Looks like the folks at HobbyKing has fully embraced the Multicopter revolution. To that end, they've created a contest for 2012, the goal of which is to lift our favourite beverages, BEER! They don't say whether the beer cans need to be full or empty. I think the goal is to lift as much weight as possible. So there may be the obvious incentive of lifting many empty beer cans, versus smaller number sadly full cans.
Link to contest is here.
DIY Drones and Chris Anderson in the news yet again. You're getting around, Chris! Well done.
Link: ARTICLE
Just thought I would share the latest flight testing video of the Martin Jetpack. It is now actually showing a useful level of performance.
While SkyWalker is out-of stock in almost everywhere, new big size foam models are popping out in many places out there. I just can't stop looking at this one... looks so nice!
The question here is, are those beautiful models really useful for FPV or being our Drones? I would be afraid of breaking such a beautiful thing... and the 2360mm wing doesn't looks that strong.
Those fins underneath the V tail... it looks pretty weak to touch the ground a second time.
Space would not be a problem, for sure.
Here is the link for detailed infos: RQ-4B Global Hawk
ArkToolbox is a toolbox for ScicosLab/ XCos (similar to Matlab simulink, but free). ArkToolbox is useful for drone control design, simulation, and testing and is compatible with FlightGear, MAVLink (QGroundControl/ArduPilotMega), and the JSBSim Trimming GUI software. This creates a completely open source toolchain for developing aircraft models, finding trim states for control, and developing controllers. The ArkToolbox also supports hardware in the loop communication via MAVLink.
Download Here: https://github.com/arktools/arktoolbox/downloads
More Demo Videos:
arducopter simulation with hardware/software in the loop: http://youtu.be/6ho8OXavEsc
rover hardware in the loop: http://youtu.be/ddysKBCKTSw
sailboat control system: http://youtu.be/5jYfah5Pcps
rocket control system: http://youtu.be/Un1YITQHUV0
Wiki for getting started on ArkToolbox for ScicosLab:
https://github.com/arktools/arktoolbox/wiki
Grab JSBSim Trimming GUI here:
https://github.com/jgoppert/jsbsim/downloads
Video tutorial for JSBSim Trimming GUI: http://youtu.be/JCjRGJTWe5k
Grab Aircraft Models to Run/ Fly in FlightGear Here (includes Arducopter/ EasyStar):
https://github.com/arktools/arkhangar
All the demos have been well tested on all platforms. If you find any errors let me know. The MAVLink blocks are running version 0.9 so I will be upgrading to version 1.0 when I get a chance to support the latest APM versions. If you have time to contribute to ArkToolbox, send me an email.
I was working on getting the SITL simulation up and running this weekend, and was able to modify MAVProxy.py to support real-time control via a joystick or gamepad, here is the updated file:
It requires installation of pygame (http://www.pygame.org) It will probably require some modification to map the axes on your particular controller to the proper APM channels, in these lines:
cmd_rc(["1", str(int(j.get_axis(2)*400 + 1500))])
cmd_rc(["2", str(int(j.get_axis(3)*400 + 1500))])
cmd_rc(["3", str(int(-j.get_axis(1)*800 + 1100))]) #throttle
cmd_rc(["4", str(int(j.get_axis(0)*400 + 1500))])
pygame prints any control input changes to the terminal, which can be annoying because it scrolls away some of the normal mavproxy messages.
I tested it flying the ArduCopter, and it works well, hopefully it will be useful for testing modifications to manual control modes.
--------------------
Update:
I created a mavproxy module file that can be loaded into the normal version of mavproxy.py:
Copy this file into the /modules folder, and from within mavproxy, load the module by entering:
module load joystick
Axis mapping is still custom to the Logitech Dual Action, so modifications may be required for other devices. One issue is that it still writes the state of the joystick axes to the console - I'm still looking into whether there is a way to suppress this.
For future work, I want to add support for some of the gamepad buttons to change rc channels 5-8 to be used for changing mode, dropping waypoints, etc,
Andrew
I'm not sure if anyone has come across this, but I've been reading through the training and it is very informative.
Since most of us have the Mission Planner software that can HIL interface with X-Plane, this can be a very good tool for amateur UAV pilots to learn the basics of flying and aircraft while getting stick-time in a flight simulator. The X-PPL covers lessons in both VFR and IFR focusing on various flight characteristics and theory such as forces of aircraft, basic controls, ascending and descending, stalling, circuits with various winds, landings, instrument usage, and more.
Not only with this be a great tool for learning aircraft flight characteristics, but will also aid you in proficiently navigating X-Plane and being able to access all of the features of the Simulator. It covers X-Plane controls as well as navigational maps and user controllable environments.
Those of us using the APM, 1 or 2, know the great benefits of having a successful simulator that saves us from spending a lot of cash on repairs. I challenge FS pilots to give this a look-see and let us know the accuracy and suggestions of this free X-PPL course.
The list of topics can be found on X-Plane.org forum page located here: http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showforum=90
Regards,
Hunter
DISCLAIMER: I am in no way monetarily or business affiliated with X-Plane, X-Plane.org, or any products from the companies that produce these or similar products. My interest is solely that of a curious hobbyist!
From Hackaday:
These brave birds are weapons of war. Well, not these actual birds… they’re just models used for this photograph courtesy of a taxidermist. But their living relatives were used to take spy photographs during World War I. [Dr. Julius Neurbronner] didn’t suddenly jump into the field of avian photography. He, like his father before him, used homing pigeons to deliver prescription drugs in loads of up to 75 grams. This makes us wonder if the birds are ever used in modern drug running?
The inspiration came when the doctor found out about subminiature cameras available at the turn of the twentieth century. Those cameras included a tiny roll of film, allowing for several images to be taken. He figured out a way to make a timer that used a pneumatic system to trigger the shutter in the camera. You can see a diagram of the timer mechanism here. The idea is that the birds will always be able to find their way home. So if you take them to a starting point that puts the enemy lines in between them and home base, they’ll fly over and get some juicy recon in the process.
That’s pretty old school. But we’re still tying things onto birds these days. Here’s some modern tech that uses sun-up/sun-down to track travel habits.
Hi all
I have my hands on this UAV model. The model just need the winglets before it's flyable.
I'm sure it's not the most easy plane to fly.
What do you think?
A very sad story,
http://www.suasnews.com/2012/04/14210/uas-operator-finds-body-of-missing-texas-boy/
Well done to Gene Robinson (a member here) and the team from RP Search Services. A heartbreaking task.
The body of 2-year old Devon Davis was found, ending several days of an intensive search.
The boy's body was found shortly after the search was officially called off in a lake near his home. A DPS helicopter was checking a lake less than a mile from his home one last time when searchers spotted something.
"We have located Devon Davis in a large body of water nearby his home," Capt. Rex Evans with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office said. "Devon is deceased."
Earlier in the day, a remote control airplane with photography capabilities flew over the lake and spotted something. The DPS helicopter was checking that out when searchers found Devin's remains. After that, Texas Equusearch founder Tim Miller walked Devon's mother, April Davis, to the back of the yard where Capt. Evans told her that Devon was gone.
eric_hcr80 writes: "Mount a 4th-gen iPod onto your RC airplane, provided the bottom of the fuselage is cylindrical". Easily modifiable for an iPhone, too. Design file, ready for printing on your Makerbot or other 3D printer, is here
My kids love the Syma S107 toy helicopters, which cost just $20 and are amazingly stable. The big breakthrough for this generation of toy helicopters was the introduction of gyros, but I just took apart a broken one and was impressed to see that it has just ONE gyro (circled in black above), mounted vertically.
I know that the coaxial props create a natural mechanical stability in the XY direction, and I assume that gyro is stabilizing in the Z (yaw) direction. But is it really as simple as that? The stability is astounding. They're just motionless in the air until you budge the sticks.
BTW, there are no magic sensors on the bottom of the board, either:
Today I found in a drawer of my old lab this board, and memory began to go into the past.Was 1996 , 16 years ago this is my first board based on a 16 bit micro controller that used 'C' firmware that i called VR1000 (see on the bottom layer) .
I developed that board for a BUS Fleet Managment application .
That board was based on Siemens 80c166 in future that was the base for ST 10 a father of STM32.
The specification of this board was :
With this kind of board was possible to fly a drone 16 years ago but the main problem was the sensor
In this sensor is possible to see the VR1000 (1996) and VR Brain MP32F4 IMU (2012)
VR1000 CPU
80c166 (16 bit micro controller)
VR BRAIN MP32F4
STM32F4 (32 bit micro controller)
VR1000 RAM and PROM
64 Kbyte EEPROM and 32 Kbyte Ram (external)
VR BRAIN MP32F4 RAM and PROM
1 Mbyte Flash and 192 Kbyte Ram
VR1000 vs VR MP32F4 speed of processor
20 mhz vs 168 mhz
Advanced feature available only in MP32F4 :
Internal FPU - DSP floating point processor.
MPU6000 3 gyro 3 acc
I am very curious to know how will the new micro controllers for DIY applications in 2028 :)
Original blog post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/retro-board-vr1000-my-first-advanced-electronic-design/
Ferreting around sUAS News for something else I am working on I stumbled on this video, 2009 no less! How things have changed. Hope folks don't mind me posting it here again.
Drones are everywhere, and drones enthusiasts too.
Today we're happy to announce the launch of CroissantCopter, the first franchise to the already world-knownTacocopter but this time delivering croissants in Paris !
If you're in Paris, we're recruiting cooks and pilots :)
It's time for the third round of the third round of the second season of the Trust Time Trial (T3) competion! Now that the weather is improving, there are no excuses for not participating. Valuable prizes await!
This the Reliability Round. Our Judge, Gary Mortimer, describes the rules below:
-------------------------------------- RULES ------------------------
Point of order first: All T3 entries should be flown away from built up areas. Should you have any fly aways or incidents its best to have them miles from anyone else.
The aim of this round is to show reliability.
A very simple task: autonomously fly to a point that you have chosen that is at least 300 metres from your takeoff point (100m for copters). At an altitude of 75 meters (25m for copters) autonomously take a single photo of your point, then return to launch, land (manually or autonomously) and do it all again. Repeat this for a total of five flights.
Your entry should show your take off and landing times for each flight as well as KMLs showing the slight path. As always, post your entries in the comments below.
Each individual image will be compared and the person with the most shots with the chosen point in the centre of the image wins.
Honesty is everything here, don't discover that by chance a point you didn't select is in the centre of each shot and then tell us that's what you were after all along.
But.....
If you can make something interesting with your shots extra points will be forthcoming
You might make a map using MapKnitter. Have a look around here to find out what its all about here. Do something with Photosynth, ICE or any of the other similar mapping products springing up. Wouldn't it be nice to have a DIYD generated layer of opensource map images out there!
So in summary one day, five flights, five photos. Extra points for creative use of mapping software/services.
What you do with any other images is up to you. Impress us.
Why the pub challenges in the image above? Well I was looking at a dart board when I thought of it.
As an aside the area in the picture will be underwater next year, a dam wall is being built on the right. The big circles are irrigation centre pivots just the sort of thing a farmer might be interested at looking at from a UAS
-----------------------------------------------------------
There will be three winners in each category (planes and copters), with the #1s getting a $100 gift certificate at the DIY Drones store and #2 and #3 getting $25 each.
All entrants who successfully compete the course with a copter, regardless of place in the judging, will receive a flying robot merit badge!
Deadline is Sunday, May 13th, at midnight PST.
It's a hour-long documentary that just went live on Dutch TV, which you can watch here. The DIY Drones/3D Robotics stuff starts at about 25:00. It's about 50% spoken English with Dutch subtitles, and is really well done. There's an interview with me at the Wired offices and then shots from the 3D Robotics factory. Lots of other great video from interviews at ETH, as well some Kinect motion-control drone demos.
Sadly the embedding doesn't seem to work, so go to the link above to watch it.
Hello DiyDroners,
I recently completed the implementation of a new feature for ArduPlane & ArduCopter. I have to thank Jan Scherrer for the idea and especially thank Andrew Tridgell for pushing me to improve the original implementation. The new feature is automatic compass declination.
Currently you are supposed to look up the magnetic declination value for your flight location and input that value into the Mission Planner so the compass heading can be corrected. If you are like me and constantly flying at new locations, it is a bit annoying to have to look this up every single time. In this post, Jan asked why it couldn't just be automatic... I did not have an answer so I decided to see if I could make that happen.
USAGE:
The automatic declination code is enabled by default. There is a new configuration parameter you can set in the Mission Planner if you wish to disable/re-enable it. See below:
To enable, set COMPASS_AUTODEC to 1. To disable, set COMPASS_AUTODEC to 0.
After any parameter changes you need to click the "Write Params" button.
With automatic declination enabled, the declination will be approximated to the declination at your GPS Lat/Lng coordinates as soon as a 3D fix is acquired. So far from our tests we show a +/- error of .5 degrees depending on your location. Andrew Tridgell reported accuracy of within .3 and I am seeing accuracy within .05.
The latest code that includes the automatic declination is available in the git repository. I should warn you that while most of the code in there is already tested, some of it may not be because that git repository is constantly in flux. If you feel confident, give it a try! The more testers the better. Otherwise, if you prefer to wait, this feature will be included in the next official release.
TECHNICAL:
What is magnetic declination? Good question...Read this
I ended up finding another person that had put together a look up data table that used bi-linear interpolation to pull an approximate declination based on lat/lng GPS coordinates. This was definitely a good start. So I took that code and adapted it for our code base (of course giving proper credit to the original author). The problem with the original implementation was that the look up table took up a massive amount of space ( > 5kb ) and the way I had originally written it, that look up table was being stored in RAM instead of flash memory. Without going into too much detail on the difference between those two types of memory, the first is memory that is volatile memory that is used to store variables during code execution. It is fast, but resources are limited. Because the look up table is a static set of data that gets used infrequently, it is a much better option to store it in the flash memory (using PROGMEM). You can read about it all here.
Ok... so how to go from a 5kb to a lot less. We are dealing with integer values which vary in size. The first thing we need to do is make sure that we are using the smallest possible integer size for the values that we have in the look up table. The range of values in the original table -99 to 179. So out of the standard int sizes (int8_t, int16_t and int32_t) int16_t is the smallest we could use with a supported range of -32768 to 32767. The next smallest size, int8_t, supports a range of -128 to 127. You can see that the the lower end of the look up values will fit (-99 is greater than -128), but the upper range will not (179 is greater than the allowed 127).
Turns out there are a lot of clever ways to compress data. Here are a few that I considered, some of which I used.
1. Shift all the values -52 bringing the highest value in the look up table to 127 which is within int8_t. Oops that doesn't work. Now the lower end exceeds the lower limit of int8_t.
2. Store the first value in each row and then the differences between each consecutive value instead of the values themselves. This is a very promising approach because the difference between each value is quite small, meaning we can use a smaller integer size to store the value.
3. Pack the sign bits in a different array.
Lets take the highest value in the array (179) and see what that means in terms of a 16bit integer. 179 is represented by the following:
0000000010110011
You can see that the upper 8 bits are not used (all zeros), but unfortunately we need at least one more bit to represent the sign of the lower end values. All of our values can fit into 9 bits, but when you create a 9 bit integer it is automatically padded up to 16 bits. What we could do is take all the extra sign bits out of the original array and put them in their own array. That means all of the absolutevalues fit in 8bits (a good improvement over the 16bits before, half the space). So how do we pack those sign bits? Remember that I said that the number of bits is automatically rounded up to the nearest byte. That means that if we tried to declare a 1 bit int for the sign and store it, it would actually take up 8 bits. Take the following:
00000001 - this would represent negative
00000000 - this would represent positive
All we need is that one value (1 or 0) to say that it is either negative or positive. So what we can do to avoid wasting those other 7 bits is to store 7 more signs in that one byte.
Take these values -99, 75, 43, -23, 175, 132, -45, -32
So that would be: 10010011 (1s for negative signs, zeros for the positive signs)
Now we are taking advantage of the full byte (8 bits) and not losing any space because of the padded bits.
Using a combination of the above methods allowed me to pack the values into around 1.6kb. When you compress the values, the retrieval strategy must change. Normally you would access values in an array using this simple syntax. MyArray[12][2] which means give me the value in the 13th row, 3rd column. If we are splitting the array into their starting values, consecutive delta values, and signs, we will need to pull those values out in a different way. If you are interested in learning how it works, feel free to check out the code from the git repository. The logic is located in the AP_Declination.cpp file in the libraries folder.
As always, questions are welcome!
Thanks,
Adam
Y650 Scorpion multi-rotor frame is a high quality glass fiber frame that offers both great looks and performance. Built from light weight yet extremely rigid glass fiber and aluminum, the Y650 offers a great combination of weight savings and strength.
The Y650s aggressive styling makes it look more like a deadly creature than a multi-rotor frame, while still offering excellent functionality and performance!
This multi-rotor frame is designed for use in the "Y-6" configuration utilizing 6 motors (3 mounted above and 3 mounted below).
Specifications:
Width: 650mm
Motor Bolt Holes: 32~40mm
Frame Weight: 410g (w/out electronics)
More information at Hobbyking: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=22801
From the description:
This is my new pan-tilt-roll gimbal for my GoPro HD camera. It is supposed to go onto a remote controlled airplane for FPV and aerial video. The whole mechanical structure was printed (laser sintered) by Shapeways.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/207257/3_axis_camera_gimbal_for_gopro__back_ca...
This test shows the first test of 3-axis gyro stabilisation. It still needs a lot of tweaking (I already made a few improvements - stand by...). Here the gyro sensors are on the mount (i.e. will be on the plane, also for the stabilisation of the plane itself). In the final version there will be another gyro sensor directly on the camera, which should make it much more precise.
