Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [uav]

UAV means "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle". UAVs, commonly known as drones, are either controlled autonomously by computers in the vehicle, or under the remote control of a navigator, or pilot on the ground or in another vehicle.

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Stopping drift in hovering quadrocopter

I will be building a 4 propeller quadrocopter drone at some point. I want to make it relatively easy to fly by getting it to hover still when the controls are not touched. Can someone offer some information on how I'd get the quadrotor to stay put…
Bojangles
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How do IR rangefinders accomplish centimeter precision without high speed / high cost parts?

I'm currently working on a system that requires an RF rangefinder with ~15 cm precision, over a range of about 50 meters. My research into the field has shown that I'll need complex and expensive electronics, clocked at nearly 2GHz, to get anywhere…
Chris
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How do I implement accurate distance measuring (to ground) on a plane-like UAV for heights over 10m?

How do I implement drone-to-ground distance-measuring for autopilot landings for heights over 10m? I found ultrasonic to be too inacurate, let alone GPS. Maximum height is 1000m, Vmax is 100 km/h, Vaverage is 72 km/h. The drone is plane-like, no…
fakemustache
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Arduino + gyro/accelerometer == flight controller ...?

Can I use the combination of an Arduino Mega + MPU-6050 gyro/accelerator module instead of a flight controller? Is there something else needed? It is said that the gyro/acceleration can be used to maintain the balance of the flying vehicle. How is…
David
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How accurate are altimeters?

I'm building a quadrocopter and would like to prevent drift using a down facing camera. To do this properly, I need to get the height of the drone from the ground. Obviously the ground can vary, so maybe something like radar would be an idea, but I…
Bojangles
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Extracting images from a camera in real-time

Me and a group of students are building a UAV and we want to put a high quality camera in it (i.e. a decent ~100mm zoom lens) and interface the imagery with on board processing. I have looked around for a camera that can interface over USB, or any…
Madcowswe
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Quad copter - from PID values to motor power

I am struggling with a completely self built/written quad copter I am working on. I am working on the PID controller for balance, right now just with a P value and it only reacts on ROLL and PITCH to minimize potential errors. I put the prototype…
John
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Want to make a UAV

I've been inspired by the guys at DIY Drones and I'm toying with the idea of making a UAV. To transmit the sensor data, I was thinking I'd go with a 60mW XBee, but I also would like to transmit live video. I'm having a hard time finding a way to…
Matt Williamson
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Why new/recommended MEMS IMU for AHRS for drones are 6-DOF instead of 9-DOF?

I'm developing an quadcopter as an DIY project. I'm in nascent stage of development. I've just finalized the design/working philosophy. I'm planning to fuse data from 9-DOF (9-Axes) IMU + GNSS + Pressure Sensor using EKF to develop AHRS-INS for my…
Dark Sorrow
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Finding true north in UAVs

In my application, I need to find true north direction, for reference purpose. I am having a GPS enabled drone. I have searched over Internet and found that moving in the north direction while keeping your Longitude constant, the path followed will…
Akshay
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Will this ESC work with these motors?

I am looking in to making a UAV quadcopter and I don't know how to calculate what ESC to use with the motors I have picked. I am looking at buying the HobbyKing Red Brick 10A ESC and the Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 2118-3100kv Brushless Outrunner Motor.…
Riley Lloyd
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What does the term "boresight", and what do the phrases "boresight adjustment" or "boresight calibration", mean in the context of laser scanning?

I have been studying the laser scanning literature. In doing so, I often come across the term "boresight", and the phrases "boresight adjustment" or "boresight calibration". For example, see this paper. However, I have not seen any explanation of…
The Pointer
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UAV-towed gradiometer: magnetic signal decay with water depth

I want to use an unmanned aerial vehicle to tow an airborne gradiometer. Goal is to detect historic anchors buried in the sea floor. What is the effect of (sea)water depth on the magnetic signal? Any standard equation(s) I can use to determine max…
user158037
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Electronic hit detection

I'm building various r/c vehicles like warplanes, tanks, auto-turrets, etc. and I want to fit some of them with some kind of a weapon. I've decided an air soft gun is a good choice. So, mounting and shooting the gun is easy. The problem begins, when…
Chumanista
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Computation Doppler shift in ppm

I am computing Doppler shift for different flying platforms and after my first presentation, it was suggested to revise in ppm. I compute always in Hz and have never heard even about this unit until the day of the presentation. What does the…
Aid22
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