Latest Activity

alberto commented on Marco Robustini's group ArduCopter Italian Group
"qualcuno usa arduflyer di rctimer??"
11 minutes ago
Hugues commented on Andy Horka's blog post My New Gimbal
"that is then perfect : optical axis of the sensor (=sensor axis and plane)  is aligned with the tilt rotation axis (this axis must be parallell to the sensor plane and contains the center of the sensor) /roll rotation axis (this axis must be…"
14 minutes ago
Anderl commented on Alfred Alan jr's video
Thumbnail

UAV Delta Wing over Turrialba Volcano

"Magnífico trabajo Alan. Útil y muy bien ejecutado. Mis felicitaciones."
25 minutes ago
Ted Weerts replied to Nikita Makarov's discussion Drone plugged in and recognised - but no data in Mission Planner
"are you trying to get flight data off the board after a flight?  unless you are flying with a telemetry radio, you need to go into the terminal and select 'log download.' then, after you have downloaded your selected logs or all…"
37 minutes ago
Captain Silver replied to Captain Silver's discussion set POI in the waypoint list ... !?! in the group Andropilot Users Group
"i mean ROI (range of interest) ...."
38 minutes ago
Hugues commented on Matt Gunn's blog post Mapping Mission Ride Along
"Hey Matt, I am experiencing the same frustrations you had (maybe still have) about the "non support" to have the camera trigger functionality work on APM2.5. In your case you did not get it to make it trigger automatically at waypoints; in…"
39 minutes ago
Ted Weerts replied to Ted Weerts's discussion Arducopter disarms motors upon switching flight mode to land
"I thought I was running the latest - 2.9.1b Is there a newer release? ...so just to be clear - if the throttle is at zero upon switching to LAND it will cut power? or upon switching flight modes in general? would this have happened if the throttle…"
46 minutes ago

Developer
Sandro Benigno commented on vis.asta's blog post First test of targeting system.
"Awesome! Congratulations by the impressive result.I wanna try this running openCV on a beagleboard someday."
1 hour ago
Bill Bonney replied to Ted Weerts's discussion Arducopter disarms motors upon switching flight mode to land
"There's an issue that if throttle is zero, the copter will cut power. I believe it has been fixed in newer releases."
1 hour ago
Captain Silver added a discussion to the group Andropilot Users Group
Thumbnail

set POI in the waypoint list ... !?!

dear friends,is there a possibility to set a POI in the waypoint list? this would be fine for photography missions !?!best regardsRalfSee More
1 hour ago
Andrew Groom replied to Andrew Groom's discussion Best frequency for 3DR Radio for New Zealand - 915 or 433 MHz?
"Also, the terrain I'm going to be flying over is mostly rural and possibly a bit hilly."
1 hour ago
Ted Weerts posted a discussion

Arducopter disarms motors upon switching flight mode to land

Hi DIYdrones,I have been trying to nail down a problem with my arducopter. It seems like when I switch my flight mode to land, the motors simply disarm and the copter falls out of the air. I have now critically destroyed 2 air frames because of this. I thought the first failure was due to a dry solder failure causing the board to disarm the remaining 3 motors when one lost power, but it has now done this on a whole new build and a very solid power harness. I was very careful to make sure my…See More
1 hour ago
Andrew Groom posted a discussion

Best frequency for 3DR Radio for New Zealand - 915 or 433 MHz?

Hi All,I'm looking to get a 3DR telemetry kit for my APM 2.5 and I'm not sure what the best frequency is for NZ conditions - 915 or 433 Mhz? It looks like both are supported here and I understand that you get greater range with 433 but that there might be more interference there from portable phones, etc.? Also, are the standard aerials good enough or would some sort of circularly polarised antenna be better?Any advice would be much appreciated.Cheers, Andrew See More
1 hour ago
Benny Simonsen commented on Hooks's blog post APM 2.5 from hobbyking
"+1 Eric (actually it deserves more than +1) Kevin you do find some really important issues and let us all be happy about that. Finding an error is in my world just as important as writing new code, but remember that the person who wrote the code (or…"
1 hour ago
Edward Chew replied to Craig Elder's discussion APM Copter 2.9.1.b has been released
"Hi Randy, Done the Radio calibration. Turned on the RAW logs. Did live calibration for mag as well. Still the same symptom as before when in wind. As for your question, loiter moves around, it's both the horizontal and vertical, and definately…"
2 hours ago
Richard Smith posted a discussion

apm2.5 pinout

Hi all,I am writing my own code for the ardupilot 2.5 board and have the eagle files and schematics, however I am totally confused as to the pinout. (my vehicle is a bit different from a standard vehicle and connected with my work so I am not allowed to use the open source code or library). If the project works I will publish details.I am working on the 8 outputs, using 1-4 as servo outputs and 5-8 as digital outputs.The schematics would give the following:o/p8 - pin 5o/p7 - pin 6o/p6 - pin…See More
2 hours 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

apm2.5 pinout

Started by Richard Smith in Autopilot software/algorithms 2 hours ago. 0 Replies

Need help with large multi rotor

Started by Darrell Burkey in Flying/Tuning Mulitcopters. Last reply by Darrell Burkey 2 hours ago. 11 Replies

National Geographic Shoot

Started by Kylie Hoffman in Aerial photography. Last reply by David Anders 2 hours ago. 2 Replies

ArduPlane 2.73 released

Started by Andrew Tridgell in ArduPlane 2.x software. Last reply by Eagle 5 hours ago. 88 Replies

X Plane 9.70 + ArduCopter 2.9.b1 No Takeoff

Started by Christopher Bero in Simulations. Last reply by Christopher Bero 6 hours ago. 2 Replies

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.

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

First test of targeting system.

Posted by vis.asta on May 24, 2013 at 3:30pm 5 Comments

First test of targeting system. All calculations are done in the air.

Camera provides two streams. Highly compressed (rigth window) and detailed (left).

3 axis BL gimbal. In low light conditions and excessive vibration.

 

test at…

Continue

Thirty Days (#18): NIR camera conversion

Posted by Joshua Ott on May 24, 2013 at 3:30pm 9 Comments

John modified a point-and-shoot camera to capture near infrared images. This is half the puzzle in building NDVI images for analyzing crop health.

Information on the conversion can be found here: …

Continue

Understanding Fly-By-Wire B Mode Altitude Behaviour

Posted by Bill Bonney on May 24, 2013 at 2:44pm 2 Comments

A couple months ago I was testing ArduPlane and some of the different modes. I was not getting on very well in FBW-B* mode. If you look at the image below. You will see the purple track. I was loosing altitude and I couldn't understand why. You can see just before the path goes red, I'd lost a lot of…

Continue

My two birds...ready for flight now

Posted by Euan Ramsay on May 24, 2013 at 1:30pm 3 Comments

Nicknamed "Laurel and Hardy", for reasons that should be obvious.

Everything calibrated...time to get the PID's done! Well..once it stops raining and snowing here in Switzerland. :-(

Some build annoyances, which I'll go into in an additional post.

 

 

 

Laurels bits…

Continue

mapping with condor drone and apm 2.5

Posted by jim C. on May 24, 2013 at 8:30am 9 Comments

Because the latter one of condor drone tests went very well in the navigation, I decided to mount the camera aboard the condor photography for mapping and the results appear promising.

 

 …

Continue

Interesting-sounding drones conference in NYC in October

Posted by Chris Anderson on May 23, 2013 at 10:27pm 3 Comments

Continue

Roofs inspection test with VR Brain Pro on GolaKele Frame

Posted by Roberto Navoni on May 23, 2013 at 10:00pm 2 Comments

Dear Friends,

on VirtualRobotix we are working in new advanced platform based on GolaKele Frame and VR Brain Gold and PRO configuration.

This is first example of service where we use the our multicopter for roof inspection.

In the test use also Wookong DJI on other Hexa for doing some comparison on two different kind of…

Continue

Afterflight: A browser-based system for analysis and annotation of video and sensor data from UAVs.

Posted by Aaron Curtis on May 23, 2013 at 9:00pm 5 Comments

Several months ago I started working on a system called Afterflight to organize and browse my tlogs and dataflash logs, sync them with video, and view them along with a map GPS display. It still has a long way to go, but there is a fair amount of working functionality so I figured I'd get it out there…

Continue

Battle Drone Crash Test & DIY Walkthrough

Posted by Marque Cornblatt on May 23, 2013 at 7:23pm 11 Comments

Here is a short video of the design, build and crash testing of the Game of Drone's Battle Quad.  It's waterproof, bulletproof, and can fly away from almost any crash.

"Fly 'em hard and put 'em away wet.  They're only drones"


http://youtu.be/tjR2nm5tMks



 
 
 

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

CU-Boulder organizing effort to establish unmanned aircraft test site in Colorado

CU-Boulder organizing effort to establish unmanned aircraft test site in Colorado

Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations A state application organized by the University of Colorado Boulder has been submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration for the development of one of six unmanned aircraft systems test sites slated to be established across the United States. Submitted this month, the seventh and final volume of the Colorado application is one of 50 proposals from 37 states for designated Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, test sites. UAS come in various sizes ranging from hobby airplanes to aircraft with wingspans as wide as commercial jets. While they can be used for tasks ranging from forest fire support and search and rescue missions to oil and gas exploration and military operations, a growing number of science efforts are being undertaken using UAS, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineering sciences Associate Professor Eric Frew. CU-Boulder has one of the most comprehensive UAS science programs in the nation, said Frew, who directs CU’s Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles, or RECUV. CU-Boulder’s UAS projects have included monitoring seal populations in the Arctic and charting sea ice changes near Greenland to intercepting storm cells associated with tornadoes in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska and measuring gaping holes in Antarctic sea ice known as [...]

Infragram: the Infrared Photography Project

Infragram: the Infrared Photography Project

A simple, cheap infrared camera which can measure plant health — for geek gardeners, farmers, and open source DIY scientists. What could farmers, gardeners, students or environmental activists do with an infrared camera that costs as little as $35?What is Infragram? Infragram is a simple, affordable near-infrared camera produced by the Public Laboratory community in a series of collaborative experiments over the last few years. We originally developed this technology to monitor wetlands damages in the wake of the BP oil spill, but its simplicity of use and easy-to-modify open-source hardware & software makes it a useful tool for home gardeners, hikers, makers, farmers, amateur scientists, teachers, artists, and anyone curious about the secret lives of plants. What can you do with Infragram? Take pictures to examine plant health in backyard gardens, farms, parks, andnearby wetlands Check on the health of your crops, especially from a balloon or a kite Monitor your household plants Teach students about plant growth and photosynthesis Create exciting science fair projects Generate verifiable, open environmental data Check progress of environmental restoration projects Document unhealthy areas of your local ecology Pretend you have super-veg-powers Near-infrared photography has been a key tool for planning at the industrial and governmental level: it is used on airplanes and satellites by vineyards, [...]

Google acquires kite-power generator

Google acquires kite-power generator

Well I did’nt see this coming. Using lots of UA tech Google invests in yet more cutting edge stuff (ed) Google has acquired a US company that generates power using turbines mounted on tethered kites or wings. Makani Power will become part of Google X – the secretive research and development arm of the search giant. The deal comes as Makani carries out the first fully autonomous flights of robot kites bearing its power-generating propellers. Google has not said how much it paid to acquire Makani, but it has invested $15m (£9.9m) in the company before now. In a statement posted to its website, Makani said the deal would “provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels”. Rather than use fixed turbines to generate power, Makani has been experimenting with “flying wings” adorned with several smaller turbines that act as propellers as the craft takes off. Makani claims that mounting the turbines on a wing is more efficient as large numbers can be built with fewer materials than traditional tower-based turbines. In addition, the robot wings can land to avoid damage if wind speeds are too high or during bad [...]

Unmanned aircraft can protect crops from locusts

Unmanned aircraft can protect crops from locusts

by Gabino Martinez Serrano The world population is growing at a rapid pace. Today we are almost seven billion people and it is estimated that the figure will exceed 10 billion in 15 years. The world’s need for food will double, but the world’s arable land remains the same. Experts say that to increase performance, it is important to plant each crop where it can best develop, increase the yield potential of plant varieties and to reduce adversity posed by pests which have become a real problem. Failure to protect crops from pests would reduce harvests to just over half. Locusts are unique because they undergo a phase change. This means that under certain circumstances related to climate and population density, their behaviour changes and they move, eat and behave as a group, forming gigantic clouds and can travel great distances devouring crops in their path. These pests can affect 20 per cent of the surface of the earth, spreading through Africa, the Near East, and Southwest Asia. More than 65 countries may be at risk of swarms, invasion and reproduction. The last powerful plague occurred in 1988-89, threatening as many as 43 countries, one fifth of the world as [...]

ESCC to use donated unmanned aerial vehicles for science

ESCC to use donated unmanned aerial vehicles for science

Ted Shockley MELFA — Launching unmanned aerial vehicles from the Eastern Shore could be a financial plus for the area, and Eastern Shore Community College is positioning itself for an associated educational and training partnership. A link between the two was seen recently when an Aerosonde aerial vehicle donated to the college was unveiled in front of a gathering of staff members and industry experts. “We have something tangible, real, that the students can see,” said College President Linda Thomas-Glover of the unmanned airplane, which from wing to wing was bigger than a typical dining-room table. The particular model was used for years out of Wallops to gather weather data and has flown into hurricanes, said Jon Borcik, a program manager for AAI Corp., which oversees the Aerosonde program. He called it a “coming home mission” for the plane, a fitting place for an aircraft based at Wallops to continue its ­service. The plane will be used to stimulate an interest in science and also be studied by various college classes. The donation was arraigned by Peter Bale, board chairman for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and a former program manager for Aerosonde North America at Wallops. At a [...]

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