10/6/14
Came up with a list of components including the camera, altimeter, and GPS sensor (links below). Not sure yet how to transmit and receive sensor data at ground station. Probably through the transmitter/receiver linked at the bottom.
The camera is the Airy 3g Mini Camera. This paired with the Boscam Transmitter/Receiver will transmit at 5.8 GHz, far above the 2.4 GHz range for the radio controllers. The camera is not a high definition camera, however, I don’t think that is necessary. These Airy cameras are designed for FPV (First Person View) flight and are used by drone enthusiasts and the resolution is near the 720 pixel range of HD cameras. It has a resolution of 752×582 interlaced video.
The Adafruit GPS sensor is the current GPS sensor that I am looking into. It seems streamlined toward prototyping and microcontroller systems. It can even be placed on a breadboard for testing. This GPS sensor tracks location, speed (knots), angle, and altitude and may eliminate the need for a separate altimeter. This sensor also provides a library of codes for users to use so that they can analyze the NMEA sentences being outputted by the sensor. Making it less confusing and more about the actual data.
I have started to think about the ground station portion of the project, and how it will all come together for the co-pilot. The video and the sensor data will probably be sent separately to the ground station. On the ground the video will be taken from the receiver and displayed on a monitor for the co-pilot. I have thought about taking the information from the sensors and displaying that on the screen as well. However, I am not sure yet how to accomplish this.
Plans for next week are to research more about transmitting and receiving sensor data, as well as finding a way to overlay that data on the video. I also already have the microcontroller and can start testing the EagleTree air speed sensor we found in the team room.
Airy 3g Mini Camera http://www.helipal.com/airy-3g-mini-camera.html
Boscam Tx/Rx http://www.helipal.com/boscam-5-8ghz-fpv-system-500mw.html
Air Speed https://store.3drobotics.com/products/airspeed-kit-with-mpxv7002dp
GPS http://www.adafruit.com/products/746
Microcontroller Tx/Rx http://www.instructables.com/id/RF-315433-MHz-Transmitter-receiver-Module-and-Ardu/
Microcontroller http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=CHIPKIT-MAX32
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