RC Groups - UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Question Recommend Autopilot syetm

pardus — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:54:57 GMT

(sorry - "system")

I have an ArduPilot that I've been having fun with but am now looking for some more developed/mature/professional without breaking the bank?

I need an autopilot that can fly a model aircraft in a grid pattern and then return to launch. The grid has to be fairly precise as does the altitude hold as this is for photo and geo surveys. Telemetry is also required & "plug and play" would be nice.

Can someone with experience with what available advise as to what would work well? Others I've seen but don't know much about are Paparazzi and Attopilot. I don't want something that is still having major development on it, it must be proven with possibly only minor enhancements.

Thanks

Graham

Discussion FS: Fatshark Goggles and TrackR1 Headtracker

Pepelatz — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:16:09 GMT

For Sale: Fatshark Goggles and TrackR1 Headtracker

Discussion NEW Graphical OSD

Demasys — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:00:39 GMT

I have been working on an osd for about 2 days now. Need more info on what others might want in it. There are some changes compared to other OSDs some are obvious…

1) Notice on the top compass there is a red line that indicates home direction.
2) The pointer for the compass is also used for roll position.
3) Most of all there is a ROC indicator to the right of the altitude indicator.
4) Home is not the center bubble as most know it. It’s the H with distance and time to get there at speed rate. This will give me greater distance for other points with out the error or large storage functions.
Give me more ideas so I know what you guys want in a system.

I’m also going to put in a ultra sonic or maybe low power laser distance measure (cheap at home depot laser tape measure, measures up to 300 feet) in the belly of the plane so it will calculate speed and altitude and give me a red dot on my OSD where I need to release my bombs, it would be nice to drop an egg on a friend, lol. At least ones that would laugh at it. I would! Only friends I don’t do stupid things that can possibly hurt others. Speaking of Others, I will not be getting this code or microcontroller layout and parts for the bomb comptroller. The screen is going to be a PIP on the bottom right hand corner of the OSD.

This it’s not a copy of the one I have been asking around for its only has color like the other one. If you find the one that I describe earlier I would like to find out who it was so we can talk.

Attached Thumbnails

37.7 KB · Views: N/A

Contest 2010 UAV Outback Challenge!

Mick Molloy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:23:55 GMT

Question First Airframe

znorris — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:04:14 GMT

I am currently wanting to purchase my first plane to create a UAV. I am looking for something that will have a decent amount of airtime (1 or more hours), a reasonable amount of space (not only do I wish to put the arduino board inside but perhaps another slim (gumstix) pc and power source, and reasonably cheap ($200 and less not including gumstix pc). (And if I want to be picky something military-esq and sexy looking would be nice as well)

I have no experience with RC aircraft but will obviously take my time to learn before flying my electronics around.

I have been doing a lot of searching for different airframes and package deals but most of the suggestions I have found relating to UAV use is dated. A lot of the planes i have seen suggested and linked to are no longer being sold. If anyone would post suggested models or package deals it would be greatly appreciated!

Semper Fi,
Zach

Discussion CPU board + Servo board to control servos for Bicycle Deraillur project

Z06kal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:01:40 GMT

I'm helping my buddy out to build a servo controller derailleur setup for his road bike. Going to be using some high torque servos. I've seen others do bicycle setups like that but they never follow through with a proper controller they just put servo testers on the handle bars. I'm looking for some kind of cpu + controller board combo so I can write code to handle all the switching. I'm thinking something like a Basic Stamp hooked to a servo controller board or something. Ultimately it will need to have a gear up and down input which would be simple push button. I'd like to have a LCD display window if possible to display the selected gear. Then the software will need to trim the derailleurs for each gear. Anyone have any ideas on how I would do this?

Discussion waterproof / waterproofing servos?

dalbert02 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:27:55 GMT

I was curious if any of you waterproof your servos? I have contemplated the following:

Yamaha blue general purpose grease - favorite of salt water fishing reel maintenance enthusiasts

Dialectric grease - Permetex seems to be a favorite of motorcycle / snow mobile mechanics

Covering the servo electronics in silicone sealant.

Any thoughts, opinions, advice?

-dave

PS consider high altitudes where temperatures may be very low and where trapped moisture may turn to ice.

Link Telemetry, Brushless, UAV, Wireless Development kits

Robert Wagoner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:37:21 GMT

Some goodies for sale you might be interested in.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1142548

--RW

Discussion Stand-Alone Barometric Height Hold

Lomcevac — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:34 GMT

Does anyone produce a stand-alone barometric height hold module? I want something just to allow simple control of throttle (or possibly elevator) to achieve constant height for photography without resorting to a full-blown autopilot.
GPS height would probably be okay if anything stand-alone was available.

Thanks

Discussion Formation

skidude — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:31:35 GMT

Just had a thought that it would be cool to own a fleet of probably 6 identical planes that I could control with one controller. They would stay in formation by themselves. Just thought it would be a neat project. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

Help! Radar Altimeter Options?

Left Winger — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:47:09 GMT

Hi all,

Does anyone know of available radar altimeters suitable for VTOL UAVs? I don't want a science project. I am aware of the Roke Manor offerings.

Discussion ArduIMU+ V2 (Flat!) now available--$129

zlite — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:03:07 GMT

We've just released the new flat version of ArduIMU+. It's now available for pre-order for just $129, the estimated shipping date should be Tuesday and you can get it here. We have big discounts for dealers and high quantity orders.

Why "+" in the name? Because it's an Inertial Measure Unit (sensors and hardware filter circuitry) PLUS an Arduino-compatible processor that runs our Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) code, based on Bill Premerlani's DCM algorithm.

This hardware consists of a 3-axis accelerometer and three gyro sensors, dual power regulator (3.3v and 5v), GPS port, an Atmega328@16mhz and a lot of status LED's. It's the cheapest IMU/AHRS on the market!

Note: this IMU is not designed to work with ArduPilot as is, and is not a replacement for ArduPilot's thermopile sensors. We may in the future release versions that do work with ArduPilot, but this version is designed as a stand-alone IMU/AHRS, for use with your own projects.

Includes the pin headers and all the sensors needed, some assembly is required.

Features:
-Flat Design.
-Low cost.
-3 Axis Accelerometer.
-3 Axis Gyroscope and Accelerometer.
-Arduino Compatible.
-Source Code included and Open Source!
-Power LED (Green).
-Status LEDs (Red, Blue, Yellow).
-1 SPI port.
-1 I2C port (possible expansion shield with magnetometers).
-Two PWM outputs (for servos).
-GPS port (uBlox ready!).
-Protection diode.
-Serial port output with servo standard connector for easy interface with any device (Ground, 5V, TX-OUT).

-Latest Firmware
-Board
-Schematics
-XY gyro LPR530AL
-Z gyro LY530ALH
-XYZ 3g Accel. ADXL335

Attached Thumbnails

72.2 KB · Views: N/A

112.8 KB · Views: N/A

Discussion Good quality camera for onboard image recognition

oh_my_god — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:45:51 GMT

I'm working on an UAV project requiring image processing. It's still at the very beginning so I'm still deciding what camera which is most possibly used for this task. The aircraft has low payload so the camera should be light and compact.

Discussion Another Aeromaster Build Log :)

biloxthecat — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:32:15 GMT

Hi Guys

Well I thought I would start a new project.
I decided to use an Aeromaster and set it up as a bit of a UAV / FPV combo. I am mounting a Sony Webbie on the front using a couple of servos for Pan and tilt.
I�ve just ordered a few bits from Servo City so I can get started!

In the end I want to have installed a long range RC receiver like Thomas�s rig but it�s hard finding something that�s legal here in Australia. For the Auto pilot I�m going to stick with Atto (because it is awesome!). Still deciding on video transmitter and modems though.

Here are some photos of the Aeromaster and ideas!

Cheers!

Scott

Attached Thumbnails

131.0 KB · Views: N/A

138.0 KB · Views: N/A

83.0 KB · Views: N/A

Discussion Aztlan - Flying wing first Atto flight

Tom Harper — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:58:57 GMT

Aztlan is a 54" span flying wing with an area of 4.5 sq ft and weight with camera and AttoPilot of 48 ounces.

First Atto flights today. 63 Kph cruise at 7 Amps, 80 Kph max.

Atto was used right out of the box with no setting changes. Used a single point for loiter circle. So far it looks good.

Attached Thumbnails

32.5 KB · Views: N/A

73.1 KB · Views: N/A

85.8 KB · Views: N/A

Discussion FS: Fat Shark RCV922 - On Ebay

swwesq — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:12:02 GMT

If anyone is interested, I'm selling a brand new Fat Shark RCV922 on ebay. Perfect for UAV projects.

Here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290367862133

Discussion camera uav

abishek.90 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:27:00 GMT

Hello,

I want to incorporate remote sensing in my UAV . There are so many cameras available.Can you guide me through how to choose the perfect camera.

Thanks in advance.

Discussion Razor 6DOF + Arduino + DCM

automatik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:04:53 GMT

Hi all,
recently I got Razor 6DOF from sparkfun to evaluate and play with for UVS purposes. I wrote some code for Arduino to talk to Razor IMU and ported / adapted DCM algorithm for it.

While in general I like the board, and it's easy to acquire data from it, it will take about 30 seconds, or so, for the gyro readings to settle.

On the page linked above you can fine data plots for all gyroscopes and accelerometers (as well as link to DCM code).

I am still working with it , but this is what I have so far...

Hope this helps others who are considering, or have, Razor IMU

Attached Thumbnails

42.3 KB · Views: N/A

47.3 KB · Views: N/A

Discussion Arduino-based Helicopter UAV

butterS_ — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:19:08 GMT

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm an Electrical Engineering student and a hobby RC Heli flyer. I've had my helicopter for awhile now, due to budgetary constraints (ie. I'm a cheap bastard :P) I got it from Hong Kong on ebay. It's a Walkera Dragonfly 4#1, 4-channel non-CCP cheapie. When it comes to flying it, I've been marginally successful at best to get it stably flying around (the slightest wind pretty much puts it out of commission). Ever since I started doing embedded electronics at uni I've been keen on trying to turn my helicopter into a UAV. I'm also hoping to get involved in the UAV Outback Challenge which my uni (QUT) competes in.

Now, I was thinking the best way of starting off with such a project would be to get the helicopter first working semi-autonomously so that using an IMU, the craft would be able to stabilize itself at a basic level in order to make it easier to fly.. (getting pitch/roll/yaw hold), then take weighted control inputs from the radio controller. Once that's achieved, then complicate things further by starting to build in a GPS, a wireless datalink to monitor sensor output and add waypoints on-the-fly, etc. etc. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Now I'm hoping to work with the Arduino platform, starting off with a Duemilanove for pre-flight testing, then transition to a Mini for lighter payload, and using a 6DOF 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyro for my IMU. I know it's been attempted before, but I haven't seen any finished products, at least in English - I saw a couple of videos from a Spaniard who seemed like he was giving a good go of it. Anyway I guess I'll cut to the chase.. I've been playing around with interfacing the Arduino to the helicopter servos, and the IMU I have but I've kinda stalled at finding a rationale for calculating controller gains.

I was thinking before I go for the first test flight, that I would model the helicopter first using MATLAB to simulate the impulse response of different gains with the aim to find a good starting point for tuning my gains. Now I know I won't find the perfect practical value this way, but at least it'll give me a good start, and also a good theoretical concept if I decide to use this project for my thesis next year. However, being an Electrical student, I don't really have any experience modelling dynamics equations. I guess the point of this post was to see if anyone else here had attempted a similar project, or at least had some pointers for modelling the dynamics of a helicopter (I have found a few resources but for the most part they go over my head).

Discussion FLEXIPILOT 6DOF IMU autopilot and EasyUAV

kbosak — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:50:39 GMT

2 flexipilots stacked on each other in order to give the idea of compactness:

EasyUAV:

EasyUAV:

Google Earth data created automatically from flight logs:

I am releasing a few data about the autopilot you are using in EasyUAV.
Along with a few documents.

The initial idea was to make available an integrated solution.
You can consider EasyUAV a good starting point for UAV world,
either for amateur use of business evaluation of Flexipilot capabilities.

EasyUAV is shipping!

EasyUAV is sold assembled, tuned and flight tested
(incl motor, servos, ESC, installed autopilot, wings not glued).
The user needs RC TX, 6ch RX (PCM or anything with failsafe is a must for UAV),
Lipo3S around 2000mAh, own video system or camera.
450g of payload or ballast INCLUDING the camera.
You can connect to 2 servo triggers dangling in the nose section.
The autopilot is placed under the wing (the safest place).
For advanced users, waypoint scripting is possible using USB console.
Log download and parsing software (export to GoogleEarth) is available.
Made in EU, worldwide availability.
Price 1199EUR + taxes,
3-4 weeks leadtime (winter weather is the limitation, the assembled UAVs are not overstocked yet).

The front bay is left entirely free for the user:
you can put there your lipos, RVOSD, digital camera etc.
It has 2 independent trigger channels, logging,
USB connectivity with console.

You can watch the official movies:

Site photo mission

High altitude, pinpoint autonomous landing

EasyUAV uses 6DOF IMU autopilot and 5Hz GPS plus barometric altitude sensor.
This is a genuine design, not sharing any software nor hardware with anything else.
Not available elsewhwere.

EasyUAV manual and selected autopilot documentation:
easyuav-manual
flexipilot-advantage
flexipilot-features
flexipilot-installation
flexipilot-navigation
flexipilot-software
flexipilot-triggers
flexipilot-weather

It can land autonomously following full landing approach,
but due to wing loading and weak static thrust
of the small pusher propellers, the takeoff must be manual.

FLEXIPILOT has the following capabilities distinguishing it from similar designs:
-support minimalist airframes, maximize payload and range/duration (rudder and elevator planes at the moment)
-fully automatic initialization and calibration
-focus on gathering aerial photography data, triggers and automatic payload management
-minimal cross-section, a single, sturdy 50x120mm PCB board
-USB connection and real-time mission simulator
-designed for use WITHOUT ground station, using variety of relative waypoints
-fly many times from different locations with RC transmitter, a bag of batteries and the UAV itself

NOTE: FLEXIPILOT can control neutrally stable planes, but I WON'T ship the specific version nor support using the autopilot on them, because the tuning effort (and finally the support cost) is prohibitive. My focus is to support amateurs getting airborne fast, getting pleasure from flying and sometimes developing their skills/platforms necessary for light-weight aerial photography business.

Questions: I prefer to use kbosak-AT-box43.pl because of better traceability of communication, if the question is not of general nature.

Don't be scared of the not-working website,
there is an important integration project coming along which postponed the website. The product is mature and flew many photo platforms since 1.5 years in various weather conditions, has been introduced to the public after serious testing. The ground processing software is under development and will follow user's demand, based on experience gained using EasyUAV.

Discussion Radio link

slisgrinder — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:35 GMT

Hey guys,

I want to build a UAV but I am confused about the radio aspect of the design...

I want to control the UAV from the ground using a PC and a custom program or maybe paparazzi to begin with. I also want to get telemetry and video back from the UAV. The UAV is going to be programmable to follow way-points.

So what kind of equipment do I need on the ground to achieve a good workable range? I was thinking of using the Xstream 2.4 GHz RF modem from Digi with a high gain antenna for the ground station which will receive the video and telemetry but also transmit the manual control and way-point information. Is this enough to do all that or do I need multiple modems (one to receive the information and one to transmit)?

Second, Can I use the Xbee Pro ZB 50mW for receiving the manual control and way-point information also for transmitting the telemetry and video back or would I need 2 of them to do the transmitting and receiving?

Thanks for any input...

Xbee Pro ZB: http://www.digi.com/products/wireles...e.jsp#overview

Xstream: http://www.digi.com/products/wireles...m.jsp#overview

Help! low latency vga to rca

swshouse — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:35:34 GMT

Quick question I've got video in from 6 mux and 2 simultaneous rca streams with latency of .05ms or less. After image processing/recognition/overlay latency is about .1 sec(@640x480) 1.5 sec for SR(super resolution) capture @ 32000 x 24000 synthetic. I'm trying to then push that signal out of a laptop somehow onto an RCA cable or some adaptable substitute with low latency.

multiple simultaneous outputs would be nice for different streams. Some sort of Gig-E output? Budget for doing this is about $1000. Any ideas?
-Robert

Discussion 3 axis Gyrobot 900 wing

Connexxion — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:32:16 GMT

Check this vid:

LF-Technik GyroBot 900 Wing World Premier (3 min 23 sec)

It gets interesting from 01m00s and on.

Discussion Which UAV flying wing platform?

haogodent2 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:53:30 GMT

Hi all, I am an undergrad. at Berkeley and my group is trying to decide on a flying wing platform to implement the ardupilot system on. The requirement is that it needs to be a 48" flying wing for mobility and durability reasons. At this moment we are considering the zagi series but are not sure which one(powered or outfit a glider with a power system?). Do you guys have any suggest as to which 48" wing(not necessarily zagi) has the highest payload capacity while flying at a slower speed?

Any suggestion is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Hao :)

Discussion I designed for aerial photography of the UAV

laozeng — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:38:38 GMT

I designed for aerial photography of the UAV

Discussion I designed UAVs for aerial photography

laozeng — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:15:21 GMT

�：\ Documents和Settings \用户名\桌面\ IMG_3402_调整大小的。jpg

Discussion Ultimate UAV

airmcn_3 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:40:47 GMT

Check this out. And we think flying over a corn field can be challenging...... :D

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall..._x37-facts.pdf