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I finally got around to editing the footage of this fully-automated Precision Landing mission. The purpose of this mission is to demonstrate how vision-assisted Precision Landing can be a solution to the 'last 100 ft' problem, where traditional GPS is not sufficiently accurate to navigate to a precise location (RTK GPS systems are another possible solution). Some applications areas are automated landing on charging stations, boats/ground vehicles, or even your front porch. :)

The inputs to the mission are GPS waypoints, which are set at the known coordinates of two stationary IR Beacons. The mission is to travel to the next GPS WP, and then 'Precision Land' on the nearby Beacon. This work was performed a while back with an older version of AC, so we are transferring the code to a fork of AC3.2.1.

Thanks for watching! If you would like to stay up-to-date with our progress, or to check more details, our website is here:
http://precisionlanding.irlock.com   

NOTE that the 'bullseyes' in the video are only used as an accuracy reference (not for the machine-vision processing).
For excellent 'bullseye examples', check the work done by Daniel Nugent. (link)
For more explanations about IR-based machine vision, check out the recent post by Dan Wilson. (link)

Best,

Thomas

Image: Topcon RTK collecting survey points

High precision GPS systems are getting more known and used and RTK is already becoming a familiar acronym. This post is about the use of RTK for collecting ground control points to be used in high quality survey results, not about RTK for navigation use (that's a lot harder). What I was looking for is a method to collect about 5 control points for surveys in a way that is cost effective, but also doesn't cost me a lot of time. I'm working in the tropics, so standing 30 minutes in the sun and dust is a real chore and not very comfortable. Here I describe how I do this using low-cost L1 GPS modules that cost ~$50 each with an additional ~$150 for a recording device and a good antenna.

If I were to use the above RTK station, I would get really good accuracy (L1+L2), but I would also spend > $20k that I'd have to recover from business income and I'd have to spend 5-10 minutes per point to get an accurate fix, since I only had one station. With many modules you also depend on a proprietary radio link, so you'd eventually have to buy two if you need to set up your own reference station somewhere.

First, let's consider there are two kinds of accuracy:

1 Absolute accuracy; the difference between measured and actual coordinates of the point in world space.
2 Relative accuracy; the difference between measured and actual offset of one point and a reference point in the survey area.

The second characteristic by itself is already extremely useful for high precision volume and distance measurements. All professional surveys have this characteristic, which is essentially the characteristic of correct scale. Absolute precision is only really needed when you want to exchange this data with other systems and/or use different data sets together (now and in the future). The absolute accuracy of a data set can always be improved after the fact by simply applying a unique global offset to all the data or control points in 3D coordinates (meters, inch, whatever).

In this approach, we're going to store the raw observations in a file to be processed together at a later point in time. RTK GPS has a plethora of online discussions and examples where you require some kind of radio or wifi link between modules, but this is not actually a prerequisite of the technology. Having files is much better, because you can work out the exact configuration and settings in the office and so you won't make any configuration mistakes in the field. Also, a radio/wifi link is extra interference for your uav and not to forget the GPS module itself and if those links drop out for a reason, you lose all the data and have to come back again.

What you record is raw GPS output data, straight from the module, so there's little that can go wrong. You get the best results if the frequency for all modules is equal, because sometimes the tools get confused if there's an output frequency mismatch. Since modules are set up as static, I just set this frequency to 1Hz for all modules. I myself purchased some ~$50 modules (NEO-6T from emlid), put them in the field with any device that can read the modules (uart/usb) and record the data to an HD, SD, etc. If all modules were recording in the same time period, you can post-process the raw GPS logs from the comfort of your office.

I use RTKLIB to do all that: http://www.rtklib.com/

The process is:
1. select the dataset to be used as reference, call it REF
2. convert that to RINEX. Make sure to use the correct data source format.

optional:
To get high accuracy absolute positions from the field if you do not have an accurate reference yet, you can use PPP to derive it's position. This will give a higher absolute accuracy than a cellphone:
3. download the "SP3" file from the IGS data repository (available 3hrs-24hrs after the survey): https://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/components/prods_cb.html ; (available 3-24hrs later).
4. post-process the reference point REF using "PPP static", "Precise" solution, "Iono estimate" and "ZTD estimate" and select the SP3 file together with the NAV and SBS file using rtkpost.exe. You can also use the CLK file, but in my case it actually hurt results. Some more research there is needed.
5. if you have ~30 mins of data, the processed solution should be accurate to about 70cm (absolute) and probably is better than a meter. If you need better accuracy, the only way to get this better with PPP is to keep the module longer in the field (6-24 hours). After that, it's very much a black art which gives best results, but some people report you should expect ~10cm. That's not 1-2cm for the relative accuracy.

6. Use either the calculated position or the one from your cellphone. Let's call that REF.
7. select the dataset (one of the other modules) to be used as "rover", let's call this ROVER here.
8. convert ROVER dataset to "RINEX" data format using the rtkconv.exe program. Make sure to set the right source data format (of the source file).
9. then use rtkpost.exe to post-process both files, applying the settings you'd use in rtknavi.exe and process away. You should insert the position from REF in the "antenna position" now in the settings dialog and use "static" as the mechanism for post-processing, probably with "continuous" instead of "fix and hold".
10. Eventually there should be a fix for a long period of time. You can then average that out or see how much the variation is and not bother further. It should be 1-2cm when modules were not far apart.
11. Repeat from 2 for the other modules.

This method is cost- and time-effective. With 5 modules, you'd spend $1000 (raspi+GPS+good antenna ~= $200) to be able to measure 5 control points at the same time without waiting 5-10 minutes for each one. You can drop them in the field prior to a mission, turn them on, walk back and execute the uav flight. If that took about 30 minutes to complete, you can already retrieve the modules and go back to the office for post-processing.

Here's a nice tutorial about PPP with rtklib, but some options only make sense when you have L1+L2 data:

http://blog.latitude51.ca/rtklib-part-3-precise-point-positioning-with-igs-products/

I tested the above processing using a couple of well known reference positions of the local university, so the numbers of 1-2cm precision for RTK, 70cm PPP static are from such tests, however all tests were executed in one afternoon, so this doesn't give a lot of variance given the weather, ionosphere and solar activity. Actual results in the field will therefore vary, and vary per day too.

We're pleased to share this new video of our upcoming vehicle release!  Follow us at www.ascentaerosystems.com

Comments welcome!

This post observes the latest trend in the camera drone market. It also appears in sUAS News 'The Market'.

-----

By Steve Maller for Drone Analyst

My brief but productive visit last month to the 2015 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Las Vegas showed me just how fast the camera drone market is heating up. More than 97,000 people in media and entertainment attended this year, and the show featured for the first time an Aerial Robotics and Drone Pavilion with a fully enclosed “flying cage” for demonstrations. It was so well attended that one writer called the NAB 2015 “The Year of the Drone.”

Much has already been written about how drones impacted the show, and you can find good articles here and here.  I was particularly impressed with FreeFly System’s ALTA high-end drone because it represents what I consider to be a prime example of just how advanced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology have become. You can find my post on that here.

As a post-show wrap-up I offer five observations about the state of the aerial film / photo / video drones market:

Read more here: http://droneanalyst.com/2015/04/21/five-observations-about-the-camera-drone-market-from-nab-2015/

A simple, light weight and cheap 3D-printed camera mount for the 3DR Iris+ to carry a mapping camera at its Centre of Gravity. 

More images here: URAF

3D file available here: https://tinkercad.com/things/4FpvXF0Doe4

Radical M carbon gimbal

Hi,

I would like to announce my newest project which was made during last few months.

Weight for 2 axis 520g

Weight for 3 axis 620g

Alex or other controller

All wires and pcb inside the frame

Camera size - Sony Nex or similar

Project sketch:

The drawings I've made in Rhinoceros; very simple and useful tool. After watching few tutorials I was able to draw this project.

Prototype, the surface not finished yet.

Controller is located inside Roll frame on the middle.
And first production 2 and 3 axis.

Hackaday gives a well-deserved call-out to the creators of the MultiWii project:

With more than five years down the road in this successful hack, [Alexinparis] and his pioneering Nintendo controller hack have been taking eager enthusiasts to the skies with homebrew multicopters armed withMultiWii firmware.

The MultiWii firmware, like most other glorious moments that gloss these pages, was as a hack, and a darn good one. By harvesting the (I²C-based) accel-gyro sensor package in a Nintendo Wii MotionPlus, [Alexinparis] developed control firmware for an Arduino Pro Mini, and, thus: the MultiWii Controller Board was born. With a successful WiiMotion Plus pcb extraction, an Arduino Pro Mini, and some help from the forums, the dedicated hobbyist could build their own flying platform with customizable firmware enabling bi, tri, quad, hex, octo, Y6, and Y4 propeller configurations.

With a working flight controller, [Alexinparis] sent his firmware skyward in a tricopter built from scratch. For a light-but-sturdy shell, he opted for a lost-foam cast hull made from fiberglass and carbon fiber tow. This hull houses most of the electronics safely inside the hollow shell while maintaining the strength to sustain heavy blows from crashes. (The version shown above features additional carbon fiber reinforcement in the center.)

More than five years later, MultiWii is a mature open-source project with firmware and wiki under constant update. If you’ve ever considered getting started with multicopters, this project stands as a tested-and-tried road to success. In fact, even RC vendor HobbyKing offers low-cost Multiwii PCBs compatible with the firmware. For more details on the project’s humble beginnings, head on over to the RC Groups thread and followup documentation thread.

We’ve seen MultiWii countless times in the past as the firmware in numerous multicopter builds. It’s about time we give [Alexinparis] some well-deserved credit for paving the way.

Hi Everyone.

I would like to share my experience using navio+ as flight controller.

At first when discovered navio i was a little skeptic if this board could really be as good as it looks. I read all the documentation over at Emlid.com and i finally decides to order one for testing.

When i got my hands on this board, i immediately fell in love. Nice layout and solid connectors and at last, this board fits beautifully on top of the RPI. 

Then i installed Real Time Kernel for RPI and Ardupilot. Installation went painless, just following theirs instruction line by line.

An important note! You dont need to be a linux geek to get this going. Everyone is able to put this togheter.

After the installation is complete, you can launch anyone of the supported vehicles:

• APMrover2
• ArduPlane
• ArduCopter-quad
• ArduCopter-tri
• ArduCopter-hexa
• ArduCopter-y6
• ArduCopter-octa
• ArduCopter-octa-quad
• ArduCopter-heli
• ArduCopter-single

Typical ArduPilot start command:

sudo ArduPlane -A udp:<GCS_DYNDNS>:14550

Then just use Mission Planner and connect using UDP option. 

So after several days with bad and ruff wheatear, the sun was finally shining and i immediately packed up for maden flight.

Today i was flying for 60min using Navio+ as flight controller and 4G for video and telemetry.

I have one word;  Awesome.

My aircraft Skua FPV was rock solid after running Autotune function. 

My setup:

• Navio +
• RPI 2
• 4G USB Cellular adapter
• Logitech C920 webcam with gstreamer
• Logitech Gamepad F710
• GCS ( My Laptop with Mission Planner )
• Airframe Skua FPV

This brilliant board keeps everything in one piece, specially when using 4G / 3G cellular. There is no need for extra converters as i used before with APM or pixhawk in conjunction with RPI.

I simply connect the 4G usb to RPI2 and start the Ardupilot with UDP telemetry option. Simple as that.

Guys at Emlid currently works to get the Odroid-C1 support for  Navio+ .

APM autopilot port for Navio+ currently works with:

• Raspberry Pi Model A
• Raspberry Pi Model B
• Raspberry Pi Model A+
• Raspberry Pi Model B+
• Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

I will post an "HowTo configure RPI, Navio+ and Cellular network"  at my website: UAVmatrix.com

So for those of you that are skeptic, try it. you won’t be disappointed.

Emlid gives you great and fast support at theirs community section.

Regards

Bernt Christian Egeland

1h:15min of flight time for Airbotservices'X4 equipped with brushless gimbal & fullHD camera on its 12mm carbon fiber payload rail system.

Attempts have been made reaching more or less 2 hours of flight time on "empty" frames: such crafts carry the absolute bare minimum required to minimize weight, meaning: they do not carry payload(s), and/or do not have extra electronics for autonomous/waypoint capability and/or do not carry optional bi-directional command & monitoring telemetry.

"X4" is an Airbotservices experiment UAV attempting to push the limits of flight autonomy of a "practical" drone : we tried thus something different with a fully equipped drone (BG & full HD camera), in addition having all APM/Arducopter capabilities. It carries the following hardware equipment:

• Airbot's payload rail system composed of two parallel 12 mm carbon fiber masts
• Airbot's 2-axis brushless gimbal (Airbot's world's lightest at 45g only) stabilized using an Alexmos controller
• full HD Mobius Camera
• 3DRobotics' Pixhawk (APM Arducopter)
• 3DR Robotics real-time telemetry (bi-directional TX/RX)
• GPS (M8N) and second external magnetometer (in addition to internal Pixhawk's magnetometer)
• 3DR power module powering Pixhawk and used for current and voltage measurements
• Airbot's LiIon 23100 mah 4S battery
• Power circuit/cabling for the BG

The frame base is built inspired by Forrest Frantz's "CF round tube" constructions techniques (for an extensive discussion and how-to guide on these innovative techniques, read post here). 

Some Observations , lessons learned and potential improvements:

• Weather status: 50% of time without wind, 50% with ~20km/h breezes

• Initial battery state : charged at 4.18V at beginning

• Brief Loiter (un)stability hickups. APM version 3.2.1 was used , loiter mode for 95% of the flight. The weather conditions were relatively calm but still with wind bursts once in a while. Even during "no wind" periods of time, "loiter" was having some unexplained, brief (10 seconds or so) strong twitches (or spasms) as if the quad was fighting very strong (but unexistent) winds. I repeated the same experience on Airbotservices X8, totally different craft, same observations. The three factors that impact loiter's performance (low vibrations, low compass interferences, good GPS performance) were all excellent on X4 & X8:
  • (Vibrations less than +-0,2g;
  • External Compass with very low offsets and far from EMI;
  • More than 8 satellites and HDOP<2). M8N on X4, 3DR LEA on X8 (no GPS HW suspicion)
  • EKF was enabled.

         P Loiter and rate P Loiter were tested with lower values (0,7 and 0,8 and 0,9)  than defaults (=1) with no sensible improvement on loiter's stability. 0,7 value resulted in a bigger unstability versus the default value.

           Any observations on what could be wrong, analyzing the log file posted below, are welcome....

• Pixhawk and/or APM Arducopter's altitude management : should be way better than what it is. I already posted a few times about this, like here, and other people have confirmed my observations. This 1h15 flight really shows how bad altitude management is, with measured altitudes (displayed in MP) that are two or three times higher than real altitude (after a few minutes). Altitutde drifts is a nasty problem for (long) auto missions and I hope developers will now be convinced this should be set in the high priorities in the list of change requests for future releases (further, according to a user who got some feedback from 3DR, it seems 3DR does not consider an altitude drift issue even exists; cf support forum link above). I know Randy has confirmed an altitude EKF improvement about this in 3.3 but I'll let him chime here as I might be wrong. There are two potential different drift sources (or both may also even be concomitant), and I do not know which ones are at play : either an hardware issue due to Pixhawk's electronics (baro chip and/or how it is electronically exploited); either a software issue (different sw were used in this test:  APM /w EKF , Mission planner). To finish, with a detail on altitude problems, APM documentation wiki needs a small correction as it states that altitude is calibrated to zero when plugging the battery when it fact, in version 3.2.1 anyway, it is calibrated (and reset to zero) when arming.

• Mechanical vibrations fatigue. As can be observed in the attached video of this blog, Mobius camera detached itself (pitch mount) due to mechanical vibration fatigue. Mobius cam was simply snapped on with a plastic cap. Similarly to loctite to maintain screws tight against vibrations, adhoc glue should have been used to secure the plastic cap "snap on" mechanism (careful, never to use loctite on plastic parts as it make it brittle).

• A very positive and conclusive result for "screwless" frames. Airbotservices X4 is built screwless, only using glue between parts, including the 12mm carbon fiber rail system that carries the heavy battery. Although this craft has been flown many hours (each time more than one hour at a time), none of the glued parts have budged nor cracked. Use of glue is key to get a light craft and get such performance (after all, Airbus and Boeing evolved too from rivets to glue in order to lighten their planes). I did not do any structural resistance measurements but I would bet that such frame is way stronger than any screws & bolts alternatives (Forrest might chime here as he 's the expert on the subject).

• Final battery status : voltage =3.3V per cell (plugged in, motors stopped) and =3.1V (under charge, motors running). A LiIon cell is fully empty at 2.5V per cell. Stopping at 3.1V, 20% of energy remained in the battery. It is OK to drain a LiIon battery down to 2.75V per cell under charge (=11V for a 4S battery). Extending the flight with a few more minutes was thus possible (better be careful not to damage the battery).

Mission planner's log file is downloadable here.

There you have it, a fun journey in extreme flight duration territory,

Cheers,

Hugues

FLIR TAU cores are often used in our "drone" community as a very simple thermal imagers. But what about to make from FLIR TAU full value thermal camera with USB3 or GigE (Gigabite Ethernet) output?

USB3 and GigE modules are designed and manufactured by Workswell for easy and user-friendly PC connection for all FLIR TAU2 cores. Both USB3 and GigE modules support slow as well as fast TAU2 versions and automatically detects image stream from the core. TAU2 core is controlled and supplied from USB3 or GigE module through 50pins Hirose interface connector. Whole internal electronics is protected by metal enclosure.

USB3 Module is supplied directly from USB3 cable without external power source needed. Very low power consumption decrease needs for special cooling. USB3 module is fully compatible with USB3 Vision and Gen-I-Cam protocol.

GigE Module is supplied directly from Ethernet cable (PoE) and its low power module consumption decreases a need for special cooling. GigE module is fully compatible with GigE Vision 2.0 and Gen-I-Cam protocol.

Workswell CorePlayer software automatically detects USB3 or GigE module, TAU2 core type or wrong IP address settings. Pixel resolution is setup for specific core in 8 or 14 RAW data format. Temperature values can be shown in different color palettes with interactive side bar and measurement tools. Users can manage core parameters such as Gain, NUC, Factory Reset, etc. There is also tutorial application, Linux and Windows dll libraries and C# application code available. CorePlayer Application is included for free of charge in every USB3 or GigE module package.

More info on our website or email: info{}workswell.eu.

This video shows some recent flight test results from my PhD research on autonomous UAV docking, that was conducted with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at The University of Sydney. To the best of our knowledge, these experiments are the first time two UAVs have docked in mid-air.

Some of my other videos provide more specifics on the hardware/software, but I'm using my own autopilot, a Beaglebone Black as the formation flight computer and an Odroid U3 to do the onboard vision processing. All the guidance, navigation and control algorithms on all the hardware is developed in Simulink and automatically converted to C/C++.

The IR vision aspect is probably of interest to some of the guys doing auto-landing with IR beacons. We use a C920 with narrow bandpass filter and 940nm LED markers without modulation. It works in all lighting conditions except when looking directly at the sun where the high number of false positives are difficult to distinguish from the actual markers, but there are a number of ways to handle this infrequent situation.

There are some nice airborne shots so watch in HD!

I recently came across a very interesting Quad Copter from Aerosky call the X350. The don't mention the APM but in the manual it states that it is compatible with DroidPlanner and Mission Planner. The price is great if it flies as the advertise

For the RTF price of 399.00 I am considering getting one to test. It does not state anywhere that an APM/or compatible is in it. I thought that under the Open Source rules they had to mention the Group of Developers etc... 

Specs as listed:

Features:
Easy to Fly
Altitude Hold
GPS Position Hold
Point of Interest
Return to Location/Home
Failsafe Return Home
Headless Mode
Follow Me (Telemetry Module Required)
Set Waypoints and Create Flight Plan (Telemetry Module Required)

Configuration:
Motor：4pcs x 2312 KV1000 motor
ESC ：4pcs x 20A Brushless ESC
Battery ：11.1V 2800mAh 20C Li-Po
Transmitter Battery：4 AA Batteries (Not Included)
Radio System：7CH Radio，7CH Receiver ，2.4GHZ
Propeller：4pcs x 8045 Propeller
Power Input：11.1V（3S Li Po） 
Maximum Tilt Angel：35°
Maximum Yaw Angular Velocity：200°/s
Hovering Accuracy：Vertical: 0.5m Horizontal: 2m
GPS and Flight Controller (Included)           

Specification:
Rotor Distance：350MM
Flight Time: Approx 20 minutes
Flight Weight：< 1000g
Operating Environment Temperature:            -10℃-50℃ 
Power Consumption:  3.12W
Weight (Battery & Propellers Included):        <1000g
Payload: 350g (Recommend), 500g (Max)
Hover Accuracy (Ready To Fly Version):      Vertical: 0.5m Horizontal: 2m
Max Yaw Angular Velocity:  200°/s
Max Tiltable Angle:    35°
Max Ascent / Descent Speed: 3m/s
Max Flight Speed:      10m/s
Diagonal Motor-Motor Distance:       350mm
GPS inside      

Battery           
Battery Type:  3S LiPo,2800mAh,20c
Battery Cells:  3S
Battery Capacity:        2800mAh 
Battery Discharge Rate:          20C

The video above attempts to provide a "Behind the Scenes" view of how we are capturing the NDVI composite images while working with a local farmer and a section of his wheat crop.

The on board video, captured images, along with ground video and mission planner execution was synchronized to provide more of a "real time" understanding of a mission flight.

For best viewing, please launch in full screen HD.

The gigabyte composites are being published to a web based panorama for analysis.

Click on the image above to launch the panorama and view the composites.

At launch, a 360 ground based panorama of the wheat field section is displayed.

Click on the "normal" and "NDVI" composites in the top left blue area.

Click on the bottom bar for other functions (i.e. maps, auto scroll, help)

Use your mouse to pan around and wheel to zoom in and out.

Complete details and results of our efforts can be seen on our "surveys" website page at

Surveys Link.

I want to thank "DIY DRONES" and its members who contribute so much in helping all of us to debug, develop, refine and launch this new technology and suite of products.  As a small payback for all that we have received, I hope this post can be of some use to those interested in supporting their farmers with aerial surveys.

Mike Governale,

Looks like this is the week of big UAV announcements with the launch of the Airware platform for commercial drone use.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/16/airware/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zhsTAkqcVo&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuajAZKXonjHpfsX%2F6%2BwuT%2Frn28M3109ad%2BrmPBy%2B2YIGWp8na%2BqWCgseOrQ8lV4NV8SsU80Wq6Y%3D

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-micro/

light, 5gHz wifi, 5 volts

if only the range is acceptable, or maybe a mod to fit some cloverleaf....

Greetings, 
Some interesting news from UgCS Team.

We have modified the firmware based on ArduCopter v3.2 firmware for it to allow us to control the speed of the vehicle in an automated mission in real time through the throttle channel on the RC remote.

How it happens:

1. Install the new firmware through Mission Planner. After installing, make sure you recalibrate the compass.

2. Create a mission in UgCS, upload it to the vehicle and start flying.

3. As soon as the vehicle is in “Auto” flight mode you will be able to control the speed of the vehicle with the throttle stick of your RC remote.

The speed can be changed between 0 m/s (when throttle is set to zero) and 10 m/s (when throttle is set to maximum) and anything in-between. For instance, when the throttle on the RC remote is set to 70% the vehicle will fly at approximately 7 m/s.

The behavior of the vehicle in other flight modes is not altered in any way and they work as normal

A few notes:

• This has been tested to work on a Pixhawk flight controller on the Iris+ platform.
• The change in speed is not instantaneous. By default the acceleration of the vehicle is limited to 100 cm/s². It can be changed via Mission Planner by increasing the parameter “WPNAV_ACCEL” to a higher value, e.g. 500, which corresponds to 5m/s².
• The vehicle will still automatically slow down before sharp turns.

This feature of variable speed control can be used in fields such as aerial photography, sports videos, monitoring industrial and agricultural objects and other. If you are interested in this, feel free to contact us!

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

Hi Everyone,
Yesterday, I shot this video with my MacBook Air and DroneThermal camera.

The results are promising. Thermal image resolution is only 80x60 pixel but sensitivity is not bad.

BTW, We designed an optional 3D printed (SLS) case for the camera. It looks better :)
Shapeways.com has some difficulties in these days. We will share the 3D print files soon on our web site and Shapeways.



Thanks for reading
Melih

Hobbyking has released the Turnigy Fabrikator 3D Printer in all their warehouses today. Some people have been eagerly waiting for what they come up with, but now we know. I ordered mine, together with a role of fillament and looking forward to receive it. It will be my first adventure with 3D printers, so I am pretty excited to start printing my own aircraft- and quadcopter parts.

No longer is 3D printing technology the exclusive realm of hard-core technophiles and industrial designers, it is now accessible to anybody with a computer and the ability to put flat pack furniture together. Whether you are into planes, multi-rotors, cars, boats, helicopters, robotics, trains or even anime figurines the Fabrikator will soon become your most versatile tool. Can’t find that rare part for your old model or you just want to modify an existing piece? Now you can print what you want, when you want it

Features:
• Ball bearing liner rods
• Rolled lead-screw with anti-backlash drive
• Phenolic heat stabilized bed W/removable Glass print area
• Heated print bed
• NEMA 23 and 17 motors
• 4 rod supported print plate for high speed printing
• 6 sided full printer support for high accuracy
• SD card cable free printing|
• PLA and ABS filament compatible
• Top feed anti-bind spool feed
• Twin print cooling fans
• 2A Heat sync stepper drivers with active cooling
• 220~110V A/C compatible
• Homing and Limit switches
• Full LCD GUI with on the fly tuning
• Large 150x150x100mm print area
• Dual bearing supported twin belt Y axis drive
• Heavy Duty 12Volt 29Amp Power supply
• Open Source control Architecture and support 
• Full Parts support and future expandability platform

Specifications:
Overall size: 360x400x600mm
Print size: 150x150x100mm
Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
Filament diameter: 1.75mm
Print speed: up to 300mm/sec
Print platform: Phenolic heat stabilized bed with removable glass print platform
Filament type: ABS and PLA

More information and (get it from your favorite or local warehouse) through the links below:

Hongkong warehouse (UK plug)

United Kingdom warehouse (UK Plug) 

European warehouse (EU Plug)

United States (East - US Plug)

United States (West - US Plug)

Seems that the 3D printer is not (yet?)available from the Australian warehouse.

We've done a few autonomous and follow me videos but none of them showed footage from the air and we received a few requests to see how stable the aerial footage was in "Follow Me" mode.  Here is the video-

The crowds for one of the demos of the new LIDAR/Optical flow position hold. Works great and SO much better than sonar, since it can handle any surface, indoors and out. The same tech can be used for precision landing on designated markers.

You get a prize if you can beat our team at ping pong (doesn't happen often; ping pong is a 3DR speciality):