Author Topic: DIYDrones  (Read 235 times)

Offline Sandman

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DIYDrones
« on: July 16, 2007, 11:38:16 PM »
17- Threads started devoid of commentary will not be allowed (i.e. links, cut-n-pastes, clicky, read this...)
« Last Edit: July 17, 2007, 07:17:42 AM by MP3 »
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Offline Maverick

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DIYDrones
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2007, 10:14:06 AM »
It would seem that we have a brand new and very enthusiastic MP on the board. Time to do more than just post a link guys.
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Offline Chairboy

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DIYDrones
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2007, 10:54:11 AM »
http://diydrones.com/

Very cool stuff, it's a UAV you can build at home.  The PicoPilot it uses looks pretty sweet, cheap, and functional.

I built a UAV about 6-7 years ago, almost finished it too.  I built a simple intertial guidance platform based on an OOPIC, a BX-24 (for math), an i2c digital compass, an OEM GPS pod that was small and cheap, and installed it in a 2 meter trainer I had built.

I used an outboard counter IC that could give me PWM values on pins so I could have the computer be a pass-through for the receiver so I could use the landing gear switch to turn it on and off like they do, it was pretty sweet and I learned a lot about electronics while doing it.

Then, when I began testing, I learned another valuable lesson: Design first, THEN build.  My ADXL202 based inertial platform worked GREAT...  on the ground.  But expose it to a coordinated turn, and it thought it was sitting straight up and down.

I could have added a piezo gyro, but I was in the hole a few hundred already and had run out of steam.  A few months later, I saw the CMA CoPilot, a training tool for R/C planes that holds the attitude steady using IR averaging to hold the horizon in place.  It would have been more than enough, coupled with GPS guided steering via rudder, to fly from Long Beach to Catalina, take pictures, and fly back (my goal).  But by then, I was onto the next big project....
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Offline Meatwad

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DIYDrones
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2007, 06:23:35 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Maverick
It would seem that we have a brand new and very enthusiastic MP on the board. Time to do more than just post a link guys.


Surprised you didnt get your post edited and the thread locked for that :D
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