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ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

discuss.ardupilot.org

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Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#21

Post by RealityVoid »

gdsdfe wrote: post #18
khancyr wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't remember what was the price range but it was cheat. I think we speak about it in the end of their talk in the ArduPillot unconference. Check on ArduPilot YouTube channel for their talk. What is impressive it the integration on this drone : that give a good flight time with low weight. That is a big advantage against current weight based regulation in numerous country. And of course ArduPilot integration give…

Excuse my noob question but : what do you mean by integration? And why is it important?

It probably means you can build firmware form ArduPilot and burn it into the drone. It's a big deal because ArduPilot is a whole platform and they have a lot of bells and whistles, communication with a companion computer, base station communication, a whole lot of possible configurations.

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#22

Post by didsomeonesay »

gdsdfe wrote: post #6

so is this like the only programmable drone out there? or is this the only one that is open source ? how much something like would cost? anyone have an idea ?

Crazyflie is a tiny flying PCB, original version from ~2013 (no camera) https://www.bitcraze.io/

And yes, it is not very robust, I broke one PCB arm but could fix it without affecting the balance too much.

The bigger problem was encountered when it flew out of reach. I had an xbox 360 controller connected to a xbox wireless dongle on my laptop, running crazyflie SW, connected to crazyfly via another dongle. Tested it in a city park (somebody attended to the laptop).

I moved a bit away from the laptop setup while trying to learn to fly it (manual leveling is hard). I don't know which wireless connection failed first. But the result was, it just kept running the last instruction, and flying up, up and away. Luckily the battery failed when it was up about 50-100 meters, and had drifted away about 100m horizontally due to wind.

I was sweating like hell, picturing scenarios of it coming down on a car windshield and causing a surprised driver to crash, etc. Luckily it came down within the same park. Without new damage to drone, or third parties!

Lessons learned: Don't fly an indoor drone outdoors, it's not built to resist wind and doesn't have SW safe for it. And never, ever fly any drone outdoors without model plane liability insurance.

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#23

Post by chrisdalke »

gdsdfe wrote: post #17
chrisdalke wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ArduPilot software platform is used very commonly across the drone industry and this is definitely not the only programmable drone available! The ArduPilot site has a list of some ready-to-use drones that have ArduPilot installed: https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-rtf.html . A lot of the time ArduPilot is installed with a flight computer (separate from the flight controller) which sends control signals inl…

Ah so if I understand this correctly : on the software side I'm most probably gonna land on ArduPilot, and for the hardware that's were the bulk of decisions will be?

Like bri3d said in his comment, there are a few options -- ArduPilot is heavily focused on mission planning (Waypoints, GPS guidance, etc). There is other flight controller firmware like Betaflight which is more focused on the stabilization and PID control of a quad.

There's definitely a lot of different decisions you can make on the hardware side: Choosing what sensors you include, flight computer & flight controller, ESCs and motors, frame, and so on.

On the other hand, you could also choose to build a drone from a kit or ready-to-fly model, and experiment more with higher-level software. ArduPilot can be connected to ROS, which is the standard software platform for robotics. Much of the swarming behavior, visual tracking, and other experiments are done on a platform like ROS, which then sends waypoints or other instructions to the flight computer.

Some areas to research if you're into this:

ArduPilot (Firmware handling waypoint missions, guidance, etc. on an onboard flight controller): https://ardupilot.org/copter/index.html

MavLink (Standard serial protocol used to communicate with drones, used to communicate between an ArduPilot controller and a ground station): https://mavlink.io/en/

ROS (Software platform designed for robotics, commonly ArduPilot drones feed into a ROS system for swarm experiments etc.): https://www.ros.org/

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#24

Post by chrisdalke »

foobarian wrote: post #20
bri3d wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No and not even close. Look up Betaflight (racing oriented) and iNav (navigation oriented). Ardupilot is more integration/mission oriented, but it's far from the only game in town. A small The all-in-one PCB integration strategy is cute, but I really don't think it's a great approach from a crash-recovery point of view.

Speaking of transmitters, what is a good entry level transmitter/receiver combo to get into for hacking servo-based RC projects? So far I like a Spektrum DX6 controller best I just wish it was a bit smaller for my kid's hands.

Look up the Jumper T16 - it’s a multiprotocol transmitter that supports most of the major brands, which means you’re not tied into any brand receiver.

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#25

Post by myself248 »

bri3d wrote: post #10
gdsdfe wrote: post #6

so is this like the only programmable drone out there? or is this the only one that is open source ? how much something like would cost? anyone have an idea ?

No and not even close. Look up Betaflight (racing oriented) and iNav (navigation oriented). Ardupilot is more integration/mission oriented, but it's far from the only game in town. A small The all-in-one PCB integration strategy is cute, but I really don't think it's a great approach from a crash-recovery point of view.

I've never built a drone yet but I've tried to do a lot of reading, and I don't understand why everything assumes that you have an R/C transmitter in your hand, and then at some point "throw the switch" and make it autonomous.

Isn't the entire point of these things that they fly themselves? That's why we call them drones and not R/C helis, right?

Why can't I just click "go" on my GUI, and never purchase a TX? Or can I and the distinction just isn't explained in a place that I've found it?

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#26

Post by StavrosK »

chrisdalke wrote: post #12

Looks cool, it's great to have another good open source ready-to-fly option. I have some concerns about larger PCB quadcopter designs because I can imagine that fatigue due to flexing on the PCB over long-term use could cause issues with the PCB delaminating or solder joints failing. On the ArduBee particularly, you can see a lot of surface-mount components mounted on the arms. I'd love to read more about any lifetim…

Why would the PCB flex? A quadcopter doesn't have that much of a twisting force being applied to it, no?

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#27

Post by StavrosK »

myself248 wrote: post #25
bri3d wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No and not even close. Look up Betaflight (racing oriented) and iNav (navigation oriented). Ardupilot is more integration/mission oriented, but it's far from the only game in town. A small The all-in-one PCB integration strategy is cute, but I really don't think it's a great approach from a crash-recovery point of view.

I've never built a drone yet but I've tried to do a lot of reading, and I don't understand why everything assumes that you have an R/C transmitter in your hand, and then at some point "throw the switch" and make it autonomous. Isn't the entire point of these things that they fly themselves? That's why we call them drones and not R/C helis, right? Why can't I just click "go" on my GUI, and never purchase a TX? Or can…

That's because Betaflight and INAV have evolved from manual/freestyle flying. ArduPilot is the more "autonomous" platform, which you can fly without a TX. You can add a USB telemetry module to your laptop and fly like that, although I've never done (and wouldn't do) that, there are many cases when you need manual control for recovery/failsafes.

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#28

Post by xtagon »

StavrosK wrote: post #26
chrisdalke wrote: post #12

Looks cool, it's great to have another good open source ready-to-fly option. I have some concerns about larger PCB quadcopter designs because I can imagine that fatigue due to flexing on the PCB over long-term use could cause issues with the PCB delaminating or solder joints failing. On the ArduBee particularly, you can see a lot of surface-mount components mounted on the arms. I'd love to read more about any lifetim…

Why would the PCB flex? A quadcopter doesn't have that much of a twisting force being applied to it, no?

Vibration can be a concern with quadcopters especially if the motors and propellers are not properly balanced

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#29

Post by StavrosK »

chrisdalke wrote: post #24
foobarian wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of transmitters, what is a good entry level transmitter/receiver combo to get into for hacking servo-based RC projects? So far I like a Spektrum DX6 controller best I just wish it was a bit smaller for my kid's hands.

Look up the Jumper T16 - it’s a multiprotocol transmitter that supports most of the major brands, which means you’re not tied into any brand receiver.

The Jumper T176 is amazing, if you're going to get a good TX you want to last you a while, get that. If you want a cheap, small one with not too many capabilities but that a child can use, get one of the cheaper FlySky ones.

Re: ArduBee – A micro drone for open source development

#30

Post by StavrosK »

khancyr wrote: post #7
gdsdfe wrote: post #6

so is this like the only programmable drone out there? or is this the only one that is open source ? how much something like would cost? anyone have an idea ?

I don't remember what was the price range but it was cheat. I think we speak about it in the end of their talk in the ArduPillot unconference. Check on ArduPilot YouTube channel for their talk. What is impressive it the integration on this drone : that give a good flight time with low weight. That is a big advantage against current weight based regulation in numerous country. And of course ArduPilot integration give…

A 5" ArduPilot quad will probably run you about $150, maybe $200 tops, depending.
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