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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on May 28, 2012 at 7:44am

Jdrones has a version of the MinimOSD that's in stock now. I would stick with MinimOSD range rather than others, since it's the only one whose firmware will be constantly updated to keep up with APM changes. (For example, APM is moving from MAVLink 0.9 to MAVLink 1.0 soon, and the OSDs will have to be able to read that).

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Permalink Reply by Dan Ho on May 28, 2012 at 9:11am

Hi Chris,

What are the advantages of APM Minim over the jD MiniOSD ?  I see the jD is a few dollars less.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on May 28, 2012 at 9:38am

I don't know--I've never used the Jdrones one. The 3DR one has a new and improve power supply, but I haven't compared it to the Jdrones one.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Ho on May 28, 2012 at 10:15am

But then you don't recommend the 3DR (Remzibi) anyway.  It looks like the jD also has an improved p/s (SMPS now vs. old linear).  I just didn't want to purchase the jD one and then find out the APM one had more or better features.

Thanks, Dan

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on May 29, 2012 at 9:58pm

The MinimOSD is back in stock at 3D Robotics.

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Permalink Reply by Eagle on May 29, 2012 at 10:15pm

Some footage of last weekend. GoPro feeding MinimOSD and Tx to ground station.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on May 29, 2012 at 10:22pm

Sweet!

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Permalink Reply by Dan Ho on May 29, 2012 at 10:53pm

Well, that certainly answers my question :)  Very cool !

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Permalink Reply by Dan Ho on May 29, 2012 at 10:27am

Chris,

As far as you know, will the APM Minimosd work OK with high resolution cameras??

I saw some people having trouble using the Minimosd with high resolution cameras such the GoPro.  Maybe they just haven't learned how to use it correctly.

Thanks,

Dan

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Permalink Reply by James masterman on May 30, 2012 at 1:11am

Dan,

I was having some problems when trying to use it on the ground side rather than the normal way where you put it in the plane. The logic was that if it was on the ground and you lost video signal you could still see the OSD overlay since Xbee has such a long range. Turns out it just doesn't work and lead to all kinds of problems.

Putting it back in the plane worked much perfectly so I would recommend doing it that way.

The OSD can be a little flaky when you plug in the camera. You will generally need to hit the reset button before flying to make the OSD overlay appear, so make sure you put the board somewhere accessible. Not sure if this is a hardware or software issue.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Ho on May 30, 2012 at 11:40am

James, I salute your inventiveness - it was based on a good idea and you learned from the experience.  Thanks for sharing it. 

Using these open-source h/w & s/w devices is certainly a challenge (part of the fun for me,actually).  I've struggled with AP Mega s/w and with AP Mission Planner and the HIL simulator.  New s/w comes out almost daily, along with new features (and new bugs :)  And if you've invested a lot of dough in an aircraft, you sure don't want to lose it due to one of those bugs.  So like you, I'm looking for ways to have more reliability through redundancy.  I already had Xbee but have now ordered the 3DR radios, due to 2x power output but at same power input, and what looks like might be better s/w support for use with APM. 

I expect it will be good to have the Mission Planner HSI & moving map, plus have the OSD on the video.  Not to mention, a 48 hour RF beacon if it does decide to fly away.

Since you've been using it, does MinimOSD provide a way to turn the overlay off and continue passing the camera video to the VTx?  If not, I want to hack into it and use one R/C channel  to control it.  I'd probably set it up to failsafe to the OSD enabled state.

Also, have you thought about putting a remote controlled switch on the OSD reset in case things go awry?

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Permalink Reply by James masterman on May 31, 2012 at 3:37am

Hi Dan,

There is currently no way To turn off the overlay remotely. I've been thinking about a way to do this. It would be relatively easy to send a mavlink packet to turn off all overlays through mission planner. To do it through an rc switch would be a little more involved. These would be software solutions. I don't know much about the hardware side.

Not sure if there is much need for a remote reset. If it is reset before takeoff, I have never had a problem. It is something to do with how the MAX7456 chip interprets the video signal when it is powered up. If the video is turned on before the minimosd is powered you can usually avoid this reset, too.

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