Posted by Mike Bakula on January 18, 2010 at 6:00pm
The Project SOAR group at Embry-Riddle got into the air again today. Although we couldn't get any time on the Autopilot (some problem with reading the Ublox5 GPS) we were able to test the Webbie as an on-board camera. The camera was attached to the EasyStar with 2" Velcro, which works well;
We mounted it screen-down, so the video would be upside-down. This is easily fixed in IMovie.
Now im a total noob and haven't even built one of these yet, but I do have an idea, just not sure if its possible. Is there enough room to either A) put it inside the fuselage and cut a hole for the lens, or B) to cut a rectangular spot in the belly of the plane to fit the camera into? I would think either of these would help with keeping the planes center of gravity a bit better.
Just a side note since I noticed you have your GPS and some other stuff mounted externally. When you mount externally do you need to worry about moisture on the electronics or other possible hazards or are the PCBs and components usually well protected by coatings?
I really want to avoid putting anything else above the wing, since that would be shadowing the x-y sensor, as well as part of the GPS field of view. Above the wing is also where flow disturbances have the biggest impact on lift.
You could also try mounting the camera above the wing to protect it a bit during landing? I have also see camera mounted above the wing with a hole cut for look down mode.
On that note, does anyone have experience cutting ports in the airframe below the wing? It's a real challenge keeping the CG from going too far forward, and I didn't put anything into that space before assembling the fuselage.
I also lost my XY sensor just aftert dark, I was lucky to find it the next day, I should paint it florescent orange, black just disappears, I found it just under the grass 3 feet from crash site. It took 1 hour of looking, I found it by running my hand over the grass, They cut the grass the next day....
"I Initially worried about the camera coming off"
Take from someone who has crashed a lot, when it does happen, make sure you find all the little pieces of gear that are scattered about. I've walked away from a crash not realizing my XY sensor was in the grass or my xbee was 15 feet away, etc. Velcro is almost perfectly designed to release in a crash.
Comments
Just a side note since I noticed you have your GPS and some other stuff mounted externally. When you mount externally do you need to worry about moisture on the electronics or other possible hazards or are the PCBs and components usually well protected by coatings?
You could also try mounting the camera above the wing to protect it a bit during landing? I have also see camera mounted above the wing with a hole cut for look down mode.
Good flying!
C.
Take from someone who has crashed a lot, when it does happen, make sure you find all the little pieces of gear that are scattered about. I've walked away from a crash not realizing my XY sensor was in the grass or my xbee was 15 feet away, etc. Velcro is almost perfectly designed to release in a crash.
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