We have been having great success with our SkyWalker and the APM. You guys have done an amazing job on this autopilot. We had a few stumbling blocks along the way but all in all it was a fairly painless process to get to the full autonomous stage.
We were recently approached by some farmers to try a few field tests with the TetraCam ADC Lite. Although it is getting pretty cold and nasty up here we could do a lot of testing with the HIL.
Looking for some tips on setting up the cameras for triggerd photos along the flght path via the Mission planner. Are there plans to add a feature that would allow us to add a shutter triggering function along with the waypoints? Or is there an alternate MP that has this function?
We have not received the ADC camera yet so I am trying to find as much info as possible to help with the installation and setup of the unit. From what I have been reading it is best to get IMU data for each picture as well as GPS information to aid in stitching the photos together.
I just read the blog on the geo tagging now available in the MP. That is a huge help. Thank you for that addition and the time you took to make the tutorial.
Would we use a similar function to get the IMU data and geo tag into one file? Also have a question about parachute recovery.
Does anyone have a diy setup for adding a chute to the Skywalker?
We are debating on where to mount the ADC. Under the wing close to the fuse or build a carbon box with roll stabilization that we will graft into the fuselage.
I apologize for the barrage of questions but this community seems to have a great deal of knowledge lurking around.
Thanks in advance.
Kurt
Replies
In an effort to keep things simple we changed over to the Skywalker X8. It was going to be a major PITA to rebuild the fuselage so the Tetracam would fit easily. I wanted it to be easily removable. I made a carbon mount for the camera to sit in and also a carbon plate for the bottom of the belly that has a removable flat glass lens to keep debris from fouling the camera lens on the belly landings.
I also had a friend fiberglass the belly for a little added protection on landings.
I finally got the HIL to work correctly. I obviously had a setting wrong because I reset all of them and now it works.
I found the cool Grid V2 option in the Mission Planner but got an error when I tried to upload the shutter controls.
Now I am patiently (grin) waiting for the Do-Digicam commands to work for Arduplane and then I can get the shutter working.
Not being a software person I can't help but think it should be easy since it is working in the ArduCopter firmware. :-)
Maybe someone out there can figure it out and get it uploaded so we can all enjoy it.
They are listed at $3795.00
If you attend a seminar they will discount that price.
Whats the current price of TETRACAM ADC LITE? Thanks
Jimmy
ADC Lite is very easy to setup and trigger remotely. I have them in our O2. All you need is a relay that shorts the ring and tip of the trigger jack and it will work just fine.
I tried to do some HIL testing tonight (I am using X-Plane 9 with all settings provided in the sim wiki) but I was having no luck getting the Stabilize function working correctly.
I adjusted Nav Roll PIDs through the entire range (0.700-0.000) but it was not affecting the how the PT-60 airplane flew in Stabilize mode.
It was incredibly sensitive in Manual mode and when switching to Stabilize the ailerons would just flap up and down and the plane would dance all over the sky. Has anyone had experience with this setup?
Just for kicks I loaded the Skywalker parameters in and had the same result.
I am hoping to setup a flight plan with some camera triggers in it. Can I verify the trigger by observing a servo on the assigned channel output? Should I see a servo movement?
i going to install a GPS unit to this camera to Geo-tag all the photos but didn't not plan to carried it with my SW at the moment because of it size and cost. For my SW, I prefer to do IR filter conversion on compact size camera and see how it goes.
Hello, we also want to incorporate the camera into the ADC Lite Multiplex Mentor photogrammetry though we are with a SONY NEX 3. We will follow your progress very closely with the ADC.