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Getting there

Posted by Mark Williams on January 22, 2014 at 6:00am

I made three test flights today with my Bixler 2 UAV. I have an IXUS 220 HS installed in the fuselage which is operated remotely using the gear switch on the transmitter.

A 3D model of the field I was testing over can be seen below. The model is far from perfect as I was piloting the aircraft manually. I am waiting on an APM board at the moment and this should definitely improve things.

I've uploaded a short video about the set up to YouTube

chdk, aerial, bixler, photography

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Comments

F1P January 22, 2014 at 4:30pm

CHDK )
Mark Williams January 22, 2014 at 9:28am

@Ahmed. I'm using a 2200mah with a Turnigy Park450 1050kv motor and a 10 x 4 prop. I haven't been pushing the flight time but I'm currently getting 8 minutes without issue. I need to run some more tests on the battery life, I'm hoping that APM with telemetry will help in that. I may end up adding two batteries to prolong the flight time but things start to get a little heavy then and flight performance will suffer.

@James. Here's the script - http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/KAP_&_UAV_Exposure_Control_Script You may want to run the manual focus test script at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_Manual_Focus_and_Subject_Distance_O... that will tell you what MF mode your camera uses.
James Slizewski January 22, 2014 at 8:47am

Hi Marc, you mentioned a CHDK script "KPUAV" but I can't find it. Got a link by chance?
Ahmed Shareef January 22, 2014 at 8:46am

Good Work mate! Im trying the same thing bixler and my ixus 230 hs. Will upload the videos soon! Btw what's your battery size and endurance?
Darren Royle January 22, 2014 at 8:26am

good show , look forward to seeing more from you ...
Toby Lankford January 22, 2014 at 6:23am

This is a down facing camera gimbal that I came across the other day. I am looking at one for my next mapping plane.

Here is the link:

http://skyviewuav.com/index.php?route=common/home
Mark Williams January 22, 2014 at 5:26am

I've created a video to show my set up in a bit more detail.

I've been using a trial of AgiSoft Photoscan to do the photo stitching.
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Gary Mortimer January 21, 2014 at 9:50pm

I would cut a hole in the wing (close to the centre) easy access and kept off the ground for landings. All the advice you will ever need about reconstructing scenes in 3D is contained happening in the competition thread http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/t3-season-2-the-model
James Slizewski January 21, 2014 at 9:02pm

Looks good! I'm building a Super Sky Surfer and am planning on mounting a camera in her belly. I'm also interested in how you mounted it and the software you used.
Paul Jenness January 21, 2014 at 7:49pm

Nice one.. you've given me faith. After 2 first ever attempts I have about 20 sec flight time hahaha. Bixler 2 is my first plane. Tho wellington winds are pretty crazy for the poor foamy!