LCD flight control board has AVR under the hood

The HobbyKing crew recently released the KK2.1, a multi-rotor LCD flight control board equipped with Atmel’s ATmega644PA microcontroller (MCU).

Essentially, a control board is used to stabilize multi-rotor aircraft (tricopters, quadcopters and hexcopters) during flight. To achieve this, the KK2.1 takes the signal from the 6050MPU gyro/acc (roll, pitch and yaw) and relays it to the ATmega644PA IC.

The AVR MCU processes the signals based on the selected firmware and passes control signals to the installed Electronic Speed Controllers (ESCs). These signals instruct the ESCs to make fine adjustments to the motor’s rotational speed, which in turn stabilizes the multi-rotor craft.

The KK2.1 also uses signals from the radio systems receiver (Rx), passing data to the ATmega644PA via the aileron, elevator, throttle and rudder inputs. Once this information has been processed, the IC sends varying signals to the ESCs, which in turn adjusts the rotational speed of each motor to induce controlled flight (up, down, backwards, forwards, left, right and yaw).

“KK2.1 is the evolution of the first generation KK flight control boards – engineered from the ground up to bring multi-rotor flight to everyone, not just the experts,” a HobbyKing rep explained.

“At the heart of the KK2.1 is an Atmel Mega644PA 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller with 64k of memory. A host of multi-rotor craft types are pre-installed – simply select your craft type, check motor layout/propeller direction, calibrate your ESCs and radio and you’re ready to go.”

According to the HobbyKing rep, the original KK gyro system has been updated to the 6050 MPU InvenSense platform – making it one of the most stable KK boards ever designed and facilitating support for an auto-level function.

An additional header has been added for voltage detection, while a handy piezo buzzer is also included with the board for audio warning when activating and deactivating the board. On the software side, a 6-pin USBasp AVR programming interface helps smooth the way for painless updates.

The KK2.1 is available for $35 on HobbyKing’s official website here.