5-Jan-2013

Thesis
This week I did a bunch of things for my project:

• (Almost) final touches on the latest mechanical design.  I put the motors in, retractable landing gear and a few other things.  Although the retracting mechanism probably isn't going to suffice, so I need to take a better look at that in the next design iteration.  I still need to do some more work with the moment coefficients by placing the front/rear wings in the correct location, along with locating the center of gravity in the optimal position.  Here are some pictures:

Cruise Mode

Cruise Mode

VTOL Mode

• I worked on the software aspect some too.  I plan on using the DIYDrones APM as the primary controller and the Parallax Quickstart as a slave board for extra I/O.  I started writing the necessary code on the Quickstart along with figuring out where in the huge codebase on the APM I will put my user code.  More documentation can be located here:  http://code.google.com/p/icarus-uav-system/wiki/FlyerSoftware
• I started receiving the electrical parts I ordered.  I mistakenly ordered 1 adapter cable that was wrong from Robot Marketplace but I think I can use it for something else.

Those are the main things I accomplished.  The next things I need to care of are:

• Software documentation/flowcharting
• Figure out a test board that I can make to mount all the electronics on for testing.
• Need to figure out where and how I'm going to mount the wings at.

FRC

As some of you know, FRC started off again today for another season.  This will be my first year in 7 years not working with a FRC team.  I enjoy the spare time and the time I get to focus on my schooling/personal life but I will always miss and cherish those days when I was a FRC mentor.  Good luck to all teams, especially 931, 1985 and 1208!  Here's the game animation for ULTIMATE ASCENT!