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Baby Chinook UAV — Parallax Forums

Baby Chinook UAV

HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
edited 2011-08-23 08:08 in General Discussion
Honey, I shrunk the Hook!?!

Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled over the weekend its latest development in the field of secret unmanned aerial vehicles - a miniature aircraft weighing four kilograms, known as GHOST to foreign customers.

http://www.iai.co.il/32981-43072-EN/MediaRoom_News.aspx

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSD_X_Mu6cTbUcvOFYSRny4shNhkbawyK-VYs84aeRkH5tFn3wQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64hmRslF1Xo&feature=player_embedded

This thing is really quiet. If there is any ambient noise at all you
won't notice it.

Fun to fly, with front camera view you can operate it like you are inside
the little cockpit. Great views if it's taken to high altitude. Night vision
is very good.

Watch the great video of it in action.

And here is a pdf about another fun toy http://www.iai.co.il/sip_storage/FILES/7/38207.pdf

Comments

  • RavenkallenRavenkallen Posts: 1,057
    edited 2011-08-21 11:41
    Israel seems to be very adept(Even on par with America's) military robotics industry. I have seen all kinds of interesting technology come out of Israel. They even have that little armed UGV(Viper)...
  • RagtopRagtop Posts: 406
    edited 2011-08-21 13:25
    I probably read too much Discworld, but gargoyles came to mind. If the thing could perch on the corners of buildings for viewing it might extend battery life.
  • Kevin WoodKevin Wood Posts: 1,266
    edited 2011-08-21 13:32
    >>> If the thing could perch on the corners of buildings for viewing it might extend battery life.

    Now where did I put that pellet gun...
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2011-08-21 20:11
    This has got me motivated to do some more experiments. I've tried cameras on lots of helicopters and chinooks are the most stable (quads would be better still but they cost more). Helicopter http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-SYMA-S022-CHINOOK-3-Channel-Rotor-RC-Helicopter-/250876913130 plus camera http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spy-camera-3-7v-Battery-DVR-Video-micro-sd-Card-Ver-3-/290571049718?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a7625af6 and put the camera at the front of the copter. Record the flight on a calm day http://www.youtube.com/user/DoctorVernAcula#p/u/13/igs_P5cyvls

    Next step would be live video. I've got the wireless receiver and transmitter as well as the small TV screens (using them for the propeller).

    Need to get a camera that can be hacked so it is lighter http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-4Ghz-Wireless-Smallest-Home-Safety-Color-CMOS-Camera-/270778827704?pt=AU_Home_Personal_Security&hash=item3f0bad03b8 so take off the case and remove the DC power socket.

    Need a very light source of DC 12V. The chinook is powered by lipo's so maybe a stepup converter? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tiny-DIP-Isolated-1W-switching-converter-5V-12V-/180660222831?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a10303b6f or http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-1V-5V-12V-DC-DC-Step-Up-Power-Board-Max-250mA-/110733536861?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item19c83bae5d

    Not as fancy as the military stuff, but if this costs under $100 all up, who cares if the enemy shoots it down? (The enemy, of course, being Kevin Wood above with his pellet gun *grin*)
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-08-21 22:40
    Dr_Acula

    The best lightweight cam is the 808 type #11
    True 720p format H264 video.
    1280x720x30fps and no dropped frames.
    They are 39.00 on ebay and that includes shipping.
    See this really long thread to locate an ebay seller
    offering the real cam and not a cheap copy. Only one
    Asian company makes this cam and they have a few ebay
    sellers they sell them to.
    http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1362692#post16951741

    Look at some of the sample vids linked to from the thread...the
    quality is fantastic!
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2011-08-21 22:55
    Cool - what a great find!
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-08-21 23:16
    If you get one of those #11 cams and fly it on a UAV
    we all want to see the videos :-)

    The little cams are so light they can jink about a lot
    and make the video jerky so use the deshaker plug in
    for virtualdub to steady them.
  • AleAle Posts: 2,363
    edited 2011-08-22 03:03
    I love those Helicopters !. I think that they are really cool!, and can carry quite a bit of cargo too !. But all the gear to move the blades makes them 2 times as complicated as a normal helo :(, anyways I'd love to build one of those!
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2011-08-22 06:27
    Dr_Acula, something I don't quite understand about the toy you linked to. It has two coaxial sets of rotors. I thought with a Chinook the front and back rotors were enough to zero out the reaction torque. So it shouldn't need coaxial rotors.

    I have a co-worker who's an RC fan. I showed him some quadcopter videos and he still felt the the swash plate tail rotor mechanism was better. It's interesting that the quadcopter seems to prefered as the DIY drome.
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2011-08-22 15:59
    and make the video jerky so use the deshaker plug in
    for virtualdub to steady them.

    Can you please tell me more about that? The shaking on a heli is predictable, and if you slow down a video to individual frames, it is just moving back and forward at the rotor speed (usually because the rotors are slightly out of balance). So in theory, software should be able to fix that, and I'm intrigued that such software might exist. Freeware, by any chance?
    Dr_Acula, something I don't quite understand about the toy you linked to. It has two coaxial sets of rotors.

    I think it is because the dual rotor is more stable. On a real helicopter, the mass/inertia of the blades and the body are higher, and so the time constants to a gust of wind are seconds. On a model, the time constants become milliseconds, and my hat is off to those who can fly single rotor model helicopters with no gyros. I've crashed enough to know that it is a bit like balancing a wine glass on your nose while riding a unicycle.

    So a scaled down chinook is not stable either. They certainly do exist but they are just as hard to fly as single rotor helis.

    The dual rotor system has one rotor that is fixed in pitch. The other counter rotating rotor is attached to the flybar with about a 30 degree offset. The flybar stays in a constant plane due to gyroscopic forces. If a gust of wind hits the side of the helicopter the flybar stays in the same plane and the helicopter tries to move. In doing so, it moves the pitch coupling such that it increases the pitch on the upwind side and decreases it on the downwind side. The net effect is that the helicopter is self stabilising and is easy to hover.

    Some of the newer micro helicopters also have a heading gyro which makes things even easier. And the mini chinook model S026 has a gyro now as well and that is particularly easy to fly. The larger S022 does not come with a gyro but I have seen some hints that a newer model might be coming out with a gyro.

    I have tried many models and even with the 4 rotors on that chinook, vibration is still a problem. Quadcopters cost more but I think they have less vibration problems.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-08-22 19:58
    Dr_Acula
    Yes, deshaker is FREE.

    Look at some tutorial vids on youtube.
    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=deshaker+tutorial&aq=1&oq=deshaker

    The very best software stabilization I have seen is from a 1080p camera that was generating
    a stabilized 720p video....these work great on bouncy platforms.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2011-08-23 08:08
    Pick up a FlyCamOne3 and the 'FPV' wireless video kit...
    (Camera, wireless link, goggles... )
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