Published September 11, 2020

M5stack based PFD (Primary Flight Display)

An attempt to create a realtime "Artificial Horizon" on the M5.

IntermediateWork in progress8,042

M5stack based PFD (Primary Flight Display)

Things used in this project

Hardware components

M5Stack ESP32 Basic Core IoT Development Kit

M5Stack 3-Axis Digital Accelerometer Unit (ADXL345)

M5Stack ENV III Unit with Temperature Humidity Air Pressure Sensor (SHT30+QMP6988)

M5Stack Mini HUB Unit 1 to 3 HUB

M5Stack GPS Module with Internal & External Antenna (NEO-M8N)

DFRobot cmps12

Story

I wanted to check if it is possible to build a usable PFD to be used in an aircraft. Certification is quite another issue, but it does work satisfactory. A lot to be done still!

Display complexity is increasing. Changed the whiskers to aircraft icon. Added a VSI, colored speedbar with (user programmable) speedbugs, altitude bug and heading bug. Still 12-13 frames per second performance. Changed the name of the project to Primary Flight Display.

Todo:

slip/skid indicator
HSI screen
coupling to GPS to determine groundspeed and ground-track

Added a slip indicator (slip ball) and a annunciator block at the bottom where the status of the GPS, magnetic compass, SD card and the battery is shown.