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These photos are of the area around my house in Kelsall, Cheshire.
After standing in a field with three cows for company I decided to let her go. Despite it being overcast (low contrast lighting) and quite late in the evening (low light), I’m quite pleased with the results. Now for the rest of the weekend… Ill be off to find as many guinea pigs as I can to let me shoot their properties from the air.
I’m still not convinced about the camera (Pentax Option A30) as the noise levels are quite high and image detail is not that great, so for now ill use it for practicing and ‘learning my new craft’.
After attaching the stills camera underneath the Quadrocopter last week, I’ve pretty much waited all week for the high winds and rain to subside. This evening was the first opportunity to take it for a test flight.
To find all quadrocopter articles on this site click here.
Here's a collection of still images of the Quadrocopter during it's test flight period. The target camera has not been attached to the Quadrocopter yet as it is still undergoing flight trials to determine how the aircraft handles under different conditions.
Flight times around 12 minutes are expected with the full payload and flights up to about 100 meters altitude are expected. The quad will fly much higher, but this aircraft has been purpose built for the low altitude photography. Any higher and it just becomes too small to see or place the camera on target.
Here is a collection of aerial videos shot from an on board camera attached to various model aircraft. Different models were used from the super smooth 2.6 meter wingspan Cularis electric glider to a tiny 110 MPH Micro Jet which sports an insane roll rate.
It's been an ambition of mine to construct a Quadrocopter for some 18 months now. Almost a year ago I ordered parts to begin construction only to be thwarted by very limited supply problems and the project never took off (pun intended).
After revisiting the project again this year I was encouraged by the development of the open source project and the immediate availability of components to get me going. Further research provided even more encouragement as this flying device had gained a level of maturity and I could benefit from other peoples efforts by sourcing parts from all over the globe at considerable savings.
Shortly after hooking up the motors to the speed controllers the frame arrived. It's made from fibre glass, stands on legs about 8 inches tall and has a sizeable area to attach the rotating camera mount and camera. After a few minutes the frame clicked together in a rather precise manner. The main dome was pre-assembled when shipped, so it really was just a matter of attaching the legs and arms.
Holes were drilled for the motor mounts at the end of each arm and the mounting plates and motors attached. At this point it became apparent that the speed controllers were outside the prop wash, so I decided to cut a few inches from the three phase motor leads and ensure that each speed controller would be cooled by the propeller above it as I want to do everything I can to prevent any speed controllers cutting a motor in flight.
For the third instalment in the quadrocopter build you can see the gyro board being soldered to the pins that will be used to mount to the main board. The triple axis liner accelerometer is also attached to the main board using 90° pins causing it to stand upright. Unfortunately at this point I realised that the gyro was only a single axis unit and I immediately hit the phone and ordered another two. This mishap will delay the first flight by at least one week.
The power leads for speed controllers were added to the main board as it starts to resemble an inverted Christmas tree. Basic tests to the program and default values were conducted. The machine can also be seen with all it's rotors running.
Here is a collection of aerial panoramas. Each panorama is carefully stitched and assembled from multiple images (8 – 35) photographed from a model aircraft flying between 1,000 and 3,000 feet altitude.
The locations contained within this collection include:-
Kelsall Village
Runcorn Model Aircraft Club flying site
Sandy Lane and River Dee (Chester)
The Groves and River Dee (Chester)
Backford Country Estate
Christleton Village (added 5th Oct 2007)
Tarvin Village (added 5th Oct 2007)
Ashton Hayes Village (added 5th Oct 2007)
More panoramas will be added when weather and flying locations permit.
Here are a collection of images shot from my model aircraft flown over the village of Kelsall in Cheshire. These were from a session that produced a large composite image for the local parish council.
The flight was conducted from the central village field and flown at an altitude of 3,000 feet. During the 40 minute flight almost 200 pictures were taken. You can clearly see some of the clouds underneath the camera during the flight.
Tarvin is growing, so I'm not sure whether it's a village or small town any more. Here are the images from the flight. The images were shot from about 1700 feet altitude and at one point the aircraft disappeared within a low cloud. Subsequent application of the air brakes and the resultant drop in altitude returned the model to view.
The Easy Star is a rudder / elevator trainer type of aircraft. Fitted with a brushless electric motor and 3 cell Lithium Polymer battery (2100 mAh capacity), flight times in excess of 30 minutes are easily possible.
Here are three videos of the initial flights of this amazing model aircraft.
Maiden flight video: This video is of it’s somewhat unconventional maiden flight. For a trainer type aircraft it seems quite happy performing inside and outside loops, inverted circuits and high G turns. For experienced pilots it is still loads of fun.
