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.]

Hi Gary and Chris,
I just posted another entry for the T3 contest. Finally got some video. Its my first attempt at video.
The airframe is a stock EasyStar with 2 cell LiPo's, and the brushed motor that comes with the EasyStar.
The autopilot is a UAVDevBoard running the latest version of MatrixPilot. In the video I mistakenly refer to LISY gyros, but the board I used is actually one of the older "greenboard"s with the 75 degree/second ADI gyros.

On the video I refer to 2 flights, but there are actually 3 flights. There was a successful, autonomous, test flight just prior to the video. I leave it up to you to decide which flights to include:

Flight#1: landed 34 meters from target, "clean flight", but no video.

Flight#2: landed 38 meters from target. Recorded on video. Flown immediately after flight1. Mostly autonomous, but I manually triggered a "go-around" because the first landing approach looked like it was going to land on the highway. After the go-around, the controls restarted the pattern, and did an autonomous landing the second time.

Flight#3: Landed 80 meters from target. Totally autonomous flight, recorded on video. Landed short, came to rest against a fence post. No damage, so I could have flown again.

Best regards,
Bill

PS: I just bought an ultransonic range sensor from SparkFun, that is going on my list of things to do.

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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 ;-)
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.
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
T3

William Premerlani June 26, 2010 at 6:50am

Everyone:
Ric Kuebler just posted two fully autonomous flights of his Funjet at speeds in excess of 200 Km/h. I did not see any videos in the posting, so I am not sure if he plans to enter the T3 contest or not, but his accomplishment is impressive, none-the-less.
Best regards,
Bill
T3

William Premerlani June 25, 2010 at 11:36am

Hi Gary and Chris,
I just posted another entry for the T3 contest. Finally got some video. Its my first attempt at video.
The airframe is a stock EasyStar with 2 cell LiPo's, and the brushed motor that comes with the EasyStar.
The autopilot is a UAVDevBoard running the latest version of MatrixPilot. In the video I mistakenly refer to LISY gyros, but the board I used is actually one of the older "greenboard"s with the 75 degree/second ADI gyros.

On the video I refer to 2 flights, but there are actually 3 flights. There was a successful, autonomous, test flight just prior to the video. I leave it up to you to decide which flights to include:

Flight#1: landed 34 meters from target, "clean flight", but no video.

Flight#2: landed 38 meters from target. Recorded on video. Flown immediately after flight1. Mostly autonomous, but I manually triggered a "go-around" because the first landing approach looked like it was going to land on the highway. After the go-around, the controls restarted the pattern, and did an autonomous landing the second time.

Flight#3: Landed 80 meters from target. Totally autonomous flight, recorded on video. Landed short, came to rest against a fence post. No damage, so I could have flown again.

Best regards,
Bill

PS: I just bought an ultransonic range sensor from SparkFun, that is going on my list of things to do.

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