Simple question, but coming from my background, I have the passion to make my own, I'm just not sure if its feasible in this situation. I know a little about the ardu pilot, I am a self taught EE, with some Python, C, and CPP skills. While I love making things, I'm concerned this is WAY outside of my abilities just because of my lack of knowledge of the commercial drone platforms. I work better on lists, so this is my ramblings:
Musts:
Self return to charging pad
remote operation via PC
remote video on same PC (std. IR, FLIR, etc)
FULL OSD on the PC
20-30 minutes min flight time
GPS
Wants:
programmable routes
ability to track an object
Replies
awesome, simple enough, thank you!!!
Alright, you could definitely do that with Arducopter and a DIY drone. Of course you would have to program the part where it gets tripped by the motion detector and all that, but flying a perimeter or pre-determined search pattern is definitely doable.
Thanks for the information. I dont have any software, as the last drones I worked with arent exactly available for the civilian world. All I really want, end of day, is to patrol my property, which I dont live at, and when a trip sensor detects motion, the UAV can take flight, head to the location, take video, return and upload and/or message me
You can definitely do all of that with a Pixhawk or a Navio2+Raspberry Pi running Arducopter. Use Mission Planner on your PC (or similar software on a mobile device such as a tablet) for your ground station. You can do waypointing and pre-programmed routes, etc.
Video: Run either an FPV camera or an Action Cam or even larger camera with HDMI output to a video TX and hook a video RX to your PC or mobile tablet / phone or even FPV goggles.
For OSD you can use the Minam OSD or Pitlab.
Flight time is of course dependent on many variables, but 20 - 30 should be doable if you're all up weight is realistic for the batteries you're using.
I think the real question would be: What are the commercial UAVs going for that do what you want, and is it realistic to make your own instead? From what I can read, it seems the software for mapping / surveying is the most complex part. Do you already have a software package in mind for that?
If you need super accurate (down to CM stuff) results, you will probably need to invest in some kind of RTK gear. I know Emlid and others make them. Maybe someone with more knowledge of those systems will add their advice.