UgCS ground station software goes commercial

December 17, 2014 personal drones Leave a comment

I am glad to publish the following release by SPH Engineering. Click on the image below to visit their web site:

Also check out this video, in which the software is used together with 3D Robotics multirotors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJjFySJXK_0

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SPH Engineering is pleased to announce that UgCS is now out of Beta stage and is available for purchase.

Our work for nearly two years have resulted in UgCS version 2.1 Which now we have tested to be exceeding or having abilities at least on par with native mission planning software of supported vehicles.

UGCS ground station software version 2.1

Currently we support vehicles equipped with following autopilots: MikroKopter, Ardupilot APM/Pixhawk, DJI Naza-M(Phantom 2)/Wookong-M/A2, ARDrone, Microdrones. Our skilled engineers can add support to additional autopilot by request in less than 3 months including field tests. Continue reading UgCS ground station software goes commercial →

Photo

Some notes on my Quadlugs 480 mm setup

November 23, 2014 personal drones Leave a comment

Yesterday was a nice day out flying with the quadlugs 480mm, equipped with an SJ4000 camera, Immersion RC transmitter and Skylark OSD. It really adds another dimension to be able to know in real time, from the OSD, the GPS position, time of flight, battery voltage, altitude. All this information provides a different level of control while flying the quad.

I found particularly valuable to know how hight and how far from me the quad was, exactly.

I’d like to share a couple of shots of the quad here. A usual, you can click on the pictures to access the full sizes (which sometimes take a while to load, thanks for your patience 🙂 )

Check out the Quadlugs website to see the latest models, several came out since my first quadlugs build a few months ago.

Continue reading Some notes on my Quadlugs 480 mm setup →

On the news

Skysense Launching Charging Pad for Drones and partnering with DroneDeploy to enable remote operations & automation

October 30, 2014 personal drones 1 Comment

I am glad to share here some great information from Skysense about their unique “Charging Pad” for drones and partnership with other players in the drone industry.

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We are officially launching the Skysense Charging Pad, a remote-controlled charger for drones that fixes the last mile of drones automation by allowing you to manage flights remotely and deploy fully autonomous missions: Continue reading Skysense Launching Charging Pad for Drones and partnering with DroneDeploy to enable remote operations & automation →

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Acro Naze 32 flight control board images

October 21, 2014 personal drones Leave a comment

In this post, just a little photogallery with images of the AcroNaze32 flight control board. I ordered a few during the last months and each time they came into different colors (red, black, the last batch was white). Actually the white board on the photos below is the full Naze32 version with barometer rather than the Acro version.

Naze 32 board. Black and red are the Acro version, white is thje “full” version with barometer

Naze 32 rev5 Flight control board white edition close up

Acro Naze 32 rev5 Flight control board close up

Acro Naze 32 rev5 Flight control board black edition close up

AcroNaze 32 board in place, voltage sensing cable from the power distribution system in place

Fittng the AcroNaze32 on the FlyXcopter FlyX-Mini flight controller mount

On the news

Serbia-Albania football match stopped because of DJI Phantom hovering over the stadium with Albania flag

October 14, 2014 personal drones 2 Comments

A Serbia-Albania football match was stopped when a DJI Phantom appeared carrying an Albania flag. A player manages to catch the flag and apparently (not fully clear from the video) take down the phantom.

DJI Phantom hovers in stadium during Serbia Albania football game

Here’s the video:

Stay tuned on the Personal Drones blog for the latest multirotor and quadcopter news!

Multirotors Research, On the news

Chris Anderson launches the DoneCode Foundation

October 14, 2014 personal drones 1 Comment

Here’s the welcome post by Chris Anderson that announces the birth of the Dronecode Foundation, in partnership with the Linux Foundation.

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Welcome to the Dronecode Project

I’m thrilled to announce our partnership with the Linux Foundation to create the new Dronecode Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings together the leading open source UAV software projects under the professional management and leadership of one of the world’s foremost open innovation organizations. Continue reading Chris Anderson launches the DoneCode Foundation →

How to, Product reviews

FlyXcopter FlyX-mini quadcopter build report and frame review

October 6, 2014 personal drones 1 Comment

Quentin Daems, creator of the FlyXcopter series of quadcopter frames, sent me a FlyX-Mini frame for review purposes. In this post I’d like to report the details of the build I made with this frame and my impressions on the frame itself.

To visit the official FlyXcopter website click on the logo below.

Let me start from the end and show you the final product after a few days of work and testing of this nice flying machine. Throughout this review you can always click on the images to access the full size.

If you are not familiar with this model already, you can see from the picture above that the little bird definitely has character. It has a distinctive look that sets it apart from the countless clones of the Blackout mini H quad or QAV250 that can be bought from chinese sellers for very low prices these days. Continue reading FlyXcopter FlyX-mini quadcopter build report and frame review →

How to

Blackout Mini H Quad

September 19, 2014 personal drones Leave a comment

Just a photo of my recent rebuild of the Blackout mini h quad (http://www.minihquad.com) for this post. Click on the photo for the full size version!

Main reason of the rebuild was to incorporate the Blackout integrated PCB board with leds.

And to replace the Open Pilot CCD with an AcroNaze32 which I find to fly better, at least in my hands.

On the news, Video

Drone makes unique underground footage in Amsterdam

September 3, 2014 personal drones 1 Comment

I am glad to publish the following post by Duco Vaillant
Webmaster and Community manager, Dienst Metro

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For the first time a drone has flown through (part of) the 9.7 km long Noord/Zuidlijn, a new underground North/South subway line that is now under construction in Amsterdam.

The drone, fitted with an HD-camera, flies from the north of Amsterdam under the river IJ, the Central Station and the historic center of Amsterdam.

Underground Drone mission in Amsterdam Metro — Foto Dienst Metro – City of Amsterdam: a drone in the North/South metro tunnel

Continue reading Drone makes unique underground footage in Amsterdam →

On the news, Video

Angry sheep takes down DJI Phantom drone (and it’s pilot)

September 3, 2014 personal drones 2 Comments

You can’t miss this video by YouTube iser Buddhanz1 in which a DJI Phantom quadcopter is taken down by an angry ram, who did not like the invasion of his privacy.