Devlog 7: Renders, BOMs, and the Start of Software!

After taking a short break from ASTRALIS to avoid burnout (and do college application stuff), I’m back to continue refining the design and begin software development. With the mechanical design mostly complete, I’ve shifted focus toward reducing costs, preparing the project for funding submission, and laying the groundwork for future testing.

General Design Updates

The primary goal during this stage was standardizing hardware and optimizing the Bill of Materials while preparing the project for prototyping.

• Standardized most fasteners around M3×8 self-threading Phillips Plastite screws to simplify assembly and reduce the variety of hardware required (hopefully to use only one small sorting box)
• Updated the Bill of Materials with nearly every required component. The only remaining hardware to source is the tilt pod pushrods and ball ends, which will be selected after prototyping.
• Reused hardware from previous combat robotics projects wherever possible to reduce overall project cost (mostly m3 and m4 fasteners).
• Created renders of ASTRALIS in Fusion 360 for documentation and future presentations (maker portfolios!)
• Finalized the electronics diagram, completing the planned electrical architecture.

Beginning Software Development

With the mechanical design approaching completion, I also began planning the companion software architecture that will run on my Raspberry Pi 4.

The initial implementation will focus on:

• Establishing communication with the Pixhawk flight controller through MAVLink.
• Initializing the onboard camera.
• Developing a preliminary arm-disturbance test routine.
• Recording telemetry and experiment logs for later analysis.

The long-term goal is to use this software as the foundation for testing disturbance rejection using the aerial manipulator.

Future Plans

To prepare for the hardware funding request, I’ll continue improving the design where I can while mainly directing effort towards software development.

• Optimize the remaining Bill of Materials.
• Develop the preliminary companion software.
• Implement a basic arm-disturbance test with automatic log generation.