We did it! With your help over the last few years, I finally completed a cross country flight (take off and land at different locations). Executed the mission flawlessly, all that preparation paid off.
I have to take a moment and thank you. Without your support over the last two years, I'd never have gotten this far. DIYD, in my opinion, is the most supportive and helpful community in our field. Thank you.
Next up: Bigger, faster, longer.
-Trent
Learn More:
Raptor Details: http://www.mygeekshow.com/theairplanes/Raptor.html
USA Trip Details: http://www.mygeekshow.com/usatrip/
Equipment Used:
Autopilot: APM2 (no longer sold, visit http://store.3drobotics.com/products/apm-2-5-kit)
FPV/Onboard Camera: http://www.foxtechfpv.com/horyzonhd-full-hd-1080p-fpv-camera-v3-p-877.html
Radio Tx: ParkeFlyer Turnigy 9x Tx: http://parkeflyer.com/
Reciever: 6ch FlySky http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-r6b-receiver.html
Telemtry: 915mhz 3DR http://store.3drobotics.com/products/3dr-radio-telemetry-kit-915-mhz
Battery: 2.2Ah 30C Sky Lipo: http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-2200mah-3s1p-111-30c.html
ESC: 30A Brushless http://www.hobbypartz.com/07e04-proton-30a.html
Motor: 2220 1800kv brushless http://www.hobbypartz.com/75m55-optima450-2220-1800kv-2.html
Prop: 8x4 APC Style http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__23610__APC_style_propeller_8x4_E_USA_Warehouse_.html
Servos: 9g http://www.hobbypartz.com/topromisesg9.html
UBEC (for FPV camera): 3A http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4319
Follow the Show:
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyGeekShow
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mygeekshow
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Skype: MyGeekShow
UStream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mygeekshow
Comments
So what distance did you cover in this flight ?
Nice feeling isn't it when the flight goes as planned :-) I did it too, with a 400g AUW, 800mm span Swift II, from my place to my parents house 10km away. Did an autolanding in a meadow. I was alone and had the laptop on the passenger seat with speach enabled, so as long as I heard it say "altitude 127, speed 45, heading for waypoint x, I was ok.
At a red light, close to the landing site I watched the screen and saw that the plane was nearby. I looked out my sidewindow and THERE IT WAS!!! Steady making its way to the landing zone. Man that trafficlight seemed to stay red forever !
Unfortunately I arrived at the landingzone just too late to see the landing, but it landed about 20m past its intended point, which was very good since I forgot to make a turn and land AGAINST the wind.
Have video en telemetry from the flight.
After that I made a flight from my home to our rc club (Gave them a call to check if everything was ok first)
The chairman found my plane just outside the landingstrip, but he didn't know about my call (wasn't flying). He asked the flyers who's plane it was.
- Ah, it's u4eake's.
- Ah u4eake... and where is he?
-At home, he'll be here soon.
-???? He's at home ? And his plane came here all by itself or what?
-yep, that's right...
Anyway, my next project is crossing the Canal between France and England AND BACK autonomously. Plane (X8) is ready and can take the distance, that's already tested.
A suggestion to make it safer : you can attach a telemetry module to the roof of the car and stay in contact during the ride. Whenever you can't keep up (unforseen traffic, trafficlight...), change mode to loiter through telemetry. When the car has cought up, change back to auto.
Hope we can keep exchanging experiences!
@Tridge: thank you for the feedback and support! Lets keep chatting about it.
@Justin: Yes, I've got my eyes on these modules. I'm doing real life range testing right now to see what is gained by going to a stronger transceiver.
@Curt: Great question. The first item on my trip requirements is safety and compliance. Its something I'm talking, researching and thinking about. I won't make this trip unless it safe and legal! I like your idea about the rally...
@Doug: Thank you for the support! Its a lot of fun...
@Rob: Interesting challenges on your Stabilize Mode. Have you started a discussion thread on this yet? It might be better to discuss resolving that way.
@Jernej: Yes, the Raptor or some form of it, is what I'm mainly considering for the USA trip. I'm working on adding a current sensor and airspeed sensor to better gather efficiency data.
@Joshua: Thanks for the support! I'll check out your website.
@Graham: 120m above ground level, roughly 450m above sea level.
@Hugues: Great idea... I'll think of how to appropriately share that.
Thank you all for your support!
Do you have a link to a website where we can see the route /waypoints you followed? Do you have some videos of this trip ?
what was the altitude for the waypoints?
Hey Trent,
I've been a huge supporter of your podcast/show for quite some time and would love to see your work integrated and shared with my website DroneCafe.com It's quite simple to share all your youtube content with a few clicks of the mouse on my website.
Take it easy pal,
Joshua Johnson
Awesome job Trent! I knew you can do it. So the raptor is a candidate for USA trip? Have you been thinking about using Arduino to help you out with calculating needed throttle for max efficiency using amp draw data and raptor speed? I would absolutely recommend it. Your work is amazing.
Hi Trent,
The main problem i had was in stabilise mode, where i had virtually no authority over the plane, it was very stable but uncontrollable . I played around with most settings, on APM and transmitter, but it always countered itself. This prevented me from progressing to auto mode.
Any help most appreciated
Rob
I think you might be on to something here. An annual 3DR UAV Rally. I imagine starting smaller. 200km circuit over a weekend, for air, land and (hopefully) sea. Maybe circle a state(province in my case).
OUTSTANDING Trent! Well done.
Your enthusiasm continues to infect me.
Mission Plan onward!
-=Doug
Hey, maybe Chris/3DR could organize a UAV rally ... maybe 400-600 miles for the first one ... 30-40 mph average flight speeds you could do it in 10-20 hours of flight time ... depending on your how long you can fly, maybe that's 10-20+ hops. If a route could be picked that was through pretty remote and open areas (i.e. not through north carolina which is wall to wall forests and impossible to see the sky for 100's of miles) :-) Maybe through north dakota would be perfect. Sign up 3-5 teams, bring lots of spares ... maybe shoot to cover 100 miles a day. That could be a really good time.
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