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airplane designing 4 Replies
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Looking to possibly buy a Predator UAV 8 Replies
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DGPS with my local Ground Station ??? 9 Replies
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Airal Photography 2 Replies
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Engineering Log Question 1 Reply
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robust estimator of the direction cosine matrix 180 Replies
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Hacked transmitter/receiver/groundstation all in one package 8 Replies
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ArduPilot for sale 10 Replies
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Wind estimation without an airspeed sensor 14 Replies
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New GPS module at Sparkfun 3 Replies
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Discussion forum for UAVDevBoard, Sparkfun's 3-axis IMU-based autopilot board 559 Replies
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DCM in python 12 Replies
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help...Need to make a wireless robot with cam
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Quad-copter / UAV DevBoard Tinkering 6 Replies
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Predator Drone Foamie Prototype 11 Replies
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Starting with 1st IMU : a 9DOF Razor 10 Replies
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ArduPilot Shield V2 Kit For Sale $45 & Free Shipping 2 Replies
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Homemade Predator Drone 10 Replies
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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). Please use the tabs above to navigate the site.These are our Arduino-based open source autopilot projects:
* ArduPilot, a very low-cost (the basic board is just $24.95!) autopilot
* 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
FAQs:
* I'm new to all this--where do I start?
* Are amateur UAVs legal?
* Can you explain how IMUs using gyros and accelerometers work? 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.
Contests
The fifth round of the DIY Drones Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. This round is a "virtual Sparkfun competition". Deadline is March 3rd. Enter here.Blog Posts
9.2 inches tip to tip. Will it fly??!!
Posted by Jeff on February 9, 2010 at 10:00am — 2 Comments
National Robotics Week
… Continue
Posted by Chris Anderson on February 8, 2010 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment
Transverse Rotor UAV: Articulating Arm CONCEPT
This is a lunchtime sketch: will make this quick.
Two independent brushed (thinking weight and cost here) motors directly drive counter-rotating rotors.
I used 4x Blue Arrow S0251 micro servos as a template only, for this concept, to drive the ar… Continue
Posted by Jeff on February 8, 2010 at 10:30am — 7 Comments
Position & Wind Extended Kalman
Wrote up a wind estimator today. It is based off of a simple model which requires very little inputs from sensors.
psi - true heading (not course over ground)
theta - pitch
airspeed
GPS lat and long
It is a simple model. The wind model has no dynamics which helps
… ContinuePosted by Ryan Beall on February 7, 2010 at 10:00pm — 28 Comments
No podcast/livechat tonight
Posted by Chris Anderson on February 7, 2010 at 8:09pm
Burglars use toy chopper to steal
Posted by Tiaan Roux on February 7, 2010 at 6:29pm — 4 Comments
Easy Star Fiberglass Fuse
I'm in the process of making a mold for a easystar fuse. I used the replacement foam fuse from the local hobby shop and mounted it to a board, filled the pushrod channels and servo holes on the outside. Fuse plug is painted and waxed.
I must decide where to install hatches (if any). I still have the removable canopy as a seperate part, and will mold the wing insert seperately.
Posted by Dr. Stewart Pid on February 7, 2010 at 3:37pm — 6 Comments
Transverse Rotor UAV: Bell-Hiller CONCEPT
I have been moving forward with my project to build a transverse rotor UAV. Here is a quick overview of this Bell-Hiller concept. (Oh, btw this is only a quick sketch done in Google Sketchup, it isn't totally to scale nor have I drawn in the entire structure)
1) Sin… Continue
Posted by Jeff on February 7, 2010 at 11:30am — 10 Comments
Arduino Version 0018 Release!!
v0018 is officially released and can be downloaded and installed!
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ReleaseNotes
Current Users of Arduino should continue to compile and upload their
… ContinuePosted by Michael Zaffuto on February 6, 2010 at 3:48pm — 4 Comments
DIY Drones - South African Chapter first general meeting
Posted by Tiaan Roux on February 5, 2010 at 10:49am — 21 Comments
DIYDrones Gets Nod in IEEE Spectrum Magazine
DIYDrones got a brief mention in an article in Spectrum, the magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The article is about first-person-view (FPV) flying, but the author mentions he read about FPV here and at FPVPilot.com.
Get a first-person view from the air with
… ContinuePosted by Paul Marsh on February 5, 2010 at 5:28am — 1 Comment
New AP with many ground barking tech. What category of autopilot is this?
Guys , should we have some thing like this( caption contest) going? Any way , diy AP cannot get any better than this , High lights/salient features.
>4 point landing gear, self retraction, auto flaps, self healing too
> no GPS required ,"tail wagging" is automatic (most of the times)
>RTL Works in air and on Land too!!
&… Continue
Posted by Morli on February 5, 2010 at 4:30am — 20 Comments
THIS WEEK IN AEROSPACE
MARCY 3 REVEALED
There's the current Marcy 3 plan. Unfortunately not enough space to build her. Basically install a fuselage around
Vika 1. It's obsolete but it wa… Continue
Posted by Jack Crossfire on February 5, 2010 at 12:39am — 3 Comments
What Size Parachute for ALL these planes ? EZ* , Multiplux EZCUB,Apprentice15,Slo-Stick
Posted by Earl on February 4, 2010 at 10:00pm — 5 Comments
DIY Drones authoring tools upgrade to rich text entry
If you're posting a blog post you'll note that the formatting tools are now much more powerful, allowing for WYSIWYG text and photo entry. No excuse for not having photos, videos and other eye candy! (Seriously, it's a very good idea to start your post with a relevent pho
… ContinuePosted by Chris Anderson on February 4, 2010 at 9:30pm — 3 Comments
Acromaster as UAVDevBoard platform
here are some experiences with Bill Premerlani amazing UAVDevBoard on a Multiplex Acromaster.
… Continue
Posted by Riccardo Kuebler on February 4, 2010 at 11:30am — 16 Comments
Octocopter
Posted by quadrocopter on February 4, 2010 at 3:25am
Project Andromeda update - CNC Machine and sponsors
We have been working very hard on the CNC machine and it's almost finished. The machine will form a vital part of our arsenal leading up to the competition. We will use it to create our launch/arrestor systems and also the molds for the airframe.
It is in working condition at the moment but we just ne… Continue
Posted by Nima K on February 4, 2010 at 12:45am — 2 Comments
Seattle Space Needle scale-model "Airframe" & Quad-Rotor Helicopter "Powerplant" 'makes it so'.
Imagine/Visualize:
[Top portion of] Seattle Space Needle "Airframe" in scale-model form
New extended range fuel cell, liquid hydrogen and 4-electric quad-motor "Powerplant" is in the middle of ....
That is all
Jack Frost Nippin' @ Your LH & LOX Nose ...
Help me honor the memory of our 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who was very much alive & well in 1962 when the Space Needle Building was first dedic… Continue
Posted by Gary Thomas on February 3, 2010 at 11:42pm
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News from Flight Global
Webbies 2009 - winners and judges comments
Eurofighter Typhoon, Amsterdam Schiphol International airport and Things in the Sky blog have triumphed at Flightglobal's annual aviation web awards. The Webbies 2009, now in its second year, celebrate the best and brightest in aviation websites and their social media activities. The Eurofighter website won the Best Aerospace website for its interactivity and games element. Amsterdam's airport triumphed in the Best Airport category for knocking down language barriers, and the judges were impressed with the blog, Things in the Sky for its "compelling visual content". The Webbies 2009 had two new categories: Best Enthusiast/Community Website to honour the website that deliversHoneywell to hush, bolster reliability of micro air vehicle
Honeywell plans to begin delivering its next-generation gas-powered micro air vehicle (gMAV) to the US Army's Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team by 2011,...US Army reports successful ground-based collision avoidance system
The US Army has successfully tested a ground-based sense and avoid system with a General Atomics Sky Warrior at an unmanned aircraft test site in El Mirage,...SINGAPORE 2010: Asian joint venture formed to market, build Israeli UAVs
Singapore-based Stratech Systems has announced launching a joint venture with Aeronautics Ltd to market the Israeli firm's unmanned systems in the Asia-Pacific...SINGAPORE 2010: UAVs to have more range and strike capability
The United State Air Force is working on new technologies that mean some of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the future will have in-flight refuelling capabilities, longer range and new strike capabilities. UAVs are moving beyond surveillance and kinetic strike capabilities to include, for example, directed energy weapons, the US Air Force’s chief scientist Werner Dahm, told delegates today at the Singapore Airshow’s Aerospace Technology and Maintenance conference. Longer-range missions means the UAVs will require highly efficient engine technologies and in some instances this will involve using solar energy and regenerative energy capabilities, says Dahm. He also says the US Air Force is working to develop UAVs that have in-flight refuelling capabilities and can use the US Air Force’s existing fleet of air tankers. The US Air Force used a Learjet “as a surrogate for the unmanned aerial system platform” and “the Learjet successfully got into contact posNews from UAVSI
Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Aids Haiti Relief
Northrop Grumman, which has an exhibition chalet at the Singapore Airshow 2010, said in a press conference Wednesday that it has been flying a Block 10 iteration of its Global Hawk over the last few weeks for the Haiti earthquake relief effort. Edward Walby, director of business development for Northrop’s Global Hawk Systems division, said that the UAV was deployed from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River base in Maryland, which is monitored from the Beale Air Force Base in California, to fly [More]Military Adapts Robotics Operation to Afghanistan
The shifting military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan is also shifting the way the military repairs its ground robots, says a U.S. Army project manager. "The static operation in Iraq, bring the robots to use and we'll fix them, doesn't work in Afghanistan," said Jeff Jaczkowski, deputy program manager of the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office at U.S. Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM). Jaczkowski spoke at the opening day of AUVSI's Unmanned Systems Program Review 2010, which [More]EADS to Sign MOU With Singapore Universities
Representatives from EADS Innovation Works Singapore revealed at the Singapore Airshow 2010 that they are signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Wednesday morning with two Singapore universities in a move to further its ties to the burgeoning technology hub. Under the agreement, both the National University of Singapore and Nanyung Technological University’s various engineering departments will perform research for EADS’ use. In exchange for the information, the company will sponsor the [More]NATO Affiliate Defines Classifications of UAVs, System Employment
In a move that might eventually formalize classifications of unmanned aerial systems, Air Cdre. Jan van Hoof of the NATO-affiliated Joint Air Power Competence Centre revealed 31 Jan. at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems Asia-Pacific that the center recently agreed upon categoric standardizations of different types of UAS. Specifying exactly what constitutes, for example, a mini UAV could increase communication effectiveness among nations regardless of which system it happens to have contracted, said van Hoof. The [More]Fiscal 2011 Defense Budget Boosts Unmanned Systems
The Obama Administration on 1 Feb. unveiled a $708 billion fiscal 2011 defense budget that calls for more unmanned aircraft flights over Iraq and Afghanistan and buys more UAS, while eliminating part of the U.S. Army's former Future Combat Systems. "FY 2011 investment spending will continue the expanded use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in war zones. The request of $2.2 billion supports the plan to increase Predator-Class CAPs [Combat Air Patrols] from the current 37 to 65 by FY 2013," according [More]© 2010 Created by Chris Anderson
