Latest Activity


3D Robotics
Craig Elder replied to Randy's discussion ArduCopter-3.0 ready for wider use
"Jim this is a new feature to provide a warning before arming that your vehicle is not configured correctly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ3H2eLmStI"
5 minutes ago
Tommy Larsen commented on Tommy Larsen's blog post Skywalker X8 - Video and Telemetry via 3g internet
"Hi Artem The MP connects to my plane using TCP. The serial converter forward whatever content coming from the APM yes. I configure the serial converter as a server. I have also tried to setup for UDP and that works fine as well."
8 minutes ago
Monroe Lee King Jr. replied to Tony's discussion Communication Issue - Need Help!
"Are these clones? I need to know in order to troubleshoot properly. Sp far some of these are it may be an issue there if so I need to try and figure out why. It may be a clue too for other APM's"
8 minutes ago
Stephen Gienow commented on Glenn Anderson's blog post How to succeed without really trying
"Imagine what you could do with a few of these!  # shaped octo, anyone?"
10 minutes ago

Developer
Kevin Hester replied to Kevin Hester's discussion New Andropilot beta! GCS 1.4.17 in the group Andropilot Users Group
"thanks - I'll push it out to google play now."
11 minutes ago
Luciano Zanchi replied to Kevin Hester's discussion New Andropilot beta! GCS 1.4.17 in the group Andropilot Users Group
"Tested new version (auto, guided, follow me , lead it...)  and evetything seems to be OK. Waypoint voice announce is great! Thanks Kevin!!! Luciano"
12 minutes ago
James W Powell replied to Randy's discussion ArduCopter-3.0 ready for wider use
"So you can't go over that value or it will cause the compassmot process to fail?"
14 minutes ago

3D Robotics
Craig Elder replied to Randy's discussion ArduCopter-3.0 ready for wider use
"You need to set your THR_MID value. It is set to the default value of 500. Review your log file and determine what PWM value your vehicle is hovering at.  That will be the correct THR_MID value."
15 minutes ago
Luciano Zanchi replied to Berend Jansen's discussion Mission planning questions in the group Andropilot Users Group
"Do not worry about take off wp position. You can place your copter everywere. It will take off and then it will go to the next wp after take off (wp2)."
17 minutes ago
Luciano Zanchi replied to Crispin's discussion Follow-me: Location offsets in the group Andropilot Users Group
"If you use Guided/Lead it  Mode  copter will follow you at a certain distance. You can set also the altitude where copter will follow you."
21 minutes ago
Bob Doiron commented on Bob Doiron's blog post 9x gets 3DR 915 MHz air module
"You might want to email the OpenTx developers about that - I'm not sure if it's integrated with Companion9x or not. This guy can point you in the right direction: https://code.google.com/u/bsongis/ "
21 minutes ago
Bruno Bedard replied to Randy's discussion ArduCopter-3.0 ready for wider use
"Yes there are new verifications. Read the opening post "...pre-arm checks" and there is a link to a video..."
29 minutes ago

Admin
Thomas J Coyle III commented on Thomas J Coyle III's blog post UAS demonstrates potential of unmanned aircraft for wildfire use
"When I lived in Texas, I was only about a 2 hour drive from Possum Kingdom Lake and I remember the fierce wildfires at that lake back in 2011. A good portion of the homes around the lake burned to the ground and there was substantial property loss.…"
29 minutes ago

3D Robotics
Craig Elder replied to Randy's discussion ArduCopter-3.0 ready for wider use
"Definitely upgrade your Mission Planner.  I recommend using the MSI 1.2.53 from here http://ardupilot.com/downloads/?category=4 There are some usb driver changes that will not be picked up if you use the internal MP update process that…"
30 minutes ago

Admin
Thomas J Coyle III posted a blog post

UAS demonstrates potential of unmanned aircraft for wildfire use

Mark EngebretsonOwners of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, based in Oklahoma City, were at Possum Kingdom Lake Saturday demonstrating unmanned aircraft that can be used over wildfires. Held at the Possum Kingdom East Volunteer Fire Department, representatives from the Brazos River Authority, Graham Fire Department, Palo Pinto County…See More
33 minutes ago
Jonathan Hair replied to Ty's discussion Changing firmware resets everything to defaults?
"Going from 2.9.1b to the new 3.0 I did not lose any calibrations. ESC, accelerometer, ect were saved from before. The only thing required with the new firmware is the compassmot calibration done in the CLI.   Best,"
35 minutes ago

Start a discussion

Click here to start a forum topic below. Remember to select a category!

VIew all discussions

Click here to see all forum topics.

Forum

Communication Issue - Need Help!

Started by Tony in Unassigned category. Last reply by Monroe Lee King Jr. 8 minutes ago. 2 Replies

APM not uploading in Mission Planner

Started by Soko in APM Mission Planner. Last reply by Monroe Lee King Jr. 1 hour ago. 29 Replies

IP video display in APM Mission planner

Started by keith soldavin in APM Mission Planner. Last reply by Nathan Moses 1 hour ago. 48 Replies

Preloading maps to APM Planner

Started by Pawel Stepien in APM Mission Planner. Last reply by Monroe Lee King Jr. 1 hour ago. 4 Replies

ArduPilot 2.5 Return to home

Started by Frank Knighten in Flying/Tuning Mulitcopters. Last reply by Monroe Lee King Jr. 2 hours ago. 1 Reply

N00B Questions

Started by Dave Smith in ArduCopter 2.x (traditional heli). Last reply by Josh Potter 2 hours ago. 21 Replies

Unable to arm firmware 3.0

Started by Richard Boyhan in ArduCopter 2.x (multicopter). Last reply by Richard Boyhan 2 hours ago. 2 Replies

Advantages to types of frames?

Started by Xander Zoolander in Quad/multicopter frames. Last reply by Xander Zoolander 3 hours ago. 8 Replies

FBI admits drones are used for domestic surveillance

Started by Don Shappelle in Regulation. Last reply by Dave Smith 3 hours ago. 1 Reply

Site license

Creative Commons License
All content is free to use under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Photos

Loading…
  • Add Photos
  • View All
 

Welcome to DIY Drones!


This is the home for everything about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Use the tabs and drop-down menus above to navigate the site. (About us/Site rules)

This community created the Arduino-based ArduPilot, the world's first universal autopilot (planes, multicopters of all sorts and ground rovers). The APM 2.5 autopilot hardware runs a variety of powerful free UAV software systems, including:

  • ArduPlane, a pro-level UAV system for planes of all types
  • ArduCopter, a fully-autonomous multicopter and heli UAV system
  • ArduRover, a fully-autonomous ground-based vehicle system

I'm new to all this--where do I start?                    Are amateur UAVs legal? (yes)

Examples of civilian uses of drones                   Glossary of confusing terms

Blog Posts

RVJET with autopilot APM 2.5

Posted by jim C. on June 19, 2013 at 8:30am 2 Comments

hello everyone, after two weeks of settings and adjustments, the achievement RVJET fly with APM 2.5 in auto mode
Flying weight: 2750 grams
autopilot: APM 2.5
Motor: 3020 1110kv scorpion
prop: 10x6
Battery: 1 x 5000 + 1 x 3000

firmware : arduplane 2.73

How to succeed without really trying

Posted by Glenn Anderson on June 19, 2013 at 6:00am 11 Comments

My quad is flying better than it should.  I almost feel guilty.

I slapped together a frame in a few hours.  I use cheap props mounted on long shafts with cheap collets.  The motors are not precisely aligned to the frame.  The props are not balanced perfectly.  Motor centers form a rectangle not a square.  APM is strapped to the frame.  I never bothered to calibrate compassmot.  CG is not in the center of the…

Continue

Printing (tiny) batteries

Posted by CrashingDutchman on June 19, 2013 at 4:33am 0 Comments

Novel application of 3D printing could enable the development of miniaturized medical implants, compact electronics, tiny robots, and more. It will probably take a while before this will be used for the hobby markt, but I though the story is nice enough to blog about it.

3D printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the…

Continue

Getting started with Matrix Pilot is now cheaper

Posted by Nick Arsov on June 18, 2013 at 11:30pm 13 Comments

Hi Everyone,

AUAV3 is now at a reduced price of $94.95 for a limited time.
There are several dedicated developers and most of the cool new features are at least in a beta form. We would like to see more users trying these boards and features. Also recently, 2 AUAV3's flew…
Continue

Boeing's hydrogen-powered UAV takes first flight (last year)

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 18, 2013 at 8:00pm 6 Comments

Designed for a duration of four days at 65,000 feet. The first flight was just 28 minutes and it sustained damage on landing, but otherwise the mission was a success. ]UPDATE: This was a year ago, sorry for missing that. It's taken several flight since then]

Via…

Continue

DIY Samsung Trigger for APM

Posted by Jeff Taylor on June 18, 2013 at 5:06pm 2 Comments

20130618_153028

In this post I’ll describe how to make your own cable to trigger the Samsung mirrorless cameras NX20, NX210 and NX1000. We’ll be using an ArduPilot Mega 2.5 to do the triggering but you can use any Arduino or even a soldered push button.

What you’ll need:

  • Any 2 or 3 wire cable – I use a 30cm Futaba servo extender which I cut the female end off…
Continue

DJI has officially released the H3-2D Gimbal for $699!

Posted by Adam AKAV8R on June 18, 2013 at 3:00pm 15 Comments

Well the price has finally been released for the new DJI Phantom gimbal @ $699.00 and comes complete as shown below. The nice features are the ability to charge the GoPro while flying and the ability to output video to your video Tx all contained inside the arms of the gimbal.  Full details …

Continue

Parrot releases GPS module for AR.Drone 2.0

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 18, 2013 at 1:20pm 9 Comments

MAVLink-compatible, which means it works with QGroundControl. All details here. Coverage from Engadget:

Starting next week, Parrot will be…

Continue

Engadget covers AVC 2013

Posted by Joshua Ott on June 18, 2013 at 1:00pm 2 Comments

From Engadget. This last paragraph really sums it up nicely:

And really, for all the prize money and ominous warning signs at the entrance, the AVC is ultimately a meeting space for hobbyists in what may some day become a much larger movement. It's a place to experiment, talk shop and occasionally crash along the way.

 
 
 

Social Networking

Contests

Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.

A list of all T3 contests is here

Groups

Advertisement

UAV news from sUAS News

ETURNAS UAV at PAS 13

ETURNAS UAV at PAS 13

LE BOURGET, FRANCE: June 19, 2013 - Design Intelligence Incorporated, LLC (DII) and MicroLink Devices, Inc.  (MLD) today announced the development of a new solar-optimized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called ETURNAS. The ETURNAS UAV weighs less than nine pounds and uses a reconfigurable solar wing…

Piaggio Hammerhead at PAS13

Piaggio Hammerhead at PAS13

Visiting Paris airshow for the first time the Piaggio Hammerhead is certainly the most dashing UA entrant. Based on its existing manned platform the Hammerhead is a fast high performance machine as one might expect from the Italians. The Piaggio…

New Pix4DPartner‐ and Sponsorships

New Pix4DPartner‐ and Sponsorships

While Pix4D’s currentDesktop software Pix4uav isthe perfectsolution to convertUAV imagery into geo‐referenced 2Dmosaics and 3Dmodels, Pix4D’s goal isto keep on innovating and developing technology that can push the limits of 3Dmodeling even further. The current version of Pix4uav is used…

Bill Seeks to Restrict Drones

Bill Seeks to Restrict Drones

JIM PROVANCE SOURCE: THE BLADE, TOLEDO, OHIO June 18–COLUMBUS — If unmanned drones are going to hover over Ohioans’ heads, state law has to catch up with them, a lawmaker argues. State Rep. Rex Damschroder, the Fremont Republican and pilot, has…

UAS demonstrates potential of unmanned aircraft for wildfire use

UAS demonstrates potential of unmanned aircraft for wildfire use

Mark Engebretson Owners of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, based in Oklahoma City, were at Possum Kingdom Lake Saturday demonstrating unmanned aircraft that can be used over wildfires. Held at the Possum Kingdom East Volunteer Fire Department, representatives from the Brazos River…

UAV news from Flight Global

Maritime Heron UAV supports European airspace trial

Europe has advanced a project to prove the feasibility of using satellite communications to enable UAS operations in non-segregated airspace ...

Brazilian navy begins UAS evaluation

The Brazilian navy has begun to evaluate two Israeli-made unmanned air systems for maritime surveillance missions ...

Indian air force to launch micro UAS evaluation

The Indian air force is to evaluate several micro unmanned air systems from around 10 companies in early May ...

VIDEO: Eurocopter demonstrates unmanned EC145

Eurocopter has unveiled an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV), based on its EC145 light twin, which has been in development since September 2011.

Israeli F-16 downs another Hezbollah UAV

An Israeli air force Lockheed Martin F-16 has shot down an unmanned air vehicle launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah militants ...

© 2013   Created by Chris Anderson.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service