AM335x
processor ARM® Cortex®-A8 SoC within the
(0SD335x System-in-Package shine. Each PRU
features a 200MHz RISC core that is designed
to handle real time applications. Hence, the
real time tasks of the drone such as control of
the motors, typically brushless DC (BLDC) and
position of the gimbal through PWM signals
can be offloaded from the ARM core to the
PRUs.
The ARM-Cortex AB processor can then handle
other drone features such as on-board
processing of the images and video from the
camera, wirelessly transferring data toa host
controller (or the cloud), and GPS navigation
while periodically communicating with the
PRUs to coordinate the flight.
Energy Efficient:
Running at their full speed of 1GH2, 0SD335x is
an extremely power efficient device, The
(0SD335x devices can support a wide range of
applications while still consuming less than 1W
of battery power.
‘Smallest Single Chip Computer Solution:
The 0SD335x family offers two single chip
computer solutions that come in 27x27mm
package (0SD335x-BAS) and 21x21mm
package (05D335x-8SM) making OSD335x. It
is 60% smaller than a non-integrated solution,
making it ideal for space-constrained
applications.
Linux open source libraries for drones:
Several stable open source libraries are
available for drones running Linux like
ArduPilot (installed in more than 1 million
drones) with a specific example here, or
Dronecode, Paparazzi UAV and LibrePilot.
These libraries will help you speedup your
development cycle.
Versatile GPIO interface:
The GPIOs on the OSD335x support multiple
‘communication protocols/interfaces like UART,
12c, SPI, McASP, CAN, MMC, SDIO, USB, MIL
etc, Asa result, 0SD335x can support almost
any type of sensor, actuator or peripheral you
chose for your drone.
Faster Time to Market
‘The OSD335x makes designing with a powerful
‘ARM Cortex-A8 processor as easy as working
with a Microcontroller. Spend less time on
getting the processor to work and more time
focusing on developing your product.
Get Started Today:
Begin developing today. There are a number
of open source development platforms
available. We recommend looking at the
BeagleBoard.org * BeagleBone® Blue and
OSD3358-SIV-RED as starting points for Drone
Development.
Octavo Systems LLC System-in-Package Solutions
www.octavosystems.com
Copyright 2020