[Hackupy-discuss] Aerial camera platform

[Joachim Pedersen]

FYI Did a quick brain dump copy paste to http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/OccuCopter
Discuss!
-Joachim
------------------------------





On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 16:24, ian <ian at sonic.net> wrote:
>
> I thought about steering...  rather than having a steerable robot, it could
> just orbit continuously around the pole as it drives up and down, like a
> screw.  Then, aiming it is just a matter of driving it up or down a foot.
> Looking at some poles today, I was also imagining something that has two
> modes, turn around and go straight, and has a pole-clamp that doesn't reach
> all the way around.  Such a device would have the ability to bypass some
> signs attached to the pole, which would be helpful.
> Magnetic wheels could be nice for something that doesn't have to wrap around
> at all, but not all poles are steel...  around here at least, many of them
> are concrete.
> Solar could be handy...  remember, we'll use these in the daytime too.  We
> don't have the same low-weight constraint as with a UAV, so options like
> that (or a big fat battery) are conceivable.
> -Ian
> On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 1:54 PM, Tomm <tomm.fire at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Ian,
>>
>> I like it!  I designed pipe crawling robots long ago, and a challenge with
>> them is that if the weight isn't distributed quite right, they tend to
>> wander and this makes them hard to steer.  Putting most weight towards the
>> bottom of the crawler will help keep it aligned.  We used differential
>> (tank-like) driving.
>>
>> Magnetic wheels are great, but be careful when putting the robot on the
>> pipe.  The really strong magnetic wheels are brittle, and I saw a number of
>> shattered wheels over the years.  Spares highly recommended.  Also, magnetic
>> wheels will leave marks on painted surfaces - just something to keep in
>> mind, as coating the wheels would reduce the adhesion significantly.
>>
>> Here's an magnetic pipe crawler that shows a good aspect ratio for a pipe
>> crawler:
>> http://images.yourdictionary.com/images/computer/_MAGPIE.GIF
>>
>> Since the robot will be on a light pole near a huge honkin' light, it
>> might be a good idea to put a solar panel on the top of the unit.  Not only
>> is it light shielding for the camera, but there's enough lux that you might
>> get the rated panel output, and a 4" x 6" panel can deliver 100 mA.  That
>> should be enough to drive a phone for several hours a day, and perhaps even
>> most of the time.  Seems like a good idea for long-term occupations as you'd
>> only have to install the robot once.
>>
>>
>> http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_228072_-1
>>
>> Happy to meet in person,
>>
>>    Tomm
>> (also just subscribed)
>>
>> On 11/19/11 12:06 PM, Ian Baker wrote:
>>>
>>> Hey! Just subscribed. I've been thinking about this aerial camera
>>> platform thing for a while... Helicopters, balloons, airplanes, etc.
>>> Each machine has it's issues, along the lines of stability, cost, ease
>>> of compromise, runtime, lack of anonymity for the person controlling
>>> it, etc.
>>>
>>> What I want is a solution that's cheap, easily replicable, requires
>>> little operator skill, holds the camera still, works in wind, runs for
>>> a long time, is easy to aim, is easy to move to another location,
>>> shields the camera operator from identification by police, and makes
>>> the camera itself hard to capture. If it meets these goals, it could
>>> be broadly scalable... Everybody could have one.
>>>
>>> Last night I think I figured it out: a simple robot that can climb
>>> tapered metal poles, and carries a gimbaled camera platform. Clamp it
>>> to a lightpost, drive it to the top, recover when
>>> necessary/convenient.
>>>
>>> Not quite as hard to catch as a helicopter, but also more stealth.
>>> Doesn't get quite as much altitude, but I don't think we need much.
>>> Doesn't have any of the issues that balloons do. Runs all day, and I
>>> bet it could be built for less money than the smartphone we strap to
>>> it, from flat-pack laser-cut parts and bits of r/c car, in an
>>> afternoon.
>>>
>>> My housemate and I are working on designs. Ideas, cad models, etc
>>> welcome! :)
>>>
>>> -Ian
>>>
>>> The touch keyboard: ensouling wit since 2007.
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>>>
>>
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