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Help requested! Comments and input needed for new coaxial UAS

Posted by Ascent AeroSystems on March 5, 2015 at 4:50pm

Greetings friends! It’s been a few months since we introduced “Backcountry Drones” and the concept of the coaxial “Scout” backpack drone to you here on DIYdrones, and although it may have seemed we’d gone quiet…we’ve been busy. Very busy.


We’ve gotten some amazing input from many of you, feedback that we’ve taken to heart as we’ve worked to design a production-worthy vehicle. Next month we’re going to reveal the fruits of our efforts in a Kickstarter campaign. But before we do, we wanted to get some more input. 

We’ve watched with interest as other sUAV designs have met (or even smashed) their funding goals, only to have a slew of unpleasant issues emerge afterwards. We’d like to avoid as many of those as possible. Between the three of us, we’ve got more than 40 years of RC experience, and while we’re really confident in our design and we think you’re going to love it, we want to run some thing by you before we go “really” public.  Features of the new model include:

  • Stacked two-blade rotor system
  • 10cm diameter, 35cm length, about 2.5 lbs
  • Pixhawk control
  • Mobius HD standard, with interchangeable GoPro module
  • Optional FPV

A video highlighting two years of early proof-of-concepts is attached.  The production prototype is flying, and we'll be posting photos and video in the coming weeks leading up to the launch of the Kickstarter campaign.

We’ve read all of the comments for the X-plusOne, AirDog and the Zano. Those are some interesting designs with some really great features, and they've had some terrific backers and candid comments. We’re going to do our very best to under-promise and over-deliver when it comes to performance and delivery date. Our control board is well-proven (you’ll agree), and we’re only using aerial footage shot from our vehicle. Without post-processing to remove jello.


But what else? We’d love to get a discussion going here to try to cover as many things as we can before we finalize the details of our campaign. We've posted a video here with footage from our early development.  The new model is bigger, more versatile, and more durable...you're going to love it.  Thanks for your continued interest and input, and please be sure to visit our new website at www.ascentaerosystems.com!

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Comments

  • JB March 17, 2015 at 11:01pm

    Add a wing for a transition to forward flight and I'll order a dozen now. ;-)

  • Doug Walmsley March 8, 2015 at 6:18pm

    @ Ascent AeroSystems,

    Do you have images/videos of the modular designs/payloads? You peaked my interest.

  • Ascent AeroSystems March 7, 2015 at 5:39pm

    Thanks very much for the feedback!

    • Juraj – We couldn’t agree more!  We’re going to make it really easy to add new payload modules so you can attach the best cameras and sensors available today…and in the future.  Because the GoPro is such a popular camera, we’re going to make that available right away.  Others will follow.
    • A few people have asked about a DIY version, with no flight control module or camera.  We actually have a number of different vehicles in development, and we’re thinking about which one would be best for a DIY kit.  Please stay tuned!
    • John – We’re going to try to get some footage in adverse conditions for the video to give people a good sense of what we have experienced.  “Wind” and “flight times” are clear enough, but what other weather conditions are you particularly concerned about?
    • Alvin – The vehicle is designed to be the most portable, most durable small unmanned aerial vehicle available, and it’s great for any recreational, professional or commercial purpose.  Traditional multicopters are relatively fragile, bulky and difficult to transport.  Our design can take a beating, and it can easily be tossed into a backpack without disassembly.  The final specifications will be released with the Kickstarter campaign, but we expect that it will have all of the navigation capabilities available in the Pixhawk’s latest release, including waypoint navigation and “follow me”.  It will also have a “free flight” mode so that it can be flown with a traditional remote control transmitter.
    • Doug – thanks for your comments.  All of our designs will be modular so that they can easily accommodate different payloads.  The panoramic camera you describe is one of many potential devices that could be carried.
    • Andy and Gary – We totally agree that ease of use is a key design objective.  If you think that the best features of the Phantom and the Iris are good, then you’ll be very happy with our design.  As I mentioned, we have a number of vehicles in development, some larger and some smaller, and each with a different set of features.  (The mass-market consumer wants smaller, but commercial users want bigger...)  Obstacle detection, object tracking and an integrated camera will all be part of our designs, but they may not be in the introductory version.  We will also have a comprehensive set of accessories, including a shroud

    Thanks again for the comments, and please keep them coming! 

    Peter, Nate and Jonathan

  • Raviv Raz March 6, 2015 at 10:22pm

    good luck!!

  • Gary McCray March 6, 2015 at 4:25pm

    This is a great design, with lots of possibilities.

    A few thoughts:

    The smaller you can make it the larger your market.

    Your current basic design already lends it self to being as compact as possible, so if you could just shrink the whole thing it would help,

    Right now, arguably the 250 class quadcopters that are currently gaining popularity look like they could pack into a smaller more convenient space.

    Your original design was for the whole thing to be about the same size as a bicycle / hiker water bottle I think you should try very hard to get back to that and more in the 1 lb class than the 2 lb class.

    I know that is hard, but I think it would be very worth while.

    I don't know what your current camera set up is, but I would think chip style HD camera with your own SD recorder and connect to flight battery to keep weight and size as small as possible.

    Just my thoughts, for your product I am sure smaller is better.

    Best regards,

    Gary 

  • Greg Dronsky March 6, 2015 at 8:16am

    This is a smart design. Nevertheless i think you should do everything possible to get it to fly as stable as possible. 

  • Nikola Rabchevsky March 6, 2015 at 7:47am

    Any idea what the flight time will be like?

  • Moderator
    Vladimir "Lazy" Khudyakov March 6, 2015 at 6:59am

    I simple want to try it...

  • Doug Walmsley March 6, 2015 at 6:49am

    I think this is an awesome concept of design vehicle.  What I would recommend is 4 or more wide angle cameras flushed to vertical fuselage looking out horizontally allowing for 360 (panoramic) filming both video and still frames. This could be the niche your mono-coaxial vehicle needs to make it sell in large quantities.  As it is right now, I don't see a need for it other than it being a conversation piece.  But with cameras, I would be more inclined to purchase it for filming. Just my 2 cents on this concept.

  • Rob_Lefebvre March 6, 2015 at 5:22am

    Unfortunately, to be a kickstarter success, I think you'll have to add 4 arms to it.  ;)  Well, I guess *adding* 4 arms to something didn't work as well for Xplusone.  So... just built another quadcopter.  The market can't seem to get enough of them. ;)

    But seriously, I think your design is really awesome.  I'll be watching with interest.

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