Posted by Chris Anderson on December 13, 2009 at 10:35pm
Over at RC Groups, there's an interesting thread about Booz, a new Quad Rotor UAV project that uses some of the Paparazzi code as its base.
They write:
"This thread will be a place for all things Booz including the progress of the Booz hardware myself and Gussy are getting made. This will be for sale shortly (around one week) and will sell for US$850 including cables. It has the following features:
Complete hardware using the original Paparazzi BOM, no parts removed to save costs.
LEA-5H GPS.
Professional PCB assembly done by a local assembly house, not soldered at home using a electric frying pan or cheap eBay oven.
All parts fully tested and with code loaded, as we are in Australia we can legally do this and export them worldwide.
Cables included.
We are also working on some 30 amp I2C ESCs, the hardware is complete and they will be MikroKopter compatible down to the software level. These will sell for just $35 each, however, will not be sold with software on them, just a boot loader which I still have to write."
Yeah, they haven't replied to me either. My guess is that the aircraft mode is rolling the same way a quad is yawing... far simpler than servos, pullrods and ailerons.
What I'm looking forward to the most are those $35 ESCs.
I hear that Invensense are better than the ST, i don't have side to side comparing data, would be nice to do it.
Actually thats a great idea i will develop a board with the ST, Invensense and Analog devices gyros and i will make several test to them together and post the results.
Angus, You are right theres many options. But for my budged $800 dlls is a lot, even if is the best platform i will personally never pay that price for a hobby. I just my opinion and i'm a sarcastic person in a good way. ;-)
Just chiming in with a note of support; it looks like you've done a great job with the board, and the cost side is totally understandable. Making hardware available for the larger community is an important function, and once people understand the economics, I'm sure they'll respond warmly.
I know Thomas, as I said, nothing I can do as who ever designed the hardware saddled me with that expense. However, PPZUAV are also selling them, they want $1060 for a full set without cables so I think we have done fairly well.
I have to stress that this is a project for my own research, I have noticed that people are doing this more and more for profit, this is fine of course but the spirit of the boards I have made is for fun, learning and experimenting. I said on RCG and I'll say here, Booz is a work in progress, it has little documentation, it is really a developers only project for now to be honest.
Your price is very high end hobbiest or commerical/university research. Kind of like 1/4 scale R/C planes with redundancy. Strictly a rich man's hobby in most respects.
Despite its slightly high price, Booz sounds to be an interesting product. Furthermore 30Amp ESC with I2C interface for $35 is also attractive (I assume they will soon release source code for it(?))
What is the URL to learn more about Booz and how to order?
Is there an online store?
Where can we find Booz source code?
Considering that "it was designed by a university team", I assume it's control-law (maths) used in its controller is well documented. Where to find the maths/control details of Booz?
Comments
What I'm looking forward to the most are those $35 ESCs.
Actually thats a great idea i will develop a board with the ST, Invensense and Analog devices gyros and i will make several test to them together and post the results.
Wish America were the land of the free.
Just chiming in with a note of support; it looks like you've done a great job with the board, and the cost side is totally understandable. Making hardware available for the larger community is an important function, and once people understand the economics, I'm sure they'll respond warmly.
I have to stress that this is a project for my own research, I have noticed that people are doing this more and more for profit, this is fine of course but the spirit of the boards I have made is for fun, learning and experimenting. I said on RCG and I'll say here, Booz is a work in progress, it has little documentation, it is really a developers only project for now to be honest.
Your price is very high end hobbiest or commerical/university research. Kind of like 1/4 scale R/C planes with redundancy. Strictly a rich man's hobby in most respects.
Just a thought.
Regards,
TCIII
What is the URL to learn more about Booz and how to order?
Is there an online store?
Where can we find Booz source code?
Considering that "it was designed by a university team", I assume it's control-law (maths) used in its controller is well documented. Where to find the maths/control details of Booz?
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