UAV Blimp controlled via on-board Mini-ITX motherboard

Hi,

I want to build a remote-controlled blimp UAV. In terms of control, it will have a Via Epia V10000 motherboard running Ubuntu Linux. The motherboard will have a webcam plugged in to send pictures back to base (I'm thinking of powering it via a 12V 6AH SLA battery via a 12-240V inverter and a small computer power supply.) The rest of the system will be microcontroller-based (probably PICAXE 20X1), controlling the motors and GPS, powered by a bank of NiMH rechargeable batteries. The ground station will be an ordinary computer remotely accessing the blimp through VNC software to control the onboard computer as if it was still on the ground (the blimp will have either a wireless 3G modem or 802.11n wireless networking.) The reason why I have designed the system like this (i.e. two separate power supplies) is that if the battery controlling the motherboard goes flat mid-flight, then the systems control unit senses this, tells the motherboard via the serial port, and the software running on the blimp then knows to a) report back the last known position, b) report back the position that the blimp is travelling to for landing (the systems control unit has an EEPROM chip that contains a list of waypoints for safe emergency landing.) I know this is a rather ambitious project but does anyone have any ideas as to what is required for reliable flight (e.g. motor requirements, etc.)

Thanks

It may be flexible, but heavy and with overengineered parts that aren't meant to be used for that. I mean you don't need to use a higher operating system like linux(not even the embedded version) for that. I uderstand that there are several out-of-the box solutions (vnc, webcam) that will reduce the implementation time and effort. This can be an option on a ground uav like a car. But a blimp needs one thing: a really light payload. That's the start point.
If you still want to use linux don't use a mini itx board, but an ARM9 based one. Its lighter and needs much less power. There are several of these cheap mini-2440 boards in ebay, even with a light webcam and wifi module and a lot of I/O's.

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Gerry Lichter August 31, 2010 at 7:27pm

Hydrogen is cheaper. It's a robot, not a school bus.
Marco Glattfelder August 26, 2010 at 1:32am

It may be flexible, but heavy and with overengineered parts that aren't meant to be used for that. I mean you don't need to use a higher operating system like linux(not even the embedded version) for that. I uderstand that there are several out-of-the box solutions (vnc, webcam) that will reduce the implementation time and effort. This can be an option on a ground uav like a car. But a blimp needs one thing: a really light payload. That's the start point.
If you still want to use linux don't use a mini itx board, but an ARM9 based one. Its lighter and needs much less power. There are several of these cheap mini-2440 boards in ebay, even with a light webcam and wifi module and a lot of I/O's.
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Michael Smith August 25, 2010 at 9:22pm

Step 1: an enormous blimp.
Marco Glattfelder August 24, 2010 at 7:58am

There are mini ITX power systems that can run from 6 to 32V. This will allow you to pull more from the battery. A standard mini-ITX 12V power controller will cut at 11.5V. No need for an inverter. But let me understand: You need the mini ITX only for the webcam or for accessing the microsoctroller locally too?

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UAV Blimp controlled via on-board Mini-ITX motherboard

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