Another one from Hack-a-day. It's just a concept so far, but the team that's behind it may be competent enough to pull it off. They're using a Kickstarter-like model to raise funds to make it. $670 buys you a pre-order if the project is funded.
an Open Source Remote Control transmitter. This is one of the most impressive looking RC transmitters we’ve ever seen. The OSRC could be great for a small UAV – just get the GPS position from the aircraft and map it with the transmitter’s screen. There’s also support for a video downlink so flying around New York City is possible with a single device.
The transmitter/receiver combo are more actually referred to as transceivers. According to [Demetris], the radios on both the ‘ground side’ and ‘vehicle side’ can talk to each other on a 115 kbps data link on the 2.4GHz band. Sending commands and getting telemetry to something we’ve seen before, but never in a single integrated package. The expected range is in the neighborhood of 10 – 40 km. The ground unit is based on a Gumstix board and has a 4.8 inch display. This really isn’t so much an RC transmitter but a computer that happens to control RC airplanes.
[Demetris] has had some success doing some professional development with Gumstix boards, so it looks like he has the skills to build a very nice R/C controller.
Comments
Where's the cappuchino dispenser?
Whats the difference to a Futaba 14MZ???
The only interesting feature mentioned are the "Self correcting sticks", which sounds like a form of force feedback, which is a thought I also had... Combined with a modern way of sensing instead of a potentiometer the sticks make the difference. But I think this is a huge step to design and produce mechanically AND reliable!
Personally I don´t want to hold a computer all the time I´m flying. It´s big, it´s heavy. While flying I don´t have time to look at it, I should look at the plane :-)
I would prefer a very compact transmitter with good switches all in finger range to be programmed by an external device (PC, Ipad, whatever...)
But the big players seem to earn enough money with controls they´ve been selling since years, so why invest...
Hmmm...does anyone else think that the stated range seems a little optimistic on 2.4 Ghz? Normally this sort of range is associated with with 400 Mhz dragonlink or similar transmitters/receivers.
And poison control
The only credit I can take is the part of the software that interfaces the ArduPilot data out via xBee to the TX LCD.
The project is much like the ArduPilot in the respect that a LOT of people contribute to the overall project.
So look at turning a $60 Tx into a $1000 unit without too much trouble at this website.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1266162
Yes it is a lot of reading but Soooo easy to do !
Earl
Oops, on the picture above I forgot a few things.
The URL...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1266162
You can see the Lat Lon on the right Tx display, (yes it is NM)
On Tx on left you can see two ants ! One is regular Tx and other is Xbee for ardupilot data. (on 900 Mhz)The price can vary from $59 to about $89 for the basic Tx.Shop around.
Then get a programmer from Sparkfun.
This IS an open source project with a LOT of enthusiastic people !
Email or message me on DiyDrones if you have any other questions.
Earl
Well for $80 + xBee's and a $16 ISP programmer you can come sorta close.....
Earl
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