I been working on this project for about a year, but i never had the time to finish it. Is very difficult go to the field with your bulky laptop all the time, not to mention that you can damage it and the battery life is to short (the sun on the screen don't let you see anything). So i spent some time using Olimex development board with the Atmega128, but i want it to make it simpler, open-source, bigger screen (with back light) and Xbee compatible. So i come to this:
-Atmega328 at 16Mhz with Arduino Bootloader.-XBee Socket and 3.3V powered (I've included some holes near to the antenna so you can hold it with a strap) .-Can be powered with 2 and 3 cell LIPOS (diode protected and regulated).-Huge 4 line screen with backlight, very clear under the sun! (2 pots to control the backlight and contrast).-FTDI port to upload code, also the boards is ready to be programmed with XBee (using this trick).-Six button to navigate and change screen and options.-Very noisy buzzer that can be used to alert you when it has low battery or low altitude.-6 I/O analog pins available, including the I2C port.-2 powered SERVO OUTPUTS (Tilt & Pan) than can be used to control a directional antenna (NICEE!).-Extra 3.3V and 5V volts outputs.-Status LED's.-The software is ArduPilot compatible and Open Source (out of the box).
What you can do:-Portable Telemetry.-Send commands (Ardupilot mega).-Robotics.-Remote control robots, can be used with Wii NunChuck to send commands.-Smart toaster's and dishwashers. (I use it to control my reflow oven).
The cost would be around $57dlls. 17 units will be ready in the next 10 days. Any orders?Has no official name, but for now is ArduStation (Later i will release the ArduToilet, LOL). The pictures only show the first prototype, that have some minor mistakes like the holes to close to the edges, i didn't include the reset button and the 5V power regulator get pretty hot (when 3 cell lipo is attached), so i change it to the big ventilated version. All this is fixed in the release version. I still working on the software.
Yes i did!! Actually i saw many inventions to eat the vibrations using tiny shock absorbers. But anyway you can't still use accelerometers for stabilization. The helicopter suffer from other accelerations that may confuse the autopilot. You need gyros and accelerometers or gyros and thermophiles.
Greetings.
Sorry, I know I am out of place but my only excuse is that I am a newbie, so may I jump in and ask Jordi one question about the Accelerometer versus the FMA sensors choice. Yes you are absolutely right of the Heli vibrations causing a lot of problems and that the Accelerometer wouldn’t be a suitable choice. Jordi I don't doubt you didn’t, but have you tried to research on absorbers vibration damping and use the absorber to attach the Accelerometer board. Also if I want to add Accelerometer instate of the FMA sensor, do you think I would have to change the autopilot code?
SAL
great idea again with the portable GS, just ordered one ! Have planned to develop such a GS for a long time already for my quadrocopter but was also a problem of time :-).
Comments
Yes i did!! Actually i saw many inventions to eat the vibrations using tiny shock absorbers. But anyway you can't still use accelerometers for stabilization. The helicopter suffer from other accelerations that may confuse the autopilot. You need gyros and accelerometers or gyros and thermophiles.
Sorry, I know I am out of place but my only excuse is that I am a newbie, so may I jump in and ask Jordi one question about the Accelerometer versus the FMA sensors choice. Yes you are absolutely right of the Heli vibrations causing a lot of problems and that the Accelerometer wouldn’t be a suitable choice. Jordi I don't doubt you didn’t, but have you tried to research on absorbers vibration damping and use the absorber to attach the Accelerometer board. Also if I want to add Accelerometer instate of the FMA sensor, do you think I would have to change the autopilot code?
SAL
https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3691940316?prof...
is the schematic for the shield available anywhere ? Can't find it ... but maybe I'm blind at the moment :-)
Erwin
great idea again with the portable GS, just ordered one ! Have planned to develop such a GS for a long time already for my quadrocopter but was also a problem of time :-).
Erwin
http://store.diydrones.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DE-0001-01
=)
Thanks for your support!
Interesting project.
Be patient please! =)
Will you put it under kits or boards? Haven't seen anything yet.
Regards,
TCIII
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