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TrIMUpter: Full stabilisation and GPS position hold with an ArduIMU+ v2

Posted by Jean-Louis Naudin on November 10, 2010 at 10:50am

TrIMUpter - GPS Position hold test with ArduIMU + GPS EM406 on Vimeo.

Hello, I have successfully tested the GPS position hold with my TrIMUpter (a VTOL tricopter).

The full stabilisation process is simply done with:
- an ArduIMU+ V2 flat,
- a triple axis magnetometer (HMC5843),
- a GPS EM406,
so this is a very cheap setup.

Below a photo of the setup used:

The TrIMUpter is stabilised by the firmware TriStab v2.1

Some features of the firmware v2.1:

- Full stabilisation process required for a multicopter,
- GPS position hold, tested with the GPS EM406, and compatible with Ublox, NMEA, and Mediatek MTK ,
- a true Heading Lock for the yaw with 2 modes: inertial heading lock or magnetic heading lock,
- self-calibration of the IMU sensors,
- self-test at the startup for valid datas from the HMC5843 triple axis magnetometer,
- the switch from the "stabilisation mode" to "the GPS position hold" is done with switch linked to the ch5,
- the Roll/Pitch PID gains can be easily tuned via the transmitter knob linked to the ch6,
- the main servo mixer is placed in one function "call_servomix()" and can be easily modified for multicopters
and also helicopters...

The firmware TriStab v2.1 can be downloaded here.

Have fun and happy dev,
Jean-Louis

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Moderator

FOXTEAM present TEL Mega Tricopter First Flight

Posted by Roberto Navoni on November 9, 2010 at 3:30pm


This is the last invention of FoxTeam Member : Stefano and Perry working on this great project.
See the video of first flight.
  • Using 3 standar PPM BL-CTR 100 AMP
  • 3 Electric Motors of 70 AMP
  • 1 10 Kg Servo.
  • A custom aluminium frame.
  • A custom electronic ... we're working on special version of MultiBoard with standard PPM Output and Trifox (Arducopter MP) firmware with acro and stable mode available. First fly are doing using arduino and multiwii firmware
  • Payload until 10 kg in order to fly :)
  • 3 16x10 Propeller
TEL join HG3 and FOX Hybrid FOXTEAM Special project.
Original blog post : http://www.virtualrobotix.com/profiles/blogs/tel-mega-tricopter
Regards
Roberto
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3D Robotics

New all-in-one gyro/accel/mag chip from Invensense

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 9, 2010 at 10:00am

"The MPU-6000 is the world’s first integrated 6-axis motion processor that eliminates gyro/accel cross-axis misalignment and offers dramatic package size reduction compared with multi-chip solutions. The MPU-6000 has an embedded 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, and Digital Motion Processor™ (DMP™) hardware accelerator engine with a secondary I2C port that interfaces to third party accelerometer, compass, or other sensors to deliver a complete 9-axis sensor fusion output to its primary I2C port as a single data stream for the application.

The InvenSense Motion Processing Library abstracts motion-based complexities, offloads sensor management from the operating system and provides a structured set of APIs for application development.

For precision tracking of both fast and slow motions, the part features a user-programmable gyro full-scale range of ±250, ±500, ±1000, and ±2000°/sec (dps) and a user-programmable accelerometer full-scale range of ±2g, ±4g, ±8g, and ±16g. Communication of the device is performed using either I2C at up to 400kHz or SPI at up to 20MHz."

I'm not sure about the pricing, but given that it's targeted at game controllers and tablets, it should be pretty cheap.

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Hydrogen fuel for Long endurance UAVs

Posted by iangl on November 9, 2010 at 9:00am
3689378041?profile=original
They did it. AEROPAK is a UAV specific powering solution. It runs just on water (hydrogen fuel) and delivers lots and lots of electricity.

http://www.hes.sg/

This product has unbeliavable charateristics compared to our primitive battery packs, allowing looong flight times. I discovered it today, and am waiting for a quote from Horizon Energy Systems. They also sell a complete hydrogen power ssolution for RC cars.

New horizons for us! Enjoy
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3D Robotics

DIY Drones on the All Things That Fly podcast

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 8, 2010 at 4:16pm


All Things That Fly is by far the best RC podcast, a weekly romp of news, information and entertaining banter on the RC world, by a cast of charismatic hobbyists. It's the highlight of my commutes and a must-subscribe from anyone into RC.


This week Jamie was kind enough to invite me on to talk about DIY Drones and the launch of the ArduCopter project. Listen here and subscribe via RSS here.

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IMAV competition lending out Parrot AR Drones

Posted by microuav on November 8, 2010 at 11:30am
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For the first time in the history of the IMAV events, teams can apply for borrowing an MAV platform for use in the competitions. The IMAV 2011 Summer edition is sponsored by Parrot, the producer of the Parrot AR Drones. Parrot has made it possible for the IMAV organization to lend drones to teams that wish to focus on the artificial intelligence / software part of the competitions.



The procedure for applying for borrowing a Parrot AR Drone:

1. Write a short plan for the competition(s) in which your team wants to participate. Send it to: microuav -at- gmail.com
2. The IMAV 2011 organization evaluates the incoming proposals and notifies the team whether it can borrow a Parrot AR Drone.
3. Register the team and its members for the competition(s) and the conference.
4. After payment of at least two team members, and acceptance of the conditions for borrowing the platform, the Parrot AR Drone will be sent. As a preliminary indication for the conference registration costs, a student pays only 150 Euro for the entire conference / competition, including conference dinner ticket.

Please note that the NUMBER OF DRONES IS LIMITED, and we will assign them on a first-come first-serve basis, if the quality of the proposals is sufficiently high.

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3D Robotics

Great speech on the origins of Sparkfun and the growth of the new DIY electronics movement

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 8, 2010 at 10:42am

Sparkfun founder Nathan Siedle gave a great speech at Google the other day about history of the company and the new DIY electronics movement that they (and we) are part of. The full text and slides are here, but here's just one brief excerpt:


"We were talking over lunch one day, and he says “You know what? SparkFun is like Home Depot.” You go to Home Depot, and you walk down the store and there's wood and there's screws and there's plaster there. But you don't expect to see a bathroom on the shelf that you can just pick up and put in your cart, right? They may have demos. They may have different things showing you how you could redo your bathroom, but they don't sell you the bathroom. That's how it works at SparkFun. We don't sell you a cell phone. We don't sell you a laser pointer. We show you the bits and pieces that you could string together to build something interesting, and we educate you how to do it. And we encourage people to do it themselves."

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New Pandora's box of 'personal' drones

Posted by DougB on November 8, 2010 at 10:02am



They could put your mind at ease - or do very much the opposite.

A new arms race is on and it could change everything from the way we parent to how we get our celebrity gossip.

For the technology currently being used by the CIA to ferret out terroristleaders in the hills of Pakistan is set to arrive in a neighbourhoodnear you - and there's nowhere to hide.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1327343/Personal-recreation-drones-developed.html#ixzz14iP4bR6C


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3D Robotics

APM software roadmap update

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 8, 2010 at 9:30am

Here's an update on the ArduPilotMeta software roadmap:


  • The current public (zip file) code is the ArduPilotMega 1.0 Beta. We update that every week or two with the latest bug fixes (the version that went up last night fixes a bug with centripetal acceleration handling. If you're using the 1.0 beta you should update it with this latest version). You can see if you have the latest code by looking at the upload date. This is a fully functional autopilot and many people are flying it now, but it is a beta so we're very keen to get flight and bug reports so we can improve it. As always, file bug reports in the Issue Tracker, not as comments here.
  • The next release will be APM 1.0 (not beta), which should be out in about a month. This will be integrated with a new Ground Station (GCS) that can handle in-flight uploading of mission command and PID gains, rather than just using the standard ArduPilot GCS in legacy mode is we do currently. It will also fully support the very cool Debug Terminal, which can give you very detailed data and control over APM functions in flight. You can watch our progress on this version in the SVN trunk, but we recommend that you do NOT try to run or fly this code; it changes every day and is often untested. We cannot offer support for this code or answer questions, simply because it's unfinished and if we have to explain our work in progress all the time we won't be able to finish it!
  • Planning work on the APM 2.0 code is underway. Goals include adaptive control (so you won't have to manually set PID gains), better AI, more camera control including automatic location tracking, and easier setup processes, including an installation file that can allow people to use APM without ever having to see code or touch the Arduino IDE if they don't want to. We're looking at spring 2011 for a public beta.
  • Meanwhile, the ArduCopter quadcopter and helicopter branches of the project are making rapid progress. The quad team, which already has a very smooth flying public beta, should be adding GPS position hold in the next week, and waypoints and GCS support shortly thereafter. The heli team (which is using the Trex 450 platform) has achieved good flying performance and should be releasing public code this month, too.


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ArduOktoKopter Flies

Posted by Peter Seddon on November 8, 2010 at 9:00am
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I have just tried my Oktokopter on its second flight (despite the wind and light rain that made it a very short flight) and it seems flyable. When the weather calms down I will give it a longer flight and try and shoot some video.

Here are some brief details:
KDA20-22L motors, Turnigy 30A ESC's converted to I2C, APC 10 x 4.7 props, UBEC, GWS RX8 receiver, 10mm sq aluminium frame with pcb central hub and mounting plates

RC1 code modified to add I2C motor control and mixertable for controlling 8motors. ArduOktoKopter.zip


Peter
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HappyKillmore's GCS Alpha Release is ready

Posted by Paul Mather on November 7, 2010 at 11:30pm
LotsOfWaypoints.gif
FirstPerson.gif
ChaseCam.gif


I guess I'll call it an Aplha release. I'm not done with the installer yet. The system requirements are .NET 2.0 framework, Google Earth (and maybe the plugin) and DirectX must be installed.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en
http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en
http://www.google.com/earth/explore/products/plugin.html

Download the GCS

I would STRONGLY recommend NOT trying this in the field with a live plane! This program is for TESTING ONLY at this point.

To use the program, select your COM port with your GPS or AP connected through FTDI or USB to serial. Select your baud rate. Click Connect. You can try the Search COM button which will cycle through all your available COM ports at different baud rates looking for your data stream. The Search Baud button will only search on the selected COM port for your data stream at different baud rates.

Once connected, if it's an AP unit, the waypoints and home location should be set automatically. If you're not using AP then you can build a mission file using the AP config tool and copy the .TXT file into the missions folder that gets created in the root directory with the GCS executable. Don't worry, this process will be easier in the future.

On the settings tab, you can select different options for your instruments and Google Earth Settings. The cockpit view isn't working yet.

Chances are excellent that nothing will work with APM since I have done absolutely zero testing with APM.

This release also includes NO error trapping and it will fail if you start collecting serial data before the Google Earth window is loaded....

Let me know how things go....

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Moderator

First Acro Test with Arducopter MP Quadfox V3

Posted by Roberto Navoni on November 7, 2010 at 3:00pm

European FoxTeam are doing the first test of Quadfox in Acro mode. We're doing some looping. The Quad Pilot is Giuseppe D'Angelo FoxTeam member the Father of HG3 .

In the video He explain how is possible to do looping with QuadFox v3 . At the end of looping for stabilize Quad he use switch to put quad in stable mode.

Happy vision

For more info check our blog at : http://www.virtualrobotix.com

Pre Flight Check Stable mode control vs Acro mode ... in stable mode with standard configuration is not possible to flip the quad.

Regards

Roberto Navoni (Redfox74)

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Moderator

Why you should probably join the AUVSI if you are in the USA (or anywhere else)

Posted by Gary Mortimer on November 7, 2010 at 2:00am

footer_logo.gif


I will probably get a wrap over the knuckles for posting the AUVSI response to Mr Babbitt of the FAA's comments at a recent Washington, DC chapter event of RAeS.


I think they did a pretty bang up job with that.

Comments at sUAS News have to be filtered because they can get really quite horrid, so perhaps the debate should happen here in the safe environment of a Ning ;-)

Looks like the AMA, just like the BMFA in UK does not want anything to do with UAS, luckily for me and the same for those in South Africa our aviation authorities are a little more sensible than the FAA and have let us start. Similar in Canada, Australia, Norway umm thats all I can think of right now.

Joining AUVSI might just be a better thing to do and have them help fight the corner for UAS use in the USA. They already have the ear of the FAA and industry, support from DIYD might help. Also don't forget the other organisation if photography is your thing, RCAPA

I have not passed this one by Chris, I expect he has some thoughts on the subject.

But if you like over there you can keep on tutting and muttering and claiming you can do what you want. The rest of us will be busy making your safety case data in the real world for you. ;-)

Please lets try and be sensible here, otherwise I will just delete the thread. I realise this will light the touchpaper somewhat.
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Developer

Camera Control and OSD for UAV Projects

Posted by Sandro Benigno on November 6, 2010 at 1:30pm
Hello guys!
Here goes a video showing the Camera Control working:

I'm using Canon SDK definitions (PS-ReCSDK 1.1.0e) and PTP protocol though Arduino USB Host Shield.
Thank you Oleg Mazurov, for helping me to understand the PTP dump through your awesome shield and pointing me the way to go. ;)

The project includes integration with RC/APM and OSD (for telemetry and Camera feedback by using Max7456).



By now we have simple serial commands to:

  • Capture mode control (lenses show/hide);
  • Continuous session - only limited from battery (without shutdown by time or so);
  • Focus Lock/Unlock;
  • Focus mode (center point, average);
  • Zooming control;
  • Shooting;
  • ViewFinder output through the ntsc video output <--- I was fighting with it... but now it's 100% OK (Next step:
    OSD).
  • Total abortion (close session on camera hardware and shutdown).
Cheers!

Sandro Benigno.
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T3

Motorway aerial mapping Pteryx UAV long range

Posted by Krzysztof Bosak on November 6, 2010 at 3:11am
Hi everybody. A mission report follows... This one is 3 months old.

Motorway aerial mapping Pteryx UAV long range from Krzysztof Bosak on Vimeo.


Aerial mapping with Pteryx UAV
motorway construction site length 20km
(40km round trip)

A short report of a custom mission flown by Pteryx UAV.
Normally you are expected to use pre-programmed missions flying over a square area using rotary mission selector mounted on the fuselage.

This time we demonstrate a case when the client has supplied a list of 200 fixed coordinates. Around 30 of them were used for defining round-trip route hoping to map the motorway construction site in Poland.

We have used a light compact camera and unusual payload of batteries that allowed more than 1.5h of autonomy (it could have been more but was estimated to be already an overkill). We have used only 50minutes of endurance in presence of 20km/h head-wind which is close to practical limit for photomappping.
This was 'flying for business' and everything was set-up in such a way we can repeat such kind of mission many times.

The takeoff and landing was in manual RC mode because we wanted to have a nice landing video, there was 2min of manual control during the whole flight.

As a recovery a parachute landing is possible, plus the system is designed as having multiple failsafe conditions.

We were lucky to find a parallel road so we were able to maintain visual contact during the flight, which otherwise was 40% over forests, 50% over fields mixed with trees and 10% over public roads.

Flight altitude 200m above (varying) terrain level.
Air traffic control was aware of our activity.

pteryx.eu
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HappyKillmore's Ground Control Station Status Update

Posted by Paul Mather on November 5, 2010 at 11:30pm
GoogleEarth.gif
LiveVideo.gif
I've made some progress on my GCS project. I'm getting close to a releasable version. Google Earth is working now. I still need to read the mission data when the AP or APM starts sending so I can create the waypoints. Live Video (EasyCAP with Remzibi OSD connected for testing) is working but I need to add a few things so users can configure their input device. The 3D models are working great.
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