I'm the captain for Team Awesome, the UAS team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona Campus. We're headed to the Small UAS competition in Pax River, MD in five days, and we're using an ArduPilot 2.0 equipped airplane. This will be our first year at the competition. We're using the ParkZone Radian powered glider airframe, and the GoPro Hero 2 camera.
We want to extend a big thanks in advance to the developers of ArduPilot. We've come a long way in our first year, and we couldn't have done it without you.
I'll be posting updates from the competition, so stay tuned. Questions are welcome!
Comments
We have the equipment to stream the photos, but they don't fit in this aircraft. We designed and built an aircraft from composites, but it crashed a few days before the competition. So, we quickly integrated our equipment into the Radian so that we'd have something to compete with.
Are you streaming the gopro's video back via an analog radio and doing computation on the ground station from that feed? What kind of hardware do you have on board (other than the autopilot)?
We're using the Radian (not pro), so only rudder and elevator control. The Radian certainly gets blown around in the wind, but only took minimal tuning to fly well and crosstrack. APM goes in a carbon fiber tray we built that fits in the canopy space, and the GoPro fits in the belly next to the servos (that took some carving). A turnigy 2.2 mAh battery fits nicely without carving out the plane, and we're getting about 30 minutes of endurance. That was plenty for this competition, which requires us to fly to a search area and get imagery in a 20-40 minute window. The Radian would have easily taken a 3.3 mAh battery if necessary.
We'll be heading to Maryland in the morning. Thanks to everyone for the support!
Where's the GoPro? I'd love to see some closer pics of how you have things arranged. I have a Radian, but have never put the APM in it. I have concerns about how it gets blown around in the wind. How's does it fly without aileron control? Do crosswinds cause problems with stability or waypoint tracking?
Which competition is this? I live in MD and have not heard of anything...
whould like to see how you have it crammed in love the radian but not much room and have you used the pro radian our just the glider thanks
From an ERAU Alum, good luck!!
Excellent! We'll be rooting for you.
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