[Noisebridge-discuss] occucopter hackers

Fri Jan 6 03:11:38 UTC 2012

I'm dying build to my own hexacopter and will eventually. I think I'm going
to have to slowly accumulate parts.

In the meantime I just bought one of these cameras to play around with
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8667
$9.95 is pretty cheap.

Of course you need something with a reasonably fast I/O to pull the data
off of it. Maybe > 28MHz ? 640x480 * 3 * 30 ?
Beagle Bone has the clock speed; seems pretty cheap at $89. That doesn't
solve any of the wireless / power issues. If its tethered then I'd try to
use the cable that its connected to for data/power.

The more off the shelf setup could be something like one of those really
cheap Android phones like the Huawei Comet phone I got from Bestbuy for
$150. I'm sure you could probably get it even cheaper. That solution is
kinda already there. In terms of weight; it might be a whole lot lighter if
you stripped off the casing, touch screen, and keypad. I haven't
disassembled mine yet so can't give any feedback on what the pcb and camera
alone weigh. To be honest I have misplaced mine but will probably find it
soon.

I can help whip up an Android app at a moment notice if needed.
Brandon

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 12:46 PM, Corey McGuire <coreyfro at coreyfro.com>wrote:

> I didn't mean that to come off in an angry tenor.  And I wasn't responding
> to you. Rather, the person with the need.  Feel free to solve this problem
> your own way.
> On Jan 5, 2012 10:54 AM, "Jake" <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
>
>>  I still don't think it's a good idea, nor do I think it will please law
>>> enforcement for obvious safety reasons.
>>>
>>
>> damn, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
>>
>> yes, i am expecting to have to write an autopilot program from scratch.
>>
>> by neutrally buoyant, i mean slightly heavier than air.
>>
>> it's an airplane, so it has to move forward to fight gravity, and when it
>> is told to stay in one place it should end up flying directly into the
>> wind.  If the wind is faster than what is needed for zero climb/fall it can
>> aim its prop down to reduce lift, and if the wind is too slow it can
>> automatically circle the spot.
>>
>> yes it will have a battery, and use electricity.  It will also carry an
>> android phone.  I don't think this is too much weight for a balloon.
>>
>> other people have talked about a tethered balloon.  I am not stopping
>> them, however I want something a lot better.  I understand that I will need
>> to write software.
>>
>> I am not trying to please the cops.
>>
>> If anyone wants to help design the envelope shape, please contact me off
>> list.  I'm looking to copy this design:
>>
>> http://solarship.com/
>>
>> -jake
>>
>> On Thu, 5 Jan 2012, Corey McGuire wrote:
>>
>>  What is the expectation of flight time?  If it's anything longer than 20
>>> minutes, may I suggest an alternative?
>>>
>>> K.I.S.S.
>>>
>>> Balloon with tethers.
>>>
>>> Nothing relying on power and control is going to either withstand wind,
>>> have
>>> endurance, be lite enough to fly, or is going to stay in one spot.  And
>>> nothing is going to have autopilot/autohover for less than $2000
>>> (http://www.mikrokopter.de/**ucwiki/en/**KomplettsetUebersicht<http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/KomplettsetUebersicht>)
>>> unless someone
>>> is willing to spend a lot of DIY time.  One cannot will a device into
>>> existence that posses enough of all of these traits to beat a balloon
>>> with
>>> tethers.
>>>
>>> Besides, you'll need someone on the ground focused entirely on flight.
>>> Being that third person view in three dimensions is a challenging task,
>>> you'll find that most people get exhausted after almost no time at all.
>>>
>>> If you are still sold on the "something powered" solution...
>>>
>>> How do we fix flight time:
>>>  *  Small blimps bob around like a buoy.  You'll get sea sick trying to
>>>    watch the video.  Not only that, they'll sail off unless you have a
>>> very
>>>    decent power supply.  Also, anything neutrally buoyant in open air?
>>>  How
>>>    are you going to get it back down?  I invite you to solve this problem
>>>    FIRST.
>>>  *  Anything battery powered is straight out.  Lifting a battery in to
>>> the
>>>    air means short flight times - period.  Grow the battery, increase the
>>>    amount of work required to fly.  Quickly, your battery outweighs it's
>>>    capacity.
>>>  *  Fuel poses another problem.  You can't simply turn fuel craft on and
>>>    off.  If your craft goes out of control, then you have a spinning saw
>>>    blade looking for a target.  There are solutions...but will they work
>>> to
>>>    the satisfaction of, say, the police?  Believe it or not, there are
>>> laws
>>>    to this effect, and they usually require flying outside city limits.
>>>  *  Anything "copter" or "rotor" is going to eat through fuel because
>>> they
>>>    do not benefit from the mechanical advantage of wings.  Basically,
>>>    flight time requires wings.
>>> Once you've solved flight times, control is still a problem:
>>>  *  Who is going to put the craft in a steady hover/flight pattern?
>>>  *  Will you have a rotation of pilots?
>>>  *  You can afford an auto pilot?  GREAT!  YOU still need to know how to
>>> fly
>>>    and YOU still need to watch your craft at ALL TIMES.
>>>
>>> So far, through investigating this, I have found the following recipe:
>>>
>>>  *  http://diydrones.com/profiles/**blogs/ardupilot-mega-home-page<http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/ardupilot-mega-home-page>
>>>  * http://www.hobbyking.com/**hobbyking/store/__17227__**
>>> Phoenix_2000_EPO_Composit<http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17227__Phoenix_2000_EPO_Composit>
>>>    e_R_C_Glider_ARF_.html
>>>  *  http://coxengines.ca/product.**php?productid=453<http://coxengines.ca/product.php?productid=453>
>>>
>>> I still don't think it's a good idea, nor do I think it will please law
>>> enforcement for obvious safety reasons.
>>>
>>> My recommendation? Balloons with tethers.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler - Albert
>>> Einstein
>>> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo Da Vinci
>>> Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when
>>> there
>>> is nothing left to take away - Antoine de Saint Exup?ry
>>> Keep It Simple Stupid - Kelly Johnson
>>>
>>>
>>>
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-- 
Brandon Edens | brandonedens at gmail.com | brandonedens.org | key 0x42248B92
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