A search didn’t reveal anything along these lines so bear with me if this has been hashed out before.
The auto-flight systems that have been developed by this community are nothing short of fantastic. Unfortunately, unless just flying for the fun if it, the entire reason for a UAS is to get a payload airborne. Unquestionably the most popular payloads to send up are EO based IMINT cameras, which on the hobby side of UAS are rarely integrated to any degree other than stabilization.
Having flown high end UAVs for a number of years, unquestionably the most useful feature when operating the payload is the ability to point-at-coordinates. Since the aircraft already knows it location, altitude and attitude then, with proper calibration of the servos that drive the payload elevation and azimuth, we could have a system where you can enter lat/long or just click on the map and the camera will point there. Such systems are often “rough” in their payload control and there is always a bit of error but, I can tell you from personal experience, such a system greatly simplifies target acquisition. There could even be a floating icon on the map showing the camera’s point-at location.
Beyond that, other payload modes could be incorporated such as head-hold, stabilized, search pattern, and, if we have enough processing power, even an ability to lock a target.
Anyway, I just figured I’d throw this out there and see if anyone was considering working on such a project. If so, I’d love to help what little I can.
Pete
Replies
Camera waypoint tracking has already been implemented, however it is not as accurate as some commercial systems. All you do it click a point on the map, and the camera will track that point. You can have a look here
Regards
UTech