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iDrone announced!

Posted by Ryder on June 8, 2010 at 10:30am

Yesterday, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4g... and to my ears, he was really announcing not the latest phone from apple, but the "iDrone". As I heard him talk about the new gyro built into the phone... I started adding the feature set... a fast CPU, lots of memory, built in GPS, compass, accelerometer and now a gyro... of course it could pilot a UAV!

With the built in cameras, it could do photo and video recon... and since it has two cameras (provided they can both be made to operate at the same time), add a couple of mirrors and the craft could do 3D images in real time... to assist in terrain mapping or landing.

It sports a good set of software development tools and on the whole, probably weighs less than all of the same components placed together, and at only $200 it's ecoconomical.

This is a project that could really get off the ground!

drone, gyro, iphone

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Moderator

Brian June 8, 2010 at 10:14pm

To me it seems like it would be better suited for an audio/video package within a uav versus the total package controller. It's got all the good stuff to be able to track postion relay data/images control/stablize cameras, ect. I think what the "guys" are saying is that just because it's economical doesn't mean it's well suited for the entire package.

I say good luck, have fun and post your progress. Me, I'm simply not willing to pay 200 bones for a phone, even if it can fly a plane.
Ryder June 8, 2010 at 9:57pm

A lot of you blokes are sniveling whiners... You have a choice... "Be warned... that $200 price tag comes with a requirement of a service contract, you may want to factor that in"... I get "The iPhone is NOT $200!!!!!!!!"

Guys, get some beauty rest and try again with VASTLY more constructive comments. please. I am beginning to think that this group is NOT a good group to get support from.
Moderator

Alex June 8, 2010 at 9:55pm

One thing you may be forgetting on top of it all, is you will need some external component to drive servos. Ari made a device for using Iphone as r/c transmitter and said he had loads of problems trying to get apple to allow him to use the ports he needed. Instead he ended up emulating pwm with the audio port. I don't relay have any ideas how one would read the radio transmitter inputs you give if flying in manual mode?

All of us are not trying to sound negative about it but there are way more advantages of using a diy board than using an off the shelf phone, ie quality of GPS receiver, gyros, accelerometers, are much better plus you can add barometer, airspeed sensors, all which will make for a much better autopilot if you ignore the major weight difference.
I think it was Chris A who used a windows mobile device a few years ago do make an autopilot, many others have also gone down this road, but by all means give it a go and prove us wrong!
Ryder June 8, 2010 at 9:52pm

No Bill, it's not. It is because as far as I know, the first 3-axis gyro in a phone was announced today which happened to be an iphone, which means it is the first phone (to my knowledge) that is ready to fly a drone. If you think that no other phones will have 3-axis gyros, then you'd have a point. Then it would be iphone all the way. I don't believe that, do you?
will y. June 8, 2010 at 9:35pm

The iPhone is NOT $200!!!!!! I hate it when people say that. It's only that cheap if you enter a two year contract where you have to pay a lot extra for a special iPhone plan. The cost of the "$99" iPhone 3g is actually like $900, and this is even more. If you want to buy it without a contract, be prepared to spend near or over $1000. Just buy a dedicated IMU.
Bill Porter June 8, 2010 at 9:33pm

Problem is, no matter what hardware the iphone has, if you can't develop easily on the platform to use that hardware, there's no point in considering it for DIY. Linux on the other hand is very easy to develop on as it is open source, making Android phones much more appealing for DIY.

And this whole post is about the iphone, how is it not the point?

And, if were gonna start comparing cost, $200 for iphone, $100 for SDK license, and $2000 for a mac computer if you don't already have one, just to be able to run the iphone sdk.
Ryder June 8, 2010 at 9:30pm

As it turns out, someone did put a gyro inside an Android as a hack... interesting.
Ryder June 8, 2010 at 9:19pm

I don't think that the point is the "iphone". I think the point is "phone". I this case, the equipment set packaged in the iphone is a good match for what uav's need. Are there Androids that have gyros in them?
Lew Payne June 8, 2010 at 9:09pm

Good catch, Bill Porter. I agree. It seems to me that some people are woo'd and ah'd by technology, for the sake of technology, when they (as technical people) should know better (as critical thinkers).
Bill Porter June 8, 2010 at 8:58pm

It would be ten times easy to try to do this in a generally open platform, say like an linux powered Android phone. Why on earth are people so excited that one of the most closed sourced platforms for cell phones has a new model, and can be useful for a DIY community? It's like trying to build an foamy, but some guy gets to tell you what you can/can't put on it as a payload.