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3D Robotics

Arduino in the Wall Street Journal

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 26, 2009 at 10:13pm
Cool WSJ coverage of our chosen platform, which has won the open source hardware stakes so far. Excerpt: "The Arduino represents an early entrant in the emerging open-source hardware movement, which like Linux and other open-source software projects is driven by the belief that allowing duplication is a better way to spur innovation than keeping designs under lock and key. Its success suggests that the open-source model could provide a new way for manufacturers to develop and improve upon products. The main producer of the Arduino is Smart Projects Snc, based in the tiny town of Scarmagno, Italy. This year, the two-person firm is on track to sell at least 60,000 of the microcontrollers, which retail for at least $30 a piece, up from 34,000 last year. Owner Gianluca Martino, an electrical engineer, has had to contract out much of the production to keep up with growth."
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3D Robotics

New Arduino GPS shields from Sparkfun and Adafruit

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 26, 2009 at 3:00pm
A couple new GPS shields for Arduino have just come on the market. The first is the Sparkfun GPS shield. It's a basic shield, which allows other shields to be stacked on it. No code is provided, although you can use ArduPilot code for our GPS parser. It comes with an EM406 connector, so you can use either the EM406 or the uBlox5 with our adapter. $16.95 The second is a new version (1.1) of the AdaFruit GPS shield with SD-card logger. This one improves on the original version with a better level shifter for the SD card, which should make it comptible with more cards. It's highly recommended that you use this with a Atmega328-based Arduino, rather that the Atmega168, since the limited memory in the Atmega168 makes it difficult to add any code but the most basic GPS logging. With the Atmega328, you can simultaneously log other data, such as other sensors. Also designed for the EM406 or the uBlox with our adapter. $19.95
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3D Robotics

Open Hardware Camp in London on Dec 4

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 26, 2009 at 6:34am
ArduPilot and Paparazzi folks in the UK may be interested in attending this Open Hardware Camp. From Adafruit: "OpenBusiness is planning for 40Fires in partnership with Nesta a conference on Open Hardware on the 4th of December. The conference is an opportunity to edcuate engineers, tinkerers and designers alike on Open Hardware, a growing frontier in the field of innovation. It is also a platform for experts of Open Hardware to exchange ideas and solutions to further improve upon the workings of Open Hardware. Open Hardware works under the same framework as Open Source Software. The design is open the the public, where a virtual community of contributors could modify or build upon the existing design. Some existing projects will be showcased throughout the conference to give a basic gist of how Open Hardware functions. "
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3D Robotics

Reminder: last few days to enter the T3-3 contest

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 26, 2009 at 6:30am
The deadline for the current T3 contest (break the Stanford UAV altitude record) is Sunday the 30th, and there's no better way to use your Thanksgiving days off (if you're in the US) than to enter. We already have a number of people who have broken the record (including, just today, Mark Griffin) and they'll all get prizes, with the top prize going to the highest altitude. Going forward, the T3 contests will be six weeks, not four, to allow for vagaries of weather and people's available flying time.
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Finally first working OSD firmware dedicated to Ardupilot

Posted by remzibi on November 25, 2009 at 3:54pm
OKThe first working firmware for OSD to display raw data from Ardupilot seems to work now .This firmware should also work with ArduIMU - but I had no chance to check it - I have not arduIMU - I hope Paul will do this .The main problem for me - is that I do not understand well how actually ardupilot works .At summer Jordi tryed to made me an expalanations but i lose all that emails :( , hard to say but I have not enought information about ardupilot and his way of work (lastly I had no time as the main reason of my incompetence) .What are exactly all this data means ? :!!!LAT:50017380,LON:20002444,SPD:19.00,CRT:0.00,AL T:0,ALH:0,CRS:8.00,BER:185,WPN:0,DST:1933,BTV:12.45,***+++ASP:0,THH:85,RLL:60,PCH:-60,***+++ASP:0,THH:85,RLL:60,PCH:-60,***+++ASP:0,THH:85,RLL:60,PCH:-60,***+++ASP:0,THH:85,RLL:60,PCH:-60,***+++ASP:0,THH:85,RLL:60,PCH:-60,***and when ardupilot is ready to fly - how it save his home position ? I need this for display - also can be nice one more info about SAT quantity .As any of you gentelmens , know how the ardu works and what represent all this data for - please let me explain (exept DST, ALT, SPD PTH RLL) - that I suppose to already know .here is the screen shot :uvs091125_001_169.gifSome more immpressions can be read and firmware can be dowloaded here - http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13667448&postcount=294
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Developer

How to remove the High Pass Filter from your ArduIMU and Razor boards.

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on November 25, 2009 at 3:30pm
Some details you must remember:-Your solder skills must be advance or medium-advance to attempt this.-If you try to do it with your razor remember that you will void your warranty with SparkFun.-The same with ArduIMU, if you can't do it i will for you (free of charge).-Not all the ArduIMU's flats have high pass filters, please double check. Check if the HP resistors are already gone.To remove the capacitors and the resistors is pretty easy. First try to set the highest temp possible in your iron, then just apply heat in any of the side of the capacitor/resistors, the heat will spread in both ends melting the soldering in both sides, then just push it carefully. Try not to apply to much pressure or you may blow away the pad. I recommend to practice with the resistors first (the black ones), because if you blow away the pad it really doesn't matter (are not needed anyway), then try later with the capacitors (the brown ones), very, very carefully.Now you must make a bridge in the capacitor pads. There's many ways to it, use any wire or piece of metal to make the bridge and apply soldering to keep it there. I used breadboard cable.The next hi-res pictures indicates which components you must remove, the red arrows are the resistors and the yellow/green arrows are the capacitors. Good luck!

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High tech bird watching: small is beautiful

Posted by Reto on November 25, 2009 at 1:38pm
Hey, for those interested in miniaturization, tech and flying things, here's the smallest complete long term GPS logger I've found around and developed for tracking peregrinations of living birds:1.5 grams and 30x13.5x5mm in dimension, including: GPS, antenna, 512KByte Memory for 25,000 x 20 bytes locations, no microprocessor, battery + solar cell. No photo is yet available.It can be implemented on a living bird as light as 30 grams (the logger shouldn't exceed 5% body weight).It is developed and produced by T-Sheperd Solutions and will be available soon.Maybe of use for folks developing a nanoUAV?
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3D Robotics

Location-aware, swattable helibot

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 25, 2009 at 12:06pm
Carnegie Mellon's SensorFly inlcudes a full IMU and an ultrasonic sensor in just 29 grams. Designed for interior autonomy and swarming. Impressive! "The SensorFly is a novel low-cost controlled-mobile aerial sensor networking platform. A flock of these 29g autonomous helicopter nodes with communication, ranging and collaborative path determination capabilities, can be extremely useful in sensing survivors after disasters or adversaries in urban combat scenarios." (From Makezine)
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3D Robotics

Obama's new science education initiative features Blimpduino!

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 24, 2009 at 11:30pm

Yesterday, President Obama announced an “Educate to Innovate” campaign, including “National Lab Day” in the US. First among the projects they recommend for aspiring young engineers and scientists is Blimpduino! From the release: "President Obama has launched an “Educate to Innovate” campaign to improve the participation and performance of America’s students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This campaign will include efforts not only from the Federal Government but also from leading companies, foundations, non-profits, and science and engineering societies to work with young people across America to excel in science and math. As part of the campaign, this Administration hopes to do a series of events, announcements and other activities that build upon the President’s “call to action” and address the key components of national priority. " Here is the transcript of the President's remarks.
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Steve Morris of MLB (spyplanes.com) joins us on this week's podcast (VTOL UAVs and more)

Posted by Tim Trueman on November 24, 2009 at 12:49am
iTunes linksAAC: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=330632997MP3: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=330633212RSS feedAAC: http://feeds.feedburner.com/diydronesMP3: http://feeds.feedburner.com/diydronesmp3Steve Morris of MLB joins us to talk about his VTOL UAV, ITAR export regulations and the nuisances of being in the UAV business.Check out the awesome videos of his VTOL UAV on http://www.spyplanes.com/.In ten episodes we've surpassed 100GB of downloads and had a total of 223 people tune in live at some point during this last episode (with about 80 people at one time)! Incredible...
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Moderator

Anybody able to guess what this is??

Posted by Gary Mortimer on November 22, 2009 at 9:47pm

I can't tell you exactly where it is, but I can tell you there are only 75 in South Africa and we managed to fly bang over the top of it at first attempt yesterday.There is a good reason for only posting a low res image as well.All in all a very exciting use for sUAS in Africa and exactly what we set out to do. There will be stacks of environmental uses for sUAS
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Potential to capture and broadcast FPV video through phone

Posted by Colby sts on November 22, 2009 at 8:30pm
My friend and I just set up our Easy Star following Chris's recommendations (brushless, ESC, and lipo). We wanted a cheap way to grab some FPV footage to show to our friends and family. We decided to cut a hole in our Easy Star fuselage cover to mount my Blackberry Curve so we could use it as a video camera. I bought a 2 Gigabyte SD card from Rite Aid for $19.99 and we we're set to go. Although the video quality is rather poor we think the smartphone serves as a cool platform to broadcast FPV in real time through its data channel. The mobile app Ustream could help us and others broadcast live video streams to the internet. Now I just have to convince my friend to mount his iphone 3GS onboard and we'll get some better quality!This flight below was filmed with the Blackberry. We were flying RC but will be integrating attopilot into our easy star as soon as it arrives.UPDATE: The new Motorola Droid phone has the capability of broadcasting 720 X 480 video live through Qik. See an example video here.

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3D Robotics

RobotC Version 2.0 now out

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 22, 2009 at 12:17pm
For those of you who, like me, love Lego Mindstorms as a robotics prototyping tools, good news. The best programming language for Mindstorms is Robot C, and it's just been upgraded to 2.0. (It's a free upload for registered users of the previous versions). New features include: * Tabbed Programming Interface – Multiple programs can be open at a single time. * New Hardware Support – Support for PITSCO’s TETRIX Programming Language * New Competition Support – ROBOTC is an approved programming language for the FIRST Tech Challenge competition. * “Live Start Page” – Feature allows users to keep in touch with the latest news and updated from the ROBOTC community. * More Sample Programs – Over 150 new and updates samples programs now included with ROBOTC * Updated User Interface – Updated and modernized ROBOTC’s user interface, with floating and dockable debugger windows. * Improved Debugger – ROBOTC’s debugger can now control motors and servo individually, as well as provide easy-to-use debugging information for users. * NXT Remote Control – NXT users can now send joystick data from their PC to their robots using a Logitech USB game controller. * Improved Help System – Now includes sample usage of functions, as well as references to sample programs. * Upgraded Motor and Sensor Setup Wizard– Easier to configure different types of sensors and motor features, such as PID and encoders. Includes easy configuration for TETRIX controllers as well.
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3D Robotics

In AUVSI mag: "Do Terrorists Want UAS, Too?"

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 21, 2009 at 11:30pm

There's a provocative piece in the current issue of the AUVSI's offical magazine, Umanned Systems. It asks how likely it it is that terrorists will use UAVs, which is as you might imagine is a question that comes up quite often for those of us in the open source UAV world, where we don't restrict who uses our technology. The article notes that UAVs are not the best choice for terrorists delivering explosives, given their complexity and relatively low carrying capacity, but does raise the issue of UAV-distributed chemical and biological weapons. It quotes Vann Van Diepen, then the Department of Defense's acting deputy secretary for nonproliferation, warning in 2002 that UAVs "are a potential delivery system for weapons of mass destruction and indeed and ideally suited for the delivery of chemical and biological weapons, given UAV's ability to disseminate aerosols in the right place at the right altitudes." But others quoted in the article are less concerned. Wayne Morse, president of American Dynamic Flight Systems, a UAV maker, said it's unlikely that terrorists would choose UAVs. "It doesn't make sense. UAVs are very complex and terrorists want to terrorise. How can you best do that that? If you have people willing to kill themselves, that's what terrorizes. So why aim UAVS at the Super Bowl when you can have somebody walk up and self-detonate before they go through stadium security and cause mass panic?" Renting a Cessna would allow a terrorist to carry a much larger load, much more simply, Morse said. The article is available as a pdf to AUVSI members. BTW, joining AUVSI costs just $50 a year for individuals, and comes with a free Unmanned Systems subscription. Highly recommended!
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3D Robotics

DIY Drones live chat/podcast Sunday. Guest: Steve Morris of MLB

Posted by Chris Anderson on November 21, 2009 at 6:30pm
Free video streaming by Ustream Tomorrow (Sunday) night we'll do our regular podcast, which everyone here is welcome to participate in by listening to the chat live above and commenting and asking questions via the DIY Drones chat function. We'll be starting an hour early, at 8:00 PM PST, so I can catch yet another redeye to the East Coast :-( This week we'll by joined by Steve Morris, CEO of MLB, a long-time UAV leader. MLB is a pioneer in small (well, big to us, but small compared to a Predator), inexpensive UAVs, such as the BAT 4 (below) and V-BAT (right) platforms. Other themes in the podcast will include: --Obama highlight Blimpduino! --Getting ready for the next Sparkfun autonomous vehicle competition --The latest on the DIY Drones dev team progress --Favorite blogs posts of the week --And whatever other cool stuff comes up!
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FLYING REALLY HIGH & MORE DISHES

Posted by Jack Crossfire on November 20, 2009 at 2:00pm
FLYING REALLY HIGHFor the first time since Mike Fouche documented it on Goo Tube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6j--ja_okgAn autonomous copter has flown at a certain very high altitude in a certain country. The exact altitude & country is a secret to protect the innocent of course. It was also at midnight, like all our most extreme test flights.Since the radio seems to work better if the antenna isn't blocked by anything including foam, moved the radio farther down the tail rotor to test higher visibility. Eventually want a spring loaded boom which swings the radio under the fuselage.

With that arrangement, the radio is real good for our cruising altitude of 400ft AGL. For fixed heading at higher altitudes, it's probably not much worse than 400ft but U have to be like a spaceship & keep it fixed so the antenna is always visible & perpendicular to U.For pirouetting, it gets dicy & U have to fidget with the ground station to keep it alive.

Forget about manual control. If something malfunctions, U can disable autopilot, descend real fast, & hope the rate damping keeps it level long enough to get within visual range, but you're probably killing the engine & dropping it. Definitely need a large safe landing zone.Not much flight time at altitude with the current landing program. Landing voltage with 100A batteries is 10.7 instead of 10.6 & most of your flight is spent descending. Can't take over manually for 2/3 of that descent so you're definitely focused on battery voltage. Need a 3rd velocity teir for landing.

Theoretically 1 of the points of light in this 204 frame stack is Major Marcy's satellite control network seen from the apartment. M.M. also works in this secret unknown country that allows high altitude flights.Speaking of M.M., got some more dish shots.MORE DISHES

Very risky shots. Crash behind the impenetrable barb wire fence & you'll have to approach someone in the Air Force to recover the vehicle. We all know what happened the last time we approached someone in the Air Force.

It's the Air Force Satellite Control Network, directly controlled by last week's dish farm. This dish farm is near the apartment. Who knew Rain Ramon & Sunnyvale were linked through space & time all these years by the Air Force.

Finally a montage of those flights.FREE RTK GPS BUSTEDhttp://gpspp.sakura.ne.jp/rtklib/rtklib_beagleboard.htm2 good 2 B true. No consumer GPS module outputs the raw navigation data required. The modules he used R either no longer sold or in the $300 range. He must have thought every $100 uBlox4 & uBlox5 did it but they really don't.
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