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3D Robotics

Summer robotics intern positions at PARC

Posted by Chris Anderson on December 8, 2009 at 10:44am
These are dream internships, at Xerox PARC in Silicon Valley: Autonomous robotics - summer The intern will develop autonomous capabilities for mobile robotic platforms such as unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The focus of this effort is on probabilistic algorithms for sensor processing, motion planning, and vehicle control. The overall goal is to develop increasingly integrated model-based motion planning software that uses sensor models, agent models, and models of the physical surroundings, enabling interaction with unknown environments. Responsibilities include: deriving new algorithmic approaches consistent with the applicant’s background; developing them in simulation; and potentially applying them to existing UGV or UAV testbeds as appropriate. Requirements: Graduate student candidates in engineering and computer science Strong skills with C/C++ or Matlab for system simulation and implementation Background in optimization, statistics, artificial intelligence, and control Practical experience in robotics Robotic localization, mapping, and planning - summer The goal of the DARPA-funded LANdroids project is to deploy a team of robotic sensor nodes in an unknown environment to sense and report events to a tactical control center. Our project goal is to create efficient representation for both physical and radio environments, including mapping and localizing a team of robots using radio and short-range sensors. In addition, we are interested in algorithms for cooperative motion planning for physical search and exploration in unknown environments. Requirements: U.S. citizenship or permanent residency is required for this position Strong theoretical background in optimization and probabilistic reasoning -- with practical experience in robotics and good programming skills in both Matlab and C/C++ Graduate students in a relevant field (electrical engineering, computer science, or similar) are preferred, but we will also entertain applications from exceptionally strong undergraduate students with relevant experience [thanks to sonal chokshi for the tip]
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Pretty cheap camera+DVR system

Posted by Ty on December 8, 2009 at 9:54am
http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-Cameras/Specialty-Security-Cameras/RCCAM1?cmpid=136Sorry about the commercial post. Not my company, not affiliated with them in any way.

633857740442265000_RCCAM1-LEFT.jpg

The specs: 3 inches long, by .75 inches wide, weighing in at less than .75 ounces.I'm super-poor, or I'd be trying to pick one of these up (eventually to modify for pan and tilt). If anyone does pick one up, I'd be interested in hearing how stiff the camera head is.
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Developer

Ateryx 2.0 - The happy medium

Posted by Ryan Beall on December 7, 2009 at 3:00pm

Here is something that might peak some intrest. I plan on selling my autopilot in the near future and would like to see if there is any intrest in my product.The autopilot world is hard to attract the hoby level audience because of the steep price jump in higher performance systems. The cheaper approach is to buy the DIY kits and depend upon the opensource code to carry you along. My product is a happy medium between the two.The foundation of the code that comes free with the purchase of the autopilot is capable of keeping the aircraft stable and holding airspeed and altitude. However, if you want to add more features you simply purchase the appropriate app for the job. For example I expect most people will want to purchase the cheap waypoint and track smoothing app. This may seem like overkill but it allows the user to purchase only the capability required to meet their mission thus keeping the price-point more flexible. Apps are listed belowSD memory card loggingWaypoint navigationAltitude terrain followingCamera triggeringWind estimationMagnetic headingCurrent sensor and loggingAutoLandingAutoTakeoffEtc.Ateryx2.0 = $1,000Apps = $800 - 100Ateryx 2.0 has hundreds of hours of flight tested proof in robustness so you spend less time setting things up and more time flying. Purchase what you want and nothing more. Feel free to contact me if you are intrested.ateryx.autopilot@gmail.comRyan Beall
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Developer

Help testing radios

Posted by Jason Short on December 6, 2009 at 5:41pm
Hi everyone, I'm looking for some volunteers to test some code that's part of the 2.5 release of Ardupilot.I'm looking for a wide range of radios and here's the trick: You need to solder a jumper from input 3 to Pin 13 on your ardupilot.I'm sure some people will have issues, so better to catch them now versus the final release. I'm also going to be posting more code snippets to test in the coming week.Here is the file: Ardupilot_radio_tester.zipPlease center you radio trims before you run this so we can compare output. Use the serial out in Ardiuno to see the output.note:Radio model #Receiver model #Ch3 Failsafe settingCh1-3 values when radio trims set to central positionNote,if you can set your radio's failsafe to drop ch3 value below normal, please try that. Also, let me know if that can't be done with your radio.Thanks!Jason
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Developer

Ardu-IMU-Pilot firmware ready for beta test!

Posted by Doug Weibel on December 6, 2009 at 1:30pm
I have completed ground testing on the new firmware I have written for ArduPilot to use ArduIMU in place of the thermopiles. It has been snowing here and I probably won't get to fly the code for a bit, but figured others might be interested in giving it a try at this point. This firmware will probably exist on a temporary basis, with the code getting incorporated into the regular ArduPilot firmware in the future. If there is sufficient interest in this approach I will consider working on a ArduPilot shield board that would add the pressure sensors to ArduIMU and package it all as a shield.

I will maintain the code for a while in a repository at http://code.google.com/p/ardu-imu-pilot/

If you try it out give me your feedback. It is similar to ArduPilot 2.4 but uses a different header file.

To interface ArduIMU to ArduPilot you connect the gps (ublox only) to ArduIMU, provide common power and ground to ArduPilot and ArduIMU, and connect the serial output pin of ArduIMU to the serial input pin of ArduPilot.
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Developer

The Ardupilot FG Control for the Flight Gear Simulator

Posted by Jean-Louis Naudin on December 6, 2009 at 6:00am

The ArduFGControl is a PC application which allows you to test and tune your Ardupilot CPU board with the Flight Gear Simulator. FlightGear is a free and an open source flight simulator developped by Curtis Olson. The ArduFGControl is a gateway between the Ardupilot board through the FTDI cable (com port) with FlightGear through the network UDP ports. The FlightGear model used here is a Rascal 110So, with this application you may test at home your Ardupilot during this cold winter...The full software can be downloaded at : http://code.google.com/p/ardupilotdev/downloads/listTested on Windows Vista SP2 on Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T250 @2.00 Ghz ( perf ind: 4.8 )Have fun,Jean-Louis Naudin

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3D Robotics

Updates from the DIY Drones dev teams

Posted by Chris Anderson on December 5, 2009 at 3:00am
Here's the latest from some of the Dev Team leaders: First, the core ArduPilot team is close to a beta release of ArduPilot 2.5, which is a huge clean-up of the code, with top to bottom improvements. As always, you can get a preview by watching the activity on the Google Code development repository. This team is also creating the code architecture foundations for ArduPilot Mega. The IMU code team is working from this repository. Other projects: ArduIMU thermopile replacement (This is the version of ArduIMU that is intended to be a plug replacement for any thermopile sensor, on ArduPilot, AttoPilot, Paparazzi or FMA. It has no GPS, so it will add a 3-axis magnetometer to get a full attitude solution) Mike Zaffuto: "Magnetometer selected is the HMC5843, it's a good price $20 (qtys of 1), 3-axis, available at digikey and sparkfun, I2C interface and small QFN package like the chips on ArduIMU. The Dual DAC I selected is the LTC2627, I2c interface, 12bits and small 12pin DFN package. The magnetometer will most likely need to be mounted as far back on the tail, underneath, on the sides, inside, as possible to keep it away from the electric motor and wiring. This will be to avoid as much as possible a motor rpm dependency on H field calibration. ArduIMU is very small and can be made even smaller to make the module less obtrusive in this proposed mounting location. I have arduino code to communicate with this magnetometer. It is someone else's code, but good to communicate with just the magnetometer, it needs modification to handle multiple i2c devices on the bus. Nonetheless it is a good guiding framework for a rewrite so that it is original code. " Turn-rate limiter shield (This is the project to make a turn-rate limiter shield for ArduPilot, which will consist of a single yaw gyro. Combine with the GPS, this can be a very simple and inexpensive full autopilot for stable aircraft, eliminating the need for thermopiles or an IMU for that sort of application. This is meant to create an "entry-level" full autopilot solution) Jeff Taylor reports that the first custom PCBs had the wrong footprint for the gyro, so he's using a Sparkfun breakout board for testing while we wait for new PCBs. Lego Mindstorms Universal RC Interface (This is the project to modify the ArduPilot board to be a universal RC interface for Lego Mindstorms NXT: Read RC and GPS data and drive servos vis the NXT's I2C bus) Christopher Barnes: "I've got some robust and generic code running on the Arduino to allow the NXT to communicate with the board so that it can read an/or write any variables that we want to share. This includes Remote Control channel inputs (& PWM outputs), analogue inputs, logic inputs (MUX, Failsafe) as well as any GPS parameters extracted from the GPS messages. (I've been testing with uBlox 5 in binary mode). I would intend to release this software with a general purpose configuration but with clear, commented code so that anyone interested can customise the parameters that are exchanged with the NXT." ArduIMU documentation This is already in good shape, as Andy Geppert reports: "The majority of the sections are roughed in. I'd like to add much more detail (block diagram of the hardware, and one of the software, high level description of the schematic, start-up details, gain suggestions...)." ArduStation Mega (ArduPilot Mega ground station) hardware: Sarel Wagner reports: "I am in the process of doing a version of the schematics. The block diagrams are complete. As you know the case mock up was done. Also working on the data sheets for all components to get the mechanical info for the board layout. Still awaiting some info on the new switches suggested by Scott. Tthe schematic is about 60% done, not in Eagle though, don't have any Eagle skills :/ so need to build a few things first :) I would say we may have the schematic done by late December "
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THIS WEEK IN AEROSPACE

Posted by Jack Crossfire on December 4, 2009 at 11:59am
5 FLIGHTS TO NOWHEREFLIGHT #1The severe wind storm crashed us real good into another roof.Fortunately accessible by foot. Obviously either 40mph wind is abovelimits or you need to tilt the engines.FLIGHT #2Aft propeller wouldn't spin. The crash must have damaged the propellerso it wouldn't grab the crown nut.FLIGHT #3Aft propeller wouldn't spin again. The roof crash stripped the crownnut. Maybe crown nuts can be damaged & have a finite life.

Decided the best move was to make a complete set of new crown nuts.

Since they're not sold anywhere, here's how to make them.

Tin the lock washer & nut by heating for a long time & tacking solder.Eventually the solder naturally flows between the tack points.

Sandwich them together. Remove excess solder with a knife.FLIGHT #4

The wind storm created so much debris, taking off anywhere shredded thepropellers. There was no safe takeoff position anywhere. By then itwas time to get back on our commute.

Finally discovered the lock nuts were asymmetric & the tail rotor wasusing the wrong side all this time. This fact was only visible at highmagnification & makes you wonder what good lock nuts are if they onlylock 1 side.FLIGHT #5With the lock nut issue finished, the tail motor was now stalling & theESC was overheating. Obviously a broken winding. Major Marcy got usback in the air but it was only a matter of time before Chinese qualitystruck back.

The high resolution photos revealed nothing obvious. Swapped ESC's &sure enough, it was the ESC.

A resistor dropped right out. There's the Suppo ESC with missingresistor.

& there it is with the resistor resoldered. Though as marginallysoldered as humanly possible, the Suppo did take a direct hit rightwhere the resistor was.

The aft ESC on Vika 1 takes a beating when landing on concrete.

MORE PROPELLER CRACKS

The latest thinking on propeller cracks is they're caused by a buildupof threadlock on the crown nuts making the plastic brittle.MEET MARCY 1Meanwhile, in brief fits of highly condensed etching & soldering betweencommutes, Marcy 1 takes shape.

The ground station & flight computer. FYI, never blend pads & fillareas.

900Mhz radio modules complete

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Moderator

Very stable and Cheap Homemade Camera Platform - MUD DUCK

Posted by Brian on December 3, 2009 at 8:00pm
I found this company while searching for homemade plane ideas. I've always the "rugged" look of agri-planes so the planes on this site really caught my eye. The cool part is they are built with foam board and are very stable slow-flyer planes. I've included another link to a guy's vimeo site who's big into FPV. He uses Mud Duck inspired planes and tosses up HD video camera. He's got some really nice video posted.Mud Duck Aviation hereMud Duck video here

DawnPatrol.jpg

Paul Thompson Vimeo FPV "Awsome setup" here

Big Breakthrough with HD Pan and Tilt! from Paul Thompson on Vimeo.

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3D Robotics

T3, Round 4: Map a quarter-kilometer!

Posted by Chris Anderson on December 3, 2009 at 7:30am

Welcome to the Time Trust Trial contest, Round 4 (T3-4)! This round is an aerial imaging task. Here is your assignment: Program your UAV to take photos from an altitude of ~400 feet that you then stitch together to make a single image showing an area of 500mx500m (a quarter square kilometer). Somewhere in that image, a Santa (or replica of a Santa, poster of a Santa, just you wearing a Santa hat, etc) must be seen. NO PHOTOSHOP (ie, the sample above would be disqualified)--you actually need to bring something Santa-ish to the field so your UAV can capture it in its shots (yes, I know it will be very small. Just circle the location in your image so we can enlarge and inspect--don't make us do "Where's Wally"!) This is to prove that the shots aren't actually taken from Google Earth ;-) You can use any path strategy you want: "lawnmower", spiral, concentric circles, etc... For stitching software, I use the free PTGui, but you're welcome to use whatever software you prefer. And for your camera, may I suggest you hack up some cool way to trigger the shutter with our cool ServoSwitch? KML tracks must be provided. Video is not required, but is suggested. We've now switched to a six-week cycle, so the deadline is 12:00 midnight PST on Sunday, January 17, 2010 now Monday, January 18th due to the Martin Luther King holiday in the US. The overall winner will be the best quality image, as decided by the judges (based on a combination of resolution, stitch quality and overall coolness--a clever Santa will win you brownie points, and a pretty area is no bad thing [note: snow is lovely, but be warned that it can confuse stitching software]), but everyone who completes the challenge will win a prize. Enjoy!
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Developer

How to boost your 2.4Ghz Spektrum/JR Transmitter signal!

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on December 2, 2009 at 2:00pm
I love my Spektrum Dx7 and my 2.4Ghz JR XPS9303 and i refused to trade its solid rock performance by a 72mhz radio just to increase range of my FPV/UAV. So in collaboration with my friend JB we find out the cheapest and secure way to amplify the signal, it even works in some Futabas and virtually with any 2.4Ghz radio, but some modifications are required. Lets see some options:-Spektrum Dx7 this is the cheapest solution for a very reliable 2.4Ghz radio, i used it for about a year and i never had any signal glitch (unless i fly beyond 2000 feet). The problem with this one is that you have to modify it, you need a SMD to U.FL adapter, drill a hole in the side of your radio and just connect and screw the adapter, no soldering required. If you have more than 5 hours of experience with Legos your qualified to do this job. Then you just need to connect the booster. The one in the picture (middle) is already modified.-If you have the awesome JR radio but is 72Mhz you can buy the Spektrum 2.4Ghz module and just insert it in the back of your TX, personally this is my favorite setup. It's a good deal because includes a $99 dlls receiver for free! Note that JR TX alone cost around $600 dlls, but you can get it for less, i got mine for 300 bucks with Spektrum Module included on R/C Groups =P. Remember you are looking for the JR XPS9303.If you have one of the fallowing Futaba radios:7U Series Radios8U Series Radios8J Series Radios9C Series Radios9Z Series RadiosFN Series RadiosYou can just go and buy the Spektrum 2.4Ghz module, easy and with no hassles. It's also a good deal because includes a $99 dlls receiver for free!

One of the advantages of the Spektrum receivers is the build in diversity system, you can even buy one with 4 satellites like this one, or buy a super tiny, tiny setup like this one, or the traditional one.The diversity is crucial to have a reliable link when you are flying far away, also Spektrum has a receiver for Carbon Fiber airplanes (Carbon Fiber blocks RF signals).The idea is to have the best reliable hardware with an SMA connector and the SMA extension cable, after that you are ready for the final step: Get an amplifier. But we are talking about a few hundred dollars here, if you get the weakest one of 100mW it will cost you around $150 dlls. This is not pocket friendly in my point of view. So again our Asians friends come to the rescue, after making some research around the net I've found on eBay and a home Wireless Amplifier, so i decided to give it a chance and i bought it for 60 bucks including shipping! Wow that's a good deal! The one i got is this one.Note that the amplifier needs 6Volts to work, you can get a cheap 6V power regulator from here and just make the adapter. A 3 Cell LIPO is enough to supply it for a long time.

After receiving the AMP i did some tests, here are my results:Before using the amplifier, i was able to fly around 3000 feet away (~1 km) using a 900Mhz@500mW Video transmitter. I never lost the video signal, only the radio link...Using a 1.3Ghz@1Watt Video transmitter i was unable to fly more than 2000 feet away (~600meters). So the 1.3Ghz Video transmitter reduces my 2.4Ghz Spektrum range...Then i got my cheap Asian amplifier and using a 2.4Ghz Patch Antenna i was able to fly around 2.6 miles (4.18Km) away without a single glitch, but i was unable to continue because now my video was causing me problems, hehe!Not bad at all! Honestly i don't need more than 2 miles of coverage, is really a long way for an EasyStar. In conclusion the maximum range for my setup still unknown, but the range achieved is more that 2.6 miles and the +2 extra miles of coverage gained for less than $100 dlls is really a good deal for me!

Now just remember this:-The range will be different in other setups.-Never turn on your radio without antenna.-Never turn on the Amplifier without antenna.-Note that in some country's this amplifier may be illegal.Thanks for watching!
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MicroGear hardware in the loop demonstration with FlightGear

Posted by Curt Olson on December 2, 2009 at 1:30pm
I'm almost embarrassed to post this video. It was done almost entirely with open-source software, so it's obviously way behind what people are doing with commercial software and commercial systems. But I have fun and entertain myself with this stuff, so I thought I'd share a brief snippet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIDQq93cpcoWhat you are seeing is FlightGear (http://www.flightgear.org). I have a FlightGear model of a Sig Rascal 110 (which I've flown in real life many times.) The 3d model and the flight dynamics model are also open-source so of course are also subpar from anything that would be done commercially. The FlightGear flight dynamics engine is outputting gyro, accelerometer, and gps data to an external embedded computer running MicoGear. MicroGear takes the "sensor" data, runs it through a 15 state kalman filter (the one piece here that isn't open-source) and estimates roll, pitch, yaw, and location.Because this is FlightGear I already know the true pitch, roll, and yaw, but I promise I'm not cheating here. The kalman filter on the embedded board is estimating these values and using them as input to the autopilot and routing algorithms also running on the embedded board. The only difference between this and real life from the microgear/embedded-processor point of view is that it's not getting it's data from the onboard sensors and it's not driving servos directly. Instead it sends the servo commands back to FlightGear and the control surfaces are moved over there in the simulator.This turns out to be a really nice hardware in the loop testing platform and many subtle issues that show up in real life, also show up in the simulator. Because this is FlightGear, a person can throw a variety of weather conditions at the system, turbulence, high winds, etc. You can disable fuel consumption and run for hours or days if you like.I am very tempted to turn in a "virtual" entry into one of the upcoming DIY drones contests. :-) Oops, I almost started to crack a smile there. Ok, I'm back to my long, sullen, down trodden facial expression, because after all this is all pretty much all open-source software -- which just sucks -- total crap I know -- sorry to even waste your time and bandwidth with any of this guys. I won't post anything ever again until I have something actually useful or interesting to show.Curt.
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3D Robotics

Mark Griffin winner of the T3-3 contest!

Posted by Chris Anderson on December 2, 2009 at 7:30am

Congratulations to Mark Griffin and his EasyStar/Paparazzi set up for not only winning the T3-3 contest (break Stanford's UAV altitude record) but beating the record by an astounding 2.8x! In total four people broke the record, which is awesome. Also note that two of those four were using Krzysztof Bosak's new Flexipilot autopilot, which is a great tribute to the qualities of that. Congrats to all! The first prize for this contest will be a new Bladestar semi-autonomous rotary-wing toy. The three runner-ups will win a DIY Drones servo OptoCoupler. I'll be announcing the full details of the next T3 contest, T3-4, tomorrow, but the short form is this: a photo stitch from 400' of 1 square km. In other words, a single image that is an aerial view of an 1 km^2 area, but all taken from 400 feet (sorry about mixing imperial and metric units!). We will be moving to a six week contest cycle, so you'll have till the middle of Jan to do it. Extra hardship points for those who include snow!
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3D Robotics

AttoPilot 3.3, IMU, flying wing prices released

Posted by Chris Anderson on December 1, 2009 at 10:00pm
Gary Mortimer has just posted the new price list for AttoPilot 3.3 (IMU-based) and a whole bunch of new products from Dean Goedde. Check out the pdf at the link for all details, but here are the basics AttoPilot 3.3 (IMU): $3,000 AttoPilot 1.8 (Thermopiles): $800 Stand-alone IMU: No price given Jackaroo flying wing plane: $2,800 Boomerang flying wing: $2,600 Manta flying wing: $5,000-$6,250 Tracking antenna: $1,500 Flight ready aircraft (with autopilots installed): Boomerang (with AttoPilot 3.3): $15,000 Boomerang (with AttoPilot 1.8): $13,500 Jackaroo (with AttoPilot 3.3): $15,200 (shown)
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