Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades
Saturday, September 26. 2009
Hello world! It's been a while. On the research front, I thought I'd make a small posting about what's going on with the airplane. My advisor has purchased a Paparazzi autopilot module (with GPS and horizon sensing) for integration with the Alpha. I have prepared the way by upgrading the Alpha's radio system to a new Spektrum DX7 radio (7-channel, 2.4GHz DSM2) and an AR6200 6-channel receiver. The upgrades are necessary, as the autopilot module needs a dedicated channel to switch the unit into operational or standby modes. I have also changed the prop to a 2-bladed prop, permitting much faster climbing rates and faster speed. The old 3-blade prop was designed for training, and created tremendous air resistance to keep the engine from operating in its power band (and therefore higher RPM range.) 
After making a few more camera mounts, a number of flights, and a few different cameras and sensory equipment (the autopilot hasn't arrived yet), I went for a number of test flights, and flew out at Cane Ridge Park, which is open on weekends and from 8-11PM. It is a bit far, but the day/time restrictions on the Warner R/C field are simply too draconian to be useful for weekend data collection. Today's flight, equipped with BOTH camera and GPS, topped out at 2427 feet off the ground! Also, at that altitude, I can see, with the Nikon camera, a remarkable 600 meters across! The autopilot should be coming in soon, so I will have much more to report and show at that time. There are many new videos, I just haven't posted them yet. More later.
All the images shown here are video stills - which explains their relatively poor quality. The first is of the forward-looking camera, mounted to the side. It's an ATC3K, on loan to me from Alex. The second is from the Nikon, belly-mounted, at 2400 feet off the ground. Lastly, there is a shot from the ATC3K, down-throw-mounted, as the aircraft was flying above the clouds.
