T3--Round 7: Autonomous takeoff and landing!

Inspired by the Sparkfun Autonomous Vehicle Competition, where massive points were given for autonomous takeoff and landing, we're going to do something like that here for round 7. So here's the DIY Drones T3 Total Autonomy Round--"Look Ma, No Hands!"

Rules:

Contestant who takes off autonomously, flies autonomously and lands autonomously closest to their take-off spot---TWICE--wins. Distance from final rest and launch should be averaged over both runs. It doesn't matter what the aircraft does between launch and landing. One loop is fine.

Contestants must submit KML track AND video. Just set up your video camera on a tripod viewing your launch/landing spot. We want to see: A) your transmitter on the ground. B) the plane landing as close to possible to the launch spot. C) You looking very relaxed, doing nothing. Extra points for you in a lounge chair with a drink.

Entries must be submitted in the comments here by 12:00 midnight PST on Sunday, July 4th. Winners will, as always, get points for the cumulative T3 leader board and some cool prize TBA. Remember to tell us what autopilot and aircraft you used.

FAQ:

Q: What do you mean by "take off"? Is hand-launching allowed?

A: Yes. As long as your RC transmitter is on the ground, you can hand launch

Q: Why twice?

A: So you don't crash your plane into the launch spot and call that an "autonomous landing".

Q: What does T3 stand for?

A: Originally "Trust Time Trial" but since this round doesn't involve time, it's just for continuity. Trust is still operative, however.

Q: Is this an awesome time to try out the new autonomous takeoff and landing feature in ArduPilot 2.6?

A: Why yes, it is!

[Picture of Jordi Munoz not doing an autonomous landing at the Sparkfun AVC.]

Here is my successful entry to the competition.

I tried to keep things simple so the aircraft I used was an EasyStar (used in several other other T3 competitions) with the Paparazzi autopilot guiding the aircraft autonomously from take-off, climb, circuit, landing approach and flare.

The field location was near Givrins, Switzerland. The weather was hot and sunny with some storms in the mountains. The wind was from the north-west with occasional gusts up to 6 m/s.

Take-off was with a hand-launch into the wind. The aircraft flew one circuit and landed 11 metres from the hand-launch point. I then picked up the aircraft and carried it back to the launching location where it was hand-launched again. It flew a second circuit and landed 17 metres from the hand-launch point.

I acheieved a good result; the average distance was thus 14 metres.

Here is the video containing the documentry evidence of the session. As you can see, I was fairly relaxed sitting on a camping chair as the EasyStar was doing its laps. The only thing I forgot to take with me was some beer!

Here is the kml showing the 2 circuits: 10_06_30__18_10_47_1.kml

I believe that my entry fully meets the requirements of the competition and is in accordance with the rules.

Cheers, Mark

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Comments

3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 8:16pm

Given that tomorrow is a holiday in the US, we might be forgiving of entries that trickle in this week. But it's up to the ultimate judge, Gary.
Adam Barrow July 4, 2010 at 8:00pm

I was also planning to make an entry (already have plenty of attempts...) but the combination of a broken water main, high winds, and rain from Alex mean that it will probably end up as an FYI entry later this coming week (I hope). It's been a fun challenge, and I really enjoyed reading and following the other entries.
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson July 4, 2010 at 5:59pm

No worries, Brian. We'll hold the submission box open until you post.

I was going to do my own entry today but got caught up in getting ready for the ArduPilotMega beta release (next week). Anyway, it's probably not fair if the organizers enter ;-)
T3

Brian Wolfe July 4, 2010 at 5:37pm

I have an entry. It'll be late PS time by the time I get the video and all together. Need to squeeze some BBQ and fire works in there as well.

B
Moderator

Gary Mortimer July 4, 2010 at 3:03pm

Its a few hours till July 4th finishes in some parts of the world I'm tired and will head of too bed so some last minute entries if there are any out there still have a few hours to sort things ;-)
Moderator

Gary Mortimer July 3, 2010 at 4:17pm

Marks may be deducted for not taking beer Mark, but then you should not drink and fly anyhow, great entry.
T3

Mark Griffin July 1, 2010 at 6:53am

Here is my successful entry to the competition.

I tried to keep things simple so the aircraft I used was an EasyStar (used in several other other T3 competitions) with the Paparazzi autopilot guiding the aircraft autonomously from take-off, climb, circuit, landing approach and flare.

The field location was near Givrins, Switzerland. The weather was hot and sunny with some storms in the mountains. The wind was from the north-west with occasional gusts up to 6 m/s.

Take-off was with a hand-launch into the wind. The aircraft flew one circuit and landed 11 metres from the hand-launch point. I then picked up the aircraft and carried it back to the launching location where it was hand-launched again. It flew a second circuit and landed 17 metres from the hand-launch point.

I acheieved a good result; the average distance was thus 14 metres.

Here is the video containing the documentry evidence of the session. As you can see, I was fairly relaxed sitting on a camping chair as the EasyStar was doing its laps. The only thing I forgot to take with me was some beer!

Here is the kml showing the 2 circuits: 10_06_30__18_10_47_1.kml

I believe that my entry fully meets the requirements of the competition and is in accordance with the rules.

Cheers, Mark
Moderator

Gary Mortimer June 27, 2010 at 2:31pm

Will do Chris
T3

Krzysztof Bosak June 27, 2010 at 2:00pm

Hi everybody, pls consider my entry contained in the blogpost:
"8 autonomous takeoffs+landings in 24 minutes with EasyUAV"
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/8-autonomous-takeoffslandings

The best distances landing to takeoff are 35 and 37m.
Those are the first 2 flights on the video.
Riccardo Kuebler June 27, 2010 at 1:00am

Hi Bill,

thank you for having highlighted my recent blog. My plans were to do something better for an entry here.
(Is for that I was asking for the full throttle option ;) ). I organised a cameramen, but I fried the motor before to be able to do what I meant. I am grounded then for some days again, not able to do an entry before the 4th.
So if this could be considered in the rules this is my entry.

Do I have to repost the flight logs here ?

Best regards,

Ric

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