Discussions

Afternoon all,

Ive been doing a fair bit of lurking, and am very interested in the ArduCopter system, namely for the pre-built Quadcopters on jdrones.

To be honest, my practical RC and Electronics experience is pretty limited, but I am very keen to learn. Currently, I am up to my eyeballs in work (Trainee Aircrewman in the RAF, nuff said!), however in the next few months, having completed my next course, I will find myself with a fair old bit of spare time (Such is the life of trainee aircrew in the RAF these days!).

I was planning on putting together an ArduCopter system, running the GCS off a Toughbook laptop, for general aerial photography, but also experimenting with low-level reconnaissance (When I say low, I mean <3m, often under manual control via a joystick), with the intention to integrate ultrasound sensors in for object collision avoidance in the future.

In terms of sensor payloads, something as simple as a GoPro with a Tx, again being displayed on the Toughbook. I would be using it as a short-range system, simply up, around, take some pictures, back down. Flight time would not need to be any longer than 20 minutes or so.

Questions-wise, I have the following:

• In terms of a GCS, I understand using Google Earth it is possible to point-and-click designate waypoints, or manually enter lat/longs (Particularly useful if you dont have Google earth but do have a lat-long passed on from a 3rd party, i.e. persons forward of your position). Is it possible to override the AP mid-flight, in order to manually control the drone once it has flown itself to a specific WP? Is it then possible to switch back into the AP to get it to return home/continue to further WPs?
• Can you override certain channels on the AP whilst leaving others untouched? My reason for asking is, having a platform that could climb to say 20m, hover and stay put, and allow the user to control the camera independently, without having to worry about controlling the actual platform, would be a fantastic addition, certainly reducing the workload on the operator.
• I read somewhere that using the GPS (already integrated into the ArduCopter hardware), it is possible to rig up a camera to "track" a fixed point on the ground, whilst the UAV moves through 3D space; is this true?
• Are you able to integrate a joystick into the Ardu GCS, so that it can transmit commands via Xbee from the joystick whilst in Manual control - effectively taking the standard RC Tx out of the equation? Can someone explain how Xbee works? Is it an independant Tx/RX system, negating the need for a Tx/Rx, or is it simply a transmitter/receiver FOR a standard RC Aircraft handheld control.
• The feed from any optical sensor package (i.e. Hero HD) would come in via an "AV OUT" from a Rx; one presumbs this can be integrated into the Xbee Rx, or would it have to be through an "AV IN" on the laptop then pulled into the GCS Software?
• When running off the pre-set waypoints from the GCS, transmitted via Xbee, are the movements from one waypoint relatively smooth, i.e. similar to how a 'real' helicopter would fly, or are they "forward-stop-turn 90 degrees- forward-stop-descend-stop-turn-stop...". Again, I ask this simply because it would be advantageous to have a relatively smooth ride, compared to a jerky, robotic style of movement. I understand that if you threw a sharp, 90 degrees or higher turn in, the AP would have no option but to slow things up a bit.

I apologise if some of the above are incredibly "n00bish" questions to ask - I am new to all this, and I am starting to wrap my head around what the various components do, are/are not capable of. I really appreciate any input, advice, or thoughts on the above.

I also understand that Ardu is something that is constantly evolving on an almost daily basis, and that some of the answers to the above may not be applicable by the time I start getting this system sorted.

Many thanks,

Matt.