Wootwoot!
They are here everyone!
That's a lot of techpods. I will start shipping tomorrow. Still have to work so the majority will be shipped Friday and Saturday when I will be having work parties with a few friend coming over for beer and pizza.
Thanks to the diydrones community for helping make this happen.
wayne
(copied from my blog at hobbyuav.com)
Hey everyone!
I have not found a place where the fixed-wing control for the PX4 is being done so I started this blog.
Above is a Screen shot from XFLR5. I use it to mathematically model the physical form of an airplane. I can then take this description of said plane and then start modeling the flow of air over the surfaces described is the model. You can then send modeled air at it in different angles and at different viscosity. In other words different pitches and yaws as well as different air densities or altitudes.
I use it all the time to make U.A.Vs. I think it should be integrated into the PX4 so that we can start introducing into the mathematical models of the control algorithms, a model of the crafts interaction with its environment (air). Thus achieving a much more complete mathematical description of the system.
This can be implemented by modeling the aicraft in XFLR5 then taking the results and generating LUTs of the predicted air/air-frame interactions. just one example of this would be to use the generated full airplane polar graphs to predict what AOA at a given speed and air density, should produce level flight or even produce a desired vertical acceleration (climb or dive). This would greatly reduce the dependence on the PID loop to achieve a given altitude, making the system much more stable at a greater range of the aircrafts flight envelope.
This can also be applied to different control loops as well. yaw and roll control. It can also be applied to every control surface as well. XFLR5 can generate tables of inertial moment data as well giving you a Cm polar. this can be calculated for various control surface angles. You can then take the aerodynamic Cm data and combine it with a physical inertial model to do a full stability analysis. The output of the Cm and the inertial model data can then be feed in to the control loops to achieve desired rotational accelerations instead of purely relying on the PID loop. Giving the control loops a much wider dynamic range that is possible with just a PID loop.
Hey everyone,
First off I am happy to announce The First round of Techpods will start shipping Feb 21st!
here are some shots of my latest build. Has 10,000 mah of 6s lipo, an APM 2.5,and minim OSD. Going for a 3.4 hour flight. They are still available for pre-order at hobbyuav.com.
Sorry everyone but I have to announce the shipping date for techpod has been pushed back to march 15th
I received this in an email from my factory contact at world models
” The production would be completed and ready to ship by early March. It is longer than expected as our factory will be closed for three weeks starting from early February for the Chinese New Year holidays. Also, the carbon tubes (fuselage) will take about 20 days to order from our supplier and we need some time to work on the tubes when we get them. “
Well it looks like more time in the salt mines for me and my poor supporters are going to have to wait another month to get their techpods. Well the bright side is the production unit the factory sent me is awesome and going together nicely. I am waiting for some new lipos to come in so i can fit them in the fuselage.
Here is the new set up:
12x8 apc prop
Will be looking for 3+ hours flight time with this set up.
thanks everyone for your continued support and patience.
Wayne
I am happy to announce I have secured a distributor in Australia. please contact admin@boltrc.com for ordering info. They should have a proper store front up next week at boltrc.com
never heard of the Techpod? Read more about it @ hobbyuav.com
g'day mate!
Wayne
so here is the latest news concerning the techpod:
Got the production unit in.
You can see more at the newly revamped hobbyuav.com. Also we now have an actual online store with paypal and credit card payment options and international shipping as well. Check out the full gallery for more picteres of the different parts.
i am very impressed with the quality. The tops of the wings are glass smooth, the bottoms have only minimal bumps from the steam vents used in the molding process.. Every thing fits well and everything seems plenty stiff to withstand sudden maneuvers.
Thanks guys!
Wayne
Hey guys Check out the picture the factory just send me. They are going to send it to me for approval ASAP.
So if all goes well, they will be done manufacturing the batch in about 3-4 weeks.Then they will be shipped to the US for distribution to all my wonderful supporters. I should have them about the second week of February. Go to hobbyuav.com to pre-oreders yours today.
Thanks!
Here is what it looks like put together.
Hey everyone,
I am happy to announce that aluminum molds for mass producing the techpod are nearly ready to start cranking out airplanes!
Thanks to everyone who helped me out on kickstarter! You can still pre-order your own techpod today at hobbyuav.com They will be ready to ship in January.
hey guys,
just thought I would show of one of my latest efforts.A servo hacked continuous, controlled by a maple reading a 12 bit absolute encoder controlled to move to any absolute position.
the encoder is a AS5045 read by a maple dev board. working on an open source continuous rotation gimbal to go with the techpod, avalable for pre-order @ http://hobbyuav.com/
Hey everyone,
I'm sure most of you have heard about the techpod and the kickstarter campaign I just want to give one more shout out here for help. Its been a long journey getting to this day. I lot of you have been following and supporting the development of the techpod for years. The countless hours of designing, building and flying seem compressed into just a few moments. I know this will be a success heck I just got a $10,000 backer on Saturday. I think bigger things are on the way. I am going to have a very large amount of airplanes soon and I am going to need some help getting Techpods into peoples hands.I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who has supported the project .thanks to all the people who encouraged me through out the years. Thanks to everyone who help to get the word out. Thanks to all me friends and family who have surrounded me and made me strong. Thanks to Chris Anderson and the rest of the diydrones community for giving me a place to express myself and to learn and grow beyond what I thought was possible. Thanks to my wife for putting up with all my crazy ideas. And most of all Thanks to my mom the hardest working person I have ever met.
love you all!
wayne
hey everyone
another update on the techpod flight testing:
2 hour long flight complete!
this flight was done with:
2 x 6000 mah 3s for 12000mah total
weight: 5.8 lbs
APC E11x7
charging the lipos now to get the mah used will post that number in a couple hours.
thanks to all my supporters at the techpod kickstarter project !
Hey everyone!
Many of my supporters over at kickstarter and here have been wringing their hands, waiting for me to publish a 3-D model of the Techpods internal volume.Here you go!
Download an iges file here for you CAD folks.
have a great day!
So , more than a few people have expressed concern over the amount of wing flex exhibited by the techpod . To exhibit just some of the strenght of the 9 mm OD 7 mm ID tubes I use I put together this quick clip .
that is 2 x 42 inch long 9mm tubes connected by a 6 inch x 7 mm inner connector rod , lifting a 5 gallon jug of water @ 42lbs suspended in the middle .good for a 8.4 g loading with a 5 lbs techpod and not all the lift comes from the tips unlike this demo . the spar could have taken much more. You may notice the two small nylon pieces in the middle . these keep the whole thing from exploding .
find out more about the techpod at hobbyuav.com
hey everyone ,
Quick update on the techpod testing . the milestone of a one hour flight running full fpv gear with OSD has been reached . enjoy :-)
I fast forward around 1:30 and go back to normal speed around 55:00 so you can see it pass the 1 hour mark and land .sorry for the poor quality of the upload . the origanal looks way better . I am trying to raise the money to have the molds made and do the first production run . Please help support my kickstarter project !
and thank you to all my awesome supporters .
visit my web site to for more info
here is the plane in question.
Hey everyone !
Finally got all my ducks in a row , got my video together
Your support is very appreciated . I am here to answer any questions .
feel free to pm me if you want . checkout hobbyuav.com for even more info .
Get it while you still can and thank you all for your support and words of encouragement !
also , went to the annual MAR-C electric fly in at Marymoore r/c park in Redmond Washington . Had a blast , met dan durbin there . he also had an fpv setup although he was running a cool IP downlink and of coarse an APM2 running telemetry only . Got some cool video for the kickstarter video . They liked the techpod so much the gave me this cool award :-)
I went out to the field at the cascade rc airfield on tuesday 8-7-12. located in snohomish ,wa . today it was me and nick weber . we got to the field and got all the fpv gear set up and the techpod ready .nick tossed it it the air for me and it climbed out nicely . i did a couple laps and at one point the throttle cut and was unresponsive . It came back after a second and i brought it in for a landing . while i was landing i lost throttle again . Luckily the techpod glides well and i greased her it near the end of the runway .here is a picture of the launch and the in flight video . much more to come after sunday . read more about the techpod at hobbyuav.com enjoy :-)
7-30-12
10:00 am
I wake up get some coffee have some eats and go down to the garage . check the batteries , double check CG and control surfaces . go over everything one last time .
11:30 am
got the car packed and head off to get my friends Ken and Greg . the plan is to have Greg launch and ken video while I fly .
12:30 pm
arrive at the field . It was sunny with clouds and a 5-10 mph wind coming from ssw . I plugged the wings in , did a range check , everything looked good . me and greg walked to the east side of the runway and we launched it . It climbed quickly without any dip . a quick wiggle of the ailerons to check responsiveness and i climbed to ~ 100 ft and cut the throttle a bit . I turned the upwind leg of the pattern . the nose dipped a bit when it transitioned to a tail wind situation . I added throttle and it quickly recovered . defiantly nose heavy but i did that on purpose to help stability. got it through the downwind tun and checked for trim at about a 30mph cruise . It was dead on . no trim needed . I completed a few more laps and brought her in for a landing . I came in low over the east end of the runway with ~1/4 throttle i cut the throttle as it came over the runway . I let it settle in for a nice smooth belly landing . WOOT WOOT !!
here are the videos ken got for me on his phone .
Hey everyone . the long awaited day has come . the prototype was delivered to my house via UPS .I took a few pics as I unwrapped it . The guys at airborne models tell me the packaging will match the production models so this will give everyone a good idea as to what will show up in the mail when you order one . The airplane came inside of 2 double layer boxes with a layer of 1/2 inch foam lining the inside of the inner box . Every piece of foam was carefully wrapped in foam and neatly placed in the box . Every small piece was bagged .Very impressed and they do a much better job than I could . Here are some pictures .
I will be posting more pics as i build it over the weekend
read more at hobbyuav.com
just wanted to show off a project of mine I've been working on . It uses arduino compatible 32bit development system from the very smart guys at leaflabs .I currently have a 9DOF DCM running 200Hz based on the arduIMU code .when I started this project I had a few important requirements for a reliable and responsive system.
as the title of the blog states this is just the beginning of what I think will be a very exciting project .
you can read more about it and get the code @ maplepilot .More then happy to help people get involved . if you want drop me a line . I have a the layout done for everything on a single board .The first prototypes will be here in about 2 weeks . I will have a few prototypes that i may be interested in passing out if anyone wants to get involved .
also check out my techpod while your there.
I finally have a prototype of the molded epo Techpod ! i will have it in my hands in a couple weeks .
when i receive it I will test fly it and if everything goes well I will launch my kickstarter campaign . I need $40,000 for the first run and molds . I have pored my heart and sole into this design for more then 3 years . I did it because I believe the UAV community and society deserves a high performance no compromise airframe that does not come with a $10,000 price tag . it will go for ~ $225 $180 for the kit including everything in the top picture .please keep me in mind and consider supporting this project . I also have a new home on the web http://hobbyuav.com/featured/uav-kit/
here are some links with more info and background on the project
http://diydrones.com/video/techpod-alfa
http://diydrones.com/video/techpod10-remzibi-osd
http://diydrones.com/video/705844:Video:46848
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/techpod-epo-foam
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/techpod11-1
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/techpod10-ready-to-ship
thank you for your support
