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Pixhawk bodged into Vulture 2 spaceplane

Posted by Lester Haines on February 6, 2014 at 2:30am

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We've done some initial work getting the Pixhawk into our Vulture 2, complete with the hot-off-the-press external LED and digital airspeed sensor.

There are more details and pics right here. As of this morning, we can't persuade the airspeed sensor to, er, sense, so that'll keep us off the streets for a while.

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Comments

  • MR60
    Hugues February 6, 2014 at 11:46am

    External LED on PIxhawk is available in beta, ask Randy.

    Very important question : in addition to heating the pitot, are you going to heat up the pilot too :) Poor playmobil.

  • John Githens February 6, 2014 at 11:39am

    +1 for Euan's last comment. :-)  Be nice to have an external LED.

  • Brent Alderton February 6, 2014 at 11:27am
    In regards to telemetry from the Pixhawk, the 3dr radio will only give you a low range. If you want complete visibility at all times, I would go for the RFD900u for the in plane transmitter and RFD900 for the ground station transmitter. Plenty of range then, especially if you are using an antenna tracker on the ground.
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer February 6, 2014 at 11:20am

    @Andrew many of the commercial platforms have heated pitots for freezing. If the platform goes through any moisture on its ascent it could be an issue. I must admit I don't bother with a pitot any more the nav is more than good enough these days without it for me! Excellent work devs! The recent 114km phantom flight didn't need one ;-)

  • Euan Ramsay February 6, 2014 at 11:02am

    Still no external LED or USB ports in the store for us humble peons...

  • Christiaan van Vollenstee February 6, 2014 at 4:38am

    Where did you buy that pitot tube for the pixhawk?

  • Developer
    Andrew Tridgell February 6, 2014 at 3:25am

    Hi Gary,

    Regarding heating the pitot tube, are you concerned it will freeze up, or are you concerned it may give bad readings if very cold?

    Cheers, Tridge

  • Lester Haines February 6, 2014 at 3:23am

    Re: Pitot tube heat. I'm mulling. It was the first thing that occurred to me when I got it in the nose

  • Lester Haines February 6, 2014 at 3:19am

    Airspeed sensor's now working - cheers, Andrew

  • Lester Haines February 6, 2014 at 2:59am
    Regarding testing, we have a cunning, if high-risk plan to get the Vulture into the air. It's currently classified, but I'll give you a shout via email when we've prepared it bit more.
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