[Hackupy-discuss] Aerial camera platform

Joachim Pedersen joachimp at gmail.com
Sun Nov 27 21:24:35 CET 2011 

Though I seriously doubt the out of the box range, the next generation
of GoPro will supposedly support 802.11(b/g/n?) video downlink with a
'wifi-backpack' addition. The addition of a high gain antenna on the
ground station might be sufficient to maintain the link. Unfortunately
the wifi-backpack will not provide downlink from older GoPros.

I think this could work really well for a pole-climber cam, balloon,
or other more or less stationary observation platforms. I'm thinking
it will be a lower cost remote imaging platform when compared to a
dedicated smartphone.

-Joachim
------------------------------





On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 19:06, Tyler Tyler <treason93 at gmail.com> wrote:
> sam,
> very niceeee! i talked to colleen about HD streaming options and it looks
> like the associated price tag for what we need to do that is about 1800$, so
> perhaps out of our price range for the moment.
> Did you have a chance to push code to Git?
> -Tyler
> On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 12:04 PM, Ben Rupert <meowdip at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I have a laser cutter from 11am-noon tomorrow at techshop.  I have my
>> own projects which I can use the time for, but if Sam or someone else
>> has parts that need cutting for an aerial camera platform I'd be happy
>> to use my time to make those.
>>
>> Ben
>>
>> On 11/26/2011 10:23 AM, sam reese wrote:
>> > DSC/Occucopter report
>> >
>> > Given a few days of futzing around with the parts that we had, I'm
>> > pretty locked into using the AeroQuad design, but really, I'm tempted
>> > by the simplicity of the KK chip. I got our software interfacing with
>> > the hardware, configured the reciever with the aeroquad board, and was
>> > able to read correct data from all sensors that we currently have. The
>> > remaining sensors (gyro, magnometer, barometer) should be arriving
>> > monday or tuesday), I also got our ESC/Motor flashed with a good
>> > firmware, and operating.
>> >
>> >  In the parts obtainment department, We've got a GoPro HD coming in on
>> > a loan, we've likely got access to a less-than-brilliant FPV camera
>> > (very useful for flying the cameras). I've also got 8 sets of rotors
>> > coming in soon.
>> >
>> > Things we are still in need of
>> >  -some thin aluminum, roughly 1/2" box tube, 3-4 feet of it, thin wall.
>> >  - someone with a laser cutter to pew-pew us some landing gear and
>> > electronics carriage out of some acrylic I have laying around
>> >  - motors/esc: we have one 20/30 Amp ESC and a Tunergy 2830/11
>> > (http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=12921)
>> > which should be plenty for stable flight with a camera. I'd like the
>> > motors to be matched, so we need either 3x of those, or 4x of
>> > something.
>> >  - LiPo batteries: for a single flight of 15-20 min (and that's
>> > running the batteries DRY, so since we don't have battery telemetry,
>> > we'd be returning with 20% or so remaining), aeroquad forums seem to
>> > suggest around 5000 mAh. (which will add up to around 450-550 g of
>> > weight): we're deciding between one large battery in the center, or
>> > distributing smaller batteries at the ends of the chopper to make it
>> > more stable by increasing polar intertia.
>> >  - LiPo Charger: Here's hoping someone has one we can borrow for a
>> > while!
>> >
>> > So that's our status. I'll get a accurate scale probably sunday and
>> > start adding up weights of the componentry that we have, and report
>> > back before too long.
>> >
>> > Also, I got @Occucopter on twitter.
>> > ~Sam
>> >
>> > On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 1:20 PM, Ben Rupert <meowdip at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> I heard people talking about the need for an aerial camera platform
>> >> before I saw this thread and came up with some ideas for a balloon.
>> >>  I'm
>> >> going to persue the balloon idea but I really like the pole climber as
>> >> well.  Here's a few thoughts on various things related to an aerial
>> >> camera platform:
>> >>  The link from Jaochim is great, but has the one big drawback that the
>> >> flight time w/o camera is listed as 12 minutes.  I had seen this
>> >> purchasable quadcopter in a store recently:
>> >> http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/
>> >> It is $300 and so outside of the price that people are interested in.
>> >>  I
>> >> was thinking of buying one for immediate deployment anyway while I and
>> >> others hack on a cheaper solution, but it also has the drawback of only
>> >> getting 10-15 minutes of flight per charge (and over an hour charge
>> >> time).  The big bonus with this commercial thing is that it it supposed
>> >> to be very stable even in the wind (including an autopilot mode) and
>> >> has
>> >> two cameras with live streaming a built in option.  I think I'm going
>> >> to
>> >> pass though because of the short flight time.
>> >>
>> >>  I know that a balloon is going to have trouble being stable in even a
>> >> very light breeze, and it will need to be a pretty large balloon to
>> >> lift
>> >> much of anything, but I'm going to give it a shot.  I bought one of
>> >> these:
>> >> http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Gear-Video-TRAKR/dp/B003AZZSQ8
>> >>
>> >> so for $60 I got a RC tank with built in video camera.  I'm going to
>> >> take it apart and mount the electronics and camera on a balsa wood
>> >> board.  I'll then take the two drive motors and put propellers on then
>> >> to be able to move the thing around.  Also this thing was specifically
>> >> built to be hacked.  It can even supposedly boot from SD card (it has
>> >> SD
>> >> card and usb host and slave connections).  There is already a small
>> >> hacking community involved with the trakr:
>> >> http://www.trakrhakr.com/
>> >>
>> >>  The biggest problem I see with this thing so far is the video.  The
>> >> camera is supposed to be able to capture vga at 30 fps.  It currently
>> >> only transmits 1/4 vga resolution at something like 15 fps though.  As
>> >> far as I can tell no one has gotten the full video capability from the
>> >> device yet and no one has gotten the video to stream from the remote to
>> >> a computer (the remote has an LCD screen).  The full source code for
>> >> the
>> >> vehicle and remote were slated to be released, but then the company
>> >> dropped the product and stopped releasing info.  So anyway there are
>> >> some challenges.
>> >>
>> >> I have some mylar balloons on order, so I'll have something flyable
>> >> soon, but I don't know yet how it will perform.
>> >>
>> >> Ben
>> >>
>> >> On 11/25/2011 01:12 AM, Joachim Pedersen wrote:
>> >>> Fully documented tricopter build for less than $200 that has the
>> >>> capacity to carry 2 go-pro cameras or smartphone etc...
>> >>> http://www.rcexplorer.se/projects/tricopterv25/tricopterv25.html
>> >>> -Joachim
>> >>> ------------------------------
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 15:47, Joachim Pedersen <joachimp at gmail.com>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>> 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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>> >>>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/hackupy-discuss
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
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