CILLITEC UAV-DRONE: 2015

giovedì 16 luglio 2015

A consumer flying camera based on a ducted fan UAV design

A consumer flying camera based on a ducted fan UAV design - DIY Drones

We are working on a flying camera that differs from the regular quadcopters, using a Ducted Fan UAV design. This allow us to have a much safer and robust device, that the user can easily hold, push, grab, etc.. Fleye is about the same size and weight than a soccer ball (22cm wide, 350g). It is powered by a single propeller, fully shielded. You can safely hold it in your hands, throw it, catch it and fly it nearby people.

We are starting to communicate and gather feedback now, with a tentative launch (crowdfunding) this fall. You can read more details on our blog.

I know some of your usual questions, so let me try to already answer them :-)

This is not APM but our own autopilot, entirely developped with a Model Based Design approach for the core sensor fusion and control and running on a cortex M4.
Smartphone controlled over wifi, no RC version planned at this stage
We have a dual core ARM A9 on board for managing wifi, video streaming, and some computer vision tasks

The Dronee- Autonomus,Low Cost ,Programmable,Open-source, Open-Design UAV plane. - DIY Drones

1 month before, after my Shenzen,China trip, i found out that there is a way to make a drone plane for a very low cost to make it achievable by everyone. After a little bit search on internet, it is clear that people love Raspberry Pi. there are a lot of project on DIY Drone blog with a drone raspberry Pi attached.I decided to make a low cost autonomous airplane that everybody can write code and make applications without spending a lot of money on prototyping, etc.

And i would like to give a brief introduction about my project Dronee.

Low cost (200-300 $), open-source,open-design (3d printable as well), and Raspberry Pi2 inside for 3rd party applications. for image processing, etc

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Airframe has light weigh durable advanced structure that can be printable from SLS ,high precision printers, but it is not cost efficient because i checked the price from Shapeways &materialise it is around 1000$ . I am ging to build from molded EPP or EPO, i will test both.

I havent finished working prototype yet, but i am working hard to show working prototype untill end of july.

Purpose of publishing here in DIY Drone, i want to share my project with the people who love drones , who work with drones,and how are interested in drones, And i want to get valuable feedback to improve the dronee to make it better

All your ideas (positive or negative) are valuable for me.

Thanks in advance.

lunedì 19 gennaio 2015

Introducing the latest ONE from X-UAV

The ONE is the latest design in UAV technology from X-UAV. They are using a high fibre material and it features a servo driven camera stabilization gimbal in the nose.

The is what X-UAV said regarding this new material :

We have strong confidence on this new material. Comparing EPO and EPP,it is completely changes in technology and function. Its density is between EPO and EPP, and 2-3times Rigid than the 35 density of EPO, more than 10 times toughness than EPO.
We believe that it is unlikely to be crashed for plane flying with low weight. In the near future we will use this new material for more planes

Please feel free to contact me on cvanvollenstee@cfaktor.com on quotes on these planes if you are interested in ONE.

fonte:Introducing the latest ONE from X-UAV - DIY Drones

SmartAP Autopilot now has its own Configurator

SmartAP Autopilot now has its own Configurator, this is a desktop application which helps to configure SmartAP board easily and prepare the vehicle for the first flight just in 10 minutes! The design is very clean and intuitive, while the capabilities are very flexible. Check out the video tutorial on system configuration above.

The major specifications are:

Intuitive interface
Works via USB or Telemetry
Battery status display
Supports 10 types of airframes
Radio type selection (PWM or SBUS)
Easy IMU calibration
Fast parameters tuning
Advanced parameters list access
Command line interface
Real time plot
Firmware update (coming soon)

This is the initial version and more interesting things are yet to come.

SmartAP Ground Control Station for mission planning, flight control and post-flight analysis is in development and will be released soon.

SmartAP Autopilot is the next generation flight control system for multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles capable of fully autonomous flight. It has a powerful microcontroller STM32F4 from STMicroelectronics, 9-axis Inertial Measurement Unit and the latest GPS receiver from UBlox integrated onboard. SmartAP supports any type of multirotor UAV with outstanding navigation and control precision. Unlike our competitors SmartAP was developed using the latest electronic components available at the moment, which allowed us to achieve such amazing results.

More information: http://sky-drones.com/

fonte:SmartAP Autopilot now has its own Configurator - DIY Drones

DJI Phantom 2 Flir Tau 2 Thermal Camera with Brushless Gimbal install

I recently had an inspection that required the use of a thermal camera to inspect a solar panel field for failed units. I have numerous thermal imagers, but most too big or too bulky to be used on a multi. The tau series is impressive for its size, but it is not the most plug and play camera on the market. The other issue is there is no readily available brushless gimbal with a manual tilt option. First, we installed it on our workhorse S900, but it was hard mounted to the gimbal rails with the ability to manually tilt. That obviously became a huge pain because you could never get the camera the exact way you wanted it. We researched many different posts and setups, but none were going to work for the exact way we wanted it to. After lots of trial and error, we have finally got a solid unit on our hands. We have steady, jello free video installed on a light, nimble and quick to deploy phantom 2. The phantom 2 is a good platform to install it on, as the Flir Tau 2 weighs only 5 more grams than a Gopro, and is extremely reliable. The results are pretty stunning, and its a pretty simple install once you know the pitfalls of installing a tau 2 on the phantom, and what you can do to correct it. Here is the list of the parts needed to have a complete, RTF thermal imaging phantom.

Phantom 2 Flir Tau2 Thermal UAV
DJI Phantom 2
DJI 2.4ghz Datalink (Waypoints)
DJI AVL58 Video Downlink
DJI Mini IOSD
DJI FPV HUB
Flir Tau2 Thermal Camera 336 (13mm Lens)
Flir Tau2 VPC Module
Beholder Lite 2 Axis Brushless Gimbal
Right Angle MCX Cable
Right Angle MINI USB to USB Male
12-26 Volt to 5 Volt Regulator

We went with the 336 model with a 13mm lens. For the price, the 336 is the best option. If you are on a tight budget, the 168 model is ok, but the small price increase relative to quality for the 336 is major. The 640 is an amazing camera, but at more than double the price of the 336, we decided it wasn't necessary as of now.

The installation is pretty simple, but some minor soldering is required. The beholder lite gimbal is almost a perfect fit, and the stock gopro gimbal settings are pretty close. We did need to order some custom right angle cables, as the way the Tau 2 is mounted on the gimbal leaves very little room for straight plugs. You also need to convert the phantom 2's 12 volts to 5 volts to power the Tau 2, which is relatively easy to do with a car usb charge adapter.

Below is some up-close images of the install, and how everything is laid out. We also actively use the 2.4ghz datalink for waypoints, especially when performing inspections. We also did a quick demo video showing the recording quality of the camera, along with the gimbal performance.

You can also view details, step by step how-to and tips and tricks for the installation at http://www.nue-av.com/#!DJI-Phantom-...C-629BBF0BC19E

Here is some images of the final installation and how it is physically mounted to the phantom. If you have any questions, feel free to message me here or through our website, www.nue-av.com

fonte:DJI Phantom 2 Flir Tau 2 Thermal Camera with Brushless Gimbal install - DIY Drones