Heros - UAV/FPV platform

[lukasz]

I would like to share with you my latest Gluonpilot UAV/FPV platform.
Main idea that I had in mind while building this plane was to keep it simple, easy to transport and of course an option carry FPV system.
Tests will show if the plane will be capable of carrying additional camera for aerial photo-shooting.

Main brain of the platform is of course Gluonpilot with OSD extension board.
Here I would like to thank Tom for the great job he has put into this project.

As a data link I'm using xbee 868 placed on Sparkfun extension board (standard antennas)

Plane is equipped with 600TVL Sony super had CCD D-WDR Color Board Camera.
As a Video link I'm using Lawmate 1,2 500mW with standard antennas.
In close future I plan to attach inverted-Vee antenna on board the plane and Bi-Quad on ground.

Here are couple details regarding my platform:
Wingspan: 1450
Length: 350
Weight (ready to fly): 950g
Motor: TowerPro 2409-12T - for time being it provides enough power
ESC: Dualsky 30A
Batteries:
1x1300mA (Gluonpilot, GPS, xbee, camera, VTx)
1x2200mA (motor + servos)

And here are some photos for those who would like to see it:

PICT0392_small_2.jpg (369.57 KiB) Viewed 12686 times

PICT0398_small_2.jpg (489.58 KiB) Viewed 12686 times

IMAG0185_small.jpg (466.6 KiB) Viewed 12686 times

Stay tuned for some videos.

[Tom]

This must be the most beautiful and complete gluonpilot powered plane ever!
Great job!

[lukasz]

Thanks Tom,

Soon I will place some videos showing the plane in action.

Btw, Is there an option to extend attachment size when uploading pictures?
Currently this is limited to 512 KiB

[Tom]

I would rather not, I only have 500MB webspace...

Maybe you can make the resolution smaller?

[lukasz]

OK, for future photos I will just change the resolution to fit given limit.

[cassini]

a beauty!

[lukasz]

Here is a boring video of a flight i did last week:
https://vimeo.com/41641437

On the video I was flying FPV and was switching from time to time to AutoPilot mode to test recovery in case or RC signal lost.

Platform was rebuild and upgraded with more powerful engine (NTM Prop Drive Series 35-30A)+ new ESC.
RC link has been upgraded to a long range system (eLeReS).
Unfortunately on the next flight after this video I had a hard landing due to running out of battery.
Damage is not that big and only part that suffered is the fuselage- I had in plans to rebuild it so no worries here

[Tom]

Hi Lukasz,

Thanks for the video!

Did the "arrow" change work correctly?

[lukasz]

Yes, the arrow indicator works correctly.
If possible, can we make it bigger?
On the video we can see it clearly, but within goggles it's still quite small to see.

[lukasz]

It's been a while since I updated my "Heros" platform thread.
It doesn't though mean that I wasn't flying

After hardware upgrades and fixes after last crash the platform is back in business performing both Auto-Pilot and FPV flying.
Here are two photos of it's current look:

IMG_0297_small.jpg (387.21 KiB) Viewed 12038 times

IMG_0299_small.jpg (421.71 KiB) Viewed 12038 times

Today I shoot two videos from ccd cam:
1. Here I tuned the Auto landing - unfortunately the plane has good gliding conditions and at the end I switch to manual mode. Also during this flight i did an AP climb up to 200m and back to 60m.
[vimeo] https://vimeo.com/51402988 [/vimeo]

2. Here is a successful full AP start, circle and auto-landing:
[vimeo] https://vimeo.com/51405812 [/vimeo]

3. And here is an manual and FPV flight I shoot a week ago:
[vimeo] https://vimeo.com/51405143 [/vimeo]

(the videos are being processed at the moment so you can check them out in 30min)