T3 Round 8

Here is my successful entry to the competition.

The aircraft I used was an Multiplex Funjet with the Paparazzi
autopilot guiding the aircraft autonomously and calculating the drop
location. The algorithm took into account egg weight, windspeed, wind
direction, groundspeed, height from ground, and drag. I constructed a
servo-actuated release mechanism inside the Funjet for the egg drop.

The field location was near Givrins, Switzerland. The weather was hot and sunny with some wind.

I acheieved a good result; The unprotected egg landed approx 1 metre from the Home position and smashed spectacularly.
The video gives the best idea of what exactly happened. http://vimeo.com/14030111

At release, the airspeed was 20 m/s (72 km/h) and the height above ground was 54 metres.

The kmz file showing the Home, release and egg land positions is here: Griffin_T3R82.kmz.
Here is the kml in case you can't see the track in the kmz: Griffin_T3R82.kml

This exercise was a whole lot of fun!!!!!

Here are some photos of the egg release mechanism:

Inside fuselage.

Underneath.

Rather simple but effective.

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Comments

Moderator

Gary Mortimer August 16, 2010 at 8:35am

How funny, love the egg launcher, as I open this and saw the post I am listening to the Shins and they just sang, grab the yolk and drop the pilot how very apt.
Moderator

Gary Mortimer August 10, 2010 at 11:09pm

Try editing the opening post Mark and adding it there, I don't think you can add to these ones, sorry if you already tried that. G
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson August 10, 2010 at 11:06pm

Weird. It's working for me in both Firefox and Chrome on Windows. What browser/OS are you using?
T3

Mark Griffin August 10, 2010 at 11:03pm

Hi Chris,
Yes, it's not working here. Only "Add Hyperlink" and "Add an Image" are available.
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson August 10, 2010 at 4:31pm

Mark,

You mean file upload isn't working here?
T3

Mark Griffin August 10, 2010 at 2:37pm

Hi Jonathon, weight not so important (feather/lead weight argument). But if you think about it a bit more, it is a factor.
Thanks, Chris. I can only post a file in my own blog, not yours. So see my blog.
Thanks, Gary. I'll post a photo soon.
Cheers, Mark
Fabien Bruning August 10, 2010 at 2:20pm

For acceleration perhaps? It's such a good result, maybe he calculated the deceleration due to wind drag. Just speculation!
Jonathan Lussier August 10, 2010 at 12:12pm

Just wondering what you needed egg weight for...

Very impessive!
Moderator

Gary Mortimer August 10, 2010 at 9:57am

Well done Mark, top notch I know theres lots of room in a funjet but I did'nt think enough for an egg!! Any chance of a shot of the egg fitted. Very impressed!
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson August 10, 2010 at 7:58am

Wow--1 meter! Awesome performance, Mark. You're an inspiration.

One of your images (maybe KML track?) didn't come through; can you repost that?

This reply was deleted.