We are working on a flying camera that differs from the regular quadcopters, using a Ducted Fan UAV design. This allow us to have a much safer and robust device, that the user can easily hold, push, grab, etc.. Fleye is about the same size and weight than a soccer ball (22cm wide, 350g). It is powered by a single propeller, fully shielded. You can safely hold it in your hands, throw it, catch it and fly it nearby people.
We are starting to communicate and gather feedback now, with a tentative launch (crowdfunding) this fall. You can read more details on our blog.
I know some of your usual questions, so let me try to already answer them :-)
- This is not APM but our own autopilot, entirely developped with a Model Based Design approach for the core sensor fusion and control and running on a cortex M4.
- Smartphone controlled over wifi, no RC version planned at this stage
- We have a dual core ARM A9 on board for managing wifi, video streaming, and some computer vision tasks
I would really like to get your feedback on this !
Thanks,
Laurent
Comments
@superwallon You are correct, the ducted fan concept with control vanes is actually quite old and used in many devices (especially military). Our invention relates to the fully shielded aspect and technical/mechanical details on how we managed to achieve it.
As for Percepto, it is based on the NVidia K1. The K1 also run on Linux and its vision part is also based on OpenCV, using the CUDA optimizations (https://developer.nvidia.com/opencv). We have reviewed the K1 and decided that it was not a good fit for our first product. Altbeit a bit less powerful, our platform will offer similar capabilities and will already be a good start for experimenting with computer vision on a super safe drone.
@damian Should be around 12~15 minutes.
I'm curious to understand on which part of the Fleye the pattent(s) would apply. Searching a bit I found that a single blade copter with basically flaps or ailerons below the flow already existed since several years - google on "kk single copter" for instance and there's plenty of exemples.
So while I agree that now the blade or prop is encapsulated in a plastic ball, the concept remains roughly the same.
For image processing in real time, I would have prefered to see something like Percepto included, the image processing capabilities are far more advanced and open a whole range of applications and use cases which might be difficult or limited in implementation using opencv under Linux. Maybe something to consider as an option for stretch goals in your future crowdfunding campain ?
what is expected flight time?
We were covered by regional television, some good footage of the drone in flight and our little test area. Althoug in french, I think it might interest those who liked the idea.
https://www.rtbf.be/video/detail_drone-inoffensif?id=2023185
@doug The spec of our camera module is not yet finalized, we are currently testing a 5mpx and a 12mpx sensor. As for jello, vibrations are always an issue in drones and we have mechanical dampening in place.
@superwalloon Oufti ! ;-) Yup, the onboard system has GPU with OpenGL and OpenCL ES capabilities and is running linux. I haven't tried opencv yet but in theory it should work, at least for simple tasks.
What is the resolution of the camera and have you experienced jello-ing in the video?
Innovation from Belgium, I like that ! (I'm belgian too) :-)
Wandering if there is any capability for realtime video processing ? This would open doors to many different applications and use cases, such as following/tracking objects or people, obstacle avoidance, etc.
I think the single or dual (coax) copter approach is a very usable format and as you have presented it quite safe and user friendly.
The biggest drawback that I have seen is that it is difficult to make these work well in gusty or windy conditions.
The ones I have seen are also severely performance / response limited in comparison to multicopters.
That said, the user friendliness, safety and durability of this design should make it work well in many non-windy conditions and it certainly seems excellent and safe for indoor use.\
Best Regards,
Gary
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