If you are looking for a leader in UAV technology, Ascending Technologies(AscTec) sets atop the list. These folks have consistently produced ground breaking UAV systems since their inception. Their new Trinity offering continues that trend. Pretty amazing.
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Has anyone seen an Octa-V frame for sale?
I've seen a few home-built frames, but none in production.
I've seen many over priced quads and fixed wings using 3DR's controllers. Now we have RpII and Beaglebone black that can be backed with redundant sensors for data fusion and kalman filter. I believe this is what can make a pro line and not a $$$ controller. In the patent world there is a funny concept that we call patent trolling which is a bunch of idiot lawyers sitting and patenting anything they can think of to blackmail legitimate patent and business owners. The guys at ASCTech did well by patenting their setup regardless of how stupid it is. However, I hope that when they go after somebody for using their "smart" V shape they'll remember that the opensource community started most of this.
They basically tried to patent "motors arranged in a manner such that they are not in front of the camera, which is really stupid. Far over-reaching.
#John. Agreed.
Sure it is all a bit silly, but so is also patenting 8 motors mounted in a V shape..
It is more than a well-tuned APM. That is a bit silly. It is has been hardened against interference, has redundant and swappable IMUs, and is likely more robust in it user interface and general use. That camera is well-situated IMHO. You are right, you can get a lot of the same performance from an APM but it is not the same thing. An APM is $100 plastic box . That is a system, likely with significant support, and warranty. Albeit a pretty expensive one. If I paid myself from my past 2 years of UAV building at the rate I earn hourly in my day job, I am sure I would be well past a 25K system, and I am far from unique in that. If I was in charge of making a decision to deploy UAVs for inspection of rail track, for example, I probably would not be looking at a DIY-built APM system, much as like them and use them.
I have though often wondered why 3DR do not have a 3DR Pro line of integrated equipment priced well over the consumer grade stuff but under these systems. Remove all the DF13s and hobby grade uncertainly with ESCs and GPSs that cause most of the problems.
@Hans_H I think the copter hovering next to the welder is demonstrating how stable the flight is in a hostile EMI environment. Arc welders produce considerable EMI.
The advantage to trim / tune your own drone is that you know exactly what everything does. Without that knowledge, and without an open discussion of bugs, you can easily get a 25k EUR scrap heap... and add camera to that price.
Yes, the ability to look up is great. I just never pursued it as the flight time was so bad.
It's easy to bypass the patent, which is what I did. Their patent specifically states that their V shape allows a clear field of view for the camera between the motors. In my design, the camera is actually in front of the motors.
Ascending Technologies pre dates open source multirotor controllers. Open source played catch up to them. The ability to look up is why these are so popular for oil rig inspections.
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