http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/vicacopter_open_source_autonomous_vtol_uav.html -- kinda OT but fun.
Sent to you by Silverlokk via Google Reader: Vicacopter open source autonomous VTOL UAV via MAKE Magazine by Adam Flaherty on 1/27/10 The mysterious Jack Crossfire's open source Vicacopter autonomous VTOL UAVs are amazing to watch. For around a hundred dollars you, too, can build your own. You need to be an expert in PIC assembly, electronics, & the VicaCopter source code to actually get it to work, but this is actual source code flying our autonomous VTOL aircraft, not an incomplete stage which can't hover. The VicaCopter supports 2 configurations: 3 gyros & a sonar transducer for the minimal autopilot 6 DOF IMU, magnetometer, barometer, GPS for the full autopilot Some things VicaCopter can do: Can fly with under $100 of parts, not including the airframe. Automated landing & takeoff Sonar position sensing for indoor flight GPS position sensing for outdoor flight Ground station instrument panel Untethered communication from pilot to ground station Fully autonomous missions written in picoC scripting language Manual altitude & position changes from stick commands Curved or linear paths Turning towards a point Camera trigger Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Flying | Digg this! Things you can do from here: - Subscribe to MAKE Magazine using Google Reader - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
_________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
