What would you like to see in a thermal pan tilt platform to make it effective for UAV usage?
I am with a company called SPI Corp and we manufacture a low cost multi sensor pan tilt platform called the M1-D. The M1-D initially was developed for use on ground vehicles but due to its light weight, small size and low cost it has become very popular with folks in the aerial imaging world including both manned and unmanned craft. We are anxious to make this an even better product for UAV usage especially in the low cost market. We are reaching out to the UAV community for help in this endeavor (especially you guys at DIY Drones). What we would like to know is what technical features would make our system even better for use in UAV's? If you could have anything you want in a low cost UAV Gimbal imaging system what would you ask for? What would be the bare minimum you would need to make the M1-D pan tilt thermal camera a workable UAV solution? Current imaging systems are extremely expensive. It is our hope that by starting with our current low cost solution, and with a little help from the community, we can come up with a low cost UAV solution that will enable everyone to incorporate advanced imaging into their UAV project.
Our current system specs:
Fully enclosed pan tilt gimbal
Sensor Payload - Thermal Imaging, CCTV and Laser Pointer
Diameter of ball - 4.5"
Diameter of base - 5"
Height - 6.5"
Weight ~ 2lbs.
Pan - 360 degree continuous
Tilt - 90 degree
Pan Tilt Speed - Pan: 0.05~220°/sec; Tilt: 0.03~140°/sec
Video Output - Analog Composite single line NTSC or PAL
Communication Camera Control - RS/485 PELCO-D protocol
Inverted Mounting - Yes capable
Hardware specs such as size and weight are obviously difficult to change. What are the key features that you would need to integrate into your UAV project? Are there specific interfaces that are commonly used? Please post comments and let us know what you would like to see in the M1-D to make it even better for UAV imaging.
We look forward to your input.
Thank you
Randall Kolchins
SPI CORP
Comments
This is a fantastic development.
I would like to see the following features.
This has the benefits of reducing the overall product cost, reducing engineering time and hassle, making the unit lighter, and removes the trouble of trying to do a hack-job of attaching the entire gimbal/camera to your frame. No worrying about an electronics interface either.
Now, how will we receive an image? I see on your website here http://www.x20.org/m1-d-marine-ptz-thermal-camera that you have a plethora of options for video reception. Ideally, for my own multirotor applications, I would like to use the camera with a standard analog Tx/Rx setup.
Something (dare I say it) almost Gopro in shape.
What does it take to power the M1-D?
G'day Randall,
From a potential purchasers perspective in Australia. My day job is a field biologist and not surprisingly involves counting animals (to put it in simple terms).
I was going to refer you to the Roswell guys (see mquintilian post above) as I have been discussing some work with them. Most of the animals that I'm interested in counting here are small - medium body size (think cats, rabbits, foxes up to goat / pig). Given the optics in your device, would I be able to accurately distingush between these species if the machine was flown at a nominal height above ground (say 50m).
Now remembering that I will be subject to export restrictions, will the lower Hz units give me a similar result.... or do I need to get a USA address!
May be worth having a chat to the Roswell guys - you should be able to get them via their youtube page.
I expect that there may be a variety of requirements between users here for either on-board data storage and/or live FPV flight by FLIR. In my case, the storage of data on board would be the preference as it will be a clear image obtained as the UAV flies its predetermined transects.
MJ
Dear Randall
Sent PM to you, please read :)))
Dear Randall
Please, send me PM...
Few questions about you gimbal
- what a mechanical construction you use? Direct drive, geared motors...
- is you gimbal are gyro stabilized?
- is it possible to mount different complete od sensors
- maximal weight of sensors?
- power requerement.
- mounting pattern...
Many thanks
Vladimir
I would personally just use some npn transistors as a temporary test interface, but there are many stepper motor IC's available. My only concern is that RS485 is a -7 to +12v signal. While we can produce this with some external circuitry, it would be much simpler to interface to the motors directly. Or as I mentioned before, add an IMU- which not only stabilizes the camera, but could act as a go-between for the APM and the stepper motors.
Personally I would love to see optical zoom, but the added complexity, size, and weight would almost certainly be prohibitive.
Lets not forget to mention good radio shielding. Read about too many cameras have spikes of radio leakage causing UHF issues.
What would be a nice feature would be to have the ability to switch between the 2 cameras by just triggering a switch on my Tx. Not sure what it has for onboard recording capabilities, but that would also be a good feature.
Maybe check out RC Groups. Ask this same questions about feedback there and you will get more design requests than you can shake a stick at :)
Mike is right about the development platform. New APM is available at
http://store.diydrones.com/APM_2_5_Assembled_p/br-apmpwrkt.htm
price is now $179 & everything you need to understand it is at that site also.
Joe
I ve been reading a lot on this... I will just express my opinion on the axis of the camera... I think most of the users would use it on a fixed wing maybe for surveilance since they have far longer flight times... So pan is needed for a fixed wing... You can always come up with 2 versions of course....
Thanks for working with the forum on this, it's sure to be a mutually beneficial relationship.
I'd like to see the following options in your future product lines:
1) Interface with APM for stabilization, with breakouts as Scotty suggested.
2)Sacrifice some features for weight savings; no laser, no magnets etc. A sub 600 gram gimbal would put you into a significantly larger market, IMHO.
3)Instead of a zoom, two, fixed focal length cameras; wide/tele, and give the purchaser the opportunity to choose from a selection of lenses, and sensors.
I love this! This all started out by me browsing the net for a FLIR gimbal and now the company is taking design suggestions from the DIY Drones community. This is awesome! I definitely appreciate SPi for they're interest in adapting a solution to fit our needs! Randall, if your company can create a sUAS solution, you will find a HUGE market right here.
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