This is finally the split-off thread from the 3-axis low cost UAV thread that describes Beta testing details. I plan to use this to handle details of the "frozen" list of beta testers of the "AttoPilot", non-disclose form, and user manual plus Q&A forum.

First off, as promised today I have pics of the first beta to be sent out. Another last-minute addition is provision for lithium coin cell for much faster GPS lock. See the last photo.

Thank you for overwhelming response! I was hoping to 4 or 5 bete testers, the tally is 19!

If I missed you and you requested today or before, please contact me so I can add you to this list, and sorry that I left you off the list shown below.

Icebear was the first requestor - and I hope he will gain confidence in the AttoPilot for a "Super lighthouse mission" - perhaps a sweeping tour of all the lighthouses in his area. So, the first Beta (pictured above) will go out to Icebear.

List of beta testers:

Icebear (requested Aug 19, 2007, 12:04 AM)
helitron
docphi
ios
rcdoma
Badllarma
dalbert02
Vince53
Workshop
Kilrah
Tom Harper
Tahoe Jmfc
tazdevil
dentompie
Rockeyes
LoopForEver
rimb05
UAVeez
DHDSP

Icebear is first at a bunch of things... He must get up early.

BTW... jparisse is now Workshop ('cause I'm done traveling and home at the workshop!)

Great, absolutely the appropriate selection is the 1st beta for Icebear !

Cheers,

//Erwin

Originally Posted by workshop

Icebear is first at a bunch of things... He must get up early.

BTW... jparisse is now Workshop ('cause I'm done traveling and home at the workshop!)

Thx! I Edited the list

Wow Dean - I've been away for a few days and I amazed by the speed you are keeping up!
I am honoured to be on your list and to test the first beta unit!
Puts some pressure on me to test it thoroughly...!

Looking forward to more good news.

/Icebear

PS. Jeff is right, I flew my Viking UAV with a new motor this morning at 01.00 AM EST - but OK, that's 7 AM here ...

One thing we me on the list I assume the Instruction manual will be
"UAV for Dummies"
Really looking forward to giving this ago just remember the instructions need to be idiot proof Other wise I'll be lost. Documentation is always a big thing BTW in other items I've beta tested.

I love the amount of channels, I need the 6th channel to control the light system on my UAV. Great work!

Originally Posted by Tahoe Jmfc

I love the amount of channels, I need the 6th channel to control the light system on my UAV. Great work!

Well, it is 6 inputs from the Rx, but only 5 out from AttoPilot (beta version). My reasoning for having 1 more input than output is that one of the inputs is just an aux channel that you use from Tx to control Auto vs Manul flight. The other 5 are intended that the autopilot "steps in" between the Rx and the servos to replace the human pilot. I have since then changed that vision, and added flexibility through settings.txt on SD card for user-configurable assignment of the inputs and outputs... for more flexibility.

I actually do have some extra unused IOs on micro, could use them to drive two more servos, or listen to 2 more Rx channels, or 1 more of each.

So these are the things I'm relying on the beta testers for feedback. I will aggressively fix problems and make enhancements then jump on to market ASAP with a well-tuned product as reasonable price.

I really want to eventually be able to control a few switches through a ground station so that users can interact with the plane, giving them the ability to turn on and off lasers, lighting, and possibly move a camera around that will be dispayed on a large screen for everyone to see. But I know this is a ways off. I was thinking of just using a separate reciever on a different channel to do this but its just more weight.

If there is a way when creating the two way interface in the future to add features such as sensors to monitor temps, volts of 2 different battery systems, rx/bec current, GPS to PC and PC to GPS and Video in/ out. Here is a product I just ran into coming out that has alot of great great features built in, its called OSD (on screen display) which displays text over a video stream with the sensor data.

http://www.rangevideo.com/index.php/aerial_video
scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a mock up of their product

Here the development thread of the mentioned OSD

http://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.ph...opic=1915&st=0

and here of another nice OSD comming in the near future

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=682985

and here in one of my posts a video with FredericG's (his nick here on RCGroups) OSD in action that I use

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=55

and here another good one (no two )

http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/home.php?cat=24
http://www.dpcav.com/xcart/home.php?cat=23

//Erwin

Originally Posted by Tahoe Jmfc

I really want to eventually be able to control a few switches through a ground station so that users can interact with the plane, giving them the ability to turn on and off lasers, lighting, and possibly move a camera around that will be dispayed on a large screen for everyone to see. But I know this is a ways off. I was thinking of just using a separate reciever on a different channel to do this but its just more weight.

Future, but again even the current Beta is forward-compatible to those features.

Right now I'm addressing the main problem of "simple low cost 3 axis autopilot", ESPECIALLY as I percieve that the only commercially available systems are difficult/buggy and require lots of fiddling to tune the gains, PLUS aren't that cheap. This is why I have stressed 3 KEY attribute of AttoPilot: 1) manual flight training of control gains via least-squares fitting of data and write of file to SD for subsequent autonomous flight, 2) block of female pins with direct interface to Rx for less wire clutter, 3) transparent 3V/5V compatibility, 4) all things related to using standard micro SD card for waypoints and configuration files.

The beginner should be able to easily enter the world of UAV flight and at low cost. More advanced user will enjoy the same benefits and be able to focus on the missions and not the hardware.

I would suggest two more receiver outputs for a head-tracker. Just thinking about FPV and OSD!

Is it really necessary to route pan/tilt through the autopilot ?

//Erwin