- Joined
- Mar 8, 2018
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 3
- Age
- 29
I've got a uni project that's been running this year where we have to design and build a fixed wing UAV from the ground up, flying it in a few months. It's a group project and I'm the one who's specialised in avionics so it's up to me to sort out everything out with that.
One aspect of the avionics from the design requirements we've been given is that our UAV has to display a live video feed, and be able to take pictures of the ground. Verbatim the requirements say:
• The UAV must take detailed photographs of the ground. The photos need to either be stored on the UAV or downloaded directly to the ground station.
• The UAV must, as a minimum, report continually to a ground base station its current location (superimposed on a map), estimated battery level and live video feed. The ground base station must be designed to work on a standard laptop or tablet.
I want to make sure I've sorted everything I need in order to satisfy these and I'd like some help.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Some basics of the UAV, we're using a Pixhawk 1 flight controller, with 433MHz (UK) SiK radio for telemetry, we're using Mission Planner for our ground station, and we've been provided with a Futaba 6K controller and receiver. We've also been given a battery but I'm not sure on the specs for it and we may be buying another. The UAV needs to be able to fly for half an hour according to the requirements.
Obviously we need a camera and OSD, currently intending to use these because they largely all seem similar and these are in budget and are popular according to the shop:
ArduPilot Mega Minim OSD v1.2
Wizard X220S 800 TVL CCD FPV Camera
I've read that the radio telemetry we're using can't be used to also transmit the live video feed so we need a separate video transmitter and receiver, currently these seem likely:
https://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/immersion-rc-5-8-ghz-25-mw-transmitter
https://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/immersionrc-uno5800-v4-1-race-edition-5-8-ghz-a-v-receiver
And I know we won't have access to mains power while flying so we'll need a battery to power the receiver (currently looking at a 3.7V, 600mAh LiPo battery), and we'll need an A/V to USB cable to connect it to a computer.
One thing I can't find a definitive answer for is whether we need a separate battery to power the camera or whether the battery we're using to power everything else (including the motor and servos) can be used if it's capacity is enough.
I'm also not sure if we need anything else to be able to take pictures or whether it can be done via Mission Planner, we'll probably be mounting the camera at an angle so it'll be providing a live feed and taking ground pictures without having to move.
Beyond that I want to know if I'm missing anything essential for giving us FPV on our UAV, and that everything we are using is compatible.
Thanks for any help anyone can offer, if this isn't the right place then point me to it and I'll post there.
One aspect of the avionics from the design requirements we've been given is that our UAV has to display a live video feed, and be able to take pictures of the ground. Verbatim the requirements say:
• The UAV must take detailed photographs of the ground. The photos need to either be stored on the UAV or downloaded directly to the ground station.
• The UAV must, as a minimum, report continually to a ground base station its current location (superimposed on a map), estimated battery level and live video feed. The ground base station must be designed to work on a standard laptop or tablet.
I want to make sure I've sorted everything I need in order to satisfy these and I'd like some help.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Some basics of the UAV, we're using a Pixhawk 1 flight controller, with 433MHz (UK) SiK radio for telemetry, we're using Mission Planner for our ground station, and we've been provided with a Futaba 6K controller and receiver. We've also been given a battery but I'm not sure on the specs for it and we may be buying another. The UAV needs to be able to fly for half an hour according to the requirements.
Obviously we need a camera and OSD, currently intending to use these because they largely all seem similar and these are in budget and are popular according to the shop:
ArduPilot Mega Minim OSD v1.2
Wizard X220S 800 TVL CCD FPV Camera
I've read that the radio telemetry we're using can't be used to also transmit the live video feed so we need a separate video transmitter and receiver, currently these seem likely:
https://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/immersion-rc-5-8-ghz-25-mw-transmitter
https://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/immersionrc-uno5800-v4-1-race-edition-5-8-ghz-a-v-receiver
And I know we won't have access to mains power while flying so we'll need a battery to power the receiver (currently looking at a 3.7V, 600mAh LiPo battery), and we'll need an A/V to USB cable to connect it to a computer.
One thing I can't find a definitive answer for is whether we need a separate battery to power the camera or whether the battery we're using to power everything else (including the motor and servos) can be used if it's capacity is enough.
I'm also not sure if we need anything else to be able to take pictures or whether it can be done via Mission Planner, we'll probably be mounting the camera at an angle so it'll be providing a live feed and taking ground pictures without having to move.
Beyond that I want to know if I'm missing anything essential for giving us FPV on our UAV, and that everything we are using is compatible.
Thanks for any help anyone can offer, if this isn't the right place then point me to it and I'll post there.