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My Ardupilot Project's Status.

Posted by Nick Sargeant on July 22, 2009 at 11:00am
G'day all.I thought I'd start contributing more to the community and the best way I could think of was to start a post that shows my current progress and relay any lessons I learn along the way.Right now I'm still getting everything together however, In future, I will add a build log and the results of flight testing (among other things).Hopefully this information helps some of you out there.Cheers,NickHere is my planned UAV/FPV setup:Airframe•EasyStar | Ordered•Turnigy 40A Speed Controller | Ordered•HXT 2835 2200kv Brushless Inrunner | Ordered•Prop | Ordered•2S Lipo | Ready•3S Lipo | ReadyRadio system•Futaba 9C | Ready•9CH Reciever | ReadyArdupilot•168 Board | Ready•328 Board | Ready•Ardushield | Ready•XYZ Sensors | Ready•Pitot tube | Ready•Servo Leads | Ready [More info using these cables soon]•FTDI Cable | Ready•Locosys 5Hz GPS | ReadyFPV/Video downlink•2.4GHz 500mW Lawmate TX | Ordered•2.4GHZ I.F. RX | Ordered•Remzibi OSD | Received•Video Goggles | Ready•Camera | In process of selectingGround Station•MSI Wind | Ready•Xbee Modems | On Hold•Xbee Breakout boards | On Hold•Tracking Antenna | In Development.Additional Components•Foundation HAM radio licence | Passed :D•FMA Cellpro 4S Charger | Ready•Canon A590IS running CHDK | Ready [More info on interfacing this with Ardupilot soon]•Turnigy BESC Programming Card | Ordered•Watt Meter | Ordered
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Easy Cub; Where to get?

Posted by Robert Drone on July 19, 2009 at 3:43pm
Is this plane:

103899d1240343472-esperienza-diretta-con-multiplex-easy-cub-img_0024_3.jpg

Link: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blog/show?id=705844:BlogPost:71763&page=1#comment-705844_Comment_72270[scroll down to Roberto's comment.]The same as this one?:

hbz7100.jpg

Link: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/beginners-super-cub-rtf_21697_prd1.htmOr this one with a different paint job?:

mpx4235.jpg

Link: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/multiplex-easy-cub_21721_prd1.htmI like the first one and think it would make a great airframe but I am confused as to where to find it; roberto calls it a "multiplex Easy Cub (1600mm wingspan)" but google turns up more than one different aircraft. Could someone please clarify for me?-thanks -rd .
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little help pls.!

Posted by shrdhar m b on July 19, 2009 at 5:11am
hi guys me along with my team have built a uav capable of lifting 16 lbs and can take off within 100 feet. Now the team wants make it automated, may be semi auto or compelet auto .i have got one gps receiver unit , its Garmin 15l but i dont know how to start wit it.the design team wants these parameters to be calculated:1.velocity2.altitude3.location4.differential pressure on wings (top and bottom of wing)and i personally want to fit a cam on it.But i dont know where to find these modules , how much it cost, etcand can my gps unit give altitude??pls help, u can also mail me at shridhar.mb@ projectvyoma.com
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Odd roll behavior with MatrixNav?

Posted by Kevin Reilly on July 17, 2009 at 4:21pm
Hi all, I'm new here. I'm trying to get an IMU based UAV up and running to do some research into higher level mission planning. I decided to go with William Premerlani's UAV DevBoard, but I'm having some problems with the MatrixNav firmware. I'm using a Parkzone Radian powered sailplane (3 ch, no ailerons).Right now I'm running without a GPS (it died in the last crash I think), but I mainly want to verify that pitch stabilization works with our airplane. So, the only modifications I've made were to turn on pitch stabilization in all modes (auto and RTL) and skip the GPS initialization.The problem I'm noticing has to do with pitch compensation during roll. My understanding is that a small amount of up elevator is required during turns in order to maintain altitude. When testing on the ground (just holding the airplane in my hand) I can pitch the plane up and down and the elevator moves correctly to compensate. When I roll the airplane to the left (to simulate a left turn) the elevator also compensates correctly by pitching up slightly to maintain altitude. However when I roll to the right, the elevator tries to pitch down, the exact opposite of what it should be doing. This actually caused two pretty bad crashes before I realized what the problem was, oh well.Has anyone else noticed or dealt with this behavior before? any ideas or suggestions would of course be very much appreciated. Thanks!
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One way to Restore a bricked xBee

Posted by DougB on July 17, 2009 at 9:30am
I was able to restore my bricked xBee by following these instructions. Hope this helps!!Using the sparkfun USB explorer board.1. Take the module out of the interface board.2. Connect the interface board to the computer.3. Open X-CTU make sure Baud Rate is set to 96004. Go to "Modem Configuration"5. Put a check in the "Always update firmware" box6. Select proper modem from drop down menu,7. Select proper function set and firmware versionfrom drop down menus.8. Click on the "Write" button. After a few seconds oftrying to read the modem, you will get an Info boxthat says Action Needed. At this point, CAREFULLYinsert the module into the interface board.9. You may get the info box again a short while after,just use the reset button on the interface board.This should get you back up and running.It may take more than one try to get it to work, but mine worked the first time.The original problem was that some how a glitch corrupped the xBee so it wouldn't respond to the "AT" commands.Let me know if this works for anyone else.Doug
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Video showing my problem

Posted by Patrick Mccabe on July 16, 2009 at 4:20pm
ok im having alot of problems.1. The UAV mode is not working2. Manual mode is not working3. so nothing is really workingI have successfully downloaded 2.1 code. And i have put one gps point in using the configuration tool. But if you watch the video you will see i have the right setup (i believe) but its not working.So please watch the video and see if you can help.Thank you.click here to see video on youtube
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Flight Tests With the EG 2.2

Posted by Bryan Cuervo on July 14, 2009 at 4:02am
I’ve started flight tests with the latest Ardupilot code and hardware and will post my findings in this blog post. Info on my plane and set up can be found HERE. I’ve found the EG 2.2 has similar flight characteristics to the original EasyGlider including the same “reverse roll” and “reverse pitch” settings in the code so these results should help anyone flying the stock glider.A few notes on what I have discovered so far---The throttle immediately kicks in when you switch to WP or RTL mode. There is no “safety” coded into the throttle command such as, no throttle activation below a given altitude or a given speed, so be prepared if you switch from manual mode at the flying field. Also, in the .h file under Throttle gains the throttle_max variable is defined twice. I’m not sure which is used by the code. There are also some corrections to the manual that I posted HERE that may help others in their set ups. Good Luck!

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3D Robotics

Robotic Glider Set To Break Autonomous Flight Records

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 12, 2009 at 5:07pm
From Slashdot: "Dan Edwards, a student at NC State University, is attempting to break two records by creating an autonomous glider. The project goal is a 142-mile cross country flight and a 25-mile flight (with return) without human intervention. The glider finds thermal updrafts and automatically circles them to gain altitude, much like birds and insects do. Recently, the glider flew in the desert for 4.5 hours, covering 70.5 miles by itself using only air currents to stay aloft. Since the NC State demonstration vehicle does not have a motor, this shows real promise for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that actually have a motor, with possibilities of extending flight duration considerably. Combine daytime soaring with a solar energy system to charge batteries for the night, such as the 84-hour flight by QinetiQ's Zephyr, and you might just get an answer to flying for months on end. With this kind of endurance, the eye in the sky that the city of Lancaster is considering might be even more practical."
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Developer

AttoPilot IR Sensors Now Available!

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on July 12, 2009 at 4:30pm
Attack! But please one unit per person! The demand is so high, be nice with others!To buy it click here please.[Copy/Paste Update]:Also note that FMA XY is $43, the Z sensor wasanother $25, and the cable wasn't included. So that was at least $75with cables. Also, we have to pay a royalty to FMA and don't buy partsat the same volume they do. Plus, of course, FMA doesn't make the Z atall anymore.You might also want to note that our sensors are less than thePaparazzi ones ($125:http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=13_5&products_id=66&osCsid=08841e8ba7cd41f6d279d30be5167e22)and the same price as AttoPilot. Or you can make your own, just buy the 6 thermophiles for about hundred dollars from Digikey (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=MLX90247ESF-DSA-ND). So basically these are tied for thecheapest full XYZ sensor solution in the world.However, if people want to wait for FMA to bring the XYs back instock, people can always buy two of them and use one as a Z sensor andsave a few dollars. (just ignore one wire).
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Next attempt

Posted by remzibi on July 12, 2009 at 4:00am
Programing Ardu with original USB is easy - modyfications and compiling of sources in Ardu IDE is also easy .First how to connect GPS from OSD to Ardupilot .We must made a small hardware modyfication - add diode to suplly Vcc to GPS module and that all .[img]http://rc-cam.info/files/dioda_213.jpg[/img]dioda_213.jpgNext thing is modyfication in software - so in easystar.h file we must modyfiy line for GPS configuration like that:[code]#define GPS_PROTOCOL 0 [/code]Then in GPS_NMEA file like on picture :[img]http://rc-cam.info/files/symul_comment_740.jpg[/img]symul_comment_740.jpgOn bottom we see information send by Ardupilot - all is working in simulation mode with OSD GPS emulator software using two OTi cables - one is playning GPS with GPS emulator from remzibiOSD PC programand another port is monitoring TX line of Ardupilot .[img]http://rc-cam.info/files/s6301095s_117.jpg[/img]s6301095s_117.jpgAlso GPS is working as well with Ardupilot :[img]http://rc-cam.info/files/s6301098s_212.jpg[/img]s6301098s_212.jpgAs on simulation picture there are ATL problem - all time is 0 so I must to look closer why , maybe this is Ardupilot normal work .So in future - instead of monitoring cable will be pilot's TX to OSD's RX one connection to get Ardupilot data .Ok first practical try is done :) - all works fine , for next I will made some debug printing from Ardupilot and will start practical Ardupilot-OSD cooperation .Lastly - the main problem I have is a very short time I can spend for this nice playing with all this nice toys :) .
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