autonomously controlled helicopter
 

i am a student in england and i have been assigned the task of desigining an autonomously controlled helicopter. (a helicopter that will fly itself by entering points and flight paths into a computer) the thing is my two project mates and myself have never used a remote controlled helicopter before so we desperately need some advice on a few things. firstly we need a relatively powerful helicopter as it will be carrying all sorts of equiptment, and quite durable as we have to learn to fly it. we have funding from the university so price shouldnt be an issue. if anyone can help us we would be very grateful for any information.
Intelicopter!

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

What kind of weight will you be attatching to the Heli? .60 & .90 Helis are powerful but the weight will be an issue. As far as learning to fly is concerned, it would probably be better to get a flight simulator like real flight or reflex to learn on. RC Helis are not so durable to crashes. Raptors ( Thunder Tiger ) are very popular and parts and accessories are easily available for them.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

You might want to try the Bergen Observer, it can lift around 8Lb and costs around $2500.00. Web site www.bergenrc.com

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Well, it sounds like a cool project, and I hate to discourage anyone from taking on a challenging project, but if you actually have to build it and make it work, I think you bit off more than you can chew. This is not the sort of thing for students to undertake... especially not ones with no RC heli experience.

An autonomous RC car would be difficult enough... at least with a car you can experiment with it and when it goes awry it will just bump into your foot or a wall... not much damage to the car or you. A heli will be downright dangerous to experiment with... every crash will cost $$$ to repair it, and if it hits someone... you're talking serious injuries...

Designing a feedback control system to make the heli do what you want would be a daunting task by itself... but when you factor in the danger involved in experimenting and debugging it... I think I'd just find another school project to work on...

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

The U.S. Military has already done just such a project and spent millions on it.

I have seen this awesome machine in person, it was really something.

http://www.is.northropgrumman.com/pr...v.html#gallery

It is called the Fire Scout.

Obviously you probably don't need to build one this big.

I work on electrical/avionics systems on H-60 Helios, and I know what it takes just to make that stuff work. There is so much involved in a real helicopter just to make it flyable with 2 pilots!!! U are wanting to control a Helli, with a computer, with more than likely, very expensive decilate equipment on it.

To fly a heli, and to not crash it every time, and to navigate it successfully, U will need for one, some kind of SAS (Stability augmentation system)/Automatic flight control computer, and for 2, some kind of tracking system to let your computer know where exactly it is. GPS would seem like a very easy system to do this. Good luck for incorporating any type of GPS system into a R/C heli.

This sounds like more of a project for some type of military branch to undertake

Good Luck!!!

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

What is the purpose or end goal of this project? There is a lot one can do with software these days. If you are planning to use a GPS system like Garmin you can download all you need from their website to program and read data from the GPS ( you will need a bit of C+ experience ). With microchips like the PIC and electronics like inclinometers etc, one can get this right. It will be a cheap crude way of doing it, but all depends on what the purpose of your project is, and how precise it has to be. With enough zeal I am sure you can a long way with it.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

thank you very much for your feedback as of the moment im not 100 percent sure of the project details but i think there is very little chance of us completing the project as we only have 1 year its mainly understanding the concept. cheers intelicopter

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Check out some of these links

http://autopilot.sourceforge.net
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~remuss/marvin.html
http://www.electronic-engineering.ch/study/ins/ins.html
http://controls.ae.gatech.edu/
http://www.uavforum.com/

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Very cool links! Did you see the size of Georgia Tech's heli?! They've got some serious processing power strapped to the bottom of that thing... watch that Canadian Discovery Channel clip...

I wish I had the $$ for one of those Yamaha helis...
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global...max/index.html

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

A great student project (or challenge to anyone) would be one of the modules of the complete system:

For example pick one:
-sensing inertia of any axis and using it to stabize (as tail gyro, but other axis, pitch for hovering for example) SMM accelerometers?
-microcontroller based, pc-configurable diy governor (atmel, pic...)
-compass-compensated Gyro. (like heading hold, but the compass sensor to achieve additional stability)
-telemetria
-onboard computer or minimum computer onboard+ datatransfer+ processing grid "out of board"
-gps onboard
-Tracking objects from Videopicture. (3d with 2 cams?)

any of these done and documented would help and encourage others to make more components... wich would finally lead to..??

Jyrki

ps. what other components we could need?

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

I saw some students from Georgia Tech do this years ago at a heli contest. You might check out their web site and do some digging, the data has to be aviable their someplace.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Umm... CromptonS posted the link to it about 4 posts back...

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Interesting. I would try your nav system on a r/c car before i make it airborne.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

I dont know where the guys find time to load their helis with all these ideas. I have enough fun just trying to fly the thing.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Here is a link where they have built a helicopter that lands itself in event of transmitter failure. Can also do an Autorotate by itself.
Heli is in production and being sold.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

where's the link na?

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

I have components for a self-navigating "rc" sailing boat in my drawer, but I gave up after I felt it CAN be done. No need to put in practise when the theory is somehow developed. Maybe not that much challenge that I would bother.

GSM-phone, GPS-unit --> Short message receiving, NMEA-message -->microcontroller+software, route-database.
-->servo control.

The idea was to send short messages like "Go home" to the boat... and it sails the stored route to its destination. However, there would be much more challenge to make it sail WELL in a head wind.

Jyrki

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

A car or boat would be a much simpler project... you don't need a feedback control system just to keep stationary, and you're pretty much dealing with 2D navigation, not 3D. Testing and debugging a car or boat would be safer too... just limit the speed initially, and no one is likely to be injured.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

oops I forgot the link to the auto landing and auto rotating helicoper. Has a parachute as well in
case of failure.

http://www.neural-robotics.com/Products.htm

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Any idea what that Helis costs? I see to add the Novatel GPS systems is $8000 +$3000 for the yearly satelite subscription. Price must be horrific. But I do think it would be a real good challenge to try something like that with conventional electronics,a normal gps system and some good programming. I once did a project for a self levelling system for caravans using a pic16 micro processor and two electrolytic tilt sensors. For A heli you would you would need to add a third axis and that is where the real tricky part comes in. For safety you would have to build in some sort of overide so that you can take over when it fails in testing.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

There is a video on the NRI site where the pilot flies the Heli up 100 feet and then
kills the Transmitter. Heli waits 30 seconds in the air and then lands itself to the exact spot it took
off from.
Can also program in waypoints and the heli will fly itself to each way point.

Larger heli can fly 25 miles round trip all by itself.

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

holy cow. that thing is dead steady. By the look of the trees, there was no wind. Looks like all the controls are set with a dual rate of 1%. Amazing!!

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

Maybe somewhere in the (close?) future, we will have a "fail safe condition" trivially in a receiver, which flies better than me

uhh.. thats not very much promised thought ;)

Jyrki

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

I'd just like to know what schools you guys are attending ... cause designing, building and flying a heli like is a job for engineers ... and not students. (or maybe its just me ?????) Thats the second post like that now ... Im sure i'd be really nice to try something like that.. but if you think about all the physics etc that go into building and flying a heli ... its scary and fascinating. Anyhow. .. just watch Igor Sikorsky with his S-300 or other guys who worked on developing helis to understand what i mean..... (but again .. maybe its just me ??? )

RE: autonomously controlled helicopter
 

we are actually 4th year engineering students at a very large university in the UK. we have endless amounts of equipment, and numerous professors who will be aiding us in this project. hope that answers your question!