Unveiling the robot

Here you are some photographs of my flying robot.


It's a chinese replica of the t rex 450 equipped with brushless motor and lipo battery.

As you can see, there's a CMUcam mounted in the front. It points the helicopter in the direction (yaw control) of a coloured object, and follows it when this ascends or descends, lowering and raising height.



The new arduPilot mega with IMU shield is mounted on the tail boom, near the body. Currently it works just as a stabilization unit with little code modifications. In the future, when I'll have some spare time, I'll adapt it as an autopilot with gps guide and indoor navigation techniques such as the Polly algorithm (CMUcam software) which recognizes wall edges.




The goal of this project is to demonstrate (or not!) that cheap electronics and models can lead to a "successful" and reliable robot, to use as a platform for sensors.


in particular, the major goals to achieve are:


-long flight time

-payload weight

-almost absolutely fail-safe hardware and software, reliability

-autonomous navigation


upgrades can be a controller such as the RoBoard, the roboRealm vision software and a camera



I'll post more as soon (long) as i have time to work



cheeeeeers

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Comments

  • Looks cool.
  • The apm works good because it's powered from a separate battery. I just fried two esc's today, urgh. @Eric I'll post a movie when I'll be back in september, owning a brand new camera and esc!
  • Sooo... where's the video?
  • Hey everybody thanks for your replies!
    Updates. FLIGHT DAY TWO

    Bad:
    -Total ESC failure (burnt!) due to high battery voltage (14,8 V 4S) (damn, never flied anything before this heli)
    -Probably burnt channel of ArduPilot mega (doesn't respond to the transmitter anymore)

    GOOD:
    flies.
  • Moderator
    A note about using LockTite on heli frames...
    do NOT use on Fibre Reinforced Nylon parts since the expansion can cause microscopic cracks... this may be why some have experienced screw holding problems, even after using LockTite.
  • Developer
    Looking good. A couple of questions...is that a Trex450 clone? It looks bigger than my stock trex450.

    Another idea about mounting the ArduMega+OilPan...how about trying to create a new level between the body and the landing gear? I.e. separate the landing gear from the body, then take two 6cm * 13cm plates of wood, carbon fibre or whatever, attach one to the body, one to the landing gear. then attach the two plates together with those normal electrical standoffs.

    think that would work on a clone? It works on my stock 450.
  • hey hats a megamachine whats the maximum height.what esc are you using?
  • Which clone are you running exactly? I am looking for something to run my 2200mah 3s in.
  • Moderator
    Agreed
  • Moderator
    I've heard enough horror stories about lipos with dents and grooves in them that I actually threw out (recycle bins) a battery that arrived from HongKong with a major dent in it (poor packaging).

    A cable tie is hard on a lipo.
    Any groove or dent can be catastrophic!
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