Latest Activity

iskess replied to Andrew Tridgell's discussion ArduPlane 2.73 released
"My maiden flight was on 2.72 and I couldn't get FBW to move the airplane at all. However the controls felt great in Manual. My next flight (log attached) was using 2.73 was using the ELEVON_OUTPUT, and I did a Radio Calibration at…"
13 minutes ago
Mike Wilson replied to Mike Wilson's discussion Mike's ArduRover Build Log in the group ArduRover User Group
"I had to move my GPS to the front of the rover to avoid interference from the 1.3ghz video transmitter.  I also ordered a pair of Maxbotix MB 1240 sonar sensors so that I can try out the APM built in collision avoidance code.   Here's…"
25 minutes ago
Kay Sylla replied to Hai Tran's discussion Setting servo limits
"Hi Kurt, Did you find out what the problem is/was? i have the same issue... Thanks Kay"
28 minutes ago
Alex replied to Dave Wilkeson's discussion Consensus: Futaba 8FG or Aurora 9?
"I use these with my 8fg. Tiny and has CPPM (one cable without need for adapter) and RSSI (PWM) output http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__331__190__Radios_Receivers-2_4Ghz_Futaba.html NOTE: I had to build a little digital to…"
32 minutes ago
Kenobi replied to Bill Salopek's discussion Older 3DR radio and APM 2.5? Which pins to which pins?
"Here is an explanation of the connections  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt2oCvccuNM"
44 minutes ago
Joe replied to Craig Elder's discussion APM Copter 2.9.1.b has been released
"Likely culprit IMHO, one should always measure VCC on the board, safest way to do it which saves accidently shorting pins is to connect a 3 wire servo lead to the Input headers or the AXX headers and measured the GND and VCC on the other end of the…"
50 minutes ago
Gabe commented on Gabe's blog post Autonomous gas powered heavy lift quadcopter we are calling HLQ
"Hi all, HLQ is almost completed and ready to fly. Because of some pulley issues we will be delaying the flight but keep an eye on our facebook page. We will be posting updates as we get closer to completion and…"
1 hour ago
William Pryor commented on Matt Gunn's blog post Mapping Mission Ride Along
"Do you have the gimbal mapped to a channel on your RX? I'm interested in using a gyro-stabilized setup for a passive function, kind of like a wind sock. Similarly, you only ever need this gimbal pointing straight down, but I'm not sure how…"
1 hour ago
Naomi Mathews replied to William Premerlani's discussion robust estimator of the direction cosine matrix
"Hi Bill I have been trying to write a matlab code using the dcm imu theory. i had one question though. Is yaw angle and heading of the aircraft same? As in isnt it possible for and aircraft to point in one direction and have an overall heading in…"
1 hour ago
renaud barbier posted a discussion
1 hour ago
Hafeedz replied to Dave Wilkeson's discussion Consensus: Futaba 8FG or Aurora 9?
"Hello. I am glad know that you are using Hitec Aurora 9. My problem is that I cannot get six modes from the two position switch even after referring previous forum posts about it. I just bought the Aurora 9 about a month ago, so maybe it's…"
1 hour ago
Gustav Kuhn replied to David Ardis's discussion Loiter radius in the group ArduCopter User Group
"I did a loiter test on my new 3dr quad this weekend, in light wind, and the loiter box was less than 5m, closer to 3m......."
1 hour ago
W. Joe Taylor left a comment for Johar Palacita
"Hi Johar, Yes I checked my inbox just now.  http://grabcad.com/library/tbs-discovery-frame-plate Will check it all out soon.  Thank you. Joe"
2 hours ago
Chris posted photos
2 hours ago
KM6VV commented on Chris Anderson's group ArduCopter (traditional heli) user group
"@ Jeff, I've got the Align 450 sprot v2 and also an Align 100 to learn on.  I was surprised how small the 100 was when it arrived.  Oh well, could be fun. I'm doing the tail in on the SIM, need to get back to it. Alan KM6VV "
2 hours ago
Richard Thompson commented on JB's group Queensland
"I have now flown a DJI 450 with an Ardpilot and 3D Robotics Telemetry. I set some of the waypoint to fly above some landmarks to gauge how accurately it was on track. I am very pleased with how well it is working and even just in stabilize mode it…"
2 hours ago

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Forum

ArduPlane 2.73 released

Started by Andrew Tridgell in ArduPlane 2.x software. Last reply by iskess 13 minutes ago. 62 Replies

Setting servo limits

Started by Hai Tran in Miscellaneous. Last reply by Kay Sylla 28 minutes ago. 6 Replies

Consensus: Futaba 8FG or Aurora 9?

Started by Dave Wilkeson in RC equipment. Last reply by Alex 32 minutes ago. 7 Replies

robust estimator of the direction cosine matrix

Started by William Premerlani in UAV Dev Board. Last reply by Naomi Mathews 1 hour ago. 255 Replies

CH6 Tuning doing something weird!?

Started by James Overington in ArduCopter 2.x (multicopter). Last reply by James Overington 3 hours ago. 3 Replies

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Welcome to DIY Drones!


This is the home for everything about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Use the tabs and drop-down menus above to navigate the site. (About us/Site rules)

This community created the Arduino-based ArduPilot, the world's first universal autopilot (planes, multicopters of all sorts and ground rovers). The APM 2.5 autopilot hardware runs a variety of powerful free UAV software systems, including:

  • ArduPlane, a pro-level UAV system for planes of all types.
  • ArduCopter, a fully-autonomous multicopter and heli UAV system.

I'm new to all this--where do I start?                    Are amateur UAVs legal? (yes)

Examples of civilian uses of drones                   Glossary of confusing terms

Blog Posts

Hybrid Penta Copter

Posted by OG on May 19, 2013 at 6:15am 11 Comments

This is a very interesting Hindered multi copter. I was thinking of this same concept using a weed waker motor on a large quad & kk board. But the guys in south Asia have beaten me to it. well it a nice job in any…

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3 axis Camera Gimble connections.

Posted by Jared Reabow on May 19, 2013 at 12:30am 11 Comments

NEW APM 2.5 Pin out and Wire Diagram And Camera Gimble explanation

Hey guys i recently got the APM 2.5, when looking at the pins, I saw A0 - A11 Pins werent being used and i did not know what they were for so i was googling and found a PDF that stated



A0- Sonar/ Ultrasonic A1- Voltage Sensor – Attopilot

A2-Current Sensor – Attopilot

A3- Optical Flow…

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Mapping Mission Ride Along

Posted by Matt Gunn on May 18, 2013 at 10:00pm 20 Comments

Here's my 1st mapping test flight with a Skyhunter twin-boom pusher. Im running Arduplane 2.73. Mapping camera is a Canon s95 running an intervalometer script via chdk. Its suspended from a single axis gimbal that keeps the camera pointing down regardless of aircraft bank angle. Video shot from a GoPro 3 Black Edition.

It took 120 photos during the 10 minute…

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Mechanical Hands From A MakerBot: The Magic Of Robohand (From Makerbot blog news)

Posted by Roberto Navoni on May 18, 2013 at 2:37pm 10 Comments

 

When Richard Van As, a master carpenter in Johannesburg, South Africa, decided to make a set of mechanical fingers, it wasn’t just for fun. He’d lost four of the fingers on his right hand in an unfortunate work accident. For a tradesman like Rich, having a disabled hand is a big professional…

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US House Crime/Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on domestic use of drones

Posted by Kyle Derkacz on May 18, 2013 at 2:30am 1 Comment

Domestic Use of Drones

...left with a cliffhanger: are you allowed to shoot down a drone if it's over your "airspace" (very end of the…

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Thirty Days (#13): Y6 in-flight motor failure tests

Posted by Joshua Ott on May 17, 2013 at 6:00pm 15 Comments

Testing out how the new Y6 responds to an in-flight motor failure. Not bad!

Costa Concordia

Posted by trappy on May 17, 2013 at 10:38am 7 Comments

We went and filmed the repair works of the stranded Costa Concordia.

 
 
 

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Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.

A list of all T3 contests is here

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UAV news from sUAS News

Germany Scuttles UAV Program, According To Reports

Germany Scuttles UAV Program, According To Reports

Agence France Press is reporting that Germany has cancelled a planned ‘Euro Hawk’ UAV programme because it believes European authorities will not certify them to fly in civilian airspace. More from AFP: Germany had “no hope” of seeing the unmanned aircraft, part of a programme that would have cost more than one billion euros ($1.3 billion), approved for use, said the source speaking on condition of anonymity. The European Aviation Safety Agency has said it would only certify the drones to fly over unpopulated areas because of a lack of an anti-collision system to protect airliners, according to German press reports. “The equipment is not ready for approval without immense expenditure,” the source added. Bookmark It Hide Sites

Israel is world’s largest exporter of drones, study finds

Israel is world's largest exporter of drones, study finds

By Gili Cohen Israel is the world’s largest exporter of unmanned aircraft, in terms of the number of systems sold, a study has found. Over the last eight years Israel has exported $4.6 billion worth of unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a study by the business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. UAVs, or drones, constitute nearly 10 percent of Israel’s total military exports. Unmanned equipment exports are a relatively volatile market, the report shows. Israel had $150 million in UAV exports in 2008, a figure which increased substantially in 2009 to $650 million. Exports of the small surveillance planes peaked in 2010, a record year for drone sales, to $979 million. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-is-world-s-largest-exporter-of-drones-study-finds.premium-1.524771 Bookmark It Hide Sites

Michael Hutt program manager USGS to speak at sUSBexpo

Michael Hutt program manager USGS to speak at sUSBexpo

Michael Hutt will share insights from the USGS and their unmanned aircraft operations at the Small Unmanned Systems Business Expo July 25th – 26th at the TechShop San Francisco The USGS National UAS Project Office at the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center (GECSC) is located in Denver CO, and is an operational component of the Climate and Land Use Change Land Remote Sensing Program. It was established on May 8, 2008 based on the successful completion of an Emerging Technology Investigation into the potential use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to benefit the DOI and USGS missions. http://susbexpo.com/ Bookmark It Hide Sites

Texas Senate approves bill to curtail drone photography

Texas Senate approves bill to curtail drone photography

Remember the River of Blood story, it went viral. Seems the Texa’s senate would prefer to sweep what Texan businesses get up to under the carpet. If this act makes it all the way through and you let this sort of images out into the wild you will be facing the law. It should not have taken the images to uncover the massive pollution that was occurring.  Texas should know the condition of its rivers. I would be ashamed to live in a place that seems to care so little for its environment. Good news though for other states bidding to host one of the FAA Test sites, Texas Privacy Act (HB 912) could be a royal PIA for people testing. Use of drones to capture photographs and video images on private property without permission of the owner would be prohibited under a bill the Senate passed Friday. Supporters of the ban say it is needed because of the increasing incidence of indiscriminate surveillance by unmanned drones. The Senate amended the bill, already passed by the House, to exempt unmanned vehicles used by police and law enforcement officers and to protect citizens who use a cellphone or other recording device to film [...]

Congress gets mixed advice on drone laws

Congress gets mixed advice on drone laws

  AP WASHINGTON – The growing use of unmanned surveillance “eyes in the sky” aircraft raises a thicket of privacy concerns, but Congress is getting mixed advice on what, if anything, to do about it. A future with domestic drones may be inevitable. While civilian drone use is currently limited to government agencies and some public universities, a law passed by Congress last year requires the Federal Aviation Administration to allow widespread drone flights in the United States by 2015. According to FAA estimates, as many as 7,500 civilian drones could be in use within five years. “Technology is great — as long as it’s used the right and proper way,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Friday on issues surrounding drones — which can be as small as a bird and as large as a plane. http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/congress-gets-mixed-advice-on-drone-laws_2013-05-18.html Bookmark It Hide Sites

UAV news from Flight Global

Maritime Heron UAV supports European airspace trial

Europe has advanced a project to prove the feasibility of using satellite communications to enable UAS operations in non-segregated airspace ...

Brazilian navy begins UAS evaluation

The Brazilian navy has begun to evaluate two Israeli-made unmanned air systems for maritime surveillance missions ...

Indian air force to launch micro UAS evaluation

The Indian air force is to evaluate several micro unmanned air systems from around 10 companies in early May ...

VIDEO: Eurocopter demonstrates unmanned EC145

Eurocopter has unveiled an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV), based on its EC145 light twin, which has been in development since September 2011.

Israeli F-16 downs another Hezbollah UAV

An Israeli air force Lockheed Martin F-16 has shot down an unmanned air vehicle launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah militants ...

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