RunRyder - Transmitting flight data?

rrTV-PHOTO

New HD TV

HOME rrTV-PHOTO GALLERIES MY GALLERY HELP-FAQ

myHOME PM pmRR MEMBERS 610 ONLINE 42 EVENTS SEARCH REGISTER START HERE

1 page

2545 views

POST REPLY

HeliHobby	.	Ron’s HeliProz South	.	Century Helicopter
	.		.

UAV Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles > Transmitting flight data?

Ubie
Senior Heliman
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Very interesting forum, led me to think about the following: did anyone out there ever buildt/bought a compact unit that can be used to transmit basic flight data, no visuals. I would like to transmit, speed, distance travelled and revs and record these on a laptop.

Thanks

12-22-2003 Over year old.

[NRI] LarryK
Heliman
Location: Huntsville, AL

in short, yes, it's been done. there's several off-the-shelf products available. if you search this forum for 'telemetry' you'll find info. try this as well.

[color=blue][size=small]duct tape -- the choice of professionals[/size][/color]

12-22-2003 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

noname
Veteran
Location: .

Hi!

This can be done using a GPS connected to a radio transmitter to send all the data to a receiver connected to a laptop. Regarding revs, you can use the same principle governors use by attaching a magnet to the fan, setting up the gear ratio and counting the pulses the sensor receives from the magnet. Obviously, you would then have to interface the readings to the radio transmitter (using a microcontroller) and in theory it shouldn't be too big of a deal to accomplish this.

A couple of years ago I started working on a project that did almost what you asked for with the exception of rpms but instead of using a GPS I went the hard way and used computer vision / landscape recognition. Once I had a desktop prototype I realized I was wasting my time as it was much more complicated and time-consuming than I initially thought so. The internals consisted in 3 wireless video cameras & 3 tx's and initial tests revealed it was too slow for real usage in a heli.

01-11-2004 Over year old.

helidog
Senior Heliman
Location: usa

Ubie

this is what you are looking for and its not over priced

http://www.sky-spy.bigstep.com/generic.html?pid=0

01-11-2004 Over year old.

PullPitch
Senior Heliman
Location: Bend, OR

Flight Data

Another company is U-NAV. They have a unit that does a video overlay with GPS info from a standard hand held type GPS (Garmin etc.).

I gotta check out the other sites you guys mentioned.

Also, a regular RR guy is about to have a unit a the market.

PullPitch
www.skybercam.com

01-11-2004 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

flyboy

Elite Veteran - Location: California -

UNAV and a Garmin Geko GPS and the system weighs less than 100 grams w/power.

GPS overlay was $250 and the geko's are $100

They work really well but lack the rpm function

You guys should have a look at this device. One of you should figure out a simple method to transmit this devices info back to the ground.

www.eagletreesystems.com

Records altitude, airspeed, rudder, ailerons, elevator, throttle and battery level.

USB Plug and Play - No new drivers needed!

Fully Compatible with Win 98SE, ME, Win2K and XP™

Lightweight - less than 3 ounces with unit and cables

Optoisolated servo monitoring

Simple and quick installation and removal

Retains flight data without battery

Graphical flight playback in real time

Excel™ compatible data output

Ultra-low power consumption - around 35 mA

Built-in status LED indicates battery level on power-up

Includes app, "Y" connectors, Pitot Tube and USB cables

Mode 2 and Mode 1 joystick support

Adjustable capture rate

Expansion port for future enhancements

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACCESSORIES

Electric Expander: Measures electric current, voltage and RPM. Previously purchased Recorders may need a firmware upgrade - click here for details. Price: $49.99

Electric Expander Specifications:

Motor Voltage: 0 to 50 V

Motor Current: 1.6 amp minimum, approximately 68 amp maximum recorded, temporary surge to 120 amps

RPM range: approx 100 RPM to 20,000 RPM

Weight: Expander, magnets and RPM sensor - approx 1.5 oz.

Measurements: 2.5" x 0.75" x 0.25"

Click here to view Electric Expander Instruction Manual

Racer Expander: Measures RPM and up to two temperature inputs. Includes one RPM sensor and one temperature sensor. Previously purchased Recorders may need a firmware upgrade - click here for details. Price: $29.99

Racer Expander Specifications:

Temperature: Dual inputs, 0 degrees F to 424 degrees F

RPM range: approx 100 RPM to 20,000 RPM

Weight: Expander, magnets and RPM sensor - approx 0.7 oz.

Measurements: approx 2" x 0.75" x 0.125"

I know that it is designed and built for planse, but it might be worth looking into.

01-12-2004 Over year old.

sbalder
Senior Heliman
Location: Westland, Michigan

I built a telemetry system a few years ago that could transmit rpm, voltage and temperature. Check out my website:

http://www.geocities.com/eba1972/

In reality, I found it much too cumbersome to be of practical use during flying. When I got back from Toledo this year, I dusted the system off and copied what a German sailplane company was selling- I ditched the screen and pirated the guts from a walkie talkie. Now when I hit the spring-loaded switch on my transmitter I hear an electronic voice say "twelve-ninety rpm" (or whatever the rpm is.) An added plus is that the cost of the system has gone down over having to have electronics to process and display text.

This is useful for setup, but shortly after I finished it I bought governors for all of my machines. The Futaba GV1 stays right on. The Throttle jockey setup works okay- my "talking tach" really helped to get it set up right. My future machines will all have GV1's so I won't be needing this setup.

Voice data is, in my opinion, a better way to get real-time telemetry info as an RC pilot. Last year I had a chance to ride in a full size heli. The pilot was holding the controls, but did not have to make the sudden reactions or have the concentration that we have to maintain in order to keep our machines in the air. Just like driving a car, there is plenty of time to glance down at an instrument panel. If we take our eyes off an RC heli for even a few seconds, we have to make a sudden "recovery".

Steven Balder

01-12-2004 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

[NRI] LarryK
Heliman
Location: Huntsville, AL

very cool steve.

[color=blue][size=small]duct tape -- the choice of professionals[/size][/color]

01-12-2004 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

Billme
Key Veteran
Location: MS

Are you still selling these Steve? That is just what I need.....

Thanks,
Bill Meador

01-12-2004 Over year old.

sbalder
Senior Heliman
Location: Westland, Michigan

Bill,

I had thought maybe about producing them for sale originally, but the interest was never there and I got busy with other projects.

I'd be happy to help anyone so inclined on how to build their own system; the cost would be under $150 for materials. Here's the basic operation:

A latched hall effect sensor (like a governor sensor) switches on and off as 2 magnets mounted on the main gear rotate. When commanded by a spare channel on the radio receiver, the microcontroller (Basic Stamp II) times how long it takes to switch on and off and calculates RPM. The value of this RPM is converted into instructions for a pre-programmed speech module. The output of that is connected to the microphone input of the guts from a pair of RadioShack FRS walkie talkies. The whole package fits in a small plastic box, and has only 2 connections- one to a spare channel in the receiver and one for the sensor. Other than microcontroller, speech module, sensor, and walkie talkie, there are only a few resistors and a switch.

The hard part is in the software, and I've done most of the work here for you and am glad to share the code. Basic Stamps are one-chip computers that can be programmed easily in pbasic from a pc. They interface well with the electronics in our helis and the manufacturer offers incredible training and support. Check out www.parallax.com

-Steven Balder

01-13-2004 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

1 page

2545 views

POST REPLY

MTA Hobbies	.	Model Rectifier Corp	.	PowerHelis
	.		.

UAV Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles > Transmitting flight data?

UPDATE SCREEN PRINT TOPIC

Advertisers

Subscribe to This Topic