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Not entirely true. The actual autopilot (the controller + estimator) runs on an imx6. The tms570 are the sensor / actuator nodes.

Edit: just to add some detail. The autopilot and aio (avionics io, i.e. the tmd570s) communicate over a ring ethernet topology.

Oh, that makes sense. It did seem like a lot for such a small processor to handle.

Still, that sounds even cooler; a reference for how to set up a local network of MCUs controlled by a big processor? Awesome.

This topology is very common. Hard real-time sensor nodes feeding softer real-time big iron that does the estimation and control.