Locust ARF Quadcopter Kit Review
The Locust Quadcopter Kit from Goodluckbuy is an amazingly cheap offer for USD $209, complete with Crius AIO, brushless GoPro gimbal and optional GPS antenna. Is it too cheap? Find out in our review below.
Recent Articles
Deutsche Bahn not allowed to fly anti-graffiti drone during nighttime
Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) recently bought several commercial multicopter equipped with night vision cameras for the purpose of detecting graffiti sprayers during the night. What sounds like a fun pasttime for troubled youth actually causes damages of up to 7.6 million Euros each year for Deutsche Bahn alone. Keeping that price tag in mind, spending EUR 50,000.- per drone sounds like peanuts in comparison.
Turns out it was all for naught, as german Aviation Safety Authority put a stop to this endeavor, forcing the railway company to stop all flights during night time. Unfortunately this makes the whole thing pointless, as graffiti sprayers mostly come out at night. Mostly.
u-Cat ARROWS will visit shipwrecks divers won’t dare to enter
The u-Cat underwater rover mimics the sea turtle in an effort to map shipwrecks that are too dangerous for human divers to enter. Because it doesn’t rely on a traditional propeller setup, it kicks up a lot less muck and dirt that obscure camera vision- a common problem in underwater rover missions.
This is part of the european ARROWS project, which “proposes to adapt and develop low cost autonomous underwater vehicle technologies to significantly reduce the cost of archaeological operations, covering the full extent of archaeological campaign.”
Click on for the presentation video after the break.
Skydrone 3G-based FPV system now available for preorder
Originally appearing on Indiegogo, the Skydrone FPV system didn’t meet it’s funding goal. However that didn’t keep the inventors from pushing ahead and continuing development. And today they announced that they accept preorders for their new system.
The core idea is instead of transmitting analogue video on 1.2/2.4/5.8GHz, they use a built-in 3G modem to send a compressed video stream. Clever dynamic software enables Skydrone to switch to a lower-quality compressing on the fly as conditions change. This allows pilots to fly their drones wherever cell coverage is available.
The system is powered by a beaglebone embedded linux computer and comes as an integrated unit complete with HD camera and wide angle lens. Support for Mavlink protocol is built in, so you can connect your APM or MegaPirate flight controller to have the Skydrone render a nice HUD onto your video stream, which you can watch on your android tablet, iOS/Windows device or Blackberry.
Last but not least, Skydrone has announced Oculus Rift support with headtracking. At EUR 499.- this is a lot cheaper than the $800+ you’d have to spend on a Transporter3D system + 3D camera, though right now the Skydrone has only a single HD camera. One would expect they will have to offer a second camera module or have some sort of input for real 3D video support.
If you can’t wait and have to plunk down some cash right now, their website is up and accepting preorders for an eventual delivery around January 2014.
Video and specs after the break.
US Army purchases bird-like handlaunched drones for $4.5 million dollars
The US army recently awarded a 6.5 million dollar contract to Florida-based company Prioria Robotics. Their product is a peculiar bird-shaped airplane called “Maveric” that features flexible wings and inoculously bird-like looking flight characteristics. And yet, it can carry a variety of payloads ranging from simple stabilized telezoom cameras to thermal imaging. Thanks to the flexible wings the drone can even be launched from a small vehicle-mounted launch tube.
According to Prioria Robotics, “there was a Special Operations requirement for a plane that had a natural, biological look – it wasn’t supposed to look DoD-ish”
The army gets 36 drones as well as 12 ground control stations. Each Maveric drone costs to the tune of $100.000-$200.000.
A demo reel from 2011, which still looks kinda cool, can be found after the break.
Formation Proximity 2 shows amazing bird of prey attack
There’s some really great footage in the latest video by Team Blacksheep. While the flying itself is a lot less reckless than we’re used to from them, they do show off very cool formation flying in this second part of their Formation Proximity videos. And in the middle of the flight, a huge bird of prey attacks and successfully downs one of their Zephyr FPV planes.
Really breathtaking footage. Take a gander after the break.
Face-detecting drones react to voice and gesture commands
If you like SciFi, Vancouver’s Simon Frasier University sounds like the place to be. They recently showed off a project involving several modified AR.Drones that react to human faces along with contextual voice and gesture commands. The are able to command drones individually as well as assign them into groups and have them execute commands adressed at the group.
This results in nifty commands like “You three, take off!” with the command “Not you!” separating a targeted drone from the group. There’s obviously still a way to go until we get sentient hovering companions like in the beginning of the recent Superman movie, but their research paper is interesting to read nonetheless.
Video demonstration below.
Attempt to smuggle contraband into prison via hexacopter fails
Apparently, getting stuff into a prison is such a rewarding endeavor that some people risk spending up to 20 years in the very place they try to get in to.
This is what happened to a group of four people trying to smuggle tobacco into Calhoun State prison. They were using what appears to be a a DJI Wookong on a Flamewheel F550 to fly the contraband into the prison complex, only to be caught red-handed by a guard who noticed the hexacopter hovering over the prison. Bottom line: Interesting idea, but reality is not like in spy movies.
Remote control camera almost gets eaten by lions
Watch these wildlife photographers strap a DSLR into a lion-proof case on wheels. The result is some mildly amused lions and a bunch of fascinating snapshots.
Video after the break.
New Version of MultiWii 3D based on MW2.3 released
Do you know MultiWii? If you are into multicopters and do more than just buy DJI, you are probably aware of that project. MultiWii 3D however is an altogether different beast.
Their aim? Nothing other than inverted multirotor flight by reversing the ESC direction in-flight. All you need for joining this still very experimental playfield is a quadcopter with symmetric-pitch propellers, ESCs with SimonK’s reversable ESC firmware, and the latest MultiWii3D code on your flight controller.
Wild video of the result in action after the break.
KK 2.1 Flight Controller released, sports MPU6050 goodness
HobbyKing just released their KK 2.1 flight controller. It’s a hardware upgrade from the already-great KK 2.0 and features the same tried and tested integrated display and buttons.
What’s new then? Mainly an upgrade to the excellent MPU 6050 accelerometer/gyro sensor chip, as well as a big fat Atmel Atmega644PA for additional outputs and more program memory.
The KK 2.0 was already an excellent flight controller (see our review), and the little integrated LCD proved to not only be highly crash resistant, but incredibly useful in helping with setup – making this a lot easier and quicker than setting up a Naza actually. With this upgrade one of the minor negatives of the KK 2.0, the limited maximum rate of rotation sensing that can result in the flight controller becoming confused during extremely fast flips, is greatly improved.
The KK2.1 can be yours for USD $30.- via Hobbyking.
Specs and video after the break.
FPV pilots in the UK get legal weight and height increases.
FPV flight in the UK is heavily regulated. It’s in large parts thanks to the FPV UK Association that they have been operating under an FPV exemption that allowed FPV flights of up to 400 ft altitude, with a weight limit of 1.8kg for fixed wing, and 2.5kg for rotorcraft.
This exemption has now been extended to allow flights up to 1000 feet with drones of up to 3.5kg. Of course, that’s not the only restriction and FPV pilots in the UK are urged to read up on the regulations to be exempt from the otherwise-restrictive Order 66 Air Navigation Order 166(3).
Full text of the news after the break.
SmartPlane is a smartphone controlled plane for 70 euros
SmartPlane is the “World’s first” smartphone controlled aeroplane – at least according to its producer, a company called TobyRich. That claim is debatable, but regardless, the SmartPlane promises a fun flying experience of up to 30 minutes (if you use thermals, no doubt) and fully proportional rudder control via bluetooth. You steer the plane by tilting your iPhone, with an on-screen slider allowing for motor control while the app makes air traffic control noises to complete the embarassment illusion.
Currently only iOS devices are supported, with an Android app planned for mid-2014. The price is EUR 69.- (which at the time of writing translates to USD 94.-) and if you’re still interested, you can purchase one from smartplane.net right now.
Slightly-cheesy advertisement video after the break.
3DR IRIS available for preorder
The 3D Robotics IRIS drone is now available for preorder. It’s meant to be used as a serious drone for civilian users, offering complete waypoint flightplans via PC or smartphone/tablet. Unlike DJI, their products are often open-hardware and open-source, which explains why 3D Robotics chose not to gimp their flight controllers or restrict them to a small number of waypoints.
Indeed, the IRIS uses the new Pixhawk autopilot system while retaining compatibility with the ArduPilot Mission Planner (APM).
The IRIS is one of the cheapest available professional drones with full waypoint support at a preorder price of just over USD $729.- , depending on selected options. This includes integrated 433MHz or 915MHz telemetry.
The Pixhawk flight controller is sure to be a hot topic in 2014 as it’s poised to replace the aging Ardupilot 2.x controller. The Pixhawk itself can be preordered for USD $200.-
More pictures and technical data after the break.
DJI Phantom collides with Sydney Bridge, captures interesting footage
Edward Prescott flew his quadcopter around Sydney Bridge last month when apparently his camera mounting failed and the drone crashed into the bridge when it tried to get home via GPS auto-return. Landing on railway tracks it prompted a train to stop and its driver to pick it up.
The onboard GoPro recorded everything, including the curious faces of the railway staff.
Interestingly, Prescott got his drone back pretty quickly from NSW Police. These days you’d expect jailtime for “accidental terrorism” or something. That said: Flying in densely populated areas is not a smart idea. Especially not if your experience is limited to flying a DJI Phantom out of the box.
Check out the video of this luckily-harmless accident after the break.
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