Assorted projects and pontifications.
My latest creation is an internet-of-things door lock. The package actuators the deadbolt using a servo and determines if the door is shut or not using a reed switch. There is also a motion sensor that can determine if someone is approaching the door. The lock builds on the SmartThings platform using their Arduino Shield. With it I can control the lock over the Internet using the SmartThings app. What…
One of the most fun projects that I’ve gotten to work on recently was the SolarSurfer project. A unique aspect of that project which I hadn’t done before was remote control via a satellite connection. The project is extensively documented on Hackaday; check out the logs on satellite comm overview, real-time tracking, and mission simulation. Here is a short summary of the different project aspects: Developed telemetry protocol for bandwidth-constrained…
Thanks to the Christmas break, I have finally had a chance to build the 25″ Extra flat wing foamie kit I bought from BP Hobbies almost a year ago. The electronics were purchased from Hobby King and include four 5.5g Turnigy servos, one Turnigy 1300KV motor, and one Hobby King 20A ESC. Control is provided via a six channel Hitec receiver and the plane is powered by a 1000mAh Turnigy…
This weekend I added a wireless Xbox controller to the list of devices I can use to control the Mecanumbot. Before now I’ve been able to use a standard RC transmitter, a computer keyboard, and a Wiimote. I again used the ROS framework to integrate the controller. Built into ROS is a joystick node to interface with the wireless USB dongle and I had already built a node to listen…
This passed week I have been playing with the new motors and motor drivers I got for the Mecanumbot. I used some MicroRAX pieces and the supplied motor brackets to piece everything today. I controlled the MD25 motor controllers over I2C using an Arduino which was getting commands from an RC transmitter. Unfortunately the naive method of reading in the RC receiver signals of only three channels takes up nearly…
Check out my new flying wing! The plane is made from a pair of EasyStar wing tips, a custom kevlar body (thanks Geoff!), and a handfull of electronics. The design is loosely based off of the AeroVironment Wasp. Below is a short video showing a few build photos and a recent flight set to the smooth tones of The Black Keys. Check back later for some high resolution still photos…
I had a quick flight at USC this morning with the Extra 300 and the GoPro HD Hero. Below are two pictures from the flight. The third picture was taken from an EasyStar this afternoon near the Coliseum during an AeroDesign Team test flight. Click on the pictures to view larger (OK, really large) versions.
I took out my new GoPro HD Hero Naked camera today for a spin on my ParkZone Extra 300. I used the full HD recording (1920×1080 pixels @ 30 fps) option and the footage looks pretty good if you ask me! The only thing that kinda bothered me is how the exposure setting seemed to be changing every time towards sun. I would have rather the screen just be bright…
The mechanical group from our quadrotor team at school still hasn’t put together a working quadrotor yet, so I decided to show them up. I’ve purchased off-the-shelve electronics from AeroQuad and built a minimal frame myself. Below is the first test of the quadrotor. The flight is short because it is inside my bedroom.
Check out my new RC hovercraft! I went through two versions over two nights ending in this bad boy. It is made only out of cardboard and basic RC electronics. The electronics include a DC motor, a speed controller, a servo an RC receiver, and a 350mAh LiPo battery. Features include three rear control surfaces, a trap door along the back for the battery, and another trap door for the…