3D Robotics

T3 Contest, Season 2, Round 1: Synthetic Trappy!

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You know the story: a FPV flier who goes by the handle of Trappy decided to prove something to someone and pulled a stunt in NYC a few weeks ago, filming a flight that went from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Statue of Liberty, and posting and promoting it online. This has generated a huge amount of controversy in RC/FPV/UAV circles. We discussed it here, and suffice to say it was the general sense of most commentators that this was Very Bad: dangerous, reckless and casting our hobby in a very poor light.

 

The problem is that Trappy, who is actually a very accomplished FPV pilot with many impressive (and usually safe) videos before this one, flew a Zephyr around Manhattan in Class B Restricted Airspace, in the landing patterns of three major airports and far beyond line-of-sight. He also filmed it and sent it to the media, where it was widely shown on national TV. This is not only in violation of FAA rules, but it's also the kind of thing that can ruin it for all of us if legislators take this example as an opportunity to crack down on our hobby.

 

What should he have done instead? Well, if he wanted an aerial tour of New York City, he could have had a great one on a simulator. Thus the theme of T3, Season 2 Round 1: Synthetic Trappy!

 

This is a simulator round. It's winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and too cold for many DIY Drones members to fly. That's a perfect time to brush up on your UAV "hardware in the loop" (HIL) simulation skills. It's a great way to test your autopilots and code on the workbench in realistic but totally safe conditions by connecting them to a PC Flight Simulator like XPlane or FlightGear.

 

Your mission is to do the following: program your autopilot to recreate Trappy's mission and make an autonomously-created video that simulates the one Trappy made, showing the safe way to fly planes around NYC: in a simulator only!

 

WRONG (Trappy's original video):


RIGHT (A rough simulation of the flight in Google Earth):

 

Here's a KMZ file (shown at top) that roughly covers Trappy's route, as best as we can tell from the video, which probably involved several flights and has edits and out-of-order bits.  Here is the tour file that was used to create the above Google Earth video.

 

Contest:

Your job is to create your own FPV NYC video, not by touring in Google Earth as I did above but instead by recording a simulated UAV flight using a HIL setup.

 

Here's how to get started with HIL simulation in ArduPilot Mega. You may want to use Happy Killmore's GCS to record your HIL sim and then replay it in First Person mode. Or maybe you have your own GCS or HIL setup that can do even better.Other autopilots have different HIL sims.

 

The judge (Gary Mortimer, as usual) will rank the submissions on closeness of simulation of Trappy's video, creative use of a UAV sim, and autonomous maneuvers that are particularly impressive (such as swooping down on bridges and alongside buildings). We don't really expect anyone will closely duplicate Trappy's routes; instead, we're more interested in the sim and mission-planning techniques you use. Crappy videos with cool tech will score well ;-)

 

As always, post your submissions in the comments below. Just an embeded YouTube video, a KMZ file of your simulated flight and description of your setup.  Winner will get their choice of a MediaTek GPS module or a magnetometer, but all entrants will get points for Season Two of the T3 contest.

 

Submissions must be in be 12:00 midnight PST on Sunday, Jan 30th.

 

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Comments

  • Sorry for not being clear. I could only obtain information from the sources which were available to me. Now, I could realize there are lot more opportunities available. I could also understand that both have the same objective.
  • Developer
    V, im lost buy what you are saying. you can use a APM or a AP, to do HIL. have a look at the respective wikis.
  • Developer

    Jim,

    have a look here http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot/wiki/FlightSim you can use a AP

    Michael

  • Is there a way to resolve the compatibility issues?
  • I was trying to follow the posts, but could not completely understand the working methodology. I should be grateful if i could get support from the members.

     

  • ...I take it that's a no then for the original AP ;-)

     

    Seriously, if anyone is entering the competition using the original AP could they post their set-up, it would be amazingly useful.

    Jim

  • Hi, is there a quick start guide for HIL on the original AP? I don't have an APM, is it still possible for me to enter the comp?
  • 3692141140?profile=originalthis is the best i got  so far.. if theres crack heads in nyc maybe the faa should cleaN  up homelessness and crack before they go around trying to mess with a hobby that rich and poor do ..  im sorry .. weve been letting uncle sam molest our freeDUMB..

    we are free act like it .. take away peoples hobbies i dare you USA 

  • Developer

    Found It
    Avalon Riverview
    40°44'37.48"N
    73°57'29.09"W

  • I'm not sure. queens side of the hudson river, opposite to the UN headquarters (blue building, also in the video). last one before the construction site starts (we launched from the construction site).

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