Re: [Paparazzi-devel] Quad Tilt Rotor using Lisa/M

[onefastdaddy]

Hello,

This reminds me of something...there was once an IT saying "No one ever got fired for buying IBM"...it's starting to seem like soon it will be no one got poor recommending 3DR. If your project is meant for resale you probably are better off with the 3DR from that whole everyone is using Windows and there's a million of them already out there perspective. I think you see past that and can choose wisely. 

Fortunately Linux is not Quantum Physics and it sounds like you've already installed it. The Windows bullies may punch you in the arm for not conforming but you get past it. It is in many ways much easier to deal with than Windows. Apple OS users used to be called radicals and fanatics and told the same thing about having to use Windows to be accepted. Look at them now.

Also Paparazzi install is pretty small. It would all fit on a thumb drive. You can use any debian based install as well. Linux Mint is a popular one. It takes me all of about 1hr to go from bare metal to installed system with Paparazzi ready to go.

Thank for sharing, welcome again. now that the decision is made lets get to work. I'm looking forward to reading about your success.

-David

On 01/16/2014 09:29 PM, Richardson, Mark E C1C USAF USAFA CW/CS13 wrote:

Hey there David!

Thanks for taking your time to let me know what's going on in the industry... I feel like I see this situation of sub standard products getting more attention because of aggressive marketing in many other places. I was first introduced to the APM 2.5 a year and a half ago and just like anyone getting introduced to UAV's, I honestly believed that it was the best thing out there. 

Anyways I think my decision was made when I compared the support community for both sides. Some of my posts on the APM forums were actually not approved because I included a YouTube video of what I thought was completely relevant to the subject but used a multiwii controller... anyways that’s an obvious red flag to me and that’s when I looked elsewhere. I got contacted by a Bryan Galusha with the following message which im sure you'd like to read:


" Mark,

I saw your post on the paparazzi dev list, and wanted to make sure you were aware of the pixhawk autopilot.  Unlike the earlier APM 2.5 it has an ARM Cortex M4 processor and some real computing power.  I would really recommend this route over going towards the Lisa/M.

I worked with the Quadshot team to submit an entry into the UAVForge challenge and worked with the Lisa/M and its creator Piotr.  The paparazzi tool chain is really challenging to use, and the support for the PX4/Pixhawk is much better (including windows).

This is just my input from working with both autopilots.

Keep me updated on the transition airframe, it is something we are still very interested in for a number of customer applications.

Thanks,
Bryan Galusha
President
Fighting Walrus"


I am hoping I can get as much support as I have in the past 24 hours throughout the semester to finish this prototype successfully. - Also, I am wondering how soon your Lisa/M will arrive after the order goes through, I am hoping to start tinkering and getting familiar with the interface.

Sincerely,



C1C Mark E Richardson 
CS 13 Bulldawgs
Chief of Safety
USAF Academy




-----Original Message-----
From: address@hidden [mailto:address@hidden] On Behalf Of David Conger
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 10:04 PM
To: Paparazzi UAV devel list
Subject: Re: [Paparazzi-devel] Quad Tilt Rotor using Lisa/M

Hey Mark,

Have you see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7XgRK7pMoU

Transitioning platform code is written and tested in Paparazzi already. Note the landings of the winged body (Quadshot) as it nears landing it switches to hover and lands. The wind was howling that day (I was there)...easily 20+ MPH.

What makes Paparazzi the one to use is the maturity and depth of the code. The real world is not still air and perfect conditions.
Paparazzi excels in real world conditions and very imperfect weather.

PixHawk, my opinion is it's new hardware and untested. That project measures itself primarily in business terms of units made and sold not successful flights or missions and competitions won. Granted they are extremely successful in business terms but I have yet to see success measured in real world missions or competitions. They are very aggressive marketers and are very good at selling their project so I'm not surprised you were contacted after posting here. They also have many members subscribed to this email list.

Paparazzi is used by quite a lot of people actually. It is a very mature, open and growing community. They are all just quietly doing academics or research projects very much like yours not sales or marketing. There are even several commercial platforms with Paparazzi under the hood. A few Govt projects using Paparazzi based systems.
There are Paparazzi drones flying for more than 7 years in the Arctic and Antarctic regions doing atmospheric research. These are not people planning but real, complex missions like yours successfully flying.
Success in Paparazzi terms is measured in members starting, building and flying the mission intended with 100% accuracy and zero failure.
Success is also measured in winning UAV competitions around the World.
Paparazzi since 2002 has either won or placed top three every year, year after year. A Paparazzi based team TUDelft won the outdoor and indoor competition for IMAV2013 by flying simultaneously 12 drones with a single operator using a single laptop ground station (video URL given above).

I think you have chosen Paparazzi so I'm probably preaching to the choir. You've made a great choice. You are in good company here and there are many in the USA and Worldwide to help you along. Welcome.

David




On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 5:27 PM, Richardson, Mark E C1C USAF USAFA
CW/CS13 <address@hidden> wrote:

Reto, thanks so much for the information, I will be contacting Piotr and Wagter and see if they can offer me any guidance on this. As far as the transition deliverables you posted, I don’t think we will attempt to reach such high efficiency just yet;  the innovative part of our project is that the quad tilt rotor has the capability of being stored in an un-deployed configuration and  remotely deploying itself (if everything goes correctly, it will do this mid air after being dropped from 4000' AGL and using a drag chute to slow it down) However, if it all goes correctly, we will most likely see if there is anything we can do to improve efficiency.

Chris, after looking at the pictures of the VERTI4 I think you are underestimating 60", that’s 5 full feet which after testing our wing out, seems closer to double the size of the one in the youtube video. Also, the wing was manufactured to be able to handle our total 12lb weight through a 3G turn so hopefully we can catch enough speed that the wing will no longer be just decoration.

What are your opinions on the Pixhawk Autopilot, I just had it suggested to me after the last post.

PS - I just got a hold of a tiny computer and put UBUNTU on  it, unfortunately I'm not allowed to hook it up to the GOV network we use so I will have to get a 4G wifi hotspot before I can download and start to work with the Paparazzi software  --- also put through a request for an order of the Lisa/M which will hopefully be ordered tomorrow;  what is the shipping time usually on this and what accessories come with it?


Again thanks so much to all of you for giving my teams project some time. I will do my best to keep this site updated on the progress and will definitely post questions to get more help.



Thanks!!!

Mark Richardson
USAF Academy



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