For my FPV projects I wanted a system that is easy to install in different vehicles. I always disliked that the FPV control of PAN/TILT systems used additional channels of my primary rc tx.

So I decided to build and integrated system that works independently from the RC and/or UAV setup. It should have and own receiver for controlling at least 2 cameras, a video downlink and a OSD controller for telemetry data. The ground unit had to be compact like a RC TX.

Actually I finished the system and I can control 2 cameras. One is a classic pan/tilt front camera with a GO Pro HD Hero live feed that can be moved by the head-tracker or by joystick. The second camera is a ripped CCTV with 30x optical zoom as belly/dome camera. I’m actually working on the stabilization of that one. I test the system with an old RC car using as receiver the remote unit itself.

The result is following:

Ground station/unit:

1. 5.8Ghz Video receiver
2. 8 ch 2.4Ghz Corona RC TX DIY Module
3. Eagle Tree Diversity ground station
4. Arduino duemilanove with LCD to control the 2.4Ghz TX module
5. Arduino mini to encode the ppm signal from a GY-1000 HK head-tracker encoding it again into a new ppm stream for the 2.4Ghz TX module.
6. Fat Shark video goggles
7. 3”  LCD monitor
8. Internal 11.1V Li-Po or external 12V power supply
9. Joysticks from an old walkera radio
10. Still open: Tripod with 5.8 GHz patch antenna with tracking system

Getting the ppm decoder was really hard. Most examples didn't worked at all. I mainly had to work with interrupts, but sending the head tracking position data to the primary arduino was really hairy. I finally generated analog signals, added a filter to make them "real" dc and read them with the main arduino.

Remote unit:

1. 200mW 5.8GHz Video Transmitter
2. 2.4 GHz Corona 8Ch receiver
3. 2Ch Video switch (on Ch7)
4. Eagle Tree OSD pro
5. Eagle Tree eLogger V4
6. HK 6A 5V ESC

The unit is quiet heavy. I guess at least 180g. But I don’t use it on small vehicles. I overall satisfied because now I can install an FPV system on planes and helicopters of friends and act as “passenger”. I never ever fly in FPV mode: I have always a pilot buddy or I’m the pilot and my buddy the passenger. 

I published some of the images of this project already on myPage. Actually I wanted to copycat the Swiss army drone scout 95, but I changed the tail design during the build phase. I started with a Google SketchUp drawing I made, but as I changed the design it's not actualized. I used a Clark-y profile.

The particular thing is that the rear landing gear is not on the body but on the wings as on the scout 95. I tried to build all really solid. I tested the lading gears hitting it with a 1 pound hammer. This bird has to land in rough unknown terrain. I estimate the TOW around 15Kg. I hope flaps and airbrakes will allow me to land not too fast.

I will use APM, but I need to manage much more communication systems (GPRS and Wi-Fi) in addition to an xBee868. So I will have a proxy processor to manage the APM (I guess an Arduino Mega). Redundancy is mandatory, as I want to get a license for experimental flight out of LOS here in Switzerland. I have already build an own power box that manages 4 batteries in 2 power circuits. One for avionics and one for rc rx, servos and ignition. A stand-alone GPS/GSM Tracker can shut-down the engine and start a fail-safe sequence. Here I still am looking how I can figure out if the APM has crashed or the plane has lost all communication to the ground station (an completely autonomous is not allowed. Even the army cannot fly w/o a data link to the drones) 

The propulsion is a 2.stroke gas engine. Now it's a 30cc but I will go for 40 or 50cc.

My roadmap is to take it in the air in late spring as normal rc plane and test the flight features. APM and avionics will be tested o other airframes till I'm sure the system will be reliable. I will update this blog with some images more soon.

Actually I work on the FPV system that will be active for close and mid range flights. I will post this as a separate project.

Inspired by the news about some HAB projects last year ("150$", iPhone4), I decided to start my own high altitude balloon project in November 2010. The goal was to take some HD video and 12MP images reaching around 30’000m resp. 100’000 feet. Finally it reached 21'300m. A real challenge was that Switzerland is a hard place for a capsule with parachute to land: Mountains, woods, streets, lakes and rivers everywhere! On the other hand: No rules for payload under 2.5Kg. No cut-off device. No radar reflector and no need to report the launch.

See the Blog here:http://swisshab.blogspot.com/ 

The capsule contained:

-          Samsung HD Video camera with 32GB SD

-          Pentax Optio 12MP Camera with 8GB SD

-          No-name CAR 720p Video recorder with 16GB SD

-          low-budget 720p Vid recorder with 4gb micro SD

-          Sparkfun HAB-PCB with open log with 2GB micro SD and Venus GPS

-          TK102 GPS/GSM tracker.  Standalone Battery.

-          No-name GPS-GSM Tracker

-          xBee pro 2.4 GHz for local search al landing

-          Arduino Pro for interval Timer and Beeper control

The balloon was an us army surplus, about 1500g.

Now. It was my first HAB and therefore I made some mistakes. But I find it, and this is a success. One problem I had were the strong movement of the capsule, that was off balance. The panorama program of the 12MP camera had a slow shutter and the most images were not ok. One video camera didn't worked at all, and due to the rescue only the day after another camera recorded th ground of the lading site.