ACM2 makes my tricopter the most stable FPV flying experience I'd tried.
RTL mode was turned on at 3 min 28 sec in this film and turned back to stabilized mode around 3 min 49 sec.
log data attached.
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One of the cool features of the Mission Planner is that you can load and save configuration files. So you can not only have different files for different aircraft, but also share them with others.
This is particularly handy for common airframes. Once someone has tuned one well, they can upload their configuration file and save others the trouble of having to go through the same process.
I've now created a place in the APM and ArduCopter wikis that you can use to share configuration files. Please post your files in the comments here and I'll upload them to the relevant wikis as they come in.
The APM Configuration File Repository is here.
The AC2 Configuration File Repository is here.
*** Note, 2.0.26, and 2.0.27 had a flaw that switched Alt_hold and Simple mode. Don't fly it. This is fixed in 2.0.28. ***
I built my own quad from scratch using an alu frame and decided to control it using the ardupilot mega that I have lying around. I loaded the arducopter NG2 code on this and took it for a couple of flights, noting its behavior and how it felt like controlling it. My intentions are to make this a platform that is really easy to control from first person video too, as well as 3rd person "in the field" of course.
Although the AC code is already more than suitable for video flying, I conspired with my colleagues. They gave me some tips and the result is the most boring quadcopter ever :)
The video above shows some progress in that direction.
To describe the changes: I prepended a 'velocity' controller before the orientation controller that was already there. The arducopter measures the angles of orientation and continuously updates motor speeds to ensure it maintains some desired angle, set by the sticks. So in this case, I don't control the angles directly, but I control the velocity projected onto the xy plane that I want this quad to have. Altitude is still managed manually.
The GPS controller in turn is now attached to the velocity controller. So any offset in the position results in some desired velocity towards the waypoint. The quad starts to accelerate by outputting some angle, maintains the velocity towards the waypoint and as it approaches, starts slowing down such that when position == waypoint, speed == 0 too. Using angular control only this is much more difficult, because you have to play around with aggressive D-gain settings to get the quad to stop closer to the waypoint.
The quality of your experience using the velocity controller is dependent on the quality of the GPS (doppler effect speed readings?), the quality of the GPS signal that you are receiving, the quality of a magnetic compass, the frequency of the GPS output (5Hz is a bit low) and of course as usual the PID settings. So quite a number of factors there.
I use a switch on the tx to control the mode I want to fly in, or switch back when it behaves erratically, indicating some possible problem with GPS reception or compass readings.
These are pics of our team learning to fly FPV, playing with ardupilot....
ArduPilot autopilot.
ArduIMU
Ardushield.
HappyKillmore GCS.
Xbee Telemetry. 900 mHz
RangeVideo TX and RX 1,3 Ghz
Homemade Pan tilt camera.
0.40 glow O.S. fp engine
Big nitro tank to fly 50 minutes.....
2.4 Ghz 1 watt amplifier.
Futaba 9z radio TX
Assan 2.4 TX and RX modules.
RangeVideo V dipole antenna.
I've been working hard to try and figure out this center of gravity deal. After enduring half a dozen crashes I finally got it right: I threw the airplane, the thrust was perfect, it was going just fine until... I pulled up and it went down. Thats right, my control surface orientation for my elevator was reversed. By the time I realized what had happened it was too late, and the MTP made its final landing, straight into the ground.
So if you've made changes to your airplane's control surface in anyway; your servo hookups, your control horn location, your transmitter settings, heck, every time you go to fly, just do a quick sanity check on your control surfaces, when you pull up, does your elevator go up too, etc...
I'm glad I made this mistake on a cheap airplane that could easily be rebuilt. I've got to experience these kinds of mistakes early so that as my models get more complex and expensive my simple errors will have been worked out my system.
I also learned that on a new model, put the CG a little nose heavy until you figure out where it should be, error on CG being t nose heavy. It appears that nose heavy is a lot more manageable than tail heavy, which is about as guaranteed to kill your airplane as it can get. I'm still amazing how much CG affects performance.
I also am falling out of love with Hot Glue. Its great stuff for a lot of reasons, I did entire episode on it a while back to prove that point. But, here in Arkansas, even when my model is in the trunk on my car, it gets hot enough (about 95 degrees Fahrenheit) to damage anything under some kind of pressure, where the hot glue will just fail.
I think I'll slowly move to some CA foam safe glue as I get a little better at not crashing everything I build in the first 5 seconds of my flight.
Awww yes finally time to do some PID tuning. After my last field test it was clear I needed to replace my motors with better quality ones and do some more PID tuning. After making a few mods to the airframe for added support and installing the new Jdrones Purple 2830 /12, 850kv motors with 10x4.7 props it was time to start testing again. In the first part of the video the quadcopter wobble front to back ( I was making it do this with the elevator stick) then get stuck at 45 degree, this is when I chopped the trottle and have a rough landing. This was from setting the D to low .09 is way to low. The last hover is with the PID settings below.
So far my best luck has been with this setting. But, I still think there is room for improvement.
The Yaw is stable, but not very responsive to what tell it to do.
Roll & Pitch P =( .3) I = (.024) D = (.13) Yaw P=(.505) I=(.007) D=(.085)
From IEEE Spectrum:
In a visit today to Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center, Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national effort to bring together industry, universities, and government to invest in emerging technologies that can improve manufacturing and create new businesses and jobs.
Robots are a big part of this effort. The administration's new National Robotics Initiative seeks to advance "next generation robotics." The focus is on robots that can work closely with humans—helping factory workers, healthcare providers, soldiers, surgeons, and astronauts to carry out tasks.
"You might not know this but one of my responsibilities as commander-in-chief is to keep an eye on robots," Obama quipped at the beginning of his speech. "And I'm pleased to report that the robots you manufacture here seem peaceful. At least for now."
The National Robotics Initiative is described here:
The goal of the National Robotics Initiative is to accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people. Innovative robotics research and applications emphasizing the realization of such co-robots acting in direct support of and in a symbiotic relationship with human partners is supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The purpose of this program is the development of this next generation of robotics, to advance the capability and usability of such systems and artifacts, and to encourage existing and new communities to focus on innovative application areas. It will address the entire life cycle from fundamental research and development to industry manufacturing and deployment. Methods for the establishment and infusion of robotics in educational curricula and research to gain a better understanding of the long term social, behavioral and economic implications of co-robots across all areas of human activity are important parts of this initiative. Collaboration between academic, industry, non-profit and other organizations is strongly encouraged to establish better linkages between fundamental science and technology development, deployment and use.
Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to this solicitation:
- Small projects: One or more investigators spanning 1 to 5 years.
- Large projects: Multi-disciplinary teams spanning 1 to 5 years.
MikroKopter - FollowMe on the Wakeboard from Holger Buss on Vimeo.
Really cool way to use a POV on top of a helmet, and a hexa Mikrokopter to get all the action! Jason, if you are reading this, the arducopter code needs to have this! ;-)
I just got the new Hobbyking Bixler, their newest EasyStar clone, and I'm very impressed. I haven't flown it yet, but based on the design I think it's the best Easystar clone out there yet. (And I've tested them ALL!)
It's available as a kit, a RTF with a 4 channel radio, and an ARF without radio. I recommend the ARF version, which is just $52 (or,if you live in the US, it's available for $58 in the US warehouse with much cheaper and faster shipping). Add a 20a ESC, battery and 7ch radio and APM and you've got a UAV for under $500.
Some of the advantages of the Bixler, compared to the EasyStar and the other clones:
- Ailerons
- Big cockpit area, with tail servos on the outside
- Decent brushless motor
- Available in ARF form with servos installed but not a useless radio that you have to throw away
- Inexpensive
Here are some shots of the Bixler fuselage compared to a standard EasyStar:
Bixler on left, beat-up EasyStar on right. It's a clone all right!
Closeups of the cockpits--Bixler on left, EasyStar on right. The Bixler is a bit wider!
"Drones are Ready for Takeoff" from the June issue of Smithsonian. Many of the usual suspects and a good bit of journalistic naivete, but worth reading. It focuses on Aerovel Corp, a small company in Washington State founded by some folks who helped develop the Scaneagle (picture above of their Flexrotor UAV). Exerpt:
Until now, drone aircraft have been confined largely to war zones—most recently in Libya—and they have become controversial for killing civilians along with insurgents. But critics and boosters alike say unmanned aircraft will increasingly be used for peacetime work. They disagree about the likely scale of the industry, but the Federal Aviation Administration is already considering new rules and training staffers to adjust to unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” says Peter Singer, an analyst with the Brookings Institution. “Is it going to be 2012 or 2014? The point is, it’s going to happen.”
Call for Papers
2010International Powered Lift Conference:
A New Decade in V/STOL
FlightTorque Stabilized Vertical Lifting System (TSVLS)
Abstract – by Charles Medlock
Classically trained engineers have been left with the impression it is impossible to control 100% of the torque generated by a single lift rotor, using only the downdraft, within the same diameter as the lift rotor, because 100% of the torque minus 100% of the torque would leave no useable downdraft or zero lift. This illusion has stymied the development of a torque control system with many potential applications.
The TSVLS solves the problem by locating a lift rotor over vertical airfoils arrayed within a shroud to create “horizontal lift” in an anti torque direction. Our testing shows 100% of the torque can be controlled, balanced, with anti torque forces, even while the airfoils are at a low angle of attack. Our testing also shows the torque remains in balance, except for minor trim adjustments, even when power and load is increased and decreased, because as power is increased, the downdraft is increased and the anti torque forces are increased. The torque control is built into the TSVLS module, making it absolutely dependable.
Our thought challenge was to visualize how man could take off and land from his driveway and fly just above treetop with the least amount of hardware. The TSVLS is our solution to that challenge. The results of that thought challenge has lead us to believe the TSVLS is the cheapest, safest, simplest, absolutely dependable way to accomplish personal vertical flight. The TSVLS could be used in UAVs, as a defensive military platform, to create a 4 to 6 passenger VTOL family flyer, a 2 seat flyer, as an indoor Radio Controlled hobby craft, and in commercial and industrial lifting. We believe the TSVLS will prove to use less power to control torque than any other method currently employed, whether it be a tail rotor, contra rotating props, or counter rotating props.
The TSVLS increases lift/thrust by up to 40% because the lift rotor is located within a type “B” shroud. Airfoils have been shown to create up to 30 times the drag they create. These facts indicate the TSVLS will operate at over 100% of the lift a rotor can produce without it, while controlling 100% of the torque generated by a single lift rotor.
Managed to get extremely tight XY position hold, with manual collective, no wind, & no attitude sensing. There is a settling period, which is nowhere near stable enough to fly in the apartment. The main requirement was large integrals. The plot of the flight recording clearly shows where the camera was & how it detects sideways position much better than depth.
Visual attitude detection would need a tricolor LED & a lot of error correction. The relative height of each color would determine attitude. It probably wouldn't be fast enough to make a difference.
Altitude hold really needs a way to produce constant RPM for all cyclic. Marcy 1 was making progress on altitude hold, when the cops showed up, hit us with the night sun, & ended 5 years of care free flying on the test range.
It takes thick skin to play this game. Economies crumble. Real estate loses value. The wealth & status that bonds marriages is at the mercy of a few leaders. Sitting still will never do. Even sitting still, you need to fight for every minute you're alive, because as long as you're alive, you always have something someone else wants.
Somewhere, a bank is debating why someone should have a reduced mortgage principal, because one night, when his finances were keeping him up, he happened to notice some distracting UAV, 300 ft away, proof that the neighborhood was going to hell.
After 2 years of studdering progress, due to weather, we're at the point where 1 month in an indoor flying area would probably get the job done.
Hi all,
we have shuffled together a few IR photos, extracted 3D model with PhotoSynth, meshed, textured, projected and other stupid things.
Now could somebody tell me if it serves any purpose because I got creativity crisis.
I find these kind of radical designs really exciting. I found it on Gizmag
Their website is here D-Dalus
The spinning "fan-wing" idea isn't new, but I believe this is the first quad.
Hi everybody,
Here is the flight of my modified Mentor equipped with APM 2.2.0 build 3036.
The Mentor has been modified with two motors on the wings for a total power of 500 Watts,in order to make room for the camera on the nose and for equipments in the fuselage.
Lipo battery 3 cells 3200mhA.
Radio Graupner MC24 40 Mhz.
Supports for motors have been made using "T" shaped supports for glow plug engines (mounted inverted).
Tested RTL, Loiter and Auto. modes with the default PID settings.
Loiter radius 20 meters.
Altitude 30 meters.
Wind conditions 5-7 knots with sudden burst.
Very good flights and very good job from your side.
In the auto mode the mission waypoints were very close each other but APM was able to follow the path with only few ... wandering on sharp turns (the field is 300 by 300 meters wide).
This is a link to the post of the flight in the italian blog (sorry for the language).
Mentor flight link - video
Attached are some pictures taken fron mission planner and the log of the RTL and LOITER mode.
Strange patterns at the beginning of the log were the test of the behaviour in FBW mode and then the initial trimming of the plane.
I am going to test APM on other planes like Twinstar and Cularis as well as a flying wing.
If interested will post the results.
One last point; it will be fine to have one more mode in the list, that is Return to Home, where home is the point set in the mission and not the point where the APM is switched on in order to avoid loitering in places difficult to follow as in the log.
Thank and nice flights.
marco
RTL and Loiter log from Mission Planner.
This is a scaled model for Eole, a french project under CNES on developing an unmanned aerial platform for launching rockets. This scaled model (1/2.2) is evaluating the flight dynamics and by next year rocket launches will take place in a specialized facility by the full version. It will be fully autonomous apart from the take-off and landing and it will operate within a 30km range. It looks like Scaled Composites White Knight 1 but it is much smaller.
More info :
project website (in French): Présentation EOLE
Eole aerial launch platform - CNES, Perseus
GIF of my close with filter options
As you all know I've been bashing away to create code for cameras whether that be tracking a GPS point or stabilising the camera platform or just clicking the camera button. The code is currently adolescent in nature, everything is in there it just needs wisdom to match the knowledge. This brings me to my own camera, the GoPro HD.
Many here have one as well as a few more thousand around the world. They are great cameras for recording everything we do from FPV fun to scuba diving but hacking them is pretty hard (as shown by the guys on the GoPro forum trying to get the connector to play nice). One of the reasons I bought mine was because it does 1080 video and is pretty small making it great for my plane and quad and anything else I feel I should record but more importantly it is IR sensitive.
Disclaimer: In doing anything mentioned in this blog post or reponses below you are taking responibility for your own actions. DIYdrones nor myself take any responsibility what you do.
Oh no GoPro glue down the lens so you cannot get it off :O That stopped me for about 15 minutes while I googled. YouTube to the rescue. I removed the lens as shown in the video using this grips below (yes that is heatshrink 22mm is not really big enough). This is only half the problem though as the lens contains an IR filter so how do you get out the IR filter? The IR filter is held in place in the bottom of the lens by a thread O-ring of sorts (bolt with hole in it, see below) and because of the gap between the slots (the focus path) what in the jesus could I use. I went to my toolchest (yep chest and still didn't have the right tool any flat head screwdriver the reached both sides was simply to thick so what did I do :D That is right, the picture below shows my bodge. I filed a claw hammer I have to the correct width (9.5mm) and then filed the thickness of the "claw" down to fit inside the slot. Not only had I created a flathead screwdriver but because it was on the hammer I had control over the lens pressure rather than screwdriver pressure when I used it making it less likely for me to injure myself or the lens. I suggest that anyone trying this turns the lens rather than the screwdriver too. There is a little glue on it too so give it a poke with a knife. Once the filter is out screw the "O-ring" back in so it will be safe if you want to return the lens to normal again. Do not reassemble everything just yet, turn on live feed and plug in to the TV preferably over HDTV and focus the lens again. Be warned even with the thread lubricated it is still a patience testing moment but be steady. Once focused you can put it all back together again.
Disclaimer: In doing anything mentioned in this blog post or reponses below you are taking responibility for your own actions. DIYdrones nor myself take any responsibility what you do.
Filtering the light that reaches the sensor is up to you and your choices.
The gif above shows how the picture changes with the filter options I have used so far. I had a video camera visible light filter but in trying to install it broke it so I'll try to find another and adapt the housing to it (as during using live feed it was WAY better than the examples here). Not sure of the uses to be honest yet but night and day recording without worry is kind of cool. I will add a video timelapse of my street as the sun sets to show the difference in light with no filter later on
You will see me standing the middle at two points of the video. Once at 9:25pm (sunset) and again at 11:34pm. Gives an idea of the performance.
It's the latest Electric Tethered Observation Platform from Israel Aerospace Industries, photographed at the Paris Air Show, according to km2804.
Basically a long camera boom, as shown in this earlier concept image:
