Started to test T-Motor MN3110-17 700KV with 12X40 Tiger CF props for my new Y6 build, but my 30A simonk flashed ESC was getting so hot on 3S lipo and after trying 4S it got cooked. ESC32 was next in the test and performed well no heat and no problem running with this motor, but its too big to fit inside the center plates, looked around for something much smaller and Felix and Paul from flyduino.net had exactly what I was looking for.

It is small, even with the capacitor it's half the size of regular 20-30A esc, (now I'm thinking about using 20mm tubes and fitting esc inside)

Did few tests here and on 4S without any cooling it won't go over 20°C. 

Another cool feature is the Configurator (Google Chrome extension so it will run on any OS ,not mobile ) 

And the best feature is Spin Direction option so no more resoldering :)

Also if someone looking for experimenting with 3D copters, this esc will run in reversible mode with modified props.

Here is warthox going crazy as usual:

more info at flyduino.net and ultraesc.com

Cleveland's local television show "Kickin' it with Kenny" featured Flite Test on a live TV broadcast! -
See more at: http://flitetest.com/articles/kickin-it-with-kenny

Few days ago I decided to burn my FrSky DHT, plugged the battery backwards, nothing looked burned and no magic smoke, but module was dead... After poking around with multimeter I found that TPS54331 went caput (0v on pin1), 3.3v regulator survived. Got the replacement at local farnell distributor, no shipping cost :) 5 minutes soldering and module beeped back to life.  

Starting at $999 for the Core i5-equipped, 64GB variant, the Razer Edge isn't cheap, but Razer doesn't seem to have skimped on quality. There's an Nvidia GPU inside it, beefing up the graphics, the base spec features 4GB of RAM (maxing out at 8GB on the Edge Pro), and though the screen resolution is only 1366 x 768, the display looks to be of a decent quality. Look for the Razer Edge to arrive in Q1 of this year, alongside the $249 gamepad dock and $99 docking station, with its keyboard dock coming up in the latter half of 2013.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/26/4032270/razer-edge-windows-8-tablets-available-for-preorder-march-1

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-edge-pro

Team-blacksheep have very nice frame for DJI-NAZA with some fancy PDB, but I don't have NAZA and I wanted some modification to mount APM2/2.5, so here is my version of that frame, no fancy PDB and PCBs, just black fiberglass :)

If you do have DJI NAZA go get that frame right NOW !

 APM2.0 with 90° pins fits under the top plate with analog and telemetry pins exposed.

APM2.5 with ublox GPS.

Set the LED_MODE parameter to 9, It will slow blink when disarmed, solid armed, fast blink + beep on low battery.

The CG and the APM location moved a little bit, but it can fly as regular X quad. (don't pull back too much)

I just changed the AP_MotorsQuad.cpp X frame set-up to:

add_motor(AP_MOTORS_MOT_1, 55, AP_MOTORS_MATRIX_MOTOR_CCW, AP_MOTORS_MOT_2, 1);
add_motor(AP_MOTORS_MOT_2, -125, AP_MOTORS_MATRIX_MOTOR_CCW, AP_MOTORS_MOT_1, 3);
add_motor(AP_MOTORS_MOT_3, -55, AP_MOTORS_MATRIX_MOTOR_CW, AP_MOTORS_MOT_4, 4);
add_motor(AP_MOTORS_MOT_4, 125, AP_MOTORS_MATRIX_MOTOR_CW, AP_MOTORS_MOT_3, 2);

Setup

Motors: Tiger MS2212-13 980KV

ESC: jDrones 18A (Flashed with SimonK FW)

I really like the 10X5 Graupner e-props (or new Carbon 10X5 e-props) with 4S 3000mah lipo, after some fine-tuning its very sharp fly.

Here some raw clips from Arducopter 2.8.1 tuning flights:

BTW Jani from jDrones (that where I CNC all my custom frames ;) ) has put together fancy RTF kit, so check that one out.

EDIT:

The top outside hols for the arms are ~0.5mm off, I think so chek it before cuting.

ARDU_DIS_APM25.DXF

The LA100 is priced at €990 (US$1,275) and will come ready to fly from December, 2012. Lehmann Aviation says it plans to roll out hardware and software upgrades for the LA100 on a regular basis.

I guess its all about PR :)

Read more: SEVEN MINUTES OF TERROR FOR MARS ROVER CURIOSITY

There is creative people at NASA :)

It was fun day :) We shot review of new Ferrari California that now on the market in Israel, (video is in Hebrew).

There is few shots from my tri-copter, also at 2:34 tri-copter got in to the shot :)

Some photos from the set:

Tri-Copter:

APM 2.0

Motor Mounts - jD Multi Mount

Motors - T-Motor MS2212 980KV

ESC - jDrones ESC 30 Amp 

GoPro mount - ArduCopter GoPro Cameramount, 2 axis 

Driver Leon Taoubes

Big thanks to Ferrari Israel for letting us play with $500K toy :)

That my list of 9x radio mods, Keeping it DIY, and under $200 :) 

First one is 'er9x' firmware super easy:

Here is wiki page and good 'How to wire' videos: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 you'll need some programmer this one works fine  

also you can use arduino board. 

'eepe' tool is here. 

Next one is the 6 position 'mode' switch for ArduPlane/Copter, here is my original mod and complete 'how to' from Paul. That is 2 pole switch, so its 2 switches in one and I used that second switch for LEDs.

Next is the Turnigy 9X LCD Backlight Kit from HK 'how to' is here :)IMPORTANT !!! DON'T DO THAT 

Just cut-off some of extra foam but don't try to completely remove it, big mess !

Speaker Mod with Haptic Feedback really cool one :)

Next FrSky Telemetry 

There is number of ways to do it 'How to modify your 9x to support telemetry'

one is using 'FrSkyLite' that also used for 'FrSky' firmware upgrades.

But here is another one that also converts 'FrSky' module to support firmware upgrades via FTDI cable.

You'll need to perform minor surgery on that DHT DIY module :)

And some work on the 9x board too.

But the most important part is the new ERSKY9x ARM board for 9x radios !!!

Here is a Feature List:
input voltage 6.5 - 16 volts (7.2V ideal)
Atmel SAM3S ARM Cortex M3 Microprocessor 
256K of Eprom , 48K Ram 
4mb EEprom - For Model /sound storage
Support for Optrex display F-55472GNFJ-SLW-AAN
Built-in external USB socket for Programming / interface.
2 external RS232 Serial Ports.
PWM control of LED backlight . (dimmable)
1/2 Watt Mono Audio Amp , with digital volume control
8 ohm speaker output with auto switch over headphone jack output.
Micro SD card socket with 4 bit high speed connection to ARM
Support for RN-42 Bluetooth Module (spot for external TTL serial connection)
Haptic output connector , with PWM drive.
ATTiny167 AVR micro for RTC and 12 external switch inputs/encoders or up to 10 A/D inputs , can be battery backuped 
External I/O connector with 4 lines one with DAC output
I2C output connector + spare port pin. 
5V output.
On board current sensor , to measure power usage on battery
Second PPM OUTPUT
Software control of Power - off

Should be out soon for $85 !

wet ar.drone dream from warthox on Vimeo.

I know it just an AR.Drone body :)

And this is the most crazy video from warthox !

You'll need 4 rubber rings ~1.5-2cm diameter, ( used on prop-savers ) and 4 M3x10mm Spacers.

Just squeeze it through the hole:

 and lock it on the spacer:

you can use 4 extra spacers and mount the top plate:Good flying to you all :)

Scientists have invented a new material that is so lightweight it can sit atop a fluffy dandelion without crushing the little fuzzy seeds.

It's so lightweight, styrofoam is 100 times heavier.

It is so lightweight, in fact, that the research team consisting of scientists at UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and Caltech say in the peer-reviewed Nov. 18 issue of Science that it is the lightest material on Earth, and no one has asked them to run a correction yet.

That's light!

The material has been dubbed "ultralight metallic microlattice," and according to a news release sent out by UC Irvine, it consists of 99.99% air thanks to its "microlattice" cellular architecture.

 

Full Story Here

So yhea, What now? :)

I started to work on my Bixler EPO 1400mm - (ARF) and this kit have some problems :)

The fuselage is glued, but very bad, I was able to pull it apart by hand :) That made it easier to remove the washers from the nose, ( it will have enough weight in the end :) )

and the horrible motor mount that was hot-glued to one side and at very strange angle :) And there is no way to change the motor if the plane is assembled :(

I wanted better motor mount :) And with the option to change the motor !!! So I made one :) 

Its only 13g.

The tube is glued in, motor and the mount plate slides in and locked by two screws.

now I can change the motor :)

Thanks.

YouTube added video stabilization tool to new video editor.

And its super easy to use: Upload your video go to video editor and click "Stabilize".

It will take some time to process the video, but who cares... you can keep using your PC !!!, because all the work is done in the "cloud" :) No more After Effects Rendering :)

And YouTube lets you download your video ( if you didn't used any copyrighted music for it )

I think, that as fully automatic process, it do a very good job !

Here you some samples:

It have only one problem "fish-eye" videos from GoPro HD get a funny distortion :)

But it still looks good :)

I was looking for audio system for my car and came-across very interesting hardware from Dension !!!

The Dension WiFi RC is a plug & play wireless RC receiver.

It allows you to control your RC car, boat, tank, construction machine or any other RC vehicle with your iPhone using WiFi. The iPhone application, available for free in the App Store, lets you drive with on-screen joysticks or by tilting the phone, while watching the real-time video stream coming from your vehicle.

You can quickly access 8+4 channels of output, adjust the sensitivity and trimming, just like on a professional transmitter.

The Dension WiFi RC adds a brand new, high-tech and fun way to drive your RC models.

Features:

• 8 PPM output channels for Servo or ESC control
• 4 digital outputs (on/off)
• 4 digital inputs (on/off)
• 1 analogue input
• Failsafe function
• Battery voltage monitoring
• Up to 2 digital USB cameras (with an external USB HUB)
• Microphone input
• Speaker output
• Video recording

Compatible with the following devices:

• iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 with iOS4
• iPod Touch
• iPad
• Android*

Technical specs:

• Dimensions: 44 x 28 x 18 mm
• Power supply: 6 – 16V
• Comes with Tamiya power connector
• 266 Mhz ARM9 processor
• 16 MB SDRAM
• 4 MB FLASH
• 2 USB Host ports
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Infrastructure and AP modes
• Power consumption:
  100mA @ 6V idle,
  200 mA @ 6V cam. & WiFi on
• Open protocol*
  Write your own transmitter application for any smartphone / tablet to control the way you want.
• Software SDK*
  Add new applications to the embedded Linux operating system of your WiFi RC. No-one has an FTP server on wheels yet :)

*Under development. Available via software upgrade in mid-2011.

 

Get it here  129,00 €

WiRC module

USB Camera

USB WiFi stick

Free iPhone App

Android App Under development

Manual 

Looks like, that have some potential . ! ? 

http://revision3.com/hak5/backtothestudio

what will be the best air-frame ( something from HobbyKing, what kind of wing ) to build this hybrid on ? 

In this HakTip from DEFCON 19 Darren is joined by Piotr of the QuadShot project.
Project site: http://thequadshot.com/

All Y6s out there, motor mix changed, there also no more Top/Bottom speed ratio setting (for now).

So check the motors setup on your frames, before and after :) you load new code. 

The full story is here  By R Colin Johnson, EE Times -- EDN, July 13, 2011

http://www.microsoft.com/robotics/

The best part here is:

"Last year Microsoft acquired the fabless chip maker, Canesta Inc (Sunnyvale, Calif) which makes a chip-level pattern recognition engine. Canesta's engine is said to outperform the PrimeSensor which Microsoft is currently licensing from PrimeSense Ltd. (Tel-Aviv, Israel) for its Kinect. 

When Microsoft commercializes the Canesta-invented chip-level work-alike of the PrimeSensor, it will be able to downsize the foot-long Kinect to about a square centimeter, enabling tiny robots and other mobile devices, such as the Windows Phone, to perform sophisticated gesture recognition for natural user interfaces, autonomous navigation and many other tasks."

Thanks Microsoft :)