About

Gender

Male


About Me:

I'm presently a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Deakin University in Australia. I'm married, with two lovely daughters (5 & 11). In my spare time (which isn't much), I enjoy computer games, building robots, programming, golf, sports and astronomy. I've been flying R/C (gliders and powered aero) for nearly 20 years and have recently defected to flying helis, playing with my Blade 450 and T-Rex 600. If I ever find quiet time I love to read, particularly anything by Terry Pratchett!


Please tell us a bit about your UAV interest

I worked on the Aerosonde UAV development team and undertook my PhD research developing intelligent navigation software for autonomous cyclone/hurricane reconnaissance using UAVs. I eventually abandoned this PhD (for many reasons) and completed a PhD in mathematics and computer vision. My research is now in the areas of computer vision and UAVs (and in particular, coupling the two and looking at the role of vision in biological and engineered flight systems).


Hometown:

Melbourne


Activity Feed

Tim Wilkin replied to Kelly Small's discussion Setting/Clearing Waypoints with Ch6 in PIXHAWK
"The point of Rodney's reply was that you wont have a GPS fix indoors, so there will be no valid data to store for a waypoint. Try placing the rover in the back yard with a clear view of the sky and try again."
Jul 13, 2016
Tim Wilkin replied to Cala's discussion FPV-POWER from Australia, anyone know them? in ArduCopter User Group
"These were developed by a Melbourne company (Hobbyzone) in conjunction with their Chinese partners. I've seen these batteries in action and the video evidence of a 90km range FPV flight from a 42Ah pack... the flight was done by another Melbourne…"
Jul 3, 2016
Tim Wilkin replied to XJZeng's discussion An assembled kit for learning to code for control theory? in ArduCopter User Group
"You might also be interested in reviewing this course (offered by Penn State through Coursera): https://www.coursera.org/learn/robotics-flight
It covers the mathematical representation of the control problem, which may help you to understand what…"
Jun 28, 2016
Tim Wilkin commented on Chris Anderson's blog post New service to "take control of reckless or malicious drones"
"In many jurisdictions this (the demonstrated ability to crash another persons aerial vehicle at will) would be considered a criminal act (wilful damage/destruction of property). I also cannot see how one would easily modify existing legislation to…"
Feb 8, 2016
Tim Wilkin replied to Richard Kennedy's discussion Nasty Props! in ArduCopter User Group
"People are severely injured, maimed and even killed on a daily basis due to accidents around the home. This is just another risky activity that should be executed *with caution*. It sounds like this person was flying outside of their home and in…"
Dec 1, 2015
Tim Wilkin replied to Roger Monongo's discussion Airspeed sensor tube, does length matters? in ArduPlane User Group
"Any surgical grade rubber tube will be fine, so long as it makes an airtight seal at both ends. The only issue you will need to take care with is the layout of the tube within the airframe. You need to ensure that there are no sharp bends or kinks…"
Nov 17, 2015
Tim Wilkin replied to Bernard J Vanterpool's discussion Connecting PIXHAWK to a Spektrum DX6 in PIXHAWK
"I've used several OrangeRx 8ch receivers with PixHawk and Spektrum gear. They provide SBUS output, which PixHawk handles directly."
Apr 27, 2015
Tim Wilkin commented on Simon D. Levy's blog post The Extended Kalman Filter: An Interactive Tutorial
""Googling this term led me to several different web pages and reference papers, most of which I found too difficult to follow. So I decided to create my own tutorial..."

I've heard this so many times from my students... I didn't understand what I…"
Dec 9, 2014
Tim Wilkin commented on Jonathan Meringer's blog post Scout Drone - Video Update
"Great work guys.

As a feature suggestion... how about a "return to authorised station". That is, allow it to be sent to the nearest ranger station, police station or similar and have it emit an alarm upon landing, alerting anyone finding it to the…"
Dec 6, 2014
Tim Wilkin replied to Calvin R. Walker's discussion Issue with Terminal in ArduPlane User Group
"Check the baud rate setting for that communication port and make sure it matches that listed in MP."
Dec 2, 2014
Tim Wilkin left a comment on PIXHAWK
"Did you try forcing a firmware upload/update onto the PX4IO? For the FMU/IO stack this was achieved by holding down the arming button while powering up and keep holding it through several sequences of musical chimes. If when they integrated the IO…"
Nov 26, 2014
Tim Wilkin left a comment on PIXHAWK
"Two things to try if you believe it to be an SD card fault: 1) format the SD card in a PC first (this will usually get rid of any corruptions in the file table); and/or 2) jiggle it after inserting and make sure its bedded down against the pins. I…"
Nov 26, 2014
Tim Wilkin replied to Edgar Scott's discussion Should we put an end to requiring a traditional Tx for Multicopters? in ArduCopter User Group
"I think that's a little unfair Edgar... there are indeed many directions being taken by people within this community that I expect will one day lead to freedom from the Tx. I don't though believe that it will be a replacement of the Tx, such as…"
Nov 25, 2014
Tim Wilkin replied to Edgar Scott's discussion Should we put an end to requiring a traditional Tx for Multicopters? in ArduCopter User Group
"We've had this discussion about virtual joysticks before (about 2 years ago iirc) and they simply don't give the haptic feedback required for accurate flight control. Sure, you can develop quite good sensitivity with using them, but you lack the…"
Nov 23, 2014
Tim Wilkin left a comment on Melbourne
"Given I have to work on cup day, Deakin can pay me to fly here! Yay! ;)"
Oct 29, 2014
Tim Wilkin left a comment on X-UAV Talon
"Hobbyking weights always include packaging, so that the shipping weight (and hence shipping cost) are accurately calculated. My 4S 5000 lists as 1 gram lighter than the 4S 6600 Multistar, so battery weight will be almost identical.

Indeed, that's…"
Sep 18, 2014
More…