Airplane

[electric noob 71]

Over the next year I am going to try to build a self controlled airplane. I dont think it will have any sensors on board but rather i will take a remote control airplane and modify the control so it will automatically do things on a scheduel- for example
10 seconds- Engine full speed
20 seconds- start going up
etc

anyway i am kind of new to electronics and i was wondering if anyone has any ideas how to do this. i have never actually flown a remote control airplane so im kinda blank there. thats why iv got a year to do it

 

[mechie]

Autopilot ?

I don't mean to discourage you but ...
This idea is a dream - impossible!
Start by joining a local model aero club, try flying a model and experience what you are attempting to automate.
As a kid I had a car that was programmed with simple sequences, it couldn't repeat a pattern on the floor (only two dimensions) and you want to work in three dimensions with no direct drive ...

You need to at least sense the craft's pitch and roll in order to correct for side/head/tail winds simply to avoid a roll, flip, stall or dive.
If the craft loses altitude it would be nice to know before it crashes into a house or person?

You can keep the engine fast enough to exceed the craft's minimum airspeed, that, I believe, is the only variable you don't need sensors for.

Assuming the above are achieved we still have no way of knowing where (or when) the craft will land :!:

 

[electric noob 71]

ok ok

i see your point. i was planning to land it manually but i think i might just build a robot instead. (and not a flying one)

 

[bogdanfirst]

if you dont want to put any sensors on board you could just sore the things you want to do on an EEPROM , but most problably the patterns will not look the same.....and i dont think that it will survive that much, you never know where trees come out form......

 

[Scubasteve]

Yeah, an airplane without sensors is like running through a forest at midnight. You need a feedback loop which will help you know if you succeeded by turning by this angle and etc..

I was thinking of this before, but this is a project I will attempt in time. www.analog.com has a great all silicon gyro!!!

Then a little machine vision.. hehe

Steve

 

[compute_a_nerd]

Yeah I flew planes for a while, and it would be impossible to account for wind speed, and temp. There are just way to many variables. That would be really cool if it worked though.
Live long and prosper
Chris

 

[Scubasteve]

Hey,,

Actually, it isn't impossible, just undone. There is plenty of processing power, sensory, and etc. available. Linking all of this together is the challenge, but technically, we do have the technology!

Steve

 

[corec]

Hey,,

Actually, it isn't impossible, just undone. There is plenty of processing power, sensory, and etc. available. Linking all of this together is the challenge, but technically, we do have the technology!

Steve

This is my first post =)
Acctually it is not undone at all. I know at least one model airplane, built here at the local university, that is entirely autonomus. It starts, takes off, flies its "mission" and lands again safely.

 

[Scubasteve]

I believe that there can be such a thing that can do that, but I do not believe it is truely smart.

Regards,

Stephen

 

[induction1]

why the necessity for complete automation? i know radios can be expensive, but i'm thinking of building a small plane and using the conrols from one of those mini rc cars. they only cost $10 (even though the range is only 50') and they're great for experimentation, small size, indoor flying, and beginners.

 

[Scubasteve]

Because that isn't what he asked for..

Steve

 

[kizzap]

i actually came across a site that had all this sort of information quite a while ago. i decided to bookmark it because it is a common question that gets asked all the time. the link is **broken link removed**. i hope this helps you.

 

[joi]

Flying a model airplane after a predefined schedule is almost impossible without any sensors.

You always need sensors for your robot if you wan't it to work properly(ok.. maybe not ALWAYS)..

You should also give model helicopters a thought .. They don't depend on flying forward at
a some minimum speed, though flying a helicopter is quite hard, it's easyer to implement as a robot then an airplane..

As someone already said; you can get cheap gyroscopes that are quite precise. And only a single
IC..