UAV, Drone, Hexacopter build. - Updated 23-June-15 Flight Test.

Wonderfully entertaining thread :clap:

Good luck with the flight................ almost feel like you should be selling tickets to the event :D
 
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johnnypanic said:
Wonderfully entertaining thread :clap:

Good luck with the flight................ almost feel like you should be selling tickets to the event :D
Click to expand...

Thanks, Great idea, it will help with the rebuild costs if it all goes Pete Tong :)
 
Mate, I hope your uav is like the ones from the new terminator film. I am expecting nothing less from u, conor!!!
 
Part 10A

Hi, Next I had to finish programming the transmitters and fine tuning what I could on the bench, fit the video feed and also the on-screen display, to a monitor.
I was using the DJI AVL58 to transmit video from the drone to the monitor, and was going to use the receiver from the AVL58 to pick up the video feed but decided i didn't want another part with the monitor. Something i was looking for was to keep everything as small and self contained as possible, so i looked around for a monitor with a built in receiver ( of the correct band for the AVL58 transmitter). and found the Fieldview 777 32Rx monitor, with its 7" screen and built in 32 channel receiver, a battery was chosen which would run the monitor for about 3 hours, and a carbon fibre bracket was purchased to secure the monitor to the transmitter, this was done on bot transmitters so the pilot and camera man could see exactly what was happening with view from camera and also the data feed from the drone which was provided by the DJI iOSD2.

Shows back of monitor with battery in place and bracket to mount onto transmitter.
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Monitor mounted to transmitter, showing live feed and On Screen Display of data.
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Close up on OSD and data from drone (not all active as drone not flying)
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Mad Mushroom antenna, designed by legendary IBcrazy.
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Next make up transmitters and check settings
 
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Part 10B

Next up was to label the transmitters and functions and to double check functions.

A small label gun was purchased so I could label up the transmitters, hopefully so no confusion can be had while using them.

Tarot X8 transmitter labelled up.
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Dji Zenmuse Z15 5D Gimbal labelled up.
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My initial start settings for the gain and attitude have been loaded in (im using the DJI suggested wookong M settings for the DJI s1000
as the characteristics should be around the same.

So over the next flew days ifs time for some fine tuning in flight and them some trial flights.


So next time i will report back on the testing flights, and also give details of all the suppliers I have used during the build.

thanks for looking

Mark
 
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Getting to the really exciting stuff now :banana: Best of luck
 
Great thread. I'm looking forward to hearing how it all goes - hopefully successful.
 
I'm waiting for the rain and high winds to go every time I get home it's just too bad to calibrate the gain settings
 
It is, I'm getting impatient to get it done too,
 
I bet! To put all that work in only to br grounded by the weather! Oh well, it should hopefully pass soon.

So do you have a specific idea of what you want to use it for or have any particular locations you would like to use it?
 
It's built for still photography, the video is an added bonus, It's so I can get images from a different perspective I'm into abstract personally, but I also intend to use it commercially after passing the relevant tests, but initially just for my photography.
 
Part 11

Hi everyone, well i finally got some nice calm dry time after i finished work today, so everything was outside for a flight test.

The mission today was to :-

1. make sure that full GPS lock could be attained from UAV to GPS satellites..
2. basic control of the UAV was OK and all movement controls worked.
3. a hover in GPS mode could sustained.
4. retracts work without any undue problems.

After these were done, it will be gain testing & tuning, from my initial settings.

Drone was weighed and its All Up Weight AUW is 9.6Kg.

With some calculations done I am expecting a mixed flying time off approx 8min per 16000mah battery.

here are some photos of the UAV ready to go,

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Sorry the video is a bit small, will try better next time.

Video shows UAV in GPS hover mode with throttle stick at 50% no input from controller or me at all.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153450964566514


Test was a success, the gains were quite stable but will need a tweak, i got no undue wobble, hover was stable with minimal wondering and very little loss of altitude,
after a stick input UAV responded nicely with no adverse after wobble.

I got about 7.5 mins from the battery before my first battery limit was hit, at that point test stopped.

all in all I was very pleased with its first outing and looking forward to more.

As always i will continue to update this thread as i go along.

thanks for looking.
 
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Canon Bob said:
That looks absolutely brilliant, Mark, well done.

Bob
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Thanks Bob, I'm just glad all went well with the test. Its a big relief, as there's a lot of time & money involved in it.

The gimbal is so smooth its unreal, I will do some video next time from the 5D2 to test smoothness etc.

I'm looking forward to many great flights with it.

I still have some more setting up and testing to do but having seen it fly its awesome.

Mark
 
Well done that man :clap:

Kept checking this thread, it was like looking forward to a birth :banana::D
 
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Any more updates on this? Been quietly following for the past couple of months.
 
Hi updates are, it's been flying for the past few months, but the flight time is too short, having looked into various upgrades etc I have decided it needs to be a lot lighter and a different design, so I'm going to build another one to my own specs details and full build later this year until then I will strip ready for the new build
 
Fantastic read....look foreword to the next one!
 
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mho said:
Zeppelin come to mind.
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Hardly!

There must be a better option than a battery that lasts for less than 10 minutes.
 
An air Bourne hydrogen tank would not pass risk assessment on I would guess at 99% of sites.
 
10 mins isn't bad as most shots only last 10 to 30 seconds with multiple passes over time, as shot rest etc and directors given the pace of shooting
 
mho said:
An air Bourne hydrogen tank would not pass risk assessment on I would guess at 99% of sites.
Click to expand...
It's in its infancy. I suspect that over time the fuel cells will look like a (large) battery.

Maybe shots are only 30 seconds long, but it would be cool to be able to loiter for longer.
 
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