UAV helicopter

Hi. I have a RC helicopter and I would like to convert it to semi-autonomous flight. I have a Spartan AP2000i, which works great for stabilising the heli; but now I want to be able to tell the heli to go where I want or program a circuit for it to go around. If possible, different altitudes within the circuit would be great. I know that there are a few off-the-shelf solutions, but what would be the best for helicopters?

Thanks for any input.

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Permalink Reply by Scott James on May 3, 2008 at 11:50pm
Hi Uzi, I'm in Melbourne also, How do you find the Spartan AP2000i? Does it work well?
I have a Align Trex 450 SE V2 that I would like to turn into a UAV one day also but I am starting with a plane first because it is about 100 times eaiser! If I can get that working then I will try out my trex!
Are you looking for a off the shelf answer or do you want to code something up yourself?
Permalink Reply by uzi1978 on May 4, 2008 at 3:04am
The Ap2000i is great at holding the bird level. You can basically take-off and land by controlling the pitch only. What I'm looking for is an auto-pilot which would let the helicopter go to different GPS waypoints and also have a back-to-base function.

A nice feature would be to be able to follow a moving target at a pre-programmed altitude. I know of a few systems on the market, but at $5k, it's a big stretch for me.
Permalink Reply by uzi1978 on May 4, 2008 at 4:18am
Hey Scott, I'm located in Hallam by the way. I'm working on a platform so as to be able to enter the UAV OUTBACK CHALLENGE. I don't know if you heard about it, but you can go to www/uavoutbackchallenge.com.au for more info. You'll see what I mean by semi auto-pilot for my project. It would be great if we could share some information...
Permalink Reply by Scott James on May 4, 2008 at 4:18am
Sounds good! I think $5K is a big stretch for anyone doing it as a weekend hobby. I was thinking that maybe the AP200i could be a good place to start for making an auto pilot for a heli.
But even with the stabilization taken care of there is still many factors to consider to actually make the thing fly. I know how long it took me to learn how to do turns properly while if forward flight, to simulate that will be very difficult. You defiantly can’t just pull around the tail like moving the rudder on a plane! Another thing you would have to include was a position hold (landing or hovering) routine which would also be quite a challenge, and to get all this to work via CCPM............................. Hmmmmm, the more I thing about it the more my head hurts!!!
It's loooooong term project.


Maybe $5K is not so bad :)
Permalink Reply by uzi1978 on May 4, 2008 at 4:25am
That's what I was thinking too about the $5K...but I'm not going to learn anything that way. I guess that in the end, after a few trials, crashes, burnt Lipos and cracked blades, the repair bill will be approaching these $5k.
Permalink Reply by Scott James on May 4, 2008 at 4:37am
Yes, that's the bad thing about the heli, it only has to tip over on the ground and you have to replace blades, flybar, main shaft and if your lucky all the bearing are OK and you dont have to set up the head again!!

Sharing Info sounds good, I'd love to enter the UAV challange but I think it would be 2009 before I had something that could be entered! (still playing with the Basic stamp and deciding weather to look at Arduino or Propeller)
BTW I'm in Ringwood.
Permalink Reply by uzi1978 on May 4, 2008 at 4:48am
2009 sounds good. This year's entry is ending in may anyway.

As for me, I have no idea what to do next. I was thinking about getting a RCAP or Papparazzi. Can't make a decision because of lack of shared experiences. I find many posts about development of these things but not many done and working projects...
Permalink Reply by Scott James on May 4, 2008 at 5:02am
I'm up for the challenge to make one from scratch, (well not totally from scratch!) I have found the code supplied by Chris Anderson (Thanks again Chris!) and others a great help in both learning the programming and also learning what is needed to make it all work. It's a great place to start. Another reason for giving it a go is if I hit a hurdle there are 100's of people smarter then me on this site that can help. (I hope :) And to actually get something working in the end will be a great feeling....... oh yea, and also winning the UAV outback challenge :) Bring on the $50K!!
Permalink Reply by muhammad jawad majid malik on April 11, 2009 at 9:59pm
Hi Scott James,
Your views caught my attention!
I too want to build an Autopilot from scratch( buy an ANALOG Devices Tri-axial + TI DSP board); albeit, there are some ready made stuff available which can do the desired stuff i want.Yes cost is one of the hurdles!
I would like to pursue this exercise in phases; first is to achieve a hover ie deal with the roll/pitch stabilization unit initially.You mentioned of having made some start, please can you guide me to the relevant code!
Any one having achieved in building a roll/pitch stabilization unit?
Sincerely,
muhammad
UAE
Permalink Reply by Borgel on May 4, 2008 at 9:43pm
I'm pursuing the same goal through slightly different means. After seeing so many fantastically cool 4 rotor helicopters, I finally convinced myself to get the parts, so now I have a scratchbuilt and nigh untested quadcopter sitting in the corner of my room, just begging to get a brain. I think Im going to go with a Parallax Propeller for the uC, and am now doing the research to figure out which gyros/accelerometers/other senors to get. I figure that the multi core arcitecture should be great for handling lots of sensor data and the associated calculations while performing navigation and such at the same time.

Good luck!
Permalink Reply by Scott James on May 9, 2008 at 12:03am
I was just checking out the Spartan AP2000i and noticed that it does all the CCPM mixing….. Does that mean that you disable all the CCPM mixing in the transmitter??
If so that would make turning it into a UAV a little easier!! By about 5% :)
Permalink Reply by uzi1978 on May 9, 2008 at 12:57am
That's the beauty of it Scott. When you do the setup on your Tx, you have to select a 1 servo swashplate. The AP2000i does all the CCPM mixing. You'll notice that it's called eCCPM (try a few forums such as RunRyder about it). It's possibilities don't stop there; you can also go flybarless is you want and it does all the work for you. Check out this video; you'll see how easy it makes hovering...http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633062

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