Blogs

Geo-referenced NDVI of Urban Area produced with a single NIR-G-B Canon PowerShot 300 ELPH HS from maxmax.com.

[copying from Robohub]

Two of the most challenging problems tackled with quadrocopters so far are balancing an inverted pendulum and juggling balls. My colleagues at ETH Zurich’s Flying Machine Arena have now combined the two.

 

As part of his Master thesis Dario Brescianini, student at ETH Zurich’s Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, has developed algorithms that allow quadrocopters to juggle an inverted pendulum. If you are not sure what that means (or how that is even possible), have a look at his video “Quadrocopter Pole Acrobatics”:

You can read the full article with much more details and other photos here:

http://robohub.org/video-throwing-and-catching-an-inverted-pendulum-with-quadrocopters/

Tim Harford, in Adapt, talks eloquently and favourably about the use of innovation prizes to spur innovative thinking.  He concludes that, hands-down, it's the most cost-efficient way to conduct research and development.  The success of the Kramer prize and the various X-Prizes, as significant examples, also demonstrate the ultimate effectiveness of the approach.  More recently, the DARPA-sponsored UAVForge event was intended to provide an incentive to solve the intractable 'perch-and-stare' requirement.  Although the prize was not claimed, it seemed to drive some very innovative thinking.

What I'm trying to determine the level of interest in one, or maybe even a series of innovation prizes aimed at driving innovation and deployment of UAV/UGV technology in the oil & gas industry.  There is no pre-conceived notion as to what the applications might be, but the one that most use as an example is pipeline and facilities inspection.  But realistically, any of the dull/dirty/dangerous jobs of the oil & gas industry would be candidates for a competition.

I would be very interested in hearing the membership's thoughts on this topic.  In particular, what specific tasks would be valid for such competitions, the level of award that would get potential participants attention...in fact, anything which would help evaluate the idea.  Thanks very much for your help.

(Photo courtesy of djmacpherson)

(Moderators- User informed to add content to post, I.E video/pics)

Hi everyone,

From month now, i finaly decide to make that build that i wanna share here.

The control is AIO Pro card with Multiwii 2.1 don't know if APM can handle the Bi Copter configuration ?

I did it with 10 mm aluminium arms and plastic blocs. hope you like it !!!

Next Step is the command. Enjoy !!!

I've had a blog running in the group ArduCopter (traditional heli) user group called Mikado Logo 400 flybarless project with ArduCopter and video with OSD but R_Lefebvre suggested I switch to this main area.  I hope I'm doing the right thing. 

If you are interested, please have a look at the start of this blog at the link provided above.

I'm using a convetional (albeit 2.4 GHz Futaba R608FS) Rx but was wondering what is meant by "a PPMSum output which only needs 3 wires on the input side".

Is this the same as using a Futaba SBus receiver?  If yes then I would gladly switch to that.  I assume the channels set up in the transmitter are then interpreted by the APM2.5+ correctly or is there a requirement to set up the APM differently?

Just as a heads-up; I've already upgraded the ppm encoder firmware to ArduPPM_v2.3.13_ATMega32U2.hex following Randy's advice to do so. 

Hello,

I was inspired by some simple commercial 2 axis camera gimbal to create my own, fully transparent in acrylic. For those who are interest I share the SVG file I drew to have the parts laser cut. See attachment below.

The pictures below show different views:

You can download the SVG file here : gimbal1.zip

Edit : other dowload link for those who have problem with first one : gimbal1-alt%20svg%20format.zip

And a PDF version : gimbal1.pdf

Cu

Hugues

After it took about forever to get 2 small level-shifters, I could start integrating FrSky telemetry into the project.

In addition, the control station can now display all flight parameters in metric, imperial or imperial-nautical units. To change the display units, touch the indicator in the status bar. The setting is stored in EEPROM. Also, screen brightness setting and the selected screen are now stored in the EEPROM.

The status bar now shows the APM custom mode in addition to the MAVLink basic mode and it shows RC and telemetry RSSI indicators.

FrSky integration at the moment is still in an .ino-file but I will move it into a library as soon as possible so it can be used also in other projects.

The New Skywalker 1900 has been around for sometime. I just finish mine and test fly it last Sunday in strong wind condition. I barely able to trim for straight and level and P gain in stabilized mode.

It feel more or less like my old Skywalker 1900 but the rigidity of the tail section had been much improve. No more flimsy/Shacking tail boon and stabilizer.

Although it was advertise as modular/easy to dismantle and install  at field, but I doubt the durability of those orange plastic. For better reliability, glue the stabilizer and tail boom may seems a good option.

For me, the best improvement over the previous version is the enlarge fuselage. Now I can put my camera inside the fuselage with proper orientation. ( Horizontally relative to wings ). The only issue is now I had to add about 90 gram of ballast in the nose for proper CG because of the main battery sit right under the wings with no room for CG adjustment. 

A lot of user reported the left turning tendency but I didn't notice mine had this problem. Some of them suggested a twisted wings but if that is the case, than most properly all the wings should be the same because it was made in the same aluminium mold. May be I just lucky to get a good set of wings.

Nothings much to talk about the build. It is fairly simple and straight forward. I had good success with my old Skywalker so I just transfer all my equipment, i.e motor, ESC, APM 2 with 2.63 firmware to the new one. For telemetry, I use RDF900. Hopefully with this long range data modem, I'll had full connection through out the mission within a few KM.

I'll update the flight performance after I had it trim out. My flight gear as below:

Servo : Servox SH0257MG

Motor : T motor 2814-8 1000KV

Prop : APC 9X6

ESC : Hobbywings Funfly 60 A

Autopilot : APM 2. 2.63

Telemetry : RDF 900

Battery : FlightMax 4S5000mah. for motor. 2S 2100mah for avionic equipment regulated by Castle Creation 10A BEC

As is customary and traditional, we celebrate every new 1,000 members here and share the traffic stats. This time it's 35,000!

There were 2.1 million page views this month, which is a new record (we get over 70,000 page views a day). It took us just 21 days to get this latest 1,000 members--we're averaging about one new member every 30 minutes.

Thanks as always to all the community members who make this growth possible, and especially the moderators who approve membership applications and blog posts and otherwise answer questions and keep things ticking here. We've got about 70 moderators now, but if anyone would like to join this group, please PM me. If you've been here for a while and have been participating, you'll fit in great.

Previously I Crashed my X8 due to bad power module soldering. 

Fuselage  nose was broken and needs some attention to be repaired.

I'm going to put together all pieces that came off during a crash.

After that I'm gonna add some 0.15mm fiberglass to the front side of the  fuselage to protect it from the minor dents due to hard landings, for example on the ice.

In the same way I'm going to reinforce elevons, as they are strongly bent at maximum deviationthat negatively affects the handling.

According to my estimates used dry fiberglass weighs about 80 grams, so with the resin, the total weight of the aircraft will increase by approximately 160 grams.

A lot, but is there a better choice?

Next I'll post some photos of the processes

Above: Crashed plane on a tree itself. Duct tape was added for rough landings. Didn't help, ha :)

Camera place was knocked out by the main battery

Here you can see a particular point of impact. Piece of the foam was strongly bent inside and almost came off...

Here is it after disassembling all the electronics. Three main parts have to be put together and couple of small cracks have to be glued too.

I used kleiberit pur 501.

It sticks to the foam very well, It turns into foam for 30 minutes and can be sanded in a couple of hours depending on the humidity in the room (the adhesive is cured by water from the air).

First I glued the camera place and most of cracks. The last piece was bent so I decided to make it fit when the fuselage will not be as flimsy.

After all it all was in it's place. Toothpicks were removed later. 

Update.

Next few pictures after the plane was covered with fiberglass.
As a result, weight increased by 120 grams.

Following on from this mornings post about delivering cupcakes I thought I'd post a talk I gave last week at the Bootstrap Business Club in Manchester, UK. 

The main conceptual difference between the many Cupcake/Taco/Burrito Copters (including the Matternet idea http://matternet.us/ ) and the Pigeon Post is the former are all point to point systems and the latter uses (or will use) an IP like packet switching set up.  Anyway, take a look at the two videos below for more info and please give us your feedback!  Thanks.

Main Talk is above,

Q and A Session (most of it anyway)

Two Bay Area hackerspaces are conducting a robot-delivered cupcake contest. Clearly drones will be the winning technology. Fortunately, there's already a website for that. 

From Ace Monster Toys, an Oakland-based makerspace:

Overview

In the interests of inter-hackerspace collaboration, Ace Monster Toys is building a robot to deliver delicious delicacies to Noisebridge. We understand Noisebridge has a robot too, and we are preparing to defend ourselves against any robot-delivered treats it may attempt to deliver to our space.

The Rules

• Whichever hackerspace delivers a tasty snack to the other first is the more awesome hackerspace, forever.

• Any technology can be used to control the robot, although some kind of cellular radio is the most likely option.

• Use of public transportation to carry the robot over the Bay Bridge is allowed.

• A human minder can accompany the robot, but can't control it.

• No exploding cupcakes.

Hi,

I have measured very good Zaccel vibrations with this mounting system. It consists of a suspended acrylic base plate (3mm thick) on which a silicon pad (6mm thick) is placed. The APM case is placed on it with a little pressure from a velcro band.

The O-rings go through holes on each corner of the acrylic plate and are attached to the black nylon spacers. In order to avoid that the o-rings would move up/down the nylon spacers, I used flat metal nuts to block the o-ring (it is screwed between the first 10mm spacer and the bigger 30mm spacer).

The acrylic plate is suspended about 2mm above the fiberglass mounting plate. In order to shield the EMI interferences that could come from the PDB/ESCs, I added special EMI tape on this bottom fiberglass plate.

I show below the obtained results with motors 100% throttle:

This AccelZ measurement in the logs show an average of maximum 0.5g deviation, which is I guess quite good!

Other pictures:

Hugues

I have done this power layout to ensure power failsafe if something goes wrong.

After more than five years of experimentation the comunity of VirtualRobotix decided to grow up and turn into a cooperative company.
In the coming months in Italy, you can use our drones not only for scientific or fun, but also for commercial purposes.
Within VirtualRobotix we have assembled the best Italian companies with the ability to develop drones, very appasionate and expertise, today I present to you, the first professional product: a frame  in full carbon developed by the group that designs SpecialDrones.

In these video is possible to see different configuration , and the advanced application where our frame can do great performances

Now is possible to buy this frame for develop professional drone , we are searching partner to promote it worldwide.

for more info contact info@virtualrobotix.com

original blog post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/virtualrobotix-start-to-develop-professional-component-for-intern

Yesterday I had my third fly with ardupilot on my X8 and is anded badly.

In about 3 seconds after start engine stopped and I lost control totally.

Due to small roll and pitch angle my X8  kept flying and crashed in a tree in 300 meters.

Later at home I discovered that connector on a power module on the battery side came off from the wire. Terminals inside the connector had almost no trace of solder. On the wire solder attended and was highly oxidized!!!!

This means that the soldering kept on heat shrink tubing, and water has entered inside accident was only a matter of time and vibration, which is what happened.

I also cut tube from another wire and soldering quality on it also leave much to be desired.

Fortunately the aircraft be restored by the end of the week I will raise it again in the air (It amazingly strong!).

However, I will now have to check all the areas of factory soldering.

Hereby my project, I wanted to build a quadrocopter to learn more about system control and brushless motor and because it is cool. To target also was to make it without as little wires as possible and that is why I made a stacked PCB setup. Made two PCB's one flightcontroller with a lot of possibilities to expand in the future (for instance two PIC32 and also place for MPU-9150).  And one PCB with 4 ESC's integrated and battery current measurement, still have to do a lot things (first thing is altitude control). For me it is just a learning experience (programming is not my strongest point). Hope you like it.

Flightcontroller with PIC32

• 400Hz angle and speed control
• 2S to 5S
• MPU-6050
• HMC5883L
• MS5611
• GPS
• SD
• Spektrum
• Telemetry (Wi.232, will be replaced by RFM22 in the future)
• PC control (Labview)
• Servo outputs
• The possibilty to make bode plots of the quad (looks like this)

dsESC4

• dsPIC33FJ
• 12A per ESC without cooling, (has to be tested more with thermal camera)
• 2S to 5S
• Current limiting
• Closeloop RPM
• Battery current sensor
• I2C
• SPI
• UART

Todo:

• Altitude control
• GPS position control
• Making it autonomously
• Vision control
• Camera gimbal
• ....

"Not just weapons of destruction: How drones are being used to help build the skyscrapers of the future which could house more than 30,000 people"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279868/Not-just-weapons-destruction-How-drones-used-build-skyscrapers-future-house-30-000-people.html

Nice to see...

On the APM developer mailing list, the team recently posted their software roadmaps. Everyone is welcome to join the dev list themselves and follow this, but for those who aren't already signed up, I thought I'd post them here. 

As most of you know, the big recent leap has been full ArduPlane support for the 32-bit PX4 autopilot board, which is now complete and we'll talk about more soon. But in the meantime, here's the ArduPlane software near term to-do list, from team lead Andrew Tridgell:

As long as everyone understands that roadmaps tend to change, then I'm
happy to give an outline of the development that I'm aiming for over the
next few months.

It really divides into 3 categories:

 - vehicle specific changes (plane, rover, copter)

 - board specific changes (APM1/APM2/px4/vrbrain)

 - platform changes (basic system capabilities, build, libraries etc)

Within each category we have various people who 'own' the category. For
example, Randy is the ArduCopter lead, so he has some goals for the
vehicle specific components of ArduCopter. Randy has posted a nice
roadmap of what he is working on there.

For the platform and board changes, in the short term we want to get a
number of things fixed up so that px4 is a really good basis for
development. That means changes to the build system to make it easy to
do development on Windows, plus adding support for high rate logging to
the sdcard, both of "flash" logs and of telemetry style logs.

We also have a lot of docs to write on how people can use px4, how to
set it up, how to flash new firmware etc. Heaps to do there.

After that I'd like us to start taking advantage of the power of the
px4. For example, I think it would be great to be able to choose to use
the PX4 Kalman filter that James has been working on, and also use the
PX4FLOW board for highly accurate positioning. That will require some
restructuring of our library APIs, either within the AHRS framework, or
as a new library.

I also want to continue the process of library cleanup and consolidation
that we have been doing for a long time now. A good example is the new
AP_Mission library that Brandon has done. That library will allow us to
move a lot of mission logic into a common library, which lowers
maintainence costs and makes plane/rover/copter more consistent.

Similarly I would like to move a lot of what is now in GCS_MAVLink.pde
to a library shared by copter/plane/rover, so maintainence costs are
lower and improvements affect all 3 vehicle types.

A really big goal for me is to introduce a scripting layer into the core
autopilot, as an alternative to the current very simple mission
system. It seems likely at this stage that the scripting layer would be
based on pymite (a lightweight python implementation). It would only be
available on our ARM ports (not on APM1 and APM2) as the AVR doesn't
have enough memory to support it.

The scripting layer would allow for users to write simple or complex
scripts to control their vehicles, giving much better control over their
autonomous behaviour than we have now.

While all this is going on we also have the day-to-day process of bug
fixes and accepting patches and small enhancements.

For the rover code, I've been slowly working to cleanup the core rover
code to be a good basis for future development. That has taken much
longer than I hoped it would, but I would like to get a decent release
out soon.

In the plane code we have a number of interesting things pending,
including navigation improvements. Longer term I really want to get 4DT
path planning and sense-and-avoid capabilities.

I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of how I see things going. I'm
sure I've left some major things out, so please ask if your favouite
pending feature isn't listed.

You may also notice that I haven't put dates on things. That is
deliberate, as one of the things that is certain about software
development is that dates are always wrong!