Quadcopter for Crowd analysis 1st build

TVT · May 23, 2014

!!

Ecalc :

Hugh Hemington · Jun 1, 2014

I see your thread has had a lot of looks and no responses. That may be because no one (myself included) is willing to follow all your eBay links to see what you've selected. You may get more useful feedback if you add model/spec info to each parts link.

I'm no expert by any means, but here's what I've picked up.
If you're doing "crowd analysis", you want stability and loiter time over looks and agility, and some stealth would probably be helpful too since you don't want the "crowd" noticing or being concerned about your quad hovering over or near them. To that end, you want thin and spindly over big and bulky, and paint everything visible from the ground to camo against the sky. If you need to see it visually, you can add a few LED strobes on a transmitter channel, so they can be turned on for acquisition, then turned off again quickly. From the parts you did describe, it looks like an APM build, so there is even less reason to make it visible!
To get maximum stability, stick with a "square wheelbase", meaning equal distances between all motors. Keeping the heaviest components closest to balance-center , and the frame at balance-center also helps the controller do its job.
Opt for longer arms over shorter ones -- that may favor a folding quad frame for easier transport. Opt for longer props over shorter, again to enhance stability and loiter time. And carbon fiber props are generally acknowledged to produce better stability for video. Larger, lower RPM props will make less noise, or less-noticeable noise, adding to stealth.
Don't skimp on anything in the "drive train" -- ESCs, motors or props. The flight controller can only produce stability if its minions are accurate and responsive!
If you go past four (battery) cells, check to make sure all your chosen components will work with that power source.
You may find that investing in an articulated controllable gimbals with your FPV camera attached or FPV integrated will work better in a situation where you may be able to position the quad at a good loiter position with line-of-sight, then use FPV to aim your higher-res camera. That will mean more transmitter/receiver channels and a more complex/costly gimbals, but if that's your goal, you need to build to the purpose. If that's your "build", mounting the FPV camera in a place where "straight ahead" catches some part(s) of the quad will give you a reference point so the FPV camera can be used to fly as well as point and capture.

Hugh Hemington · Jun 1, 2014

Let's see if this gets more response...
(links are above if needed)
Tarot Iron Man 650 Foldable 3K carbon CNC Quad copter Quadcopter Frame TL65B01 $124 (FS)

Tarot 4114/320KV 6S Hexa Multi-copter Quadcopter Brushless Motor TL100B08-02 $55 ea. (FS)

4X SimonK Mystery M30A 30A Brushless ESC Quadcopter KK2.0 APM 2.5 $54 ea. (FS)

Flysky FS-T6-RB6 FS 2.4GHz RC Helicopter Transmitter 6CH 6 Channel Radio Mode 2 $64 XT60 1 Male to 4 Female Parallel Connection Quadcopter Power Distribution Cable $20 (FS)

Receiver Power Supply Brushless ESC External Motor BEC UBEC 5A 5V Support 3-8S $5 (FS)(isolates receiver from interference from ESCs)
Boscam HD19 Explorer Full HD 1080p FPV Mini Camera Aerial Recorder + Pan Tilt $178.50 (FS)
T-Series 1655 1655R 16X5.5" Carbon Fiber Prop Propeller CW/CCW Multi-copter Hexa $19.70 ea.

BOSCAM TX51W+RC805 ULTRA FPV Long 5KM Micro 5.8Ghz Video TX TRANSMITTER RECEIVER $112 (FS)
Battery R2FM HUNGER 5000MAH 5S 25C Bust50C 18.5V LIPO BATTERY NANO AKKU Aircraft $59
Radio Wireless Telemetry Kit 915Mhz Module for MWC MultiWii APM2.6 APM2.5.2 $35 (FS)
New iMAX B6 LCD Screen Digital RC Lipo NiMh Battery Balance Charger $20 (FS) ArduPilot Mega APM2.5 Flight Control Board with Ublox 6H GPS & Ceramic Antenna $120 (FS) APM2.5 / APM2.6 Power Module/current Module (APM Power Module) without the BEC $15 (FS)
10mm Gimbal Suspender Mounting Hook for TL68b01 TL68C01 Pack of 2 $8
Total value of the deal (irrespective of shipping or tax) $1260

Now, with a more comprehensive list, I'd say go with 40amp ESCs. Also, don't you need a programming card for ESCs?
That Tarot frame weighs A TON! It's 1.4KG? You can do better on weight!
Props too small. See if you can do 8" or 10" instead of 5.5".
A transmitter/receiver with eight or ten channels may be better in the long run.
I'm assuming you're doing your telemetry between quad and a laptop.
APM boards are showing poor performance of magnetometer (compass) on the board (this is difference in AMP 2.6 boards). Get a combo GPS/compass and disable the one on the flight controller and make sure you can!
Consider 1.256Ghz FPV over 5.8, because there might be a tree or bird or something.
How are you VIEWING that FPV? I see no screen or goggles in this rig?

TVT · Jun 2, 2014

Thank you Hugh for your time and effort in making this post more forum friendly !

Now about the chopper..
The main purpose of this project is , like i said in the beginning, crowd analysis . I want to live stream the video from the FPV camera , on my laptop. Now in order to do that, i plan to hook the first end of the Creator USB 2.0 External Video Audio Grabber in to the RC805 FPV 5.8Ghz Video RECEIVER and the other end, to the laptop . I need a nice, fluid , stable video stream in order to process it .
so this is the main purpose of the FPV ... i will use APM planner for the flying and also i won't let the chopper very far so i can't see it ..

I will consider what you said about the ECS's , the props and the FPV frequency.

My questions are "The livestream ,will it be possible with this setup?" .. if not "Why?" ... if yes " How can i improve it ?"

Hugh Hemington · Jun 2, 2014

I looked around and on HobbyKing, they have more pictures and specs on the camera. It has a microSD slot -- that's where the HD recording happens.
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking..._FPV_Video_Camera_with_Integral_Recorder.html
Wow! Lots of buttons on the back. The site specifies you can use a transmitter channel to turn recording on and off, but no mention of taking stills (not sure if all functions are remotely accessible)
The parts you've chosen seem like they'll do streaming FPV, but keep in mind that the Boscam RECORDS at 1080p (30fps) but will output video in real time only at about 640 x 480. Besides, the transmitter/receiver you've selected has that yellow plug -- the video plug. That's "composite" video, which can't carry anything past DVD quality, so you can record HI-DEF to microSD on the camera, but you're going to stream and watch "old TV".
If you're going to stream that into a laptop, you'll need a video digitizer that can capture a composite signal and I assume stream that to something else? If your laptop has that yellow "RCA" jack, don't assume it's video-in! It's almost certainly video OUT.
I don't know what parts you can find that will transmit/receive stream even 720p much less 1080! But they'd have to carry a really RUDE price tag! The bandwidth to to that will be wide, or the compression will be pretty lossey.
I have to assume the pan and tilt will require TWO proportional channels on your flight transmitter/receiver, plus record on/off. I assume you've done the math on necessary channels for your whole rig. And a bunch of sites/specs on that pan/tilt said something about a servo that wasn't included. Not sure if that applies to the rather pricey unit you selected. (I saw the two parts sold separately for quite a bit less)

Quadcopter for Crowd analysis 1st build

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Hugh Hemington

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Hugh Hemington

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