automatik's Posts (13)

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ArduPilot Ground Control Station ready for public beta testing

Posted by automatik on May 12, 2010 at 9:30pm

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LabVIEW based ArduPilot Ground Control Station ( GCS) is ready for public beta test.

GCS wiki: See wiki for installation and configuration instructions (read through it, or at least watch video )

Requirements:

- Windows OS
- LabVIEW run time engine 9.0
- Google Earth ( if you already have it you don't have to re-install it. Google Earth version prior to 5.1 ( newest) should be fine)


- Ground Control Station application (zip file) - Updated May 16, 2010 !


Optional: Code for GCS can be found here ( you will need LabVIEW 8.6 or higher)

New Features of ArduPilot GCS :
  • Data logging
  • kml logging
  • voice synthesis
  • (UI has been redesigned, code architecture has been changed, etc.)

Short introduction video explaining how to start and stop GCS:

http://vimeo.com/11772440



more comprehensive GCS video ( worth watching ! ) is here:

http://vimeo.com/11608873

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UAVs everywhere

Posted by automatik on April 13, 2010 at 8:00pm

60027_fig_01.jpg



I guess UAVs are getting more popular, as I am seeing more articles about them in not so traditional places ( although below linked article is from Electronic Design magazine so I guess theme fits ...)

It's a fairly general overview type of an article but still interesting

http://electronicdesign.com/article/embedded/page/page/page/1/uavs_conquer_the_skies.aspx

UAVs Conquer The Skies

"Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) come in all shapes and sizes. They range from tiny microbots to high-flying drones like the General Atomics MQ-9
Reaper, which is ready for reconnaissance or combat (see “Unmanned Military Vehicles: Robots On The Rise”).
Remote operation is common, but autonomous and semi-autonomous
operation are in high demand since they have fewer technical
requirements and often provide more reliable operation than human
operators."....


P.S. Here is another one:

Fire Scout Scores First-Ever Drug Bust with McInerney


http://www.asdnews.com/news/27149/Fire_Scout_Scores_First-Ever_Drug_Bust_with_McInerney.htm
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ScanEagle Video

Posted by automatik on March 25, 2010 at 4:46pm


I came across ScanEagle video on EngineeringTV that showed ffew things that I din't know about it - each wing is attached to fuselage by one pin, motor mount is very flexible ( for vibration isolation) - there is a good shot of it towards the end of the video. Video has two parts and there is comerciall in the middle ( i.e. don't close the video when commerical starts ( ~ 2 min into the video...)

http://engineeringtv.com/blogs/etv/archive/2010/03/25/scaneagle-unmanned-system.aspx
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What's your screen resolution? - help GCS desing

Posted by automatik on March 15, 2010 at 1:00am
In order to properly size displays for the ArduPilot GCS it would help to know what screen resolution everyone uses - in the field on their GCS computer (laptop)

640x480
800x600
854x480
960x1200
1024x640
1024x768
1152x864
1280x720
1280x768
1280x800
1280x960
1280x1024
1360x768
1366x768
1400x1050
1440x900
1600x900
1600x1000
1600x1024
1600x1200
1600x1280
1680x1050
1792x1344
1856x1392
1920x1080
1920x1200
1920x1440
1920x2400
2048x1280
2048x1536
2560x1600
2560x2048
3840x2400

Other ( if so what?)
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Coyote - small UAV from big guys

Posted by automatik on March 8, 2010 at 9:39am


ViewMedia?mgid=211844&vid=5&download=1



Found this interesting - small UAV from BAE Systems

"The Coyote is a small, electric-powered unmanned aircraft system. Initially designed with funding from the U.S. Navy, it weighs only 13
pounds and has a 58-inch wingspan. Once deployed, it can cruise faster
than 60 knots for more than an hour, conducting research or performing
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions."
Source: EON

Also here is a video of proposed deployment:



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FalconView - open source mapping application

Posted by automatik on January 23, 2010 at 9:55pm
In doing some research on ground stations, I came across FalconView - an open source pc based mapping software."FalconView is a PC based Mapping Application developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for the Department of Defense.The software is widely used by the US DoD and Allied countries, but historically it has not been available to the general public. Thanks to an initiative by the US Air Force, we have begun releasing a Free and Open Source version of FalconView."Guys from AeroVironment integrated it into their ground station. I came accros all this by vatching a video about Puma uav - link to video (it's in two parts, there is a comircial at the begineeing and middle of the video)Actually on EngineringTV you can find other informative videos about UAVs, robotics, and another engineering stuff.Maybe in future we'll integrate FalconView with ArduPilot GCS :)
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Features you would like to see in ArduPilot GCS

Posted by automatik on January 9, 2010 at 2:00pm
I am pleased to report that ArduPilot ground station ( LabVIEW ) team is getting up and going.Our first objective is to clean-up the code a bit, make it more robust, and easier to add new functionality.Over time request for ground station features have been mentioned in few threads, and I would like to consolidate them in one place.What ground station features would you like to see or change?For example:1. kml logging : log lat, lon, alt2. voice synthesis : periodically announce status (way point, alt, speed); announce status through selected flight levels3. A choice of different graphic layouts, specially for the Horizon Indicator, something that would resemble more real aircraft instruments4. Change colors to get more contrast on sunny days5. Label baud rate settings for different GPSs so you don't have to remember (uBlox=38k; EM406 = 57k)6. Distribute the executable as a .app (not just .exe) so that Mac users can try it.7. Object tracking - once we have video support8. Show a 3d model representation of the plane9. online & offline maps support (google maps, OziExplorer,...)10. Data logging - preferably user selectable parameters- add your request
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ArduPilot Ground Station - basic GPS / KML logging example

Posted by automatik on December 29, 2009 at 11:48am
Hi all,attached is example of ArduPilot Ground Station that logs KML data, as well as displays plane path during flight. (plane icon is current position and flight path is yellow with green bars, but I have lot's of data packed so it's hard to see green in the attached pic).

There were mentions in couple of threads about desire for GPS / kml logging and some more general purpose logging as well. While back I modified original GS LabVIEW code to include KML logging...My personal GS (test) code looks a bit different (different architecture, etc.) but in attached example I added functionality to Jordi's code....It can be easily adapted to Mike Black's modified GS LabVIEW code as well. I left everything else "as is" so to preserve familiarity/look-feel of the code....For people with LabVIEW development environment:-Copy paste attached files into your groundstation directory (groundtest-kml_mod.vi , KML-Compose.vi, and NetworkLink file)-NetworkLink file will be overwritten so you might want to back it up (just rename it)-Don't worry about flight.kml file as we will use flight-test.kml file-Start groundtest-kml_mod.vi ( instead of groundtest.vi as you would normally do)For people without LabVIEW dev environment:- sorry :( - you'll have to wait untill someone from 'Ground Station Dev group' compiles the files and include them into repository . I don't have access to depository and am using LabVIEW 8.5, while everyone else (i think) uses LabVIEW 8.6 - it would be just too big of a mess to keep up with dev version control so I'll leave it at "GS people" to compile the code and include it (if they so desire)Note lat, lon, and alt data is logged into flight-test.kml file - It will be rewritten every time you start ground station...so If you want to preserve file for future use, after you are done with flight, copy or simply rename the file.kml file will look something like this:

In the attached file lat and lon is not changing because that's the time frame while plane was sitting on the runway.Attached files show basic example of GPS / kml logging that suited my needs. Expending this file, or creating more specific data log file is fairly trivial and can easily be done.NetworkLink.kmlgroundtest-kml_mod.viKML-Compose.vi
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Gyro and accelerometer vibration tests

Posted by automatik on November 16, 2009 at 1:00am

I performed some rudimentary vibration tests on Razor 6 DOF board with Arduino - which has same gyros and accel as ArduIMU (LPR530AL and LY530ALH, ADXL335). In the above link you'll find complete description of test setup and bunch of images and graphs.Summary is:- Razor / Arduino, which is bulkier then ArduIMU, was placed inside HawkSky ( a la EasyStar) and tests were performed on the bench. I tried, as much it's possible on the bench, to simulate flight condition (i.e. no rigid connections to bench)- there were three groups of tests - no padding, "IMU" padding, and "IMU" + motor mount padding-Accelerometer data, gyro non-amplified signals, and gyro 4x amplified signals were recorded for part throttle and full throttle

Preliminary thoughts:- High Pass filter should probably be changed / eliminated - as noted in other threads by Andrus and Doug W.- I wouldn't mind if bigger capacitors for low pass filters (accels and gyros) were put in place- Padding matters. Location of padding + board placement matters.(some previous data on Razor at http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/razor-6dof-imu-arduino-dcm )
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Razor 6DOF IMU + Arduino + DCM

Posted by automatik on November 5, 2009 at 1:00am
I recently got SparkFun's 6 IMU board and played with it a bit. Basically I connected Arduino and Razor 6DOF board and ported DCM code. Code is ArduIMU v13 but just made to work with Razor board. I am not sure what to think about gyros on that board as it takes them a while to "warm-up". Below you can see run from cold start for over an hour and "zoom' on first minute or so (just raw ADC values). On the link referenced above, you can see same data plots for both gyros and accelerometers.

I also modified ArduIMU Labview code - mainly that "cube" is within main window rather then separate one. I haven't compiled the code but whoever has LabVIEW should be able to run it (developed with version 8.5)

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UAS in the NAS

Posted by automatik on October 27, 2009 at 9:00pm
Link to "report" [PDF]:http://www.auvsi.org/unmannedscience/newsletter/attachments/140/Barnhard_D.pdfQuote:"In the near future we will see unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the National Airspace System (NAS) seamlessly with manned aircraft in all classes of airspace. To achieve this airspace integration issues must be solved in a safe expeditious manner. There is much to do by all Stakeholders in the coming dec-ade to realize this end. Approaches to Airspace Integration for UAS are herein discussed with potential solutions and the way forward set forth."Interesting read...desired steps but nothing really concrete yet (but I guess it has to start somewgere)
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6DOF IMU from Nunchuck and Wii Motion Plus

Posted by automatik on September 6, 2009 at 5:48pm
This is somewhat OT, but it could help someone just starting out...Nunchuck controller has three accelerometers and Wii Motion Plus has three gyros which makes a nice combination for 6 DOF IMU platform. People have been able to communicate with these devices before, but in order to talk to both of them you had to make an additional board ( it's slick solution though). I played with it while back, and figured out a way to acquire data from Nunchuck and WM+ via pass-through port and without extra board...i finally found some time to do a quick write up. Code provided in the above link is just for communication example and nothing else (i.e stabilization, Kalman, etc.)
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