Blog Posts Across DIY Drones

Lithium Polymer Batteries and Chargers mini-primer

Lithium Polymer batteries are an attractive power source for electric flight due to their high energy density. The combination of lithium polymer batteries and brushless motors now rivals glow power in terms of power and duration. The main difficulty when using lithium polymer batteries is choosing what batteries and charger to use. Batteries are specified in terms of voltage, capacity, and discharge rating. Voltage is generally listed as 1S - 6S. The S number refers to the number of cells con… Continue

Posted by Cory on July 23, 2008 at 11:04am — 5 Comments

FAQ: Confusing terms explained

Here's the first draft of a UAV glossary. Let's start this way, with suggested additions and corrections in the comments, and then I'll move it into an editable wiki form offsite with a link from the homepage here.

2.4 Ghz: The frequency used by digital (spread spectrum) radio communications in our applications, including 2.4Ghz RC, bluetooth and some video transmission equipment. This is a different band than the older 72 Mhz band that is used for analog RC c

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Posted by Chris Anderson on July 21, 2008 at 10:30pm — 8 Comments

Video of the BlimpDuino with vectoring thrusters

Switching BlimpDuino from modded toy blimps to a… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 20, 2008 at 6:30pm — 3 Comments

Even better than the "Air Sniper": the "Air Knife"!

Our friends at the Danger Room… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 18, 2008 at 7:30pm — 5 Comments

DIY Drones on the Ning home page!

Very cool! We're now a featured network on the home page of Ning,… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 18, 2008 at 7:30am — 1 Comment

Wall Street Journal: Unmanned Aircraft Face Hurdles

From today's WSJ: Unmanned Aircraft Face Hurdles By ANDY PASZTOR July 17, 2008 FARNBOROUGH, England -- Unmanned aircraft are rapidly becoming mainstays of military and border-security operations worldwide. But significant commercial uses for the planes aren't expected to emerge for at least another decade because of regulatory and technical challenges, industry and government officials said at the international air show here… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 16, 2008 at 10:14pm — 1 Comment

Warning: bad experience with UNAV

I've had mixed experiences with UNAV (maker of the Pico Pilot) in the past. I like their autopilot hardware, but the software is terrible and it all feels a bit dated and old-school. Based on some early looks I think Dean Goedde's AttoPilot is going to blow the Pico Pilot away (a proper review will be coming as soon as I get my hands on the hardware). But I wanted to be fair to UNAV, so I offered to review their new PicoPilot groundstation sofware… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 16, 2008 at 9:18pm — 22 Comments

new plan

after much thought, i'm copping out of creating a UAV with video tracking. now the plan is to mount a decent video camera in a controlled environment in order to track infrared signals. blimps will have IR emitters on top, emitting some sort of modulated signal. with some fourier transform and the computing power of my mac, i can then locate and identify a given number of blimps in view. i'm trying to identify true (x,y,z) position of each blimp. i'm thinking of using some sort of pattern reco… Continue

Posted by Aaron Weinstein on July 16, 2008 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment

Lunch with Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi

Massimo Banzi, the co-founder of the Arduino… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 14, 2008 at 10:35pm — 1 Comment

Is this for real?

Spotted in the current issue of Unmanned Systems, the AUVSI magazine: an ad for a sniper rifle/quad… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 14, 2008 at 9:30pm — 10 Comments

$3 gyro ?

I just stumbled across this 300 deg/sec rate gyro - Description - http://embedded-system.net/lisy300al-single-axis-yaw-rate-sensor.html Datasheet - http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds… Continue

Posted by Howard Gordon on July 14, 2008 at 10:29am — 4 Comments

ArduPilot code update

We're been making progress on the ArduPilot code and are getting closer to releasing a proper beta. In the meantime, here's an update (and, for the brave, a pre-alpha look at the code): The basic outlines of the code (GPS parser, navigation loops, altitude control, servo control, etc) are written. The GPS parser is pretty well tested and works okay. The navigation algorithms have been tested on a simulator, but still need to be tested in the real world. The servo control needs to be tuned. Basi… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 13, 2008 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

New panoramic system

after a whole bunch of trial and error, i'm happy to say that my the parts camcoder i will be using for the panoramic system is 100% operational, set up, and ready to be mounted. The biggest problem was getting the "no tape" warning off the main screen. It looks like i'll be only needing a servo for the zoom. I've spent the day researching my stepper motors and gears, pushing through basic equations and what not. In the end, if i get this gear set i want (and without using legos :) ), i should h… Continue

Posted by Genesis Factor on July 13, 2008 at 5:17am — No Comments

Back to earth...running

so i got my pred today. Thanks again to helomix. Let's just say a whole bunch of mixed emotions arose when i saw it, from happiness that it was finally here, to the nervousness set in when i realized that i'm truly at the point where i need to put my skills where my mouth is, i mean, I already did it with money, to disappointment when i realized i have to cut back on a few items i my project :-P.

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Posted by Genesis Factor on July 12, 2008 at 2:00am — 6 Comments

Honest Download - Eagle 5

Where do you get Eagle? I've searched and get results for some game and a full "Cracked" version of the Eagle prog, but not seeing results for the program and I don't know who makes it. If you know and have a moment please share w/a newb... Continue

Posted by Brian on July 11, 2008 at 11:12pm — 2 Comments

Interview: Andrew Bugera on the 2008 AUVSI Student UAV contest

(Left to Right) Don Hatch, Tim Herd Performing an engine check before the competition practice f… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 11, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

My Camcopter

I will try to design INS/GPS using ARM7 LPC2148 ,ads8344, 03 CRS03Gyro (or 03 ADXR 610),02 MMA6231Q, trimble lassen IQ GPS for my helicopter. any idea?

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Posted by Jean Martin on July 11, 2008 at 2:30am — No Comments

Five good planes to convert to a UAV

I get this question all the time: what's a good plane to turn into a UAV? The answer is that… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 10, 2008 at 11:00pm — 14 Comments

My Large FPV UAV w/ OFD

Hello to all!!! Ok, I am building my first huge prodject with rc planes. First let me tell a little about my history in the hobby. Have flown for several years (about 5-6) and have had many trainers starting with small tail controlled electrics(which hate light poles), and moved right in to nitro trainers. Flew and crashed a few and went to warbirds. There is when i realised what is is I love and hate about flying rc's. I love trainers because of the slow inharently stable nature. Stunts are not… Continue

Posted by CRAIG HORNER on July 10, 2008 at 5:48pm — 12 Comments

prototype of my uav-pcb

because there's no easy way to connect the arduino to a normal perf-baord (stupid 2mm space between digi7 and digi8) i decided to make it the right way from the beginning. so i downloaded eagle and played around the last few days. this is what has come out. :) i plan to use the arduin… Continue

Posted by quix-fz on July 10, 2008 at 12:30am — 7 Comments

An old skool instrument panel for OSD data

This is just the coolest thing. It's not exactly UAV-related, but our…

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Posted by Chris Anderson on July 10, 2008 at 12:20am — 1 Comment

The "Armchair pilots" story

Nifty new wording for something everyone knew about since 1995. What CNN left out was Germany, Iran, China, India, Israel, & N. Korea having exactly the same capability. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/09/remote.fighters/index.html

GizModo Continue

Posted by Jack Crossfire on July 9, 2008 at 6:39pm — No Comments

New tilt-compensated compass sensor

Sparkfun has released a lovely (if expensive) bit of silicon: a… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 8, 2008 at 9:00pm — 14 Comments

Propeller: Google Earth GPS SD Card Logger

One of my goals for my UAV has been to use Google Earth as the tool to di… Continue

Posted by paul hubner on July 8, 2008 at 11:30am — 4 Comments

ArduPilot Board V3, assembled

We're now testing the ArduPilot code on the real board (not just a breadboard prototype), w… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 7, 2008 at 11:30pm — 3 Comments

Missouri S&T UAV Team - More Autonomous Flying and Bottle Drop

For those of you not familiar with the project we are a university team competing in the 2… Continue

Posted by Nullified on July 7, 2008 at 5:10pm — 9 Comments

FAQ: What's the difference between a gyro and an accelerometer? Do I need both?

[Marc Ramsey gave a fantastically clear and concise answer to a question that's asked here every week, so I'm going to reprint it here with some slight edits as a FAQ that we can link to from the front page.] Q: What's the difference between a gyro and an accelerometer? Do I need both? An accelerometer measures acceleration. A 3-axis accelerometer will tell you the orientation of a stationary platform relative to e… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 6, 2008 at 10:05pm — 2 Comments

SMD BlimpDuino board, assembled

All the necessary components for the… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 4, 2008 at 10:24pm — 1 Comment

New Lego Mindstorms NXT servo controller board

As cool as our Lego Mindstorms… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 4, 2008 at 4:30pm — 1 Comment

C Compiler for Parallax Propeller Chip

The BASIC Stamp and Arduino aren't the only microcontrollers out there. The… Continue

Posted by James Ross on July 3, 2008 at 4:11pm — 2 Comments

Stanford quadcopters rock!

We've enjoyed watching the development of Stanford's…

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Posted by Chris Anderson on July 3, 2008 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

Award Winners from the 2008 AUVSI Competition

Joe Brennan, the com… Continue

Posted by James Ross on July 3, 2008 at 6:11am — 1 Comment

2008 AUVSI UAS Student Competition

The Sixth Annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition was held on June 18-22, 2008 (see competition website). There hasn't been much buzz generated on the internet about the competiti… Continue

Posted by James Ross on July 2, 2008 at 6:12pm — 1 Comment

Arduino GPS shield with SD card logging.

I saw this yesterday over on the Make blog. Adafruit has come out with a new Arduino shield which looks excellent for UAV usage. The shield has support for several gps modules, and can log data to an SD card.

Even with the GPS and SD card, there are still 5 digital and 5 analog IO op… Continue

Posted by Cory on July 1, 2008 at 7:37am — 1 Comment

Package galore, VPL, ideas, and thanks

No, i didn't look down, when i said that, i promise!

Yeah, that was waiting for me when i got home friday night. I've been getting atleast a package a day now, with more to come. In one of those packages, was a box. In this box, from Electronics Goldmine, had this->

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Posted by Genesis Factor on June 30, 2008 at 8:25pm — 4 Comments

UAV videos on Engineering TV

Engineering TV has a bunch of UAV episodes up, including the Berkeley Aerobot Team and the Hybrid Systems Lab a…

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Posted by Chris Anderson on June 30, 2008 at 6:24pm — No Comments

Diy Drones at Maker Faire! (on popsci.com)

Yes I know we (as in all of you guys) were there but popsci.com happens to have a picture of a diy drone at Maker Faire so enjoy! Continue

Posted by rad man on June 29, 2008 at 6:15pm — 5 Comments

Most Bang for Buck?

Your opinion is welcome... Regarding our common goal of getting UAVs into the air doing the job they are tasked to do, what starter kit provides the most bang for the buck? Basic Stamp (usb) or Ardunio Starter Pack? Did anyone start with either of these two setups? Were they worth it? Were the included 'projects' teach you anything worth while? Do you recommend one over the other? Is there another starter kit that you'd recommend instead of either of these keeping around the $80.00usd range?… Continue

Posted by Brian on June 29, 2008 at 2:33pm — 2 Comments

Our next ArduPilot: the dual-core ArduPilot Pro!

Our main entry-level… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 28, 2008 at 8:00pm — 9 Comments

The problem with neural networks

This, from the always interesting Jack Crossfire blog, is the smartest observation on neural networks and genetic algorithms I've seen in ages. Excerpt: "In our last experience with neural network feedback, the feedback always headed towards 0. That one used straight back propagation to predict cyclic from attitude change. That fiasco has cursed all future investments in the radically different genetic approach. The genetic ap… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 25, 2008 at 10:44am — 3 Comments

CropCam user pushes for FAA exemptions

Farmer Uses Unmanned Eye in the Sky to Maximize Crops… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 25, 2008 at 8:00am — 12 Comments

First boot, and first problems lol

My computer has booted up, and is running Win2000 (ram restrictions made it the OS of choice, XP can be used, but maybe later, and with some trimming) and i will be working on servo control and figuring out why my usb decided to reboot the computer when i plugged in the Parallax Servo Controller. Yeah, i'm having issues with the drivers as the Boser site doesn't seem to like linking things. I have a picture of first boot i need to upload on photobucket, as well as a picture of the computer. I wa… Continue

Posted by Genesis Factor on June 24, 2008 at 11:00pm — 5 Comments

Materials list and basic Plan of Action

In one fell swoop i've bought almost everything i need for this project. Hoorah! This means its time to post because, well, too many people are in the dark. Since i already did the Goals List in the last one, this will be the materials list This plane will use solid wireless broadband to accomplish the goals of flight control uplink and video and sensor output downlink There will be no receiver. The reason for this is that i will be well out of range of most, if not all radio transmitters. If i… Continue

Posted by Genesis Factor on June 24, 2008 at 10:30am — 10 Comments

Autopilot Board

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Posted by Achal Agrawal on June 24, 2008 at 6:40am — 10 Comments

Microsoft Virtual Earth now accepting DIY aerial imagery

Cool news from Microsoft: its Google Earth competitor, Vir… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 23, 2008 at 8:52pm — 10 Comments

Is GPS good enough for altitude hold?

In our quest to create the simplest and cheapest autopilot available, we're debating whet… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 22, 2008 at 11:00am — 12 Comments

UAVs for profit.......or development

As many of you know, the price of commercial UAVs are through the roof . Right now is a great time to sell your uavs. They're cheaper than commercial uavs so they will sell easily to anyone who wants a UAV. The point I am trying to make is not for prophit but for devlopement. So we can make bigger, better, and more powerful UAVs. Continue

Posted by rad man on June 22, 2008 at 7:30am — 7 Comments

XBee price increase

XBee Pros have been raised from $32 to $36. Feel like a fool for not buying more at $32, although the direct store still has some. Still have 2 $32 modules from last year. The higher priced model is the XBee ZB ZigBee PRO Series 2 supporting "more dense mesh networks". Maybe it even has Techron to clean your speed controller. In 5 years these obsolete modules will be $65. Should buy some paperclips. The next bull market is paperclips I tell U. The good news is a new 900Mhz module has appeared… Continue

Posted by Jack Crossfire on June 21, 2008 at 5:55pm — 1 Comment

Review: new Arduino Nano board

Gravitech has now released a new Arduino board,… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 21, 2008 at 4:30pm — 4 Comments

Its been 8 months since my last post and i'm back to UAVs again. this time i have project funding, s…

Its been 8 months since my last post and i'm back to UAVs again. this time i have project funding, so money will not be as big of a project halter as it was with the last one. I am still learning Stamp BASIC programming. I've spent my time learning to fly the heli though. I intend to use a propellor board as my heli's main processor. However, the Prop board leaves a lot lacking. I am into SBCs and big computer calculations, not these microprocessor mini codes. Therefore, when i won a nice Boser… Continue

Posted by Genesis Factor on June 21, 2008 at 12:02am — 3 Comments

How can we make IR beacons with unique IDs for Blimpduino?

Jordi and I are slightly stuck at the last part of our… Continue

Posted by Chris Anderson on June 20, 2008 at 10:30am — 20 Comments

Colored diagrams of Icarus

Maybe this will help with the visualization process Red = propellers Blue = Electric motors Yellow = Flight surfaces Gold = Flight control surfaces Light Gray = Helium Envelope Dark Gray = Cradle, Electronics houseing, and Hull Green = Cameras Top View

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Posted by Jake Lancaster on June 17, 2008 at 10:22am — No Comments

best way to read a servo signal on arduino

the atmega168 on the arduino has a timer1 which has input capture capability (see this application note and datasheet for atmega168 for details). using it, it's possible to do the pulse timing in completly in hardware (no errors, no jitter), and having a interupt readout the measured time. here's the code: unsigned int serinp[8]; //servo… Continue

Posted by quix-fz on June 17, 2008 at 6:20am — 3 Comments

UAV Snipers

Saw a post to this on John Robbs blog that is now funded by DARPA. The white paper pdf that Sagetech published on this can be found here. Continue

Posted by Richard on June 17, 2008 at 3:56am — 3 Comments

Icarus designs

Top View

Front View

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Posted by Jake Lancaster on June 16, 2008 at 9:50pm — 2 Comments

Perhaps I spoke too soon about the iPhone and UAVs

Command a system of UAVs remotely from an iPhone's web browser, regardless of what…

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Posted by Chris Anderson on June 16, 2008 at 1:00pm — 5 Comments

simple VTOL airplane with vectored thrust

I just ran across this on Yann LeCun's blog - Yann is a professor of mathematics at NYU, a leading authority on neural networks, and an R/C enthusiast. This is a conventional airframe with two sets of vectored motors (similar to what we're doing with the blimps). Yann reports that two rotors turn clockwise and two counter-clockwise on a diagonal. Stabilization and control is accomplished with a combination of conventional gyros and channe… Continue

Posted by Howard Gordon on June 16, 2008 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Icarus

Hi Well, this post is about a pet project i've been cooking up in my head for the past few months, but have lacked the tech knowledge on how to go about it much more than a few diagrams on the computer and my own imagination. What i've been wanting to build is a hybrid of a semi-rigid blimp and helicopter, with a long length of flight time, good manueveribility, but with speed similar to a RC plane. My first idea was a blimp with their long flight times since very little power is needed to keep… Continue

Posted by Jake Lancaster on June 15, 2008 at 7:30pm — 4 Comments

A beginners code for autopilot: simple PID and sensor inputs

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Posted by Geetesh Dubey on June 15, 2008 at 10:27am — 6 Comments