Posted by Matt Fisher on August 15, 2010 at 5:46pm
I use my WildHawk for testing UAV code as well as just for fun flights when I am out and about (where I don't mind a crash here and there). I am now working on finding a battery system that will give me huge flight time and I was in need of expanding the fuselage to hold these new batteries as I test. This is a simple mod with function over design in mind - but I figured I would post this since the WildHawk is a popular platform and this is a easy modification. The added weight ended up being 18.6 grams.
Posted by Matt Fisher on October 30, 2009 at 1:06pm
Flight test programs at Edwards Air Force Base and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center usually are off-limits to outsiders, but we got a peek at one of its coolest programs, the X-48B, when the Air Force recently threw open the gates for an open house.MORE: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/10/x-plane/Read more…
I think I may have to get one of these. It can run a 32bit OS off microSD, 1000MHz CPU with 256MB DRAM and do it all off of 2 watts!Is anyone as keen about getting there hands on this as I am!? A Linux distro for UAV's anyone?Article on Make Blog
Here is the (Python) code I used for getting my Saitek Pro Flight Yoke (http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/yoke.htm) data from the device into something usable. Python has a fantasic pygame library which reads joystick data. This is just a simple script that is short and sweet. This code reads all the motion axis (ie. the yoke, hat and throttles, ) and all of the buttons. Feel free to play around with it. I really dont want to use a RC transmitter for my UAV as I can so so much more with this device. Let me know what you think.And you don't need the Pro Flight Yoke to use this - any joystick will do :)USAGE NOTE: to execute type 'python filenameyousavethecodeas.py'######################## START CODE ##############################import pygamejoy = []# Handel the joystick eventdef handleJoyEvent(e):# Check for joystick axis movementif e.type == pygame.JOYAXISMOTION:axis = "unknown"if (e.dict['axis'] >= 0):axis = 'a' + str(e.dict['axis'])if (axis != "unknown"):s = "%s|%f" % (axis, e.dict['value'])print s# Check for buttonsif e.type == pygame.JOYBUTTONDOWN:if(e.dict['button'] >= 0):print 'b' + str(e.dict['button'])# wait for joystick inputdef joystickControl():while True:e = pygame.event.wait()if (e.type == pygame.JOYAXISMOTION or e.type == pygame.JOYBUTTONDOWN):handleJoyEvent(e)# main methoddef main():# initialize pygamepygame.joystick.init()pygame.display.init()if not pygame.joystick.get_count():print "\nPlease connect a joystick and run again.\n"quit()print "\n%d joystick(s) detected." % pygame.joystick.get_count()for i in range(pygame.joystick.get_count()):myjoy = pygame.joystick.Joystick(i)myjoy.init()joy.append(myjoy)print "Joystick %d: " % (i) + joy[i].get_name()print "Depress trigger (button 0) to quit.\n"# run joystick listener loopjoystickControl()# allow use as a module or standalone scriptif __name__ == "__main__":main()
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Posted by Matt Fisher on March 31, 2009 at 12:03pm
I found this paper titled "Ground Target Tracking with Road Map Support" written by Daniel Streller (daniel.streller@eads.com).http://subs.emis.de/LNI/Proceedings/Proceedings110/gi-proc-110-021.pdf (5 page PDF, 161KB)Its somewhat of a complicated read but very interesting as well.The UAV I am planning to build will have alot of onboard memory which I will use to store road data from a automobile GPA system. This data will be used to properly find waypoint by keyname rather then lat/long. Since my UAV is to have a good camera on it, I am very keen to dig into ground target tracking and autonomous waypoint creation and this seemed like a good start.
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