EDIT: Complete Video has been Posted Here: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/autonomous-52km-32mi-cross-country-flight
Tomorrow morning (7:00CST/13:00GMT) I'm going to attempt a marathon flight from north Arkansas into Missouri (see flight path below) with my Raptor140, and will be streaming it live on ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mygeekshow
To get ahead of the safety questions, I will be maintaining <120m AGL, and will maintain LOS during the flight. The flight is also far from populated areas and airports. I'm attempting this flight with the exact airplane/equipment configuration that has flown over 400km of flawless flights, including four 42km+ flights. Finally, I've identified eight rally points and pre-target landing locations in case I need to end the flight early.
Wish us luck!
Comments
The video/blog post for this flight is now on DIYDrones: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/autonomous-52km-32mi-cross-coun...
I can answer more questions there! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
Crashpilot: Yeah... you have to be brave : ) I agree, E138 is my favorite to date, and it was so much fun to make.
Paul: Thank you for providing that link... man that seems like a long time ago!
Mack: Totally! In fact, I will be dedicating an entire episode to testing it.
Thank you very much for uploading the show mate! Now I saw what I've missed during the first 22min of the livestream - ouch that must have been staggering. Rubberbanding 1KG+ at your car is also not for the faint of heart.
Keep it up - 2014 starts with one of your best shows and a complete success.
I have been doing a lot more research on the "follow me" for planes and I think it will will work perfectly for a cross country trip.
I also found an app for android phones that will enable gps over bluetooth and I was able to integrate this into the mission planner with the follow me screen ( control f)... It seems to work but I will have to try it out more at the field, when the snow leaves.
The way I understand it, the plane would just follow the car, and circle periodically if if needed to , to keep in the vicinity of the car. This would be a great benefit when negotiating stop lights and other unforeseen delays when driving to the endpoint. I hope to try this someday, I need to find a helper like Trent's friend, because it is just too much to do on my own...
HI
Yeah that was a fun watch live.. Tho it was 2am - 3am for me :)
FOr those asking this episode Nick and Trent talk about how they made that power box:
http://www.mygeekshow.com/watchmygeekshow/episodes/Episode_89_Mobil...
-P
David: Will do! I'll show a solid detail on that power module.
Gary: It was so much fun! I'm sad the streaming was choppy at times, but man, it was a blast to watch it flying right next to us perfectly, then turn around and see my iPhone saying 100+ people watching it live, along the ride with us. So awesome! Incremental is really my style. Thats why its taken 4 years to get this far :) Plus its all about the journey! I'm slowly building a trust in something I've discovered: "Success is merely failure avoidance". It really is. Today's success was possible because of many, many failures made by me and others out there, and what we've learned from them. You have to accept that failure will happen, and more importantly, recognize it's importance in achieving success. Learn and move on. Thank you again for your support! Its been many years. Thank you.
Web fell over in my part of Africa so could not watch live, well done Trent. I think I am right in thinking this was a first for a DIYD member, a cross country flight shown live. Outstanding job. I love your incremental improvements. You don't just say I am going to be the highest, fastest, longest and then do nothing. You knock through each issue and get the job done. Very impressed. I would say you are becoming a UA household name and a star to watch. If you say X Y or Z does not work, I will trust your word as I know you will have experience to back your comment.
Trent, please do post it here... Also, would love to know more about the power distro you have with the batteries and xt60 plugs. (:
Mack: Yeah... that was a pretty low moment. Luckily, the damage wasn't enough to stop the attempt. Next time: a spare prop! I'll show how to use the GPS dongle in my set up overview video, its actually really, really easy. Thank you to Michael!
Morli: Thank you! It was such a rush.
Greg: You want watch it now on Ustream: www.ustream.tv/channel/mygeekshow, but, unless you want to watch 60 minutes of video, you could wait till Saturday, I'll edit all the video sources (including onboard flight video) and make it into an episode. I'll post it here on DIYD
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