Built a Custom Autopilot & Aircraft-Style HUD for the Bebop 1

[ANEZATRA]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share the modified Parrot Bebop 1 project I have been working on for some time.

In this project, I have made various modifications and additions to both the hardware and the user interface/software side of the Bebop.

First of all, I would like to clarify an important point: the drone’s core flight software, firmware, stabilization system, and primary flight-control infrastructure belong to Parrot and are based on Parrot’s original system. I did not write a completely new Bebop firmware or an entirely independent flight-control system from scratch.

My software work is an experimental extension/modification project based on Parrot’s original FreeFlight Android application.

I named the layer I added AGENA AeroCore. This name refers only to the HUD, control panel, autopilot control logic, and related features that I developed; it is not the name of the Bebop’s main firmware or Parrot’s own flight-control software.

My goal was to preserve the Bebop’s existing Parrot infrastructure while bringing its user-side flight interface and automatic control capabilities somewhat closer to an aircraft-style Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).

The main features currently implemented in AeroCore include:

• Aircraft-style custom HUD
• MCP-style control panel
• A/P Master
• HDG SEL – selected heading control
• ALT – selected altitude control
• V/S – vertical speed control
• SPD – forward speed control
• Heading, altitude, speed, and vertical-speed target indicators
• Autopilot mode/state logic
• Telemetry monitoring
• Manual-control override/disengagement logic
• Various limits, telemetry validation, and safety checks

AeroCore uses the existing telemetry data provided by the Bebop and Parrot’s flight-control system. Depending on the selected mode, it evaluates values such as heading, speed, altitude, and vertical speed and performs its own control calculations.

These commands are then sent to the drone through Parrot’s existing flight-control/command infrastructure.

The architecture can be roughly thought of as:

Parrot Bebop firmware / flight-control system
↓
Parrot telemetry & control interface
↓
Modified FreeFlight application
↓
AGENA AeroCore HUD / MCP / AFCS extension

Therefore, AeroCore is not a replacement flight controller for Parrot’s core stabilization and motor-control system. It is an experimental guidance / automatic-control layer added on top of the existing Bebop platform.

The project is still under development. I am currently continuing to test and simulate the control algorithms, telemetry handling, mode transitions, and safety/disengagement logic. For this reason, I do not consider it a finished or production-level flight system at this stage.

Hardware modifications​

I have also made several physical modifications to the drone:

• 2500 mAh battery
• Navigation/position lights
• Two separate forward-facing white headlights
• Various cosmetic modifications

One of my main goals with this project was to preserve the original character of the Bebop. Instead of replacing the entire system with a different flight controller, airframe, or completely different electronics, I found it more interesting to see how far the original Bebop platform could be extended.

The screenshots I have shared show the current AeroCore HUD/MCP interface, flight displays, and the physical modifications made to the drone.

I know that the Bebop 1 is now quite an old platform, but that is actually one of the things that makes it interesting to me. Its Linux-based architecture, Parrot’s ARSDK infrastructure, and separate BLDC motor-control system mean that there is still quite a lot that can be explored and experimented with.

I would especially be interested to hear from anyone who has previously experimented with Bebop firmware, ARSDK, FreeFlight, the BLDC controller, the Linux side of the drone, or custom flight-control software.

I would also love to hear what other Bebop owners think about the project and whether anyone else has made similar modifications.