DIY Drones

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Patrick Mccabe added a discussion6 seconds ago

I know i am not following the Ardupilot manual, but i have a 3 channel remote controller that came with the plane i bought. Now i am using this for cost issues. My question is if i can have the plane go into UAV mode when say the receiver stops ge...

Jack replied to David's discussion 'Brushless and ESC help'21 minutes ago

Hi all and Abhishek Jain, I have a Mystery 30A ESC, and connect to the arduino, it did not work at all, no spin, no verberation, nothing ! If I directly connect a servo to the arduino, it works perfectly. What's your code for Adruino ? and How sh...

William Premerlani replied to Mike Palmer's discussion 'trying to implement DCM...'43 minutes ago

Mike, The theory supports what you are trying to do. It should work. I have helped a few RC pilots port DCM to their own custom boards, and the most common mistakes that I see are confusion over assigning the 3 gyros to their correct axes, and g...

William Premerlani replied to Mike Palmer's discussion 'trying to implement DCM...'1 hour ago

Mike, hmmmmm.... You raise an interesting question that has been in the back of my mind for some time... I sometimes run my roll-pitch-yaw demo without benefit of yaw drift compensation. It works beautifully. Roll and pitch lock in, while there...

Nick Trimborn left a comment for Reto1 hour ago

Jordi Muñoz commented on Jordi Muñoz's blog post 'ArduStation Assembly Instructions'1 hour ago

Reto, i use to "live" in Switzerland for about a year =) and yes you can hook up something in the I2C port, actually i already populated that pull up resistors for you. =)

Hooks added a discussion1 hour ago

What are the difference of these 2 GPS resevers

Would I be able to use this gps reseveres on the same system. It's for an OSD. I know the pins. Hooks.

Thomas J Coyle III commented on Reto's blog post 'Xbee socket board'1 hour ago

James, I doubt that the 900MHz XBee Pro board will take much over 300ma. You can use the Selmaware AppBee-SIP ( http://www.selmaware.com/appbee/index.htm ) XBee breakout board that has a TO220 3.3 v 1 A regulator on it. Just a thought. Regards...

Reto commented on Reto's blog post 'Xbee socket board'1 hour ago

I understand that my setup is not really meant for the lightest airframe. It's in a 2m high wing trainer with 5.5kg total flying weight.

Reto replied to Paul Har's discussion 'Inputting way points'1 hour ago

Just to inform that I loaded the code to the ArduStation with my Sparkfun 3.3v FTDI breakout board today without a problem, even without taking out the Xbee!

Reto replied to Paul Har's discussion 'Inputting way points'1 hour ago

You really have to shortly press reset when the progress bar just has reached its maximum. At first, I waited too long to reset. Just in case you try again.

Todd Berk replied to Tom's discussion 'Brushless Motor RPM Sensor'1 hour ago

See my implementation of a BLDC RPM sensor here: BLDC Hall Effect Sensor. The sensor simply uses at least one magnet (I use 4 to get higher update rate) and a hall switch (about $.40 on digikey). -Todd

Thomas J Coyle III replied to Paul Har's discussion 'Inputting way points'2 hours ago

James, I can tell you that the Adafruit FTDI cable works fine with the ArduStation serial interface. I plan to try it with the Ardupilot/Shield board combination tomorrow. Regards, TCIII

James Turner commented on Reto's blog post 'Xbee socket board'2 hours ago

I was hoping for something able to drop the ~11.1v straight down to the 3.3v @ around 1A on the same board as xbee to reduce component count but if I can't find anything then I'll certainly give those type of units a try. Thanks.

Thomas J Coyle III commented on Thomas J Coyle III's blog post 'What level of ESD protection is on your workbench?'2 hours ago

Reto, I used to work on the dining room table when I was back in CA. To provide a static safe area to work on when I worked on the dining room table, I ran a heavy duty power strip from the nearest wall outlet and hooked the static safe pad/mat ...

Reto replied to Paul Har's discussion 'Inputting way points'2 hours ago

Couldn't resist trying out your pin 6 test right away! I could write my 3 first WP with the Config Utility, shield on or off, GPS and Xbee off. But I couldn't read them back to be sure they were in the EEprom. So I switched on my Tx and brand new ...

Tim Trueman added 2 photos2 hours ago

James Turner commented on Thomas J Coyle III's blog post 'What level of ESD protection is on your workbench?'2 hours ago

to be honest though, I do actually have a static safe pad and and earthing point plug adapter as Thomas suggests on my bench but if you don't have access or room for one at the time you are working then there are many quick ways to ensure you are ...

James Turner commented on Thomas J Coyle III's blog post 'What level of ESD protection is on your workbench?'2 hours ago

well I grew up knowing it to be called Tin Foil (but these days it's called allsorts I think) which conducts just fine at ESD levels. Back in the old days if ever we were unsure the easiest way to test it was deliberately charge youself up as much...

Reto commented on Thomas J Coyle III's blog post 'What level of ESD protection is on your workbench?'2 hours ago

Is aluminium a good enough conductor for ESD?

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Forum

how to use 3 channel remote?

Started by Patrick Mccabe in ArduPilot 6 seconds ago.

Brushless and ESC help 17 Replies

Started by David in RC equipment. Last reply by Jack 21 minutes ago.

trying to implement DCM... 5 Replies

Started by Mike Palmer in UAV Dev Board. Last reply by William Premerlani 43 minutes ago.

What are the difference of these 2 GPS resevers

Started by Hooks in GPS 1 hour ago.

Inputting way points 25 Replies

Started by Paul Har in ArduPilot software version 2.2. Last reply by Reto 1 hour ago.

Brushless Motor RPM Sensor 16 Replies

Started by Tom in Sensors & IMUs. Last reply by Todd Berk 1 hour ago.

Question about sensors 1 Reply

Started by Walt S. in Sensors & IMUs. Last reply by Joseph Glanville 5 hours ago.

Truck Adaptation 3 Replies

Started by Ken Biba in Uncategorized. Last reply by Ken Biba 6 hours ago.

Amateur Rocket

Started by Donny in ArduPilot 10 hours ago.

Ardupilot Config Tool Beta 3 25 Replies

Started by Peter Seddon in ArduPilot. Last reply by Mikil P 11 hours ago.

ArduPilot 2.x flight profile question. 2 Replies

Started by infinite aerospace in ArduPilot. Last reply by infinite aerospace 18 hours ago.

Ground Station UI Designs

Started by John Gantner in Ground stations 22 hours ago.

Ardupilot 2.2 questions about setup and testing 11 Replies

Started by Jerald Brady in ArduPilot software version 2.2. Last reply by Damon Pipenberg 1 day ago.

STOL UAV Senior Telemaster with Attitude 12 Replies

Started by Scott Williamson in Aircraft platforms. Last reply by Reto 1 day ago.

Config Tool Beta_3 not working 12 Replies

Started by Peter Seddon in ArduPilot. Last reply by Matias Vidoni 1 day ago.

Two way telemetry 1 Reply

Started by Clarence Hanson in Autopilot software/algorithms. Last reply by Clarence Hanson 1 day ago.

About channel. 1 Reply

Started by reinaldo watanabe in ArduPilot. Last reply by Reto 1 day ago.

Gaahhh...Software Serial (AFSoftSerial) 6 Replies

Started by Jacob Dickinson in Autopilot software/algorithms. Last reply by Reto 1 day ago.

GPS EM-406

Started by mayank in GPS 1 day ago.

GPS EM-406

Started by mayank in GPS 1 day ago.

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Welcome!

This is a site for all things about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): How-to's, videos, discussion and more. You can read more about us here.

These are our Arduino-based open source autopilot projects:
* ArduPilot, a very low-cost ($24.95!) autopilot with great expansion capabilities
* BlimpDuino, an autonomous blimp with both infrared and ultrasonic guidance

Other UAV/autopilot projects and code, by processor and OS type, are here.
Earlier DIY Drones projects, including Lego and cellphone autopilots, are here
Interviews with interesting UAV and autopilot experts are here.

FAQs:
* I'm new to all this--where do I start?
* Are amateur UAVs legal?
* What's the difference between a gyro and an accelerometer? Do I need both?
* I'm confused by all these terms! Is there a glossary? (yes!)

You can find a list of external UAV resources, including commercial UAVs and other open source UAV projects and code here.

Create a blog post

Click here to add your own blog post below.

Blog Posts

UK RCAP meet

Managed to maiden a new version of Airframe3 today ahead of the weekends aerial photography meet at Leamington Spa, twenty plus aerial photography types flying camping and perhaps some tall stories. Heres the RCgroups link if you fancy joining us. I reckon this will be one of the biggest meetings of RC photographers in the world.

… Continue

Posted by Gary Mortimer on July 2, 2009 at 2:08pm

What level of ESD protection is on your workbench?

Hi all,

I have been a System Engineer for over 30 yrs and have gone from tubes to ICs during my time in the Aero Space industry.

Tubes were virtually immune to ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) and could be handled just about any way we wanted to. But when it comes to ICs, ESD can damage or destroy an IC in an instant.

Many of the boards offered for sale in kits by DIY Drones contain static sensitive part that can be damaged even when attached to their respective circuit boards.

Therefore it is… Continue

Posted by Thomas J Coyle III on July 2, 2009 at 1:03pm — 6 Comments

Availability of source code of ArduConfig Beta.

Hi,

I am currently using a Linux based system and was wondering if the source code for the Ardupilotconfig tool (beta3 version) was available as I can't upload the waypoints on the board at the moment. I'm extremely interested in writing a platform neutral clone of ardupilotconfig, and would be quite happy to share the results. Is there any other way/method of uploading the waypoints manually assuming I am using the latest ardupilot code (Version 2.2.3) for the easystar ? Any help with this wil… Continue

Posted by Mikil P on July 2, 2009 at 4:57am

Mucho Cool

Posted by Gary Mortimer on July 2, 2009 at 12:05am — 1 Comment

MAVs: The Future is Coming

How many of these goals can we achieve right now?

… Continue

Posted by Stephen Carlson on July 1, 2009 at 12:00am — 3 Comments

Energy Harvesting for UAVs

The Wired Way:

The Solar Way:
AFRL News Release

-Steve

Posted by Stephen Carlson on June 30, 2009 at 11:49pm — 2 Comments

Ardupilot Success Stories

At this point, the only way to get my plane flying with Ardupilot is to buy a different FTDI cable which may or may not work with my setup(I don’t have the programming skills to bypass the configuration utility and add waypoints directly into the code). I’m running Windows Vista on my laptop and have the latest Ardupilot board with the shield kit as shown below. I’ve also installed the latest code, configuration utility and the newest version of the Arduino IDE.
Before I invest any more money in… Continue

Posted by Bryan Cuervo on June 30, 2009 at 6:30pm — 10 Comments

Dead multiplexer?

Wondering if anyone might have experienced a problem that I'm having. My ArduPilot has been working fine, but yesterday, the servo outputs suddenly quit working. After doing some troubleshooting, I think I've narrowed the problem down the the multiplexer (74ACT157). It gets power, and gets a proper signal from the failsafe, and I found a 50 Hz signal on the inputs. However, the outputs are always low, at 0V.

I've been using a 4-cell, 4.8V receiver battery to power my setup. When fully charged,… Continue

Posted by Damon Pipenberg on June 30, 2009 at 8:17am — 14 Comments

Great UK source for Xbee tracking and Ardupilot.

Here ya go if your in UK, or Europe come to that.

http://www.coolcomponents.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=295

I enquired about their Xbees and mentioned the simple tracking, they decided to bundle it all.

Very very impressed.

G

Posted by Gary Mortimer on June 29, 2009 at 3:00pm — 4 Comments

VicaCopter 4

After spending 3 hours waiting for web pages to load, VicaCopter 4 is finally available for download. If U ever succeeded in building your own VicaCopter, U still probably wouldn't know… Continue

Posted by Jack Crossfire on June 29, 2009 at 1:42pm — 5 Comments

Pros and cons of the Ardupilot Configuration Utility

I first started flying with Ardupilot before the configuration utility (CU) was created. At the field, I’d pull up the Arduino IDE on my lap top, make the changes I wanted in the code (waypoints, altitude, tuning parameters, etc.), upload to my Ardupilot, then fly. After seeing how the flight was affected, I’d go back to the IDE make another change and fly again.
Then the CU was created and it looked cool but, at the field, it just created another step to go through before flying. I now had to a… Continue

Posted by Bryan Cuervo on June 29, 2009 at 4:24am — 27 Comments

Simple way to use Google Earth as ground station.

I am looking for use google earth as ground station.
i have download this program.

http://goopstechnologies.com
it is easy to interface to any application:
GooPs can receive data from other applications via a TCP/IP socket. GooPs listens on port 51234 for messages containing NMEA data.… Continue

Posted by Jose Luis Cortes on June 28, 2009 at 9:26am — 6 Comments

I Heart Robotics UAV Crosspost

While not all of the information on the I Heart Robotics blog is related to UAVs, there is a significant amount that should be of interest here.… Continue

Posted by I Heart Robotics on June 27, 2009 at 12:00am — 9 Comments

Government Grants 100,000 handed out to secret types

How do you win a Government Grant for something that is largely illegal in your country??

Helen Greiner's Droid Works Wins First Gov't Grant for Flying Bots

Helen Greiner's stealthy new start-up, The Droid Works, has said almost nothing about what they're up to, except that they're working in the field of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles.) So far, Greiner has been funding the Framingham-based company herself, so there aren't any VCs to blab about what they're working on. And the company is small… Continue

Posted by Gary Mortimer on June 26, 2009 at 12:00pm — 10 Comments

Ummm

http://www.u-nav.com/3550.html

Posted by Gary Mortimer on June 26, 2009 at 8:14am — 7 Comments

DIYDrones Store: New Products Available!

Hello everybody. I have some news here:

1.-The shipping system right now is a nightmare for everybody (… Continue

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on June 25, 2009 at 8:00pm — 37 Comments

ArduStation Assembly Instructions

What you will need:
-… Continue

Posted by Jordi Muñoz on June 25, 2009 at 2:00pm — 33 Comments

Electronic Valve and Ignition Timing For Model Gas Engines

Via Hack-A-Day, here is an electronically controlled RC gas engine. With more development, this could lead to more efficient RC engines by skipping power cycles. This would allow longer flight times while at cruising speed.

… Continue

Posted by Wayne Dancer on June 25, 2009 at 10:22am — 1 Comment

Student UAS

Just got back from this years AUVSI Student UAS Competition. My team (Utah State University) took 1st place this year using a paparazzi based platform. We recorded the highest score in the history of the competition. It was a very fun event and my hats off to all those who put it on each year.

Posted by Danstah on June 24, 2009 at 8:48pm — 9 Comments

UAV Dev Board on Multiplex Twister

I decided that I wanted to graduate from a thermopile based autopilot to a full IMU based system and the UAV DevBoard looked like it was going to scratch my itch. In the end, I wound up with it on my Multiplex Twister, an elapor foam electric ducted fan rc aircraft. Here's what I've done -

One of my motivations starts with the fact that I have flown an FPV Telemaster with an Ardupilot quite succesfully but use it primarily as a failsafe. I did, however, test the waypoint system to confirm it wo… Continue

Posted by smguest on June 24, 2009 at 5:46pm — 9 Comments

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UAV News elswhere

Northrop Grumman Completes First Flight of Land-Based MQ-8B Fire Scout

A Northrop Grumman Corporation MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Unmanned Aircraft System (VUAS), designated P7, has successfully completed first flight operations at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz. Unlike current Navy configured Fire Scouts, P7 was built in an operational land-based configuration.

France's ISAE SUPAERO Team Takes Top Honors at IMAV Competition

A team from France's Institut superieur de l'aeronautique et de l'espace (ISAE) SUPAERO beat out competitors from Germany, Australia and the United States to win the top spot at the 4th Annual International Micro Air Vehicle (IMAV) Workshop and Flight Competition, held 1-5 June in Pensacola, Fla.

Detroit Mercy a Repeat Winner at IGVC

For the second year in a row, the University of Detroit Mercy took home the top prize at the 17th annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, held by AUVSI's Great Lakes Chapter.

Webcast of AUVSI Competitions June 21

Two of AUVSI's rapidly growing Student Competitions will be on live webcasts tomorrow, June 21, 2009!

Maritime Systems Development takes Center Stage at UDT Europe 2009

CANNES, France - "Hybrid" unmanned systems, such as autonomous underwater vehicles that can deploy tethered remotely operated vehicles, are a likely wave of the future, according to an industry veteran.

Camcopter to be First UAS to fly at Paris Air Show

**UPDATE 1500 CEST: Schiebel's Camcopter unmanned helicopter braved the rain and became the first unmanned aircraft to fly at the Paris Air Show on 15 June.** The Camcopter S-100 will be the first-ever Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to fly as part of the official flight displays at this year's 100 year anniversary of "Salon du Le Bourget" from June 15 to 19. June.

UAS Training Heats up for Military, other Agencies

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The military isn't the only U.S. government agency that needs unmanned aircraft systems pilots-Customs and Border Protection is racing to put a training program in place for its pilots and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it will likely need one, too.

House Approves FAA Reauthorization

By a vote of 277-136, the House of Representatives Thursday approved and sent to the Senate H.R. 915, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2009.

FAA Small Unmanned Aircraft System Aviation Rulemaking Committee Comprehensive Set of Recommendations for sUAS Regulatory Development

More…

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