Posted by Matt Johnston on January 14, 2010 at 7:44pm
Hi all,I'm a contracting WAN (large computer network) architect/engineer, and an embedded systems engineer (microprocessor-based stuff mainly, with most experience in netbook and mobile style applications). Before that I was a programmer, focusing on networked applications, and also did a while of AI development.I've been given a part-time funded project of the design of a mid-sized UAV (several to be built), for monitoring and on-demand surveillance of a medium sized property. Under the contract I have, I own all rights to the design, so I decided I'd share what I learn and develop with others.The planned UAV is a mid-sized quad-rotor helicopter, 500mm between rotor center and airframe center, with 200mm blades (for a 400mm rotor). These exact details may change however, and I'll try to keep this blog updated with progress and such.I'll be developing almost everything in-house, including the airframe, avionics, protocols, and ground station equipment. I'll be using pre-designed ICs, motors, and batteries (among other things) for obvious reasons. I'll be manufacturing a lot of the parts and assembly myself.The system is to be fully automated, and will be controlled via a base station server, with a small comms tower. The UAVs will contain mesh networking links, to allow either relayed communications with the base, or basic AI intelligence when they are outside of base range, by direct communication.I'll be posting to update on the sort of things I'm up to, and with more design and implementation details as they come up. I'll hope to follow this post soon with more information on how the system operates.Anyway, looks like a fun site, filled with a lot of knowledgeable people. I think I'm definitely going to enjoy my time here :)-Matt
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