Dronewing spec.
I’m building, slowly, a largish RC flying wing aircraft with an Ardupilot autopilot. It has a slew of sensors, airspeed/altimeter pressure unit, IR horizon sensors, Magnetic compass, a really nice GPS and finally an IMU unit that I might not be able to integrate yet (may need to wait for the mega-ardupilot), and should be able to carry a decent sized camera for aerial photography and video.
So the spec I’m trying to design for boils down to:
- Lift capability of a several pounds
- Payload Modules that are swappable, including a DLSR mount, Video, science sensors TBD etc.
- Significant range (uses same style battery as my other wing, but two of them)
- Telemetry link
- Power and system status data logging and telemetry
- Lighting system (anti-collision and art lighting)
- Future upgrades and expansion
I’m also thinking forward to being able to enable robotic behaviors over the base autopilot logic to enable it to do interesting things. Examples include a GPS and air speed correlation to enable it to learn how to cliff soar to conserve power. Using the uplift of air over a hill it may be possible for the Dronewing to either loiter more slowly than usual or possibly cut off power use to the electric motor entirely and soar for hours. This may be beyond my programming ability, but I can dream.
One interesting problem I haven’t resolved yet in design is how to land it safely. Most EPP-Foam wings just belly slide in without landing gear because they’re so tough. The camera is less so, so unless I mount it high, I may need to do landing gear. Sadly that increases weight, so I’m hoping to avoid it.
Also launching what could end up being a 6-8 pound bird could get exciting, I’m used to tossing a 2lb Mini XE into the air and going. I may have to either do some sort of rail launcher, or more excitingly do a rocket boost launch. This would be challenging due to the fact it’s a pusher prop, but could be done with an eject-able assembly.
Besides, JATO is cool!
