Author Topic: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything  (Read 779651 times)

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Offline firefox

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2000 on: September 09, 2015, 09:15:18 AM »
ill post some pics today :)..

I ended up buying the travel backpack and extra battery kit etc.. THe backpack seems robust as i am travelling all the time seems a good way to store and was great taking on the plane yesterday.

Hopefully if the sun comes out today thought i would go for a quick fly, need to relearn how to fly (used to fly single RC heli's.. so it shouldn't be too hard!)
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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2001 on: September 09, 2015, 09:29:55 AM »
Its a helluva lot easier than single rotor helis... These things just sit in midair and hover until the battery runs out ..
I have a Phantom 1 and 2 and a Hex with Phantom 2 electrics - Just let go of the sticks and they stop and hover ..

The 3 has a lot better FPV and camera controls than mine - But I don't mind editing my videos ...

Mandrake
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Offline firefox

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2002 on: September 09, 2015, 06:47:50 PM »
So she just got her first flight and battery run. Have to admit i'm stunned at how stable but smart the thing is.. I was careful as you can imagine but wow, although "slow" as such compared to flying a real heli i tested some of the features out. Pretty impressed and stability was what i was after so i can do video and photo.

Love the "home" feature and was impressed with GPS lock and even little things like detecting the rapid decent and braking to ensure a perfect landing without lifting a finger.. I'm betting i only touched about 10% of what you can do.. But not bad..

Here's a couple of pics of the setup.
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Offline edz

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2004 on: September 21, 2015, 03:47:56 AM »
So she just got her first flight and battery run. Have to admit i'm stunned at how stable but smart the thing is.. I was careful as you can imagine but wow, although "slow" as such compared to flying a real heli i tested some of the features out. Pretty impressed and stability was what i was after so i can do video and photo.

Love the "home" feature and was impressed with GPS lock and even little things like detecting the rapid decent and braking to ensure a perfect landing without lifting a finger.. I'm betting i only touched about 10% of what you can do.. But not bad..

Here's a couple of pics of the setup.
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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2005 on: September 24, 2015, 08:08:11 AM »
Foud this on Ebay - Pity its not a motorised zoom lens !!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/800TVL-Mini-PCB-Board-Camera-IR-Cut-2-8-12mm-Zoom-Lens-CCTV-Hidden-Security-Cam-/251997237710?hash=item3aac34b1ce

Also Hobbyking are selling 800 TVL mini cams for $93.63 !!! I get mine ( 700 TVL ) for $22 !! -- Do they really get away with this ripoff ????
Here's Ebay version at $23.47 !!!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-800-TVL-COMS-EFFIO-P-FPV-Ultra-Low-Illumination-Mini-Camera-CCTV-iCam-E-/361000019522?hash=item540d472642

Sheesh !!!
« Last Edit: September 24, 2015, 08:10:37 AM by Mandrake »
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Offline Crisp Image

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2006 on: September 24, 2015, 09:07:01 AM »
Swa the hobby king email today anf thought it was a bit steep. If it had a Vtx in it then it would be ok.
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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2007 on: September 27, 2015, 12:26:11 PM »
This guy has posted some really interesting and easy to make FPV antennas. I'm going to be giving the Quadrifilar Helix Antenna 5.8 GHz a go very shortly as well as the 5.8Ghz Double Biquad for the ground receiver.

If the gains he claims are fair dinkum, then they should be very effective antennas and a lot more robust than the homebrew circular polarised antennas I have already made.

Offline firefox

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2008 on: September 27, 2015, 05:09:00 PM »
Went for a fly yesterday, first time to let it very much out of my sight (hit the virtual boundary and it turned around) was 800mt away from me up the beach..
Worked like a treat. Took some footage, still getting the hang of it, but really enjoying it and the video i'm extremely impressed with..

Still getting the hang of it, but have to admit i just love the stability of the unit. And even let the daughter have a quick fly. Very impressed with all the newish technology on these and the new firmware update gives me incredible quality on the camera..

here's some video we put together from a couple of flights i did at sunset yesterday..

https://www.youtube.com/embed/W-TLcpaZqKs

« Last Edit: September 27, 2015, 05:15:58 PM by firefox »
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Offline yogi

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2009 on: September 28, 2015, 02:59:32 PM »
So she just got her first flight and battery run. Have to admit i'm stunned at how stable but smart the thing is.. I was careful as you can imagine but wow, although "slow" as such compared to flying a real heli i tested some of the features out. Pretty impressed and stability was what i was after so i can do video and photo.

Love the "home" feature and was impressed with GPS lock and even little things like detecting the rapid decent and braking to ensure a perfect landing without lifting a finger.. I'm betting i only touched about 10% of what you can do.. But not bad..

Here's a couple of pics of the setup.

Hi firefox,

Make sure you upgrade the tablet mount to the Inspire 1 aluminum unit they are only $50 and are a direct bolt in replacement and stop all of the wobbles and having to tighten up the nut all the time.

yogi

Offline firefox

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2010 on: September 28, 2015, 06:32:07 PM »
hey yogi, where can i get one? Do you think they would sell them in the hobby shop i brought from??
I'm in melbourne currently and i brought from the shop in swanson/flinders st..

Was thinking about getting some more blades, i've had one crash and everything came out good, so don't know if i need spares. (i did buy a secondary battery)..

Yeah i dislike that holder.. could be much better.
JD
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Offline Crisp Image

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2011 on: September 29, 2015, 09:25:14 AM »
hey yogi, where can i get one? Do you think they would sell them in the hobby shop i brought from??
I'm in melbourne currently and i brought from the shop in swanson/flinders st..

Was thinking about getting some more blades, i've had one crash and everything came out good, so don't know if i need spares. (i did buy a secondary battery)..

Yeah i dislike that holder.. could be much better.
JD
Vic Hobby centre have blades but they may have to come from their other shop at boxhill where most of their RC stuff is.
other than that many online places have them too.
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Offline stiffbreeze

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2012 on: September 29, 2015, 01:01:32 PM »
Hubby and I got a phantom 3 a few weeks ago but had a few issues initially with firmware, updates, gyroscrope bias and metallic interference blah blah blah. Finally took it to my brother's farm on the weekend and got tons of flying time.

Damn it's a sweet machine and so stable.

Will take pics/upload videos once we're a bit more comfortable etc.

Great thread btw.

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2013 on: October 01, 2015, 09:32:41 AM »
I got mine online from Just Hobbies ... but any one who sells DJI stuff should be able to get it in for you. Part 45 for the Inspire 1 :D

yogi

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2014 on: October 04, 2015, 11:34:58 AM »
Hi all,

The mini quad is flying again!  I cant say what was wrong with it, but I rebinded the RX (which I did down at the campsite) seemed to work.  Not happy as the site would have been awesome to whip around with a 250 sized quad.  I also took the opportunity to swap out the full sized telemetry radio for a HK Micro Telemetry radio which worked great.  Just zipping around the local oval the micro telemetry is not as good due to the small integrated antenna (was dropping down to 80% RSSI just 100m away), I would only use it for a close in machine.

I've got the Bix 3 ready for a test flight either this afternoon (is the high level wind dies down) or tomorrow morning (when it will be calmer).  I decided that I didnt want the same problem as last time, so I've switched it to 433MHz for control, still using 915MHz for telemetry and I'm still using 5.8GHz for the video (but I'll be working on some better antenna's).

I also plan to try the small home built flying wing, I've downgraded the prop (7x5), so hoping this will be better if not I'll switch to a smaller motor and smaller prop (5x3).

Big quad will get 1 more chance to balance out and be auto tuned, if not then I'll be redoing the design.  I'm thinking of similar design with the plates but moving it to a H quad (one of tube for both front arms and another tube for the read arms, instead of the 4 I'm using).  Bonus would be that it will be smaller and easier to transport, downside is that I think the largest props I can use then will be the 14inch props. 

I'm also experimenting with the storm32 gimbal controller, it's better than I first thought.  The tools arent as feature rich as the Alexmos ones but they sure are cheaper ($35 vs $130).  I will give it a chance on the big quad once I've gotten it ironed out.

I should get some video posted of this weekends flying.

Happy flying!  So weird this is the first Oct Long weekend where I havent gone camping in years.

Chris
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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2016 on: October 04, 2015, 05:08:24 PM »
If anyone has any footage I have 17 eager buyers  :worthles:
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/new-laws-nothing-to-drone-about-say-hawks-20150123-12wvd5.html


I think that footage is guarded well, can't have the opposition getting hold of it.  Not sure where the issue is there, the players were part of the RPA's operation, that is they were a employed target of the footage being captured.  There should have been a safety brief at some stage in the past and then there was no issues.  RPA's will crash just as normal GA aircraft crash, just they will cause much less damage.  As long as the Hawk's have an Operators Cert and a certified pilot then they did everything right.  Most would be surprised at how widely used they are now.

Some of the rules cited are for commercial use only (the 121m/400ft limit, the no fly within 3nm/5.5km's of an airport), it would be good if reporters could say that as it gives everyone else the impression these apply to hobby use too.

Interesting language from CASA in the article, I wonder if it was slanted by the writer, as all the stuff being said by CASA elsewhere would imply that they are in fact going to soften up (although not as soft as France).  Yes they will still be tough for those who cant follow the rules but they are moving to a risk based approach so the smaller devices (sub 2kg) will be less but the heavier items will have more.

Chris


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Offline prodigyrf

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2017 on: October 04, 2015, 06:41:30 PM »
Perhaps eagle fans already have a cunning plan for 2016   ;D
 http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/12/9145495/drone-eagle-attack
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Offline 4wd26

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2018 on: October 09, 2015, 07:02:39 PM »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xBh1Y5cCk
launch of the gatewing photogrammetry drone

was around 40km/h wind

the drone will fly by itself, it completes a preprogramed flightpath and the time in air is around 30mins, the operator can control some aspects like holding pattern return to home pattern or drop if other aircraft are encountered in airspace (need CASA license and part of this  is VHF radio)

due to the cost the unit, we fit a tracking beacon into the cockpit- hawks have taken the unit out in the past

landing is a bit tricky, you set the orientation for the landing and point of return, but the on board computer power cannot calculate everything so it is still a bit hope and see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzHtDHV2gVw


and the units- like mentioned in the other thread ours is a bit of older tech now.
http://uas.trimble.com/
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Offline CBRK

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2019 on: October 09, 2015, 11:50:00 PM »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xBh1Y5cCk
launch of the gatewing photogrammetry drone

was around 40km/h wind

the drone will fly by itself, it completes a preprogramed flightpath and the time in air is around 30mins, the operator can control some aspects like holding pattern return to home pattern or drop if other aircraft are encountered in airspace (need CASA license and part of this  is VHF radio)

due to the cost the unit, we fit a tracking beacon into the cockpit- hawks have taken the unit out in the past

landing is a bit tricky, you set the orientation for the landing and point of return, but the on board computer power cannot calculate everything so it is still a bit hope and see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzHtDHV2gVw


and the units- like mentioned in the other thread ours is a bit of older tech now.
http://uas.trimble.com/


What software is used to do the photogrammetry?  What sort of outputs are being used, is it more DEM, or the orthomosaic.  Are you doing any GCP and using RTK GPS? or DGPS?
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Offline Crisp Image

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2020 on: October 10, 2015, 12:44:04 AM »
Way too many acronyms in that post Chris!

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Offline 4wd26

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2021 on: October 10, 2015, 07:46:46 AM »
What software is used to do the photogrammetry?  What sort of outputs are being used, is it more DEM, or the orthomosaic.  Are you doing any GCP and using RTK GPS? or DGPS?

there are a few steps required in the post processing, in regard to the photogrammetry
the images need to be collated into one image- typical run a 75% overlap on the runs
we can field check the flight path and photo matching before leaving site

I don't do the post processing so not sure of the program used, but it requires big computing power

we use both the ortho- geo referenced but mostly the DEM (or point cloud)

As ours is an older unit we need a base station and also reference points on the ground (targets)

problems found in the DEM are typical of aerial photogrammetry in that the points on the ground can model trees and grasses, but in our typical use of pit or stockpile surveys this is not a real point of concern.

BUT we are looking to upgrade and are hoping for the release of a LIDAR unit in the future  :cheers:
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Offline CBRK

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2022 on: October 10, 2015, 11:07:15 AM »
there are a few steps required in the post processing, in regard to the photogrammetry
the images need to be collated into one image- typical run a 75% overlap on the runs
we can field check the flight path and photo matching before leaving site

I don't do the post processing so not sure of the program used, but it requires big computing power

we use both the ortho- geo referenced but mostly the DEM (or point cloud)

As ours is an older unit we need a base station and also reference points on the ground (targets)

problems found in the DEM are typical of aerial photogrammetry in that the points on the ground can model trees and grasses, but in our typical use of pit or stockpile surveys this is not a real point of concern.

BUT we are looking to upgrade and are hoping for the release of a LIDAR unit in the future  :cheers:

For photogrammetry tests I've been using about a 70% overlap and a 60% sidelap, seems to work pretty well.  I use a Canon point and shoot presently but I'm about to start using a Mobius that I converted for NIR.  I use a mix of trial versions of paid software and I'm starting to have some good success with the open source stuff (paid software is still more feature rich and easier to use but that gap is closing very fast).  Datasets sure do take a while, I get a basic point cloud usually in under 30 mins for a small local park but the dense point cloud takes 8 to 9 hours to run.

On the point cloud picking up the trees, you should try to do some point cloud classification to identify the trees then you can remove them, you should end up with just a hole where the trunk is.  I've had variable success.  Far easier to remove moving objects, but if you have enough images from angles you can get rid of a lot of them (depends on the angles and the alt they are captured at).

Interesting that you mention LIDAR, I use one but for accurate alt holding but not for point cloud generation.  The industry from what I can see is moving more to the image photogrammetry method, rather than the LIDAR method.  It's cheaper and software driven so enhancements can be gained by just rerunning an existing data set (reducing costs), you can also use different types (Normal Colour, Near Infrared, Thermal, etc).  I see LIDAR more in the collision avoidance space in the future.  But it would work well if you just want to determine stock pile sizes.  Not so good if you want to see crop health, or count cattle or sheep.

Did you have to go through much hassle to get the OC, the CC or RPC should have been straight forwards.  I'm just about to start on my CC.

Regards,

Chris
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Offline CBRK

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2023 on: October 11, 2015, 10:05:45 PM »
Way too many acronyms in that post Chris!

LOL,  I'll break it down for you :-)

DEM - Digital Elevation Model
Orthomosaic - Simplistic view would be stitching the photos together (but it is really more complex than that would take to long to explain so if your bored look up Point Clouds  >:D)
GCP - Ground Control Points - Something that is at a known GPS location and is unique enough to accurately tag it in the photo.
RTK GPS - Real Time Kinematics GPS - Basically a very accurate GPS - my amateur stuff should get about 10cm accuracy but I have to wait for Atmospheric data from NASA - 3 hours after I capture the data, the really professional stuff gets 1cm or better.  Really handy for accurate surveying.
DGPS - Differential GPS, uses a ground station (that typically uses an an advanced RTK GPS) and sends out additional signals to get better accuracy.  Professional stuff gets about 10-20 cm accuracy.

I've posted some of the above stuff earlier in my early attempt (DEM and Orthomosaic).  The RTK GPS is something I'm just starting to get into it.  Will post up some stuff on it in the next few weeks as I get it working properly.

Chris
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Offline 4wd26

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Re: Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything
« Reply #2024 on: October 12, 2015, 11:45:20 AM »
we are a private mining company so the data is not commercial we are only interested in the point data (DTM) output
don't need to maximize the potential client base with each data set, and the data is continually changing

so our use/ need is limited, don't need to worry about hot joints, sheep etc

yes we can probably get better data/ post processing to get rid of the grass/ trees, BUT it is still not a direct measurement and as a surveyor we could be held to account if the information is not correct, hence easier to give known false data than fudge, get it wrong by 300mm or more and blast the ore rather than overburden/ for example

we get heaps better results in the open ground/ changing data, and the stuff with grass/ vegetation doesn't change so a single lidar run over this provides a base for the data set in the future

only problem is "cutting out the bad data" so be easier if the entire data set could be confirmed as good
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