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Prerequisites

Platform

Cyclops can provide a visual position for both fixed wing and multirotor platforms.

Your UAV must have an appropriate mounting point for the Cyclops camera module that provides an unobstructed view of the terrain below the vehicle.

The UAV must be equipped with a barometer (or another altitude source that is not GPS) as well as a reliable compass/magnetometer. On fixed wing airframes, an airspeed sensor is strongly recommended.

Power

Cyclops requires an onboard power source that meets the required specs of your flight computer and camera module. For example, Raspberry Pi 5 accepts 5V DC input power via its GPIO pins.

If your camera and flight computer have different power requirements, be prepared to power them separately!

Flight controller

Cyclops has been successfully integrated on several flight controllers, including:

  • Cube Orange +

  • Matek H743 Wing V3

  • TBS Lucid H7

The Cyclops system uses a single UART serial port on the flight controller to run MAVLink telemetry to the compute module. See Flight controller for more information on flight controller integration.

Cyclops is built for and tested with ArduPilot. If you would like to integrate the system with another autopilot software, contact our team. See ArduPilot Integration for more information on how Cyclops interfaces with ArduPilot.

Flight computer

Cyclops can run on any edge device that meets the following specs:

Specification
Minimum
Recommended

Architecture

ARM64

ARM64

CPU

2 cores @ 2.4 GHz

4 cores @ 2.4 GHz

RAM

2 GB

8 GB

Storage

32 GB free

256 GB free

OS

Ubuntu 22.04

Ubuntu 24.04

Raspberry Pi 5 8GB is the recommended computer to run Cyclops.

SOMs

See Example: Pi 5 setup for more information on how to setup your raspberry pi for Cyclops.

If you are using a Jetson Orin, there is a low power mode that turns off half of the CPU cores. Cyclops uses a library that does not account for this and will crash. Please ensure your Orin is not in a low power mode.

Active cooling

Processor overheating on your Cyclops computer can trigger thermal throttling, which may degrade or terminate performance. It is recommended to use an active cooler on your computer to improve heat dissipation. Below are links to an active cooler for the Raspberry Pi 5.

Storage

Most Cyclops systems use a micro SD card as a storage device for normal operation. You may want to use a computer with an NVMe slot or hat. System boot times are directly correlated to the boot drive speeds, so using an NVMe can speed up boot times significantly.

We recommend using a micro SD card >128GB to store logging and debug information.

A 128GB micro SD card can store a few hours of flight data before filling up. If you intend on doing much longer flights we recommend more storage.

Camera

Cyclops uses one wide angle digital video camera to collect visual data. Using an analog video camera (i.e. Runcam or other common FPV cameras) requires an analog to digital converter (ADC). These modules typically have low voltage limitations, so be prepared to power your camera separately.

Specification
Minimum
Recommended

Resolution

256 x 192

1280 x 800

Type

EO (daytime-only)

LWIR (nighttime)

Interface

USB

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Shutter

Rolling

Global

We recommend using a fixed-focus camera. Global shutters are preferred over rolling shutters to minimize motion blur during flight.

EO (OV9281 UVC):

Thermals:

Components

Before proceeding with integration, make sure you have the following:

  • Cyclops system hardware (camera and flight computer, UART cables, power cables)

  • ArduPilot flight controller, IMU, magnetometer, barometer, and airspeed sensor

  • Windows laptop

  • Ethernet cable

  • Onboard power for all components

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