Surveyor Robotics Journal
Surveyor Corporation home page
Subscribe to a syndicated RSS feed.
Archives
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
Februray 2006
January 2006
Sun, 25 Nov 2007
UAV installation of SRV-1 Blackfin - Part 1
We are working with new quad rotor called the "X-3D-BL Scientific" from Ascending Technologies GmbH in Stockdorf, Germany, with the concept of integrating the SRV-1 Blackfin camera and radio board with the UAV flight controls.
Interface is relatively simple - the X-3D-BL has a very capable onboard inertial measurement unit integrated with the brushless motor controls, so the interface between Blackfin and UAV is a simple 38kbps UART. To power the SRV-1 boards, we are connecting directly to the UAV battery pack (11.1V LiPoly).
We have mounted the radio board with a single standoff in place of the original X-3D FM antenna, after drilling a hole in the radio board and clearing a trace that goes to the unused Zigbee header. We added a simple antenna bracket, so everything is securely mounted.
We have made some simple indoor flight tests to verify that there are no issues with balance or radio interference. Image transmission through the WLAN from the SRV-1 Blackfin boards is working fine, and the UAV flight is very stable.
Next step is to run the flight controls from the SRV1Console (with some redefined buttons) through the Blackfin to the X-3D via the UART. One short-term goal is to capture video through the SRV1Console video archive function. After than, an ultrasonic ranging module will be added to the system for ground clearance measurement and control. Beyond that, we have a very long list of projects, including servo control of the camera tilt angle. However, our near-term objective is to develop the necessary firmware to support customers who are building the SRV-1 Blackfin boards into UAV applications. Plus, this is really fun !
Posted Sun, 25 Nov 2007 15:06 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...