Ghetto fpv Goggles

Ok so for the first time, this isn't one of my own posts. However, it is possible to make your own ghetto fpv goggles to enable you to have a more immersive flying experience, and also look like a dimwit at the same time ;)

Here's the guide: http://youtu.be/2H_PvU82o7A

And if you're happy to buy a cheap kit version. Look here: http://www.flyingwings.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=57_76&product_id=382

:) :) :)

Ghetto fpv quadcopter: episode 2

Ok, so in my previous blog post, I wrote a fairly comprehensive instruction on how to build a ghetto fpv quadcopter for around £115. It works well. However, just this week I was given a camera module MC495a

I decided to test it and see how it works. 

Connecting the mc495a to our 200mw tx is fairly straight forward. Desolder the simple usb wire from the tx's video out, snip off the connector attached to the rca a/v adapter cable included with the camera, and solder that on to each of the 4 connections on the tx - video, audio, power, ground. Not forgetting the diode at the power. Done. Now, you just plug the camera into that new 4-pin connector. I sealed the exposed back of the camera using tape.

mounting the camera and tx I tried a different approach than the top-mounted 808 #16 camera, as I have thought about the damage to the cloverleaf antenna I have had to repair often, using this method. I opted for a tail-like antenna mounted out the rear of the quadcopter using a simple 'bag-pouch' made from anti-static plastic bag material and a small ziptie. The front, I screw mounted the camera to the front of the quad frame (the screw was a silver screw from the case of the 808 #16 camera).

Simples...

Using an rca-to-3.5mm plug pigtail cable, connected to the rca audio plugs on the rc305 output, I am able to get audio aswell as video on my controller, using a cheap speaker: like this.

I like the camera, as it is lighter and seems more robust than an uncased 808 #16 camera. It seems like the picture quality, and response time is better too.

Downside is that it isn't recording 720p vdeo to sd card. However they can be swopped over if needed, or I may try a WLtoys v262 in the future, of something that can lift both fpv setup & 808 #16 cam (possibly with a cheap gimbal rig...watch this space)

I am recording this fpv camera using a cheap easycap dongle on a laptop, using virtualdub software. Works for me.

One problem I am having, is that I have learned to fly fpv by aiming to have on my monitor screen, half sky, half ground. And as such, as the sky is often naturally brighter than the ground, the camera adjusts for light, and makes the ground dark, shadowy, almost un-viewable. As the camera doesn't seem to have any way to adjust light exposure control, I am wondering what your solutions are?

I am thinking:

-Learn to fly with the camera pointing 90-100% ground, when level flying. (Could be risky monitoring level flight)

-stick some kind of graduated filter over the lens, so that the sky is dimmed, causing the ground to be lightened. I'm aware of photography-related graduated filters, but not tiny lens graduated filters. Anyone have experience with this idea?

How do you adjust/mount your fpv camera to get the best light exposure setting?????

Ghetto fpv Quadcopter

Ok, so in my last post, I wrote about making a video recording quadcopter using an 808 #16 keychain camera and a cheap toy quadcopter, the WLtoys v929. Quadcopter recording is great. I have had many adventures recording at places ranging from my local woods, to Donnington Race track in the UK.

Anyway, my point being, once I had the flying bug, that is, once I learned not to crash anymore, I wanted to hack what I had, more. I learned that the 808 #16 camera allows video-out through it's usb port, and by mashing together a simple transmitter and receiver I could send and receive video to a screen. So, in effect I could fly FPV (first person view). It works great and I feel like I have experienced what it is like to fly, and learn-to-fly an aircraft. It's a strange feeling flying something that is out of sight, and it takes calm nerves and trust of your gadget creation skills. Things you need to know are, the quadcopter and controller use the 2.4ghz radio band which is the same as wifi. This means, parts are readily available and cheap. The video uses 5.8ghz radio band. The two bands are not the same as each other to help prevent cross frequency interference. Long-range radio frequencies are lower frequencies, i.e 1.3ghz, 900mhz. However, we will be using less expensive, higher frequency gear, and improve them with better antennas. We have a limited weight allowance with which to load the quadcopter before it becomes unable to take off, so we have to be very lean with materials. I estimate the lift allowance to be around 25-27grammes. What you will have at the end of this project is an fpv-ready quadcopter that will have greater range than the 'cheap' sub £250 quadcopters, and with better video quality, HD recording, cheap replaceable parts if broken, and modular parts that can be used on other gear (planes, cars, bird nest monitoring, etc). I figure that getting an fpv quadcopter, including controller, batteries and go-pro camera will cost about a grand. Ours will cost about a hundred pounds.



So here's a run down on the parts:

-I use a cheap 7" monitor from ebay that works great = £12

-3S 11.1v 3800mah lipo to power the monitor (secondhand but pristine condition = £6). Although the 2s 1300mah lipo powered the monitor perfectly fine for an hour as I timed it. So the 3800mah 3s is plenty.
- RC305 RX again from ebay = £15
- 2s 7.2v 1300mah lipo for the RC305 = £5
- Both of these have been attached to the back of the monitor using velcro sticky strip (£1 per metre)
- I trimmed all cables as short as I wished on the monitor, and the RC305 cable lost it's 2 audio cables, leaving only video.
- Camera 808 #16 wide angle from ebay = £28
- hacked up an old mini usb cable to get the plug and used only pin 2. I used this for video out instead of trying to solder a single wire to the camera board pin 2. As this seemed too fiddly at present. And I want to use the 808 camera as bike mount and hat mount cam, so I wish not to butcher it.
- TX5823 200mw 5.8ghx module from ebay = £15
- Tx uses a N4001 diode to reduce the 3.7-4.2v of the lipo, to 3.3v that the TX requires - preventing it from burning out.
- RG316 pigtail with RPSMA connectors. Hacked this up to make an antenna, soldered outer shield cable to ground, centre cable to antenna. Have enough left over for several cloverleaf/helical antennas in future. = £2
- Using tiny 3.7v 1s lipo that I use for both the 808 camera & Tx. ebay = 3pack £2.50
- the tx, lipo, 808 all use a combination of micro jst connectors that I bought (male & female 10xpack) on ebay for £1.50 - not the normal red jst connectors. I want to use this at present so I can easily change the lipo if it runs out, and use the tx module on another RC vehicle, or use a cheap 520tvl camera later on if I wish.
There has been lots of trimming & soldering wires as short as they can go, trimming and soldering coaxial is a chore.
Battery charging - I'm using the v929 1s charger for the 1s lipo, and cheap B3 balance charger for 2s & 3s Lipos (ebay £4)

Price rundown (What I paid):
monitor = £12
3s lipo = £6
2s lipo = £5
RC305 Rx = £15
Velcro strip = £1
808 #16 camera = £28
TX5823 = £15
5x N4001 diodes = £1
RG316 pigtail = £2
1s 3.7v lipo x3 = £2.50
micro jst connectors = £1.50
Balance charger = £4
V929 quadcopter & 2.4ghz controller = £26
Total = £119


Early build stages:


setting up the transmitter, soldering & glueing the transmitter, building a tiny antenna...

Early mounting idea (note transmitter has not got the finished antenna yet)

Added a Diode to reduce the battery voltage slightly to prevent the transmitter from burning out.

Built a tiny circularly-polarized antenna for the transmitter, which enables 360 degree coverage, and much less static & dropout. I used this wire.

figured out the best way to mount the monitor to the controller as best as I could. I used some old single-ply wood from the shed, and cut it up. Nothing too fancy, wanted to keep it ghetto. Used some old foam board as a sunlight hood - attached with velcro.

Painted the monitor hood black, and sealed out any light from creeping in and affecting image quality using black vinyl tape. Damn sunlight...

I tested the video range using the scientific method of placing the quadcopter on a tree stump and walking as far as I could with the monitor/controller, before the video picture signal dropped out. I managed fairly well on first try. Better to know the limits before launching :)

Eventually, after several cheaply repaired crashes, I learned to fly using only the monitor, which is a weird feeling, and can cause panic at first. This was my practice loop which I have now mastered, and I'm flying over trees and buildings without worrying too much...

I eventually taught myself to build a helical antenna using the base of a pringles can, some copper wire, a piece of scrap/leftover plywood, and some solder and hotglue. Range almost doubled. I am guessing, but I think I get about 600m radius. Might have to walk the range test again....

I added some push switches, as I was finding it stresssful to get setup by fiddling with wires and plugs, and then attempting to take off. It worked, because I lowered my stress levels resulting in fewer crashes, and I was able to manage listening to my girlfriend calling me a loser and to get a life while flying. heheh.

I hacked open the cheap controller, and desoldered the crappy antenna inside there. I added RG316 cable with an already soldered plug on the end. This allowed me to use a more powerful antenna.

Like this black rectangular wifi antenna. 

So, now I am happy that I am actually flying. I can improve the quadcopter handling by swapping the 808 #16 camera with a small security-style spy camera module which uses 3.7v weighing 2grammes. This can reduce weight load by a massive 15grammes, allowing a slightly larger transmitter battery to be used, or possibly an OSD module like below.

I am also aware that WlToys have released a more 'balanced' quadcopter called the v212. Which, has an accelerometer as well as the gyroscope to assist in levelling during flight, preventing wind from blowing it over, and correcting errors. I even hear you can throw it in the air and it will correct itself ready to fly. Also, this week WlToys have released the v262, a larger quadcopter that seems to allow up to 100grammes of lift. This would allow you to use a mini fpv camera that we made with the 2gram camera, and also the 808 #16 camera to record video, from different angles such as, from the rear of the quad. That might leave more weight allowance for experiments with a mini servo gimbal rig for the 808 camera.

Progression on this project could be to hack the quadcopter circuit board, and add a digital compass and barometer like they have in mobile phones running 3.7v. This could mean you can then measure altitude and direction, and possible make a switch to hold altitude, and set heading.

Once the above has been achieved,you could also integrate a small 3.7v OSD (onscreen display):

Which could show you flight time/voltage left, altitude, gyroscopic yaw, compass measurements etc..

Another possibility, could be to attach a RaspberryPi tiny computer to the back of the monitor, and program an Augmented Reality game that could blast aliens, shoot balloons, or fly through rings. 

Now wouldn't that be fun?

And you will have made it all yourself :)

Thanks and feel free to donate a dollar:

Ghetto Video Quadcopter

Ok, So we have quadcopters. I did a lot of research into getting one, and my first avenue was the Mikrocopter, kkmulticopter, multiwii controller board to enable me to build my own. It turned out that this direction could add up to about £550 for the transmitter, frame, esc controllers, motors, props, control board, lipos & charger, and fpv. Nuh-uh. I say. £550 is a significant figure. And that's even without gps/dji systems & a gopro camera. And considering the amount of bad, wet & windy weather I get around here, It could be a disaster.

So, I put it off for a few weeks, and came back to it at a later date. What interested me now was the Hubsan Spyhawk plane with fpv camera. I really like the swooping and gliding to be had with planes as opposed to quadcopters. £200 seemed a good bet to me, and I was hoping to eventually take the fpv system from the spyhawk and add it to a quadcopter at a later date. Alas this seemed complicated.

Eventually, I looked at the mini quadcopters that are around; like the Hubsan X4, and wondered if they had the required lift to carry a camera like a gopro. I know that was a physical impossibility, so I looked at other options. What I discovered was the WLToys V929 ladybird quadcopter.

And the 808 #16 120 degree keychain spy camera:

It seems the v929 had the lift to carry this camera! Whooo! And the price - Quad = £26 Camera = £28 Total = £54

So I ordered it, and stuck the two together. And this is what I got.....

 

In the future, I will add a teeny tiny fpv system using these parts: camera, receiver, monitor, transmitter. But for now I am learning to fly it. It is not easy. And wind is a quad killer. I really like the 808 camera for what it is. It offers the same wide view as high end action cameras, is good quality, and cheap. I like that I can just carry it in my pocket and forget about it (it has a lens cap), mount it to my bike, hat, quadcopter, even make a waterproof case and take it underwater. I work at music festivals during the summer, and I think I might try to sneak my mini quadcopter into the festivals and film from above. It's small enough, and I might even mod it to have a collapsible frame so it's even smaller. It could make some amazing filming. :)

What I notice, no matter what, is that all good quadcopter videos are all captured during perfect weather! So, even if you are witnessing the birth of the second coming, if it is blowing outside, it's tough titty.