I need another u.fl connector-based antenna for the ground station XBee Pro modem. I found some at Sparkfun. Per advice, the best plan is to go for the cable and duck route. All of the electronics will be boxed to make them easier to shield from the high current wiring from the batteries to the ESC to the motors.
My current plan is to use:
SMA duck antenna
u.fl to SMA cable
Buzz Labs' unmanned vehicle blog and cool DIY remote controlled stuff blog. For techies by techies, maybe also some interesting tidbits about small business and international business.
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Showing posts with label paparazzi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paparazzi. Show all posts
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tiny 2.11 Out of the Box
For those of you following these projects, I have tried to wing an autopilot myself. It actually is getting there, but I thought. Better to get to market with a product before we spend five years debugging stuff that was just a dead end to begin with. I was reading around about each of the other projects on DIY drones. I was considering the Ardurino autopilot, but was a bit concerned of writing ANSI C at a register level. So I went with the Paparazzi autopilot which is well received and more finished to a level where I was willing to get my feet wet.
I got my Tiny 2.11 from Chebuzz in California/UK.
"unpaid recommendation" The guys at Chebuzz are great, I do suggest buying from them. They are better priced for the American market than the other assemblers, have great service and are willing to answer even my bone-headed questions. "unpaid recommendation"
Out of the box, well it came in a normal padded envelope. I was eagerly trying to figure out what each board did. Having returned from vacation, I had forgotten what I had learned. So, here are the parts I received from the "Everything You Need" kit from Chebuzz.
XBee Pro modems
modem0modem1modem2modem3modem4
Main Tiny 2.11 board with pico blade connectors
top
bottom
ESC throttle wire
black and white two pin
I got my Tiny 2.11 from Chebuzz in California/UK.
"unpaid recommendation" The guys at Chebuzz are great, I do suggest buying from them. They are better priced for the American market than the other assemblers, have great service and are willing to answer even my bone-headed questions. "unpaid recommendation"
Out of the box, well it came in a normal padded envelope. I was eagerly trying to figure out what each board did. Having returned from vacation, I had forgotten what I had learned. So, here are the parts I received from the "Everything You Need" kit from Chebuzz.
XBee Pro modems
modem0modem1modem2modem3modem4
Main Tiny 2.11 board with pico blade connectors
top
bottom
ESC throttle wire
black and white two pin
The "Fat Man" Is Still Grounded, He Is At the Pub So We Won't Worry Just Yet
Yeah, this kind of sucks. After a year of construction and planning, we find out that there is an international weapons treaty that says that you cannot sell certain weight vehicles internationally that have autonomous guidance systems capable of free flight beyond a certain range. Ok, I get it. Who wants Tom, Dick or Harry building a 150lb (70kg) pop rocket and flying it half way across the planet to make a real mess.
When you think about it, they are just setting rules to make it hard for the forces of evil. I have no interest in being one of the "dark side." My master tells me so. Ok, no more Star Wars references, but I make no promises. If anyone knows more about the "". Or what the real rules are about any of this, please let me know. There is no interest in using this device for any government purpose. I want to pull banners at the beach or to do small scale spraying of crops.
Another question that would be great to hear some explanation of and/or some reasonable listing of what can be discussed between international unmanned vehicle (UAV/UAS/UGV) colleagues. I would hate to blip someone's radar because I was talking about a simple guidance system idea at the pub. Yeah, yeah this is a real problem, I am more likely to be drinking a pint than trying to sink a 40' put on the back nine of Pebble Beach.
I am pretty sure that this is a messy topic and probably best left well-enough alone. However, if there is a chance to get this sorted and get the Fat Man to fly as more than a giant-scale RC plane that would be freaking awesome. Any qualified help is appreciated, I know that the FAA has been pretty draconian in their official guidelines.
When you think about it, they are just setting rules to make it hard for the forces of evil. I have no interest in being one of the "dark side." My master tells me so. Ok, no more Star Wars references, but I make no promises. If anyone knows more about the "". Or what the real rules are about any of this, please let me know. There is no interest in using this device for any government purpose. I want to pull banners at the beach or to do small scale spraying of crops.
Another question that would be great to hear some explanation of and/or some reasonable listing of what can be discussed between international unmanned vehicle (UAV/UAS/UGV) colleagues. I would hate to blip someone's radar because I was talking about a simple guidance system idea at the pub. Yeah, yeah this is a real problem, I am more likely to be drinking a pint than trying to sink a 40' put on the back nine of Pebble Beach.
I am pretty sure that this is a messy topic and probably best left well-enough alone. However, if there is a chance to get this sorted and get the Fat Man to fly as more than a giant-scale RC plane that would be freaking awesome. Any qualified help is appreciated, I know that the FAA has been pretty draconian in their official guidelines.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Chebuzz Paparazzi Tiny 2.11 Autopilot Setup
I will start posting my adventures in setting up a Chebuzz Paparazzi Autopilot. It does not seem to hard, but there are always hitches to these things. I have the equipment, I will post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.
I bought an "everything you need" kit witht he Xbee Pro 2.4GHz modems. I had some questions from the Chebuzz guys, and I will gladly post their responses to the blog as they come in.
One of the things that I would like to cover here is the construction of some airlock boxes for the Tiny 2.11. That way there is no cable tension on the devices themselves and we will have some nice boxes to mount inside the fuselage. It is not very professional to just stick boards into fuselage, there can be all kinds of issues if they are not properly secured.
I bought an "everything you need" kit witht he Xbee Pro 2.4GHz modems. I had some questions from the Chebuzz guys, and I will gladly post their responses to the blog as they come in.
One of the things that I would like to cover here is the construction of some airlock boxes for the Tiny 2.11. That way there is no cable tension on the devices themselves and we will have some nice boxes to mount inside the fuselage. It is not very professional to just stick boards into fuselage, there can be all kinds of issues if they are not properly secured.
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