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After XAircraft successfully launched new four axis aircraft X450 and X650 last year, its new generation aerocraft will be released on 15th July. This new type quadcopter has been named officially: X650 Value (Best Value Version) and X450 Pro (Enhanced Version). X650 Value has two versions: 4 propeller(X4 model) and 8 propeller(X8 model). And plus “-4″ and “-8″ in front of the name for distinction, for example, X650 Value-4 is 4 propeller, X650 Value-8 is 8 propeller, X650V4 and X650V8 for short.

This new generation XAircraft X650V4/8 and X450 Pro will be over-emphasized on aerial photography, which has more stable and positive fly performance, and can stay in the sky for longer time, with its stronger load capability and distinctive external appearance. We believe it will definitely become your indispensable aerial photography sharp weapon that let you fondle admiringly. In the meantime, XAircraft will continue to manufacture parts for old X650 and X450, and also provide the upgrade kit, in which you can upgrade the old version to the new one, save the cost of upgrading in maximum limit.

For X450 Pro
It is positioned for entry level player which has a higher drop number fuselage, provided simple aerial photography function and a simple GOPRO mounting plate(Simple Camera Mount). Besides, it has the same flight control system and power driven system as X650(brushless motor and ESC). 10 inches propeller and brushless motor is a specially made structure, used for lowering the center of gravity.

For X650V4
Cheaper than old X650, it has adopted a new designed fuselage with more cool external appearance and practicability, can be quickly folded. The fuselage cover can also be quickly removed and installed. The fuselage of and X650V4 and X650V8 are made of carbon fiber material, the Mounting Plate, Motor Mount, Landing Gear are made by high strength plastic. The camera mount and battery can be slide on the crossbeamis which means you can adjust the center of gravity easily according to the weight of photographing device attached.

For X650V8
It has adopted the same fuselage, flight control, brushless motor, ESC and propeller as X650V4. That is, X650V8 has all the outstanding characteristic of X650V4, the only difference is X650V8 has 8 brushless motor, thus can provide stronger load capacity. X650 V4 user only need to order other 4 brushless motor, 4 ESC and 4 propeller, to upgrade X650 V to X650 V8 immediately! Of course, if you want, Value-8 can also be degraded to Value-4, in this way, it can help save more electricity, get more flight time.

X650 Value series are all using the “x” shape flight style, cannot use the “+” shape flight style (however the flight control in itself support).

In addition, the development of XAircraft’s biaxial camera mount has finally come true; its photography effect stands in the first-class level in the small aircraft. This biaxial camera mount has two models, CMGOPRO-TP (two axle control including 2 servos) and CM130C-TPS (two axle control including 3 servos). The CMGOPRO-TP is specially designed for GOPRO camera, with lighter weight, fit for GOPRO camera user. The CM130C-TPS is mainly designed for the card camera and the EVIL(Electronic Viewfinder Interchangable Lens), but at the same time it can also install the GOPRO camera, has a extra steering engine to controll the shutter, can also be used on the old version X650C and X650G, but can’t be used on X450 and X450 Pro.

Note: The transmitter,receiver and battery are NOT INCLUDED, you need to prepare a 6-chn(at least) transmitter and receiver, 11.1V or 14.8V/15C/2200mAh polymer lithium battery pack and assemble X650 youself.

The GPS, compass, biaxial camera mount are optional accessories, customers can select according to their own requirement. There are OSD, light and power supply for option in the future.

X450 Pro Standard Configuration(Price:$399)：
- 1x X450 Pro Fuselage
- 1x GOPRO Mounting Plate
- 4x new type External Rotation Brusless Motor
- 4x 10A Brushless ESC
- 2x 10 inch Clockwise Propeller
- 2x 10 inch Counter-Clockwise Propeller
- 1x XAircraft FC1212-S Flight Control Unit
- 1x XAircraft AHRS-S Attitude Sensor
- 1x XAircraft USB-Link PC Linker
- 1x XAircraft Flight Control Management(Parameter Adjustment) Software
X650V4 Standard Configuration(Price:$620)：
- 1x X650V4 Fuselage(Landing Gear，Carbon Fiber, Plastic)
- 1x X650V4 High Strength Fuselage Cover
- 4x new type External Rotation Brusless Motor
- 4x 10A Brushless ESC
- 2x 10 inch Clockwise Propeller
- 2x 10 inch Counter-Clockwise Propeller
- 1x XAircraft FC1212-S Flight Control Unit
- 1x XAircraft AHRS-S Attitude Sensor
- 1x XAircraft USB-Link PC Linker
- 1x XAircraft Flight Control Management(Parameter Adjustment) Software
X650 Value-8 Standard Equipment(Price:$720):
- 1x X650V8 Fuselage(Landing Gear，Carbon Fiber, Plastic)
- 1x X650V8 High Strength Fuselage Cover
- 8x New Type External Rotation Brusless Motor
- 8x 10A Brushless ESC
- 4x 10 inch Clockwise Propeller
- 4x 10 inch Counter-Clockwise Propeller
- 1x XAircraft FC1212-S flight Control unit
- 1x XAircraft AHRS-S Attitude Sensor
- 1x XAircraft USB-Link PC Linker
- 1x XAircraft Flight Control Management(Parameter Adjustment) Software
Optional Accessories：
- XAircraft GPS+Compass(Price:$247)
- CMGOPRO-TP or CM130C-TPS Biaxial Camera Mount(Price:$250)
- Uniaxial Camera Mount(Price:$79)
Additional accessories needed for flight：
- At least 4 channel remote controller(suggest above 6 channel)
- Above 11.1V or 14.8V/15C/2200mAh polymer lithium battery pack
- Lithium battery charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOChBNAuHE4    : Video of our first flight.

Today we finalized construction of our primary prototype model of our concept aircraft. Using depron to construct the plane was a challenge; our "teardrop"-shaped fuselage is not easily constructed out of depron. To achieve this shape, we combined many geometric shapes that, once sanded down, would resemble a raindrop.

After finishing the fuselage, we added control surfaces to our aircraft. We simply cut out rectangles at the rear of the plane that would act as elevons. We mounted the battery for the plane at the front end of it in a case that gave it extra room to move. We purposefully did this so that just before flight, we could adjust it so that the Center of Gravity would be in the exact middle of the plane (not favoring one side of the plane). We were excited and nervous to test the plane, especially because of the added complexity of the elevons.

Our first test flight was great! Our plane managed to have a smooth, launched takeoff. It was able to pitch and roll effectively and had great maneuverability. When it was time to land the plane, all throttle was pulled back when the aircraft was at about 20 feet. It glided with elegance to the ground and had a smooth landing. Unfortunately, the model was damaged on a later test when it came in contact with a tree when we were testing turning radius (purely our mistake).

Future plans for the week include making a better model of the plane which we will attach the ArduPilot Mega to. We cant wait to see it fly itself and are optimistic about the design of our plane. 

Hello all.

I've been a long time lurker on this website, checking it almost daily. The last couple of months i was working on my bachelors project which consisted of designing from scratch an autopilot for a RC glider. During that time, this website proved to be invaluable and i would like to share my work hoping that, in return, it could help someone else.

The project was separated in two parts: a semester project which then continued as a bachelors project.

During the semester project, all the hardware was deigned, as well as the low level embedded programming.

During the bachelors project, an initial model of the aircraft was created in Simulink using XFLR5 and AVL.

Then using experimental data logs, I was able to determine simple transfer functions which were used to compute the different PID gains.

In parallel, I programmed a ground control station (Mission Control) which was greatly inspired from happykillmore's GSC (as you can probably notice).

The aircraft i used for the project was the AXN Floater from hobbyking. Here's a picture of the aircraft with the autopilot mounted:

For the final test flight, a small circuit was entered using the mission control application. The aircraft managed to complete two circuits before the battery ran out (it was the 8th test using the same battery). The two plots show the track the aircraft flew, and the pitch and roll closed loop angles:

For more details, you can download both reports here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15692375/AXC-Glider%20Semester.pdf (Semester report)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15692375/AXCG%20Bachelor%20Report%20Public.pdf (Bachelor report)

If you guys have any questions / comments, or want more details feel free to ask :).

- Alex

A new Brookings Institute report with some worrying recommendations. The authors, who would put "Open Source" in a locked box, probably don't even know this stuff is so easily acquired from many different sources.  Please visit the link and give input. 

Do you have an APM1280 board? Are you worried that you won't be able to use it with the latest bleeding edge APM code? Read on for some tips on how to get some life from that old board.

The current generation APM board is based on the APM2560, which has 256k of flash instead of the 128k of flash of the APM1280. As has been discussed before, the rate of code development is such that we are rapidly getting to the stage that if you build with all the latest features enabled you won't fit all the code onto an older APM1280 board. Don't despair though, you can keep using a APM1280 for quite some time!

The first thing to know is that the dev team is working hard on keeping the code size small. In fact, over the last few weeks through some optimisation and code refactoring the total code size of the latest development APM code has shrunk, so it now fits on a APM1280 again with all features enabled.

Development will continue though, and new features are being added at a rapid rate, so it won't be long before the default image grows beyond the 128k boundary again. When that happens you have a few choices for your 1280 board.

Optimise your build for your needs

The key to staying on the bleeding edge with your APM1280 is to optimise the build for your needs. The default options of the APM build are designed to work for as many people as possible out of the box. This means that lots of code is enabled that you won't need on your plane/copter. If you open up the arduino environment and build the image yourself then its easy to disable a few features that you don't need and free up plenty of flash for future development.

To customise your image, just edit your APM_Config.h and add a few lines. Here are some space saving examples:

#define GPS_PROTOCOL GPS_PROTOCOL_MTK16

Choosing a specific GPS module instead of the default GPS_PROTOCOL_AUTO will save you about 4k of flash. You probably only have one type of GPS anyway!

#define LOGGING_ENABLED DISABLED

Disabling on-board logging saves more than 10k of flash. Personally I prefer to log my flights to a ground station over MAVLink, so if you are like me and don't need the on-board logging then you can save plenty of flash space.

#define CLI_ENABLED DISABLED

Disabling the command line interface will save you over 17k of flash. Up till recently it wasn't possible to setup an APM properly without having the command line interface, as you needed it to setup your flight modes and your radio ranges. Thanks to some great work on the APM Mission Planner by Michael Oborne you can now do the complete setup from the planner. That is still a very new feature, so you may find some rough edges, but you can be sure that the dev team are working on making that easier.

There are other examples of how to shrink your build, just take a look in config.h and look for things that are marked as ENABLED by default. If you don't need it then disable it and watch the image shrink.

If you disabled all 3 examples above then you would save over 32k of flash. That's a lot of room for more features, and should keep your APM1280 flying on the bleeding edge for a long time to come.

Using an APM1280 as a HIL simulation board

What if you've decided to get an APM2560 anyway, what can you do with your old APM1280 board?

My favourite use for an old APM1280 board is for HIL simulation. I keep my main APM2560 board in my plane along with my IMU, and I prefer to leave it in the plane between flights, so I'm not constantly having to disassemble things, which can put needless stress on the wires.

My older APM1280 board is kept on my desk, and I use it to fly HIL simulations. The trick to doing this is knowing how to configure your APM1280 to run HIL simulation without an IMU boad. I only have one IMU board, and I prefer to leave that in my plane, but the default APM build for HIL will try to access the IMU board, and will crash if its not there.

This is easily solved. The trick is to know that when built for HIL simulation there are only 2 things that the APM code tries to access on the IMU board - the slider switch and the 16MB data log. So if you disable the CLI and the on-board logging then you will find that your APM1280 will fly a HIL simulation perfectly. The defines you will need are:

#define LOGGING_ENABLED DISABLED
#define CLI_ENABLED DISABLED
#define HIL_MODE HIL_MODE_ATTITUDE

The resulting image will be just 66k in size, which means that your APM1280 will be able to fly HIL simulations with the latest bleeding edge code for a long time to come!

To connect your APM1280 for HIL, all you need is a FTDI cable, and of course a flight simulator. I prefer FlightGear, as I can hack on the code, but a lot of people use X-Plane with great success.

So, don't put that APM1280 in your parts bin just yet. There is plenty of life left in it if you tweak things a bit!

What do you think about making a variable pitch quad  with Trex 600 tail rotor assambly parts.

It's using a outrunner motor and a servo for each 70cm blade.

It's also for sale(around 400$)

http://www.rhcforum.ro/topic/40310-vand-platforma-quadrocopter-cu-pas-variabil/

Hi,

yes, I did it : pilot two planes at the same time :p

The main plane is a FunCub equipped with UavDevBoard and on board tracking video camera.

The second plane is a stock EasyStar, carrying another UavDevBoard, only to send its position.

I took off with the FunCub and put it in autonomous mode. Me having in my hands two RC transmitters, my son kindly launched for me the EasyStar and I drove it all the flight long.

The hardest part was try to stay in the camera turret range. The FunCub speed is set to 50km/h, but even at this speed it is a challenge to follow it and stay in front, with a fully stock EasyStar.

At the end of the flight (FunCub autonomy), my son asked to land his plane :)

I landed the FunCub.

Many thanks to Bill Premerlani, Ben Levitt and Pete Hollands for great continuous support and all the smart UavDevBoard community ...

Best regards,

Ric

The popular DIY Drones Telemetry Kit is back in stock and better than ever! It now includes a custom XtreamBee adapter-to-APM cable. No more fiddling around with jumper cables and having to check if one fell off (or dealing with bricked Xbees because of a loose power connection). Same price as before ($150.00)

You can also buy the cables by themselves ($1.50)

Dear Friends,

in these day i continue to investigate the better way to develop good video with Hexafox32 platform.

I add the managment of gimbal on code and doing a video , then i put the result in stabilization software in this video on the left is possible to see the hardware stabilization (some times you see the front tail move on video ) and on the right the software optimization doing in post processing.

What do you think about my results , this video is doing with GoProHD , but i doing also other video with a compact camcoder Panasonic SD90. I'm also working on VR Dragon with MP32 on board with professional gimbal stabilization for manage Canon EOS 7D or my 600D

for more info my skypeid is : virtualrobotix Original Post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/hexafox32-with-auto-gimbal

Best

Roberto

Check out our unique in-flight starter motor for the MVVS 26cc on a custom built Senior Telemaster.

The system is lightweight and robust. Works from a cold start. Works again and again... it is great for extreme long duration flights and vibration free (i.e., no image blur) video or stills while the engine is off. Also, for all those people struggling with gyro drift, you can get a good gyro fix when the engine is off as well.

Cheers from the MotMen UAV team, Newcastle, Australia.

i have been struggling with gyro drift and up to now no real solution exists.

it effects the pirates and the newer arducopter2 code base because both build upon the same dcm implementation.

i played around with the pirate code base and could improve the situation a little bit.

and after a few trials i decided to replace the current dcm implementation by the quaternion solution from sebastian madgwick.

what i need is some more tuning and a better pilot :)

there was quite a bit of wind today. and gusty wind between the rain showers.

I've been spending a lot of time over the last few weeks trying to figure out the optimum battery, motor and prop configurations in my skyfun to provide the maximum range and endurance options. Operating on a limited budget, I've been trying to avoid trial and error and make the right choices based on specs.

This is not easy but I've settled on a lower kv motor than many have chosen, running a larger prop with a 3300Mah 3s battery at only 20C (lower C batteries weigh less). The motor I've chosen is a Scorpion II SII-2208, 1100kv, 130W, 45grams, 12Amps, 10 x 4.5 prop.
I'm still mulling over ESC choice.
The final choice was also based somewhat on easy availability in New Zealand (Turnigy is not widely stocked).

There are a lot of suggestions on this and other forums about motor and prop choice which is helpful but what is missing is a semi technical discussion about endurance, range and speed and how to maximize these on any given platform. In the commercial UAS and military worlds, range, endurance and speed can mean the difference between a useful platform and something that is useless. In general, many of the systems people are building here do not seem to be optimized and are achieving quite poor endurance and range.

In commercial aviation, the optimum cruise speed is not based on endurance or range but rather to minimise time. Airliners need to get to their destination in the minimum time while using the least amount of fuel possible so the optimum cruise speed is the speed that flies the fastest possible speed using the least possible fuel per hour.

UAS's are totally different, in general our missions are to fly to a destination, loiter over a target for as long as possible and then return. In this scenario, we need to maximise range for the first part of the journey and get there as efficiently as possible (minimum watts per mile). Once at the target we need to switch to an endurance mode and fly at the minimum speed possible to maximise the amount of time over the target. We then need to return home at a speed that maximises range again (this might alter if a payload is dropped).
Alternatively we might need three modes, in an emergency you might need to get to a target quickly (optimal cruise speed as per airliner), loiter for as long as possible (maximum endurance) and then return as efficiently as possible (maximum range).

I'm not much of a maths guru but using logic I figure the first and easiest step is determining the maximum endurance of an airframe which would be done by finding the minimum amount of thrust required to maintain level flight. At this point, power consumption is minimized and the endurance is maximised (while speed and range are sacrificed), this would have to assume that motor and ESC efficiency are linear (from what I have read brushless motors are more efficient in the medium power bands anyway).

At the other end of the spectrum is the maximum range which I'm a little less sure on how we calculate on a model. For this I figure we need to know about the drag characteristics of each airframe across the full range of speeds.
I also figure that to calculate the optimal cruise speed (max speed with minimal power as per airliner) we would also need to know about drag at different speeds.
Is there anyway the APM logs could be used to figure out useful drag measurements to calculate these speeds for our airframes?

Or, are these speeds the APM could actually calculate itself by performing an 'in flight calibration'?
You could define in the flight planner which portions of the journey should be for calibration and which for maximimum range, endurance or efficient speed.
The APM could then slowly adjust the crafts speed downward in the calibration phase to determine the minimum amount of power required to maintain altitude and store this as the loiter speed. It could then slowly increase the power and measure which power setting delivers the maximum range for input power and then the maximum speed that uses the least fuel per hour.

I realise that there is also windspeed which could affect these numbers, which might mean that the APM might always need to be in 'calibration mode' and once put into one of these modes, constantly optimize the power so as to deliver maximum range, endurance or minimum time depending on what you want.

Once my new motor arrives (my stock motor now barely maintains flight) I will do some testing and add to this post, but would be interested in others thoughts on this topic as there seems to be a severe lack of discussion on such a relevant topic to UAS.

At long last, I finally beat MAVLink into Java submission. I wasn't able to find any MAVLink bindings for Java (needed by android), so I ended up using JNI and wrote a MAVLink wrapper. It works nicely and makes using MAVLink very easy. Its available for download here. I've included both the "common" and the "pixhawk" messages.

As you see above, I've added a HUD mode.

I've uploaded the new copy of the GCS for easy download or through the Android Market (search copter-gcs). Of course the source is available through SVN

I am focused on Copters, as that is what I fly, but with MAVLink support, the copter-gcs is now also useful for ArduPilotMega. I loaded the APM code on my quad (minus the props :-) ), and was able to see / tune track just fine with it. The only thing missing is that the PID tuning widgets I have are currently only setup for the copter. The next version I expect will have the APM pids added in. For now you can just use the Parameters view to set anything you like:

When you make a change, just hit the button next to is to save it.

That's about the news for now. I will be working on Mission Planning and some clean-up next.

If anyone has any problems, let me know. Same thing if there is a feature missing (no promises though).

So far USB host mode for tablets (connect XBee directly) and Wifi links have been requested, although i'm not sure when/if they will make it in.

These guys are getting better and better :)

Hello everybody, just wanted you to know that I just published a paper here https://sites.google.com/site/imager3d/quadrotor It is a brief description of a concept-proof steering system for Quadcopters, based on the transposition of the center of mass of the copter. I have not made tests, it is just a straight idea. Thanks to the readers! bye droners

Came across this nice little video.. Would be intresting to figure out the hardware and code for this..

Android

16-19 August 2011
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC, USA
http://symposium.auvsi.org

AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America is the premier forum for reviewing, assessing and discussing the current state of the unmanned systems market. The event brings together the key leaders and decision-makers in the industry. Officials from government and user organizations around the world attend and participate in the symposium program.

• 450+ Exhibitors (473,000 Gross Sq. Feet/43,900 sq. meters of exhibit space)
• 6,500+ Attendees
  • Commercial and defense operators
  • CEOs and high-level decision-makers
  • Government and industry program managers
  • Policy makers
  • Scientists, researchers and students
• Representation from over 30 countries:  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States
• Indoor demonstration areas for air, ground and maritime vehicles
• 150+ Technical, Workshop, Panel and Poster Presentations
  • Military, civil and commercial applications
  • Updates on the latest industry trends and future programs
  • Panel discussions to influence future policies and decision making
  • Technology transfer, interoperability and commonality discussions across domains
  • and much more!
• Beyond the Booth Showcase featuring product announcements and presentations by exhibitors from the exhibit hall floor
• Exhibit Hall Uniform Day - Military and uniformed civil servants (i.e. first responders - police, firefighters, etc.) will have complimentary access to the exhibit hall on Friday, 19 August.

Don't miss this exciting event - visit http://symposium.auvsi.org for more details and to register.

Dear Friends,

this is the OnBoard Video during the flight test of HexaFox32:

Drone Configuration :

CPU : MP32

IMU : VRIMU 1.0

Radio : Jeti with PPM SUM 1 wire 12 channel.

ESC : HobbyWing 30A Pentium

Propeller : 10x4.5

CAM : Go Pro HD connected directoly above on battery support

Firmware : ArduPirates NG32 + MixerTable for HexFlight .

TX Video : 1.2 Ghz 200 mwatt pal video trasmitter tested until 340 m work fine.

Snapshot Source code for Hexa Radial :

http://code.google.com/p/multipilot32/downloads/detail?name=vrobotix-ide-0.0.4%20mixer%20hexaradial.zip&can=2&q=#makechanges

I'm working on this configuration for develop affodable platform for FPV and Aerial Video and Picture , this is minor Brother of VR Dragon. The next step test the Gimbal with my custom stabilization code.

Best

Roberto

Original Post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/hexafox-32-on-board-video

Found this Quadcopter build while browsing Instructables.com today. Lots of good information....

build instructions

As part of my ongoing research project to buy every autopilot out there and see how they work (an expensive hobby!), I just got a FY-21AP, which is a $250 stabilization and RTL box (basically an autopilot with most of the usual features taken out).  (I bought it from HobbyKing for $195, but as Hooks warned us that didn't last long. It's no longer available from HobbyKing.) You can read Hook's introduction to it (and links to reviews) here, but I just wanted to point out some cool things that caught my eye in a quick unboxing.

First, it comes with a really neat vibration isolation "hammock", which is the little platform in the picture above with rubber bands on all four corners. That's a great way to dampen vibration; we should make and sell one of those for APM, too.

Second, here is the usual warrenty-breaking opening of the box:

It's got the same ST ARM chip and ST sensors as all the other FeiYu boards, with a barometric pressure sensor in the bottom right of the board at the top. A neat, simple design. It uses a Locosys 10Hz GPS with a small ceramic patch antenna.

There is no provision for a ground station or any desktop setup software (although you can hook up an optional OSD and see data in the video stream).  All adjustment for your airframe must be made via the little trim pots. It can handle elevons with a jumper, but not V-tails (you need to use an external mixer for that).

There are three modes: stabilized (optionally with fixed altitude), return-to-launch (RTL) or circle-in-place. They are selected with two toggle switches on your transmitter.

Throttle is not controlled, and altitude is only controlled with the elevator, so the manual warns you to keep your throttle pretty high to avoid stalls in auto mode.

The documentation is much improved from the previous FeiYu Tech manuals (which were partly in Chinese) and comes on one big double-sided sheet of paper:

I haven't flown it yet, but I'm guessing it a does a pretty good job on most aircraft. If you don't need a full autopilot with programmable waypoints and ground stations, etc, this seems like a fine choice. In particular, it seems really well suited for FPV fliers to protect against getting disoriented and having trouble making it back home.