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Well the software is not advancing at the speed I want.  However we're having great success with Multiwii.

I've dropped the price to reflect the lack of software. 

Over the past couple of weeks I have been busy reworking my original APM Mission Planner. Together with my partner/designer Samantha Nelson we have focused on improving the APM Planner’s interface, ideally resulting in a more intuitive user experience.   

Below are a couple screenshots of the new APM Planner!

APM Planner Version 1.0.0 can be downloaded here -

https://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/downloads/list

I've setup my helicopter (Trex 600 with self written autopilot ) so I could position it via RC then tell it to freeze in place.

Today I had fun with that out at the Friends of Amateur rocketry site.

Its been a long 20 hour day and I'm tired. I have to catch a plane in the morning so I won't get a chance to do this later.

I'm uploading the view from the helicopter.It should be on my youtube channel in about an hour.

Please note in the video the windsock in the background and the stability of the helicopter .

A DIY DRONES inspired project

           The project officialy start after my first 8 months with DIY DRONES.         

            The chalenge is to design a integrated mechanic, electronic and communication system

           The project development axes are:

                                    1- VTOL on board Battery Swapper System

                        2- Landing Deck  Battery Swapper system

                        3- UGV deck mobility system Rover/Crawler

                                    I will soon start publishing pictures of the work done at this point of time

                                                                                                                         ____________________

                                                                                                                                Bernard Michaud

I completed the airframe of my Modular Test Platform this week. It's core function is to allow me to test, repair, and replace each section individually, cutting down on prototyping cost and time.

The airplane itself is made from Bluecor aka Fan Fold Foam, and is supported by poplar wooden dowels. These serve two purposes: support the airframe by adding rigidity, and allow for each section to be removed and added as needed.

The wing is a Kfm2 airfoil, which has pretty good performance while being very easy to build. I added a little dihedral on the ends of the wing in the hope of gaining additional stability as this airplane, for the moment, does not have ailerons (which I can easily add later as this is modular!).

I'm still waiting on my Hobby King order to come in to replace a faulty motor/esc they sent me last time (I actually don't know what the EXACT issue is, it might even be my rx/tx) but when they come in I hope to complete the build and get it in the air.

In the end, this is all supporting my five year plan to fly an rc airplane across the United States. See http://www.mygeekshow.com/five-year-plan for the full details.

A major concern with sUAS is what does the FAA consider "Commercial Use".

Here is a comment from a law firm:

" The FAA has consistently defined commercial operation in terms of whether the operator receives direct or indirect payment for the operation. It is not necessary that the operation be conducted for profit or even that there be any intent or ability to make a profit. The compensation is not just limited to monetary payments but includes anything of value. This broad definition of compensation has been affirmed and adopted by both the NTSB and the federal courts. Administrator v. Roundtree, 2 NTSB 1712 (1975); Administrator v. Mims, NTSB Order No. EA-3284, review denied 988 F.2d 1380; Consolidated Flower Shipments, Inc., Bay Area, 16 C.A.B. 804 (1953), aff'd. 213 F.2d 814 (2nd Cir. 1954)."

This definition applies to sUAS.

This week, some of the 3D Robotics engineers and I visited Scaled Composites in Mojave, about an hour and half east of Los Angeles, to demo ArduCopter, get a tour of the facilities and talk about the DIY Drones community-driven innovation model with the Scaled engineers. Scaled is famous for being founded by the legendary Burt Rutan (who retired this year), winning the X-Prize for the first civilian mission to space, and for designing SpaceShip Two and its launch aircraft WhiteKnight Two (both shown above), which will be the aircraft used by Virgin Galactic to start the first regularly scheduled space tourism business in a few years.  It is total geek nirvana and the closest thing to the Right Stuff still in operation.

We weren't allowed to take pictures for most of our tour and meetings (we got to see EVERYTHING, including watching the Virgin Galactic pilots train on the awesome room-sized Spaceship Two simulator and poking our heads into Spaceship Two and Whiteknight Two), but here are a few shots we could take:

When you approach the Scaled facilities, the first thing you see is the Rotary Rocket, which it made about a decade ago and flew once before funding issues killed the project.

Here it is up close. Hard to imagine that two pilots sat in that cockpit while it flew. Brave...

Gigio Romero (UDrones), Sam Kelly and Jeff Taylor from the 3D Robotics team.

Back in the 1990s, Scaled designed one of their first UAVs, the Raptor. They're mostly a manned aircraft company, so they made it "manned optional".  That meant having the pilot sit outside! Below is a photo of that seat in storage today. Note the stirrups--they had to tie the pilot's feet to the fuselage so the wind didn't blow them out of the straps!

This was a crazy design by one engineer back in the day trying to prove that you didn't need high aspect-ratio wings (long thin ones, like a glider) for efficient flight. He survived, but his theory didn't.

This is a personal project underway by one of the engineers. It's an electric airplane that is designed to set distance and endurance records for manned electric flight. It uses a brushed electric motor (we weren't allowed to photograph it, but it was no larger than a dinner plate) that only generates 20 horsepower. But this design is so efficient, that's enough. BTW, they use a brushed rather than brushless motor because its failure mode is more gentle. As we all know, if something goes wrong with one of the brushless motor wires or the ESC, it's game over--it can destroy itself in seconds. There are fewer things that can wrong with a brushed motor.

I gave a speech about DIY Drones and open innovation models to some of the engineers. Then Gigio did an indoor demo of ArduCopter.

Not a lot of room to fly in there...don't hit the cruise missile!

Then it was time for an outdoors demo. The wind was blowing at 28 knots (32 miles per hour)!!! Here, Jeff is setting up the ground station.

ArduCopter handled the wind pretty well! But eventually when we put it Loiter mode at higher altitude a crazy gust blew it out of the flight area and Gigio had to take over manual control. Unfortunately it was too far away to see the orientation (sadly he wasn't flying in Simple Mode, which would have made that unnecessary), so he had to put it down in a neighboring field. Copter retrieved, safe and sound!

This video is the result of my last test :

In the test i'm using :

Multipliot 32 : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/page/multipilot32-1

VRIMU : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/page/vr-imu-10

VRI2C ESC: http://www.virtualrobotix.com/page/vr-bl-controller-10

The firmware is ArdupiratesNG 32 that i had implemented with some new libs and functionality :

The video is in italian but is simple to understand my test :

So i going in position manually , setup gps hold .

Take the quad and going far in other position ... then see the quad came back to original position.

After same test a leave the radio far from me :)

What do you think of my result. My impression is that the code is very good .

I'm using i2c esc and i see the fly is smooth and correction ,too respect of standard esc.

original post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/multipilot-32-great-news

Best

Roberto

Following Chris' post about the dronecell, here is a first use i've made with it.

I combined a GPS, which is being read by a PIC controller, every X seconds, then every 5 readouts it will send the last 5 readings over SMS text message to my cellphone.

The idea is to create a small and compact device, with autonomous battery (that can be optionally charged off the main vehicle's battery) that will help you find your drone in case it gets lost or crashes.

i've not yet tested the battery life, but it should be holding for a good few hours.

i call it the Black box, though it's not the same as the traditional one...

super thin design - only 16mm

I've took apart the stock connector and antenna, both SMA connectors are very heavy !

here they are connected together and heatshrinked:

for a total of 63 grams !

I will be really liking this one, next time it will find my copter when getting lost,

after i lost a full quad arducopter in a forest, couldn't find it till today....

What i like about it, that it has the autonomous battery, and the quite-infinite range of a cellular network.

it will tell me where it is even when it crashes and the big battery get disconnected and thrown away,

even when it is out of range of my radio, my telemetry etc...

and even if, let's say, it gets stolen !

I just get an SMS on my cellphone with the 5 last points, including exact time longitude and latitude of each point.

Ning (the social networking platform we're built on) has added a useful Groups function, so we've used that to start user groups.

If you have an ArduCopter or are using APM for a fixed wing aircraft, please join the relevant user group, which you can find in the column on the right of this page. Anyone can join these groups. (There is also a group for the site moderators, which you must apply or be invited to join).

User groups allow you to have more focused discussion on the specifics of one product or use. You can send messages to all the other group members, without the risk of spamming the entire site. And there is a Comment Wall for ad-hoc conversations that you may not want to bother the entire DIY Drones community with.

If there are other products you'd like us to create a user group for?

Here's a new board for people who want longer range than Xbee can provide. You just treat it as a regular serial port, just like an Xbee, and with the right code it can communicate with anything from a website to a phone. There's no APM code for it yet, but sample code is provided so you can find your own uses. Note that mobile wireless coverage can vary a lot from place to place, and some regions use cell towers that do not propagate to altitudes far above ground level. So your performance will depend a lot on the local networks. But in the right places, this could be really powerful.

"The DroneCell is a cell phone for your robotics/ electronics/ minicomputer/ anything project. Its an all-in-one communication device: communicate via texts, phone calls, or even over the internet. Any device with a TTL UART can communicate with the DroneCell. C libraries are available for download.

http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/General/FQP27P06.pdf

I'm currently waiting for my new Tx in the mail and will be doing a video. 

 You can use either a "P" or "N" channel Mosfet will work.  This curcuit works better than the Crowbar curcuit because it doesn't need a fuse, and with  less of a voltage drop.  "N" channel Mosfets are more common to find and be to used.   I have decieded to just make a reverse polarity connector instead of Modding the radio for a now.  I removed the charge port connector from the radio to use as passage way for my wiring.

I used a balance connector to connect to the 11.1v Lipo.

I removed the Tx charge connector and enlarged a whole for the wiring to pass through.

Finished it up with some Velcro to hold the battery.  I have already noticed with a 1600mAh 11.1 LiPo my battery life has increased by 2 to 3 or more hrs.  SWEET!

Even better protection using both a mosfet and a charge pump IC.

You can find the Charge Pump IC's online.

   Here:    Charge Pump IC

Sparkfun's new product showcase today has some cool gear that's useful for UAVs, In the video above, they demonstrate how to use the AttoPilot current sensors to measure voltage and current consumption in a quadcopter. APM supports this current sensor board, too, and now Sparkfun has several different versions for different currents:

The AttoPilot boards provide a simple solution for reading voltage and current into your microcontroller. Now in addition to the 90A version, we also have 45A and 180A versions as  well. Voltage and current values are easily read into your favorite microcontroller and we've included example code for Arduino on the product pages.

Sparkfun has also updated its "9DoF" IMU board (below) to use the new Invensense 3000-series gyro, which combines XY and Z into one chip to make for a smaller board.

Great way to learn how to better use your Xbee's

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10728

I have been a little mystified when or if the FAA is going to produce a set of sUAS rules, especially with some of the language in the looming FAA re-authorization bill. And when the FAA pushes its NPRM deadline back several times because of "Unanticipated issues requiring further analysis" it does not exactly instill confidence. Well today as an attendee of the UAS Summit in Grand Forks, ND, I had the chance to hear the current status from the horses mouth. Rick Prosek, the manager at the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Program Office stated the following points.

-The FAA internal sUAS rule making team had reached "concurrence" just this last month (5/11)

-He anticipates publishing the NPRM in the fall of 2011

-The final rule will most likely be enacted mid 2013

Now I understand that this may not be a dramatic change from what has already been projected, but for me it was mildly re-assuring to hear the updated timeline from a real human being.

Pictured is my first attempt at a camera system comparable to what you would find on a commercial UAV. I hope to make available to the DIY Drones community a light weight, affordable, and highly accurate turret compatible with APM or any other open source autopilot system.

The goals for my design were:

1. Light weight for use in fixed wing and heli applications

2. Ease of manufacture/part replacement

3. Low(ish) cost

4. Highly accurate closed loop control in both pan and tilt

5. Continuous rotation in pan

6. Gyro stabilization either through an autopilot or standalone IMU

7. A design easily expandable to carry larger cameras (GoPro, and Sony block cameras are in the works)

My first iteration has succeeded mostly in hardware design, although the software is currently a work in progress. My goal is to connect it to an APM via I2C, and control it via a joystick on the ground. Obviously there's a lot of work left in that regard...

Turret control is handled by a Pololu Baby Orangutan robot controller. The Orangutan has a dual H-bridge to drive a pair of servos modified for use as gear motors. Being ATmega based however, pwm or steppers will work as well. It runs the Arduino PID library with input from two magnetic rotary encoders for precise position input.

Any input on software development would be appreciated. I plan to make this available as soon as it's ready, and it's going to be all open source, of course.

More info/pictures available at www.AUV-Research.com.

Cheers!

Seth

From IEEE Spectrum: "It's a well known fact that animals from the Arctic to Africa have absolutely no idea what to think about robots. Taking full advantage of this phenomenon, Microdrones let one of their MD4-1000 quadrotors loose on safari in Kenya, and it set about capturing video like you've probably never seen before."

Jason and I tried this last week with a coyote in Concord, and we can verify that it was totally unafraid of a quadcopter.  We got as close as we dared, and he didn't budge.

This is my Arducopter, now customized with a Hobby King´s frame that i have painted in Orange and black...

The HK´s frame parts fits nicely, and the arducopter parts got in to the frame really easy, plenty of room for the ESCs in the arms, the motors fit in their places and the power distro board gets in to its place in a cool way :-)

The APM is mounted in some plastic spacer that came with the frame, in the pic you can see also my receiver installed with double sided tape, i still have to decide the GPS location......

The only thing i want to do better is the landing gear, seems to be a little weak....

Hope you like it.....