Quadrotor Flight Controller controlled from laptop

[theking451212]

Hi all, I'm a university student and I am doing a project where I need to produce a Quadcopter that I can pilot from my laptop. The plan is to use a MATLAB program to send commands through an XBee module to a UAV to control it.Since it uses XBee I'm assuming I'd need an open source flight controller since most use radio transmitters by default. I have parts to build a UAV with a normal Tx/Rx to test the flight controller under normal conditions.I've looked at the Phoenix Flight Controller by cTn but don't know how well I'd be able to rewrite the code to control it from my laptop. So my questions are-

What flight controller would be suitable?

And with the flight controller chosen, what hardware would I need to get it flying ASAP with minimal code changes?

Is there a better way to control a UAV from MATLAB that is open source?

TIA

 

[crees]

I once built my own quad with multiwii code. It’s been a few years. The important thing the multiwii code does is effectively use of the gyro accelerometer and coordinate it with the motor configuration. Cuts down on lots of coding . There is a segment that allows you to receive commands (Bluetooth, IR, orange receiver, xbee etc)

I am sure someone has some teensy based quad experience and if so this forum may be of help but if you don’t get any more responses I would hit up the multiwii group.

Crees

 

[linarism]

I'd recommend CrazyFlie by BitCraze/. In this field you can get bogged down really quickly... Starting from a known good solution with many examples of the exact goals you're trying to achieve will do well. Your worst case scenario by starting from a product designed around your needs if that you outgrow it, which is a good problem to have!