Any electronics/prototyping geniuses on KB?

[Hans]

Are there any electronics wizards among us? I'm starting a bit of a project and may possibly need a bit of advice/help sometime soon. Beers or whatever for your time. Thanks

[ellipsis]

..sure to be..even if there arn't any..

[bogan]

notme does it for a job i think, but he might not be in the country at the moment. I've done a bit so be happy to give advice, and maybe help if it is interesting...

[Hans]

notme does it for a job i think, but he might not be in the country at the moment. I've done a bit so be happy to give advice, and maybe help if it is interesting...

Know a bit about ARDUINO and telemetry(coding)?

[bogan]

Know a bit about ARDUINO and telemetry(coding)?

Not a fan of arduino as it's coding simplicity seems to limit the functionality. You'll have to be more specific about telemetry (coding), most stuff has protocols which make it easy to work with, rs232, i2c, spi etc, an arduino might just interface to it pretty easily with the right combination.

[Hans]

Not a fan of arduino as it's coding simplicity seems to limit the functionality. You'll have to be more specific about telemetry (coding), most stuff has protocols which make it easy to work with, rs232, i2c, spi etc, an arduino might just interface to it pretty easily with the right combination.

I already know the tm module interfaces with the arduino. Also won't be coding from scratch, just adding the odd line and possibly tuning a bit. I'm not designing from scratch, just adding components to an existing setup. UAV anyone?

[bogan]

I already know the tm module interfaces with the arduino. Also won't be coding from scratch, just adding the odd line and possibly tuning a bit. I'm not designing from scratch, just adding components to an existing setup. UAV anyone?

Shouldn't be too difficult then, probly online tuts around to show you how to sort it. What are the UAV specs?

[Hans]

Shouldn't be too difficult then, probly online tuts around to show you how to sort it. What are the UAV specs?

Quad rotor uav with no autonomy(for starters anyway)
-full autopilot with autoland(xyz accelerometer, xyz magnetometer, barometer, ultrasound altimeter, pitot sensor, gps coupled)
-2.4Ghz tx/rx control and 2 way 900Mhz datalink
-Camera with live downlink and instrument data overlay on video.
-later plans to implement autonomy based on IR and ultrasound sensors.

[Hans]

Oh yeah... Online tuts are great, but a second brain is awesome when debugging a system.

[bogan]

Quad rotor uav with no autonomy(for starters anyway)
-full autopilot with autoland(xyz accelerometer, xyz magnetometer, barometer, ultrasound altimeter, pitot sensor, gps coupled)
-2.4Ghz tx/rx control and 2 way 900Mhz datalink
-Camera with live downlink and instrument data overlay on video.
-later plans to implement autonomy based on IR and ultrasound sensors.

cool, think I've heard quad rotors can be a bit difficult to control, but sounds like you got enough sensors to sort it.

[Hans]

cool, think I've heard quad rotors can be a bit difficult to control, but sounds like you got enough sensors to sort it.

Yeah, nowhere as bad as a normal helo though. The software can autostabilise if you wish. And I like the absence of moving parts. Less stuff to break. Stuff is starting to turn up in the mail, so should be having unhealthy amounts of fun soon.

[Hans]

Well, stuff has been turning up in the mail lately, and the "garage corner lab" is slowly taking shape. Have bought some pretty awesome pieces of kit and I'm happy as Larry. Thought I'd mention that I've had awesome service from jaycar.co.nz. Less than 24 hours from order to courier delivery has been the norm.

Among the gear I've bought is this:

http://www.jun-si.com/EnProductShow.asp?ID=91

It's a pretty impressive piece of kit, especially in conjunction with LogView via USB.
As much as I hate to admit it, some Chinese companies have actually been doing a bit of THEIR OWN R&D and have something to show for it.