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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on March 27, 2010 at 6:16pm

1) There are lots. The Mikrokopter community turned into a startup company. Paparazzi has created at least two companies, ArduPilot one (3D Robotics)

2) The amateurs are leading the way in quadcopters, with the Mikrokopter community out of Germany as a good example. Elsewhere, the amateurs are pushing the boundaries of price, which a very important dimension. Open source projects are often 1/10 to 1/100th the cost of equivalent commercial alternatives.

3) I don't understand that question.

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Permalink Reply by Kjartan Storli on March 27, 2010 at 7:07pm

Thanks, that's great input!


I'll try to clarify my last question:)
3) Are there many people who are active in this forum who create UAVs for a living?

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Morli on March 28, 2010 at 4:24pm

i guess Creators of Atopilot, flexipilot to name few( look at the " Other APs") on top menu , there are active members who are in the "Industry' who may not want to be named but rest assured , people in industry do visit the forum for time to time

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Permalink Reply by Chris McNair on March 28, 2010 at 4:47pm

Short answer is many. Dean and I are just two of the many. There is a lot to say about not putting your eggs into one basket.........

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Permalink Reply by Kjartan Storli on March 28, 2010 at 5:41pm

Hehe, especially true if the eggs are carried by an UAV ;-)

Thanks for the input. I think it is interesting to see how the community generated UAV tech. has become extremely capable at a pretty low price point. This must open up a host of new applications for UAVs.

Has anyone come up with a good system to avoid UAV midairs?

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Morli on March 28, 2010 at 5:51pm

nope, not that i know of but big boys are breaking their heads on it which is categorized as "Sense & avoid " for now.

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Permalink Reply by Kjartan Storli on March 28, 2010 at 6:00pm

Wouldn't it be possible to let each UAV broadcast its position? I guess you could use an adhoc Wi-Fi network between the UAVs. That wouldn't solve the problem with collisions between UAVs and manned aircrafts though.

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Morli on March 28, 2010 at 6:36pm

Yep , I wanted to ask some one who knows this as to how difficult would it be to have micro Squak MC or SDR radio (say 1 W) designed/fitted in small UAVs ( atleast for civilian use) and coupled with OB GPS or dedicated GPS like in some OSD cases

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Permalink Reply by bGatti on March 28, 2010 at 6:49pm

I did a proof of concept on this. You can sense and avoid if each plane transmits 2 pieces of data:

1. Current Vector (location and direction/speed)
2. Congestion (a scaler value representing its proximity to other planes - and THEIR congestion).

The Congestion factor acts like a stressor, and causes macro changes to prevent over congestion at distances greater than radio range. Because of this feature short-distance (line of sight) radios can coordinate any? number of planes.

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