Finally put my Graphite 2E together. Installed GoPro3 Black.

My next step would be installing Ardu Pilot (Graphite has plenty of space to do it).

I never used Ardu Pilot so I am open for any input whatsoever as far as programming etc.

YouTube Video

Well, I finally did it.  First in history?  Powered sideways flips (I give it a shot of negative pitch when it's upside down).

Okay so here’s where I am at:

I’ve never had a helicopter apart from the mini-$50 ones you can purchase anywhere. So this will be my first helicopter/drone.

Short term Goals:

• Buy Quadcopter
• Build Quadcopter
• Fly Quadcopter

Long term Goals:

• Mount a GoPro HD video camera on it. (GoPro Hero 3 Black)
• Eventually do FPV flights (either with the GoPro or by using a separate FPV cam)
• I’d love to mission plan in the future so I do not want to limit myself early by buying parts that don’t allow me to expand. (xBee)

The proposed setup:

• 3DR Arducopter Quad-C
• APM 2.5
• 4x jDrones AC2836-358 880 kV Motors
• 4x 30A ESC
• uBlox 3DR GPS LEA-6
• 10x45 Props (to start, ideally I’ll upgrade these to CF once I learn to fly)

(Purchasing from CanadaDrones.com)

Now… based on my short term goals. I think I’m good to go. Long term goals though, I’d love some feedback. I’m thinking if I need to lift more, I could always convert into a hex setup?

As far as batteries and Remote – I am undecided.

CanadaDrones sells the Turnighy 9X 9ch or the WFT09 remote but I’ve heard wonderful things about the Spekturm DX8.

I would love to hear your feedback. Thanks!

So after receiving the protective case for the APM it was very difficult to see the GPS and ARM lights as a number of people have said. 

So in just a short time (probably 30 minutes), I put together some external LEDs (orange for ARM and blue for GPS) and encased it in a protective case.  The GPS LED is receiving the signal from A6 and the ARM LED is receiving the signal from A4.

The LEDs are 10mm, the case is 57mm wide and 27mm tall and fits quite easily on the sonar arm - whether it stays there or not is another question. I can make the case a little smaller, but it doesn't look that bad for 30 minutes work.

There were very minor and easy modifications required to the params within mission planner.  Highlighted in the image below - changing LED_MODE to 3.

Edit: I have included the bit table I used to calculate the LED_MODE.  Thanks to Scott Berfield and his post.

Bit Number

0              0              0              0              0              0              0              1      =      1              Motor LEDs On/Off

0              0              0              0              0              0              1              0      =      2              GPS On/Off

0              0              0              0              0              1              0              0      =      4              AUX Function On/Off

0              0              0              0              1              0              0              0      =      8              Beeper On/Off

0              0              0              1              0              0              0              0      =      16            Low Battery Flash – fast/slow

0              0              1              0              0              0              0              0      =      32            Motor LEDs NAV blink On/Off

0              1              0              0              0              0              0              0      =      64            GPS LEDs Nav Blink On/Off

1              0              0              0              0              0              0              0      =      128          Not used

Hope this is useful to some people.

Cheers,
David.

From Mashable:

The Puzzlebox Orbit, which launched on Kickstarter last November and debuted Tuesday at the 2013 International CES conference in Las Vegas, is making waves with its brain-controlled helicopter toy. We saw it in person, and were tickled by the ease with which you could pilot the device.

From NeuroSky — the same company behind the quirky brain-controlled Necomimi Cat Ears — the helicopter can actually move up and down via brainwaves.

Here's how it works: By wearing a Bluetooth headpiece with sensors, the Puzzlebox Orbit converts brainwave data into flight commands. The helicopter shoots into the air when you concentrate hard, and can be lowered when you relax the mind. Infrared signals are transferred to an accompanying iOS or Android app to measure your level of concentration. Users can set up focus-goals on the app ahead of time, and the controls work once your concentration reaches those sweet spots.

The Puzzlebox Orbit also runs on an open-source platform, so developers can hack and personalize their experience.

Price: $189.

Last month Boston Dynamics released a video showing off a new feature of their Big Dog robotic mule: voice control.  I had been working on a similar project for a while, though I think it's actually cooler: voice control of a flying robot drone.

Above is a video I made last night of the current state of my project, which shows an AR.Drone doing whatever I tell it (mostly):

In the video I'm talking to my custom voice control software running on my laptop, which uses ar-drone-rest and node-ar-drone to talk to the quadrotor.

I'm currently working on doing the speech recognition on an iPhone or Android phone, so you don't need to talk into an unwieldy laptop.

My first test of 2 axys gimbal apm2.5 2.8.1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ppXd9m93M

All,

I just wanted to share a design we have been working on for the FPV/DIY UAV crowd.

Our goal was to design something relatively rugged, easy to build/use and affordable.  And since we CNC hot wire cut foam cores for a living it needed to be manufacturable with our current process.

The design is released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

General specs:

- All EPP foam construction with laminating film skin and corroplast tail.

- Span: 78"

- Length: 30"

- Weight:  Around 3.5# minus payload

- Payload: Depends on how high you want to load the wing.  About 1# is what we had in mind.

- Power: Depends on performance you are after.  We like ~75 watts per pound in this class so ~300 watts min.

- Battery: Designed around a 3s 5000 lipo but could carry more.

So far we have built and flown one model.  We are working on tweaks to the design to make it easier to assemble etc.  Hope to have a at least a short kit ready at flyingfoam.com in Feb.

Enjoy! Nurf%20MarkII%203%20View.pdf

Coby

Farnell has some nice small ABS casings that can fit both 3DR style radios as well as XBee's on their breakout boards. You can cut parts out easily with a hobby knife. I use them for both the airborne and ground radio's. Link & pics:

RX2007 ABS casing

I was trying out my GoPro2 and my 3DR Quad-C (APM 2.5) / ArduCopter v2.8.1 and thought the images were worth sharing, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful place.

Got everything hooked up except the sonar and i tlooks like a dry weekend coming so hopefully I can get out and do some tuning and flying. Went with 11x4.7 props since the weight is a little higher than I had planned. May swap the arms for wood if flight times are too short.

Front

Rear

Side

What I have left to do:

1. Add Digital Camo to Parts of Wing
2. add servos and connect wires to rudder and elevator
3. possibly add ardupilot
4. possibly add FPV flying

I'm looking for suggestions on any mods or upgrades I can do to this RQ-11.  I hope the Video was enjoyable and educational.  

• Part 3 coming soon. Will exclude fully operating plane with other possible surprise DIY Mods.
• Also I might make a video on how I did the digital camo 

This is a bit of a non-sequitor post but I'm hoping the community here is willing to consider it.

This is a bit of non-sequitur post but I'm hopeful that the DIY Drones community are willing to consider it.

My 3 young sons (12, 10 and 8) and I attended a RC club event on a beautiful early fall day last year here in the Madison, WI area and they (me too) became enamored with all the devices and flying.   In particular, we were interested in the quadrotor that was there and the potential to capture video.

One of the things we're trying to do to get the group "off the ground" is to put together a video of take off, flight (mostly FPV but ground based too would be good) and landing to give a sense of what is doable.

We're looking for a handful of short footage (10-15 secs) clips to compile into a video.  Perferably in AVI format but other standard formats would be fine too.  There are tons of good clips out on YouTube, etc. but none of it is available to download or use.  Nor would we want to do that without permission.

Is there a handful of users chance you'd be willing to share some footage?  We'd give you credit at the end of the film.

Thanks in advance everyone!

Paul

I previously posted a BLOG about setting up the FJI F450 Flamewheel with the APM2 and the copter was a great success so I thought I'd put together a smaller and lighter version - The F330 Flamewheel.

My F500 weighs 2 pound 11 ounces ready to fly and I am shooting for 1 pound 11 ounces with the F330 and still quite a substantial battery as you can see.

This copter should fly very well outdoors, is much better suited to flying indoors than the F450 and uses the same excellent DJI motors (and in this instance ESCs) as the F450 so will have a very high performance potential.

There are a few things that it is worthwhile to know when using the excellent and robust Flamewheel and I did things a little differently as well.

I am mostly just going to point up the things you will need to know regarding the Flamewheel.

For general quadcopter construction you can refer to the Arducopter Wiki and to my downloadable PDF file Downloadable instructions I have provided there.

Rather than order the Flamewheel F330 ARF kit, I elected to order the F450 ARF kit and a separate F330 Frame kit.

This cost me an extra $40.00, but it comes with 30 amp ESCs instead of 18 amp ones and I can also use the extra frame as spare parts for my F450.

The F450 ARF kit also comes with 2 sets of props (8" and 10" and the F330 kit comes with only one set of 8" props.

You may not elect to do this, the 18 amp ESCs are probably a little smaller and the frame is lightly loaded, so going over current should be very unlikely and 10" props WILL NOT fit on the F330.

In any case, currently the ARF F330 kit is available for $180.00 and the F450 for $190.00 and the F330 frame by itself is $30.00.

The above Picture shows the prop clearance on the F330 with 8" props on it.

9" props will fit but 10" ones will not.

I will be switching to 9" Carbon reinforced GemFan props which I very much like for both their considerable strength and their higher than normal efficiency.

A 9" prop is definitely better suited to this frame and motor with  a standard 3 cell LiPo setup although 8" would be fine for a 4 cell setup.

General assembly notes.

1. Go to the DJI web site Flamewheel support section to get a copy of their "manual" none is included with the Copter kits. It is more of an assembly diagram than a manual, but the pictures are definitely useful.
2. I put the ESCs in after assembly because it allows me to fit things more closely but then does require a bit of creativity when soldering the ESC leads to the bottom plate / power distribution board. Your choice.
3. Use Blue or purple removable Locktite very sparingly on the threads of the Allen screws when you assemble the frame. Try to keep excess off of the plastic. Not actually achievable, but do the best you can.
4. The motor and frame screws have a shoulder on them and you need to tighten them all sufficiently so that the shoulder fully seats. I recommend installing all screws (with Locktite) loosely then tightening all the screws on each frame arm one at a time. Do this in one sitting.
5. When installing the motors, pre-bend the motor leads upward a bit where the exit the motor bottom so that the motor can sit flat. Have the leads exit towards the center of the copter (motor bottom screws are off set and it can only be installed 2 ways), toward the center is correct. The motor screws are short and it is tricky to start the first screw on the motor bottom, ensuring that the motor lead is not pushing the motor up helps. Use blue Locktite on each screw and install all 4 screws for a motor loosely and then tighten them.

1. I Thread the motor leads down through the first 2 large frame member holes, but you can also run them around the frame member if you wish.
2. Install the ESCs with tie wraps. I do them from front to back through the frame member of the copter and between the motor bullet connector sockets for a slightly neater and more secure installation.
3. I install the ESC power leads through the slot in the bottom of the frame member and then trim and solder them to the power distribution board. This is a little harder than the normal method of going around the outside of the frame members but it is neater and provides a little additional battery clearance.
4. When you solder the ESC and Battery power leads to the power distribution board you will need to flux and preheat both the pads and the wire in order to get a wet and properly tinned solder joint, the board can soak up quite a bit of heat so set your soldering iron hotter than you normally use.
5. You will need an external BEC because the OPTO ESC's do not contain a BEC and Castle Creations makes an excellent and very reliable 10 amp one for about $20.00. You should also be able to use the one that is supplied with the APM 2.5 board and it is smaller. Use a switching BEC in any case, they are more reliable and a lot more efficient than linear ones.
6. You do not need to and in fact can't balance the DJI ESCs as shown on the Arducopter Wiki, they are digital, optically isolated and are completely pre-balanced at the factory. Basically they work great out of the box.
7. I am probably going to use a APM 2.5 on this Quadcopter and I will either use two rows of double sided Velcro or suspended O ring mounting of the enclosed APM.
8. You can use the stock 8" DJI props and they will work OK, but I will be switching to GemFan 9" multirotor "Carbon" props which are only $2.00 each and in my opinion much superior to the stock 8" props. They are almost impossible to break and the 9" ones will be considerably more efficient with these motors and a 3 cell LiPo than the stock 8" props. The 9" GemFans are not made for the DJI hub, but you can bore them out to about .31" with an ordinary drill and they work fine (I use 11" GemFans bored out this way on my Flamewheel F450. (The bigger the diameter of the prop you can fit the more efficient it is all other things being equal and not exceeding motor or ESC maximums.)
9. The ESCs automatically disarm after 10 seconds without the motor turning, but now, the APM also disarms after 10 seconds so, there is not conflict, anytime you have sat still for over 10 seconds you need to rearm. This is a great safety feature.
10. When you are setting up the APM with only the USB connected, the ESCs may beep continuously, ignore them or throw a pillow over the top of the whole thing (our dog hates them).
11. After you have loaded and adjusted the firmware when you turn your transmitter on and plug in the battery , the ESC's should emit a short series of musical notes and then be quiet. You are then ready to arm and fly.

I have only covered the substantial differences for the DJI F330 FlameWheel from the Normal Quadcopter setup. For general quadcopter construction you should refer to the Arducopter Wiki and to my Downloadable PDF file instructions I have provided there.

If my F450 is any comparison, this F330 should be even more fun and a lot easier to use indoors - (safely).

My starting PIDs will be what  normally use on my F450: Angular Rate P = .145, Angular Rate I = .030 and Stabilize P = 4.0

I will post additions to this Blog when I finish this project and as I gain experience with the F330. Please feel free to comment or ask questions, I will monitor this BLOG and respond as best I can.

I'm always on the look out for a "perfect" plane.  What I've learned is that there is no such thing, every airframe is a compromise.  The idea now is to find the most versatile aircraft.  This might be it.

There has been a lot of buzz around this plane at FPVLAB and RCG.  Range Video has been releasing tantalizing clips and updates for the past 6 months.  According to their site, it goes on sale in February.

I'm particularly excited about this plane because it is designed to be versatile.  It breaks down easily for storage and transportation, and will ship with two wing configurations.  Additional wing extensions can be added for endurance and potential soaring.  They have even proposed adding an additional fuselage.

The nose houses an integrated (no glare) pan tilt that is compatible with a GoPro.

A gentleman who goes by boopidoo on the forums is one of the designers and has posted a lot of good info.

The Range Video page has been updated with flight clips and shots from the manual.

Thus far, I've liked everything I've seen.  I'm hoping this turns out to be my "perfect" plane.  I can't wait to see some build logs and flight reviews.  Ideally, someone will build one with APM 2.5 and share their experiences.

ht

Drones go mainstream

Click here for the full article.

By Steve Hargreaves @CNNMoneyTech January 9, 2013: 4:30 PM ET

Flitetest had a skype meeting with Demetris from OSRC

http://youtu.be/0brSJ4kKask

Hey again guys, a quick update post here from SteadiDrone, some of you may remember the post about our new QU4D from late last year, well we're proud to anounce it's out and available! We're very excited about this little quadcopter, we've developed it around the new GoPro 3 camera, for the best possible HD video footage on the smallest, highest quality and most compact quadcopter out there, we think any way :)

Key features include

Fully RTF kit with EVERYTHING requiredNew super quick foldable arm system for 10 second setup, will fit into a small backpack!
Apm 2.5 + 3DR GPS + 3DR Telemtry kit
20 min flight time - this is tested and true
Built in roll axis gimbal and mount for GoPro cameras
Super lightweight and ultra durable Carbon Fibre airframe
Amazing flight dymanics, high speed super stable!

Thanks again to all the Dev's for great code and products, please give us your feedback and comments, and before you ask, NO the props are not seen in the camera's view at any angle ;)

Herewith a few pics and video coming soon!

More info at www.steadidrone.com / available from Steadidrone USA very soon, currently directly from website. Price will be around 2350USD, please keep in mind it's FULLY RTF with a lot of extras and full gps system etc etc

Well, as you can see, I've started with the arm.  This puppy has reduction gears, driven by a stepper motor.  I'm planning to power the forearm with metal gear servos. Of course with slight modifications to the segment ratios, this is also going to be the legs of my robot.

I need more steppers and drivers, which are on order.  This prototype is a result of several months of work, and almost 3 kg of plastic was used, in trial and error, before this stage has been reached.

Right now, all points of rotation are fitted with plastic printed bearings, but I've got some steel 26x17x5mm bearings coming from China.  Not sure if they will be needed, since everything runs rather smoothly with the plastic bearings.  Just some grease would make things run like silk.

Maybe it will help me clean up my room.

By request of Dany here's a video of it being run off my TOM's motor controller.  Excuse the scruffy attire and lack of grooming. ;-)