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3D Robotics

Poll: how important is a 5HZ GPS to you?

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 29, 2008 at 8:30am
I mentioned in a previous post that we plan to make ArduPilot compatible with both 1Hz and 5Hz GPS modules. The problem is that the 1Hz EM406 that we're currently using is a 5v device and all the 5Hz devices we're looking at are 3.3v. So to be compatible with both, we'll have to put a power regulator on the board (right now it just uses the RC receiver as its power supply), and that will delay us another month for board fabrication and testing. So my question is: how important is 5Hz to you? Plenty of other autopilots, such as the Picipilot, get along fine with 1Hz, and it seems it really only determines how tight your patterns are. ArduPilot Pro will come with a 5Hz GPS built in, but I'm tempted to leave ArduPilot as it is with the EM406, and keep it true to its basic roots for the first version, at least, for the sake of getting it out there sooner rather than later. What do you think?
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3D Robotics

SpaceX countdown on now!

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 28, 2008 at 1:30pm
This has nothing to do with UAVs, but it's cool all the same. SpaceX, the Elon Musk company that aims to be the first private effort to make it to orbit, is scheduled to launch their fourth attempt this afternoon, sometime after 4:00 PST. All details and live webcast as soon as they start the countdown here. [UPDATE: it's on. Webcast here.] [UPDATE 2: THEY DID IT! Huge congrats to the SpaceX team!]
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3D Robotics

Declocking the new ArduPilot boards

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 28, 2008 at 12:30pm
Nothing every works exactly the way you'd hoped. We're testing the new ArduPilot boards and it's looks like we'll need to tweak a few more things. One stems from our decision to run the CPU at its top speed, 20Mhz. That's the best way to get maximum performance (it gives us 20 MIPS), but it introduces some incompatibility with the standard Arduino bootloader and libraries, which for legacy reasons run at 16Mhz or 8Mhz. The usual solution is to recompile the bootloader for 20Mhz and ship the boards with that already loaded (and tweak the way we use clock-dependent libraries), but because this is an open source project that we expect people to modify, this would force DIYers to jump through some pretty gnarly hoops if they want to use libraries affected by clock speed. We could do it anyway and just advise people on what to watch out for, but I worry that it's not user friendly enough (to say nothing of the support and documentation nightmare). So we're thinking about switching the resonator on the board to 16Mhz to make it 100% Arduino compatible. That's a 20% decrease in computational power, but our code is pretty efficient and will still run fine. Still, it's slightly painful to declock your board, and I suspect that we'll be switching back to 20Mhz as soon as Arduino supports that natively. (Needless to say, we'll continue to advance ArduPilot at the pace of Arduino overall, which means switching to a 32-bit processor as soon as that''s supported. Arduino is very much designed to evolve with computer technology, so by hooking our wagon to that horse, we're hoping to future-proof ArduPilot.)
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3D Robotics

Final production ArduPilot boards are in

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 27, 2008 at 12:00am

So cool: the final production ArduPilot boards are in--they're really tiny! We just have to burn the bootloader and upload the ArduPilot code to check all the components. Assuming everything works, we'll just give our production partner the green light and three weeks later I can send you to the page with the "buy now" button! Here's what it looks like with GPS module and pigtails to the RC receiver. (We'll be offering a choice of 1HZ or 5HZ GPS modules.)

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Developer

Totally new antifail system code (uses interrupts and timers, OMG! )

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on September 26, 2008 at 12:30pm
Well better read the source code and enjoy, please try to customize the code to your own system.You need an attiny85 and is programmed with AVR studio (don't forget to desactivate the CLOCK DIVIDED BY 8) it uses the internal crystal, you need also a mux like 74ls157, or either you can use the output pin to read it with you microcontroller in case you are decoding and pulsing the servo with the same system..News: i have internet at home again. (living in the mean time in Swiss).New record: this is the first program i made that runs at the first time i compile it. =)Note: This code will be used in the ardupilot PRO and the arduMUX v2, and maybe the arducopter v2 (coming soon).This code is very well tested... BUT NO WARRANTY'S..CODE Click over there:antifail_antiny.c
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UK FPV Legality

Posted by simonl on September 24, 2008 at 7:59am
Just been reading the latest BMFA News (British Model Flying Association); they've got a small article about European UAS Seminar 2008 they presented at - essentially they're saying that the UAS guys needs to get their act together! Apparently they're unhappy that the UAS community don't have an umberella organisations, and don't appear to be taking safety seriously...The other article that caught my eye was entitled "First Person R/C". It summarises their safety concerns, and lists the following requirements if an FPV flight is to be legal and insurable under BMFA insurance:1. The activity is solely for "sport and recreation" purposes;2. Two pilots must take part;3. A buddy box system must be employed;4. The pilot in charge must operate the master transmitter;5. The pilot in charge must not wear the headset or view the screen;6. The aircraft remains within the natural unaided visual range of the pilot in charge;7. Reliable operation of the buddy box is established;8. A clear handover protocol is established;9. The pilot in charge is solely responsible for the safety of the flight (i.e. they take the legal responsibility.).Seems mostly reasonable to me, but requirement 6 appears to prejudice those wearing spectacles! I'm assuming that's not what is intended, but it's a clause that an insurance company might decide to use to squirm out of their responsibilities in the event of a hefty claim...How do these rules compare with those for other countries?
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I'm back!

Posted by Genesis Factor on September 24, 2008 at 3:00am
Woot offs are great! I am hoping to buy a recorder like the one i posted for sale the other day :)Okay...here we go...We're no longer loading down that poor little predator. Infact, it's role has be relegated to a training machine versus the final project. The main board has changed to something else, lower powered, but, still fun. No programming will be changed, and the basic idea of a network based remote controlled UAV will still be in that plane. The full project isn't dead, it's just been moved to staged development system. Why? Because better things are on the horizon...plus this path makes sure that everything that i have done and have bought thus far wasn't a waste.Changes:New Board.New OSNew Programming OptionsOther changesThe new board is a recently procured Viper-Lite. It is basically a DIY Pocket PC with a PXA255 200Mhz Xscale processor. It is small, 1.8Watts of power, adnd has only serial ports and a CF card slot of expansion. It is NOT IDEAL, as i was hoping it would be the regular VIPER with USB Host, but nothing that I've been playing with has been, so what else is new. This board is forcing me to buy and change a few things, which is okay. My servo controller now has to be serial based, as does my GPS. I will be going with the Lynxmotion SS322. Although it is bigger than the parallax serial servo controller, it is much much better and i can program it much more easily. I will be forced to try and constrict EVERYTHING to a 10-14MB ROM, saving at least 2MB for failsafe operations, such as return to home if power fails, GPS coordinates, and recording where home is. the 64MB flash is all going to go to program memory if i can make it so. The camera is going to still be routed through the board. However, there is only one way to do this: using the CF card. I have a LifeView Fly Grabber. It has two ports, but i can only view one at a time. This means that i will have to switch between fixed FPV and panoramic. Finally, the large camera will be removed for a smaller one that just is permenantly zoomed in with an optional 2x zoom. I am not sure if i can do video recording and streaming on this device, so there will be no real onboard recording. Finally, this board DOES have an ethernet controller, so the wifi based netwokring will have to be handled by an wireless game adatper, with converts 10/100 to 802.11b/g. My choice for that is the Linksys WGA54G. Power will still be the two batteries, but i may have to build a regulator...again...joy.The new OS is Linux, Debian. Also, good news, Urbi has given me access to their engine to make my own. I am very happy with that news, but i wasn't able to touch it due to recent tragic events (RIP Shaf). Running linux will allow me to run the VLC.ipkg. Using that, i can stream to and record at the base station. A joint MSRS and Urbi will be running on the board, with MSRS handling the basic flight and UAV functions and URBI taking over for more complex commands. Sorry MSRS, i know C++, and C# is hard. What this means is that when the plane moves or goes to a waypoint, all instructions are handled by MS. If i move the camera, that is also handled by MS. However, the more fun things i want to play with, such as object collision avoidance, will be handled by Urbi. If MS fails me, Urbi will take over form there and that will be that.The one thing that is upsetting is that ARCOM, the makers of the Viper, refuse to help me at all because i am a second hand buyer. All i needed was a sentence on how to make sure that Linux/CE made it into the ROM that the manual didn't answer. They suggested that i join the forums, so i will. Hopefully a kind soul will take me from there.The final set of changes are in the base station and other gear. I have a new laptop and sold my other ones. It is an IBM T60 (yay dual core!). The transition has been rough, but i finally have the system how i want it, so now i can install/reinstall the necessary software. I'm still installing my basic stuff and it's been back form the depot for a day now. There will be another thing that i will be adding to the base station, but that is just a forethought. Also, this project needs to be done programming by November. Flying before the dead of winter. I technically have until Janurary to do the debugging. Then my feet will hopefully meet the horizon, and more fun things will happen. That and school. Finally.Cost estimates for new suppliesSerial GPS (may have one that works already, but $40+)Lynxmotion SSC- $40Linksys WGA54G- $40-$50 ebay. going with a FON router flashed with DD-WRT. I 'll make it a wireless brigde. It is cheaper than a WGA54G and it is better as i have a whole bunch more controlTotal- $130. $200 is my cushion savings amount.If anyone can help me with Debian booting from the rom, please do. i know it is a tough question, but once i get debian running, the rest is gravy.
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IMU

Posted by Tytouff on September 23, 2008 at 12:21pm
started working on a IMU based on stm32 and lisy300 gyros. Looks for people developing on stm32.
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nMine UAV Controller, more hardware options than anybody could need!!!

Posted by jlcortex on September 23, 2008 at 6:30am

Hi, I would like to present my project, i know there are a lot of uav projects but i think it is a amazing balance of price, performance and simplicity! It is based on OLIMEX E2468 board and Sparkfun sensors.Features4 Layer board with ground plane for high noise immunity I/O Connectors:- 8 x Servos - Standard pitch 2.54mm- 4 x speed input (for sensors, motor RPM, or PPM capture)- 2 x CAN BUS with transceivers - Header 2.54mm- 10 x Analog Inputs (8 x 16bit - 5 used for gyros and pressures) general propose 0-5v (for sonar altimeter for example)- 4 x UARTs (one used for USB port) (3.3v level) for GPS and MaxStream XBEE-Pro 60mW radiolinkOnboard sensors options:Accelerometers (two options):- MMA7260Q 6g- analog- LIS3LV02DQ digital 1mg resolutionGyros:- Analog Devices ADXRS300 (any other possible!)- Compass (two options):- HM55B 2 axis 6 bit- PNI Corp's MicroMag 3-Axis MagnetometerOnboard Pressures:- MPXV5010DP 1.45psi (Airspeed)- MPXA4100A6U 15.2PSI (Altitude)Features from Olimex LPC-E2468 development board:- MCU: LPC2468, 16MB SDRAM (more is possible if necessary), 128 MB- Flash, standard JTAG connector for debugging with ARM-JTAG- Ethernet 100MBit- 2x USB hosts- USB-to-RS232 converter device connected to LPC2468 UART- SD/MMC card connector- Dimensions: 90x60mm (3.54 x 2.36")we have make all hardware access rutines in C, included SD card writing and reading with DMA!!!it is a simple micro boards, it is ARM7 so it is easier to program than any 8 bit micros (pic, avr...). Power and memory are enought for the AHRS's Extended Kalman Filter and for another EKF for INS system.this board can run under ulinux!! (we are not using it)It has been designed and build for "UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA", special thanks to DISCA departament.Jose LuisnMine.com

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Stay tuned...

Posted by Genesis Factor on September 21, 2008 at 1:57am
No i'm not done, nor have i given up. but a few things have changed, and almost all for the better :). in the middle, and almost done with upgrading almost every computing system in my network. New components have arrived and need to be tested. Also have been learning linux, which i have decided is going to be the main OS of the my project. I have until Februray to finish off this project and get my frist autonomous flight logged. If it is not done by then, that will be very sad.BTW, does anyone have amy experience with JTAG or XScale processors?
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Moderator

2.4ghz Device Range Expansion/Improvement

Posted by Brian on September 20, 2008 at 11:35am
I found a link for building your own 2.4ghz Patch Antenna to extend the range of your remote projects.The details can be found on this page: http://www.rc-cam.com/gp_patch.htmWhich is a sub-project page from (http://www.rc-cam.com) which is included within this post in accordance with the wishes of the the operator of the RC-CAM website.I have also found this antenna listed on the 'Geeks' web (www.geeks.com)Product link: htp://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=Z101-54000059-A&cat=CLR&cpc=CLRAs improving the quality of our 2.4ghz signals is or should always be on the agenda I was wondering what you all think in regards to the pros/cons of one antenna type over the other.Thanks - BCD
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3D Robotics

Ten days till AttoPilot.com goes live

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 20, 2008 at 11:30am

Dean Goedde's highly-anticipated Attopilot, in Pro, Basic and RTL form (estimated costs: $800, $400, $100), will have a proper home in ten days, when his site goes live. [UPDATE: Dean doesn't have an exact date for availability, but as he notes in the comment below, he expects to start taking order in 4-6 weeks, with units shipping around that time.] Lots of background info in this incredibly long thread.
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3D Robotics

Arduino 12 released!

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 19, 2008 at 5:19pm

Version 12 of the Arduino software IDE was released today along with a pretty lengthy list of updated features - * Added Arduino Nano to the boards menu. * Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (8 MHz) to the boards menu. * Added Firmata library by Hans Steiner and others. This provides a standard protocol for communicating with software on the computer. * Added an Ethernet library for use with the Arduino Ethernet Shield. * Added a Servo library based on the work of Jim Studt. * Added a LiquidCrystal library based on the work in the playground. It supports both 4- and 8-bit modes. * Improved millis(): it now overflows after 49 days instead of 9 hours, but now uses slightly more processing power. * Fixed reversing direction bug in Stepper library. (Thanks to Wayne Holder.) * Moved insertion of #include Release notes and download. [via Make]
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3D Robotics

Free Stanford Robotics and Computer Science courses

Posted by Chris Anderson on September 18, 2008 at 8:00am

Video lectures (sample above), syllabus and more. Cool stuff, all described here. Here are the first ten: # Introduction to Computer Science: * Programming Methodology — CS106A * Programming Abstractions — CS106B * Programming Paradigms — CS107 # Artificial Intelligence: * Introduction to Robotics — CS223A * Natural Language Processing — CS224N * Machine Learning — CS229 # Linear Systems and Optimization: * The Fourier Transform and its Applications — EE261 * Introduction to Linear Dynamical Systems — EE263 * Convex Optimization I — EE364A * Convex Optimization II — EE364B
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