Hi all and Merry Christmas,
On the video you can see some issues you would encounter during wintertime.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Hi all and Merry Christmas,
On the video you can see some issues you would encounter during wintertime.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Comments
What is most expensive about parachutes is testing and development.
Then, they remain time consuming but they also lower human mistakes in all other fields simply because
ppl feel better with it. I feel even better when I don't have to repack it, so often I fly the whole day without repacking, executing belly landing in RC mode.
Belly landing the same way as easystar is possible with 4kg AUW, and less batteries, but it is useful mostly for showcase as you have to define and test a whole approach pattern and then write as waypoints.
Landing 'just where you took off' on the fuselage in automatic mode leads to many stupid mishaps (obstacles, rocks, bushes).
BTW this was VERY HIGH parachute opening. Something like 110m AGL.
Normally we do that around 50m. We were curious and the wind was so weak that we have decided to deploy high in automatic mode (flying assisted drive).
Yr jkig itz ezzzy this drone thung..........................
Very impressed with the height you open the chute at, fantastic system that works, and that's important well done Chris.
Hi all. I wouldn't be able to do all this on pure hobbyist basis. In fact since the beginning I was planning a commercial route. Yes it is true this kind of infomercial might look like.. well... infomercial, but it is not much different from ardupilot mega announcement which is available online...
Truth is, I am posting this mostly for fun and 'future generations' because our clients are typically crop monitoring ppl and research, what is very different from ppl looking for lowest-cost possible autopilot in order to invest a few months of their lives into it.
Concerning the parachute. Yes we did it by ourselves. At the moment we are not producing our propulsion nor servos, nor the camera. The reason is nothing off-the-shelf really fits. We started with thinking 'let's strap a camera to airplane and do it cheap' and after flying a few simulated commercial mapping missions 2 yrs ago, no single off-the shelf idea survived (this includes using standard styrofoam fuselage: the camera was unprotected and got dirty landing on mud fields).
The parachute was calculated by airframe designer, who is finishing his PhD in airplane construction dept. The goal was to get arond 5m/s descent rate, so we have bought a dozen available plastics and started tearing them off from out drop machine (with 5kg payload). This is a cross-shaped parachute (has more delicate opening than circulars).
The problem with parachute is: that you must UNFOLD and FOLD it before flight for 95% clean opening chance. Unclean opening is handled by the airframe with some minor damage (usually underbelly replacement).
This means you spend time and then it becomes profitable to fly a long mission. usign light airframe, on the other hand, leads to multiple flights 30min long, that suffer more from wind turbulence and fly in different lighting condition. Personally I prefer to land manually: the parachute is there because it is extra safety measure when we have to fly among obstacles, which is a problem mostly in forestry.
We haven't found yet a non-military solution (200USD/takeoff with inflating bag) for landing on a stump.
For those who don't know, Krzysztof is a longtime community member who, like several other members, parlayed his interest in UAVs and his expertise and background into a business.
These updates are welcome and no different than progress reports from any other member.
@ diego,
It isn't an outright sales pitch, it describes useful tips on winter flying and points out the suitability (and drawbacks) of the Pteryx airframe (and any airframe) for winter flying.
I am interested in this as we have a minimum of 6 cold months during the year and it would be nice to be able to do some serious flying during that time.
Yes: http://dplagency2.home.pl/PROJEKT/PTERYX222/
but still impressive!-
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