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UAS Sensor Selection and Placement


UAS Sensor Selection and Placement



            The Parrot Disco provides exceptional quality video and photography for its price.  This fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) weighs 1.6 pounds and is constructed from lightweight flexible plastic foam.  Its single rear propeller is positioned in the rear and its propulsion system is strong enough to propel the UAV up to 50 miles per hour for up to 45 minutes (Goldman, 2016).  Exteroceptive and proprioceptive sensory equipment includes an air data pitot static system for airspeed, an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and GPS for navigation.  The Control Hub and Universal Computer Kit or CHUCK allows the Parrot Disco to be hand-launched while it autonomously ascends to 50 feet and circles until it receives commands.



            Command and control of the Parrot Disco is semi-autonomous and can be flown by beginners.  Command and control is provided by a First Person View (FPV) headset and the Skycontroller 2 which is a smaller design of the original Skycontroller.  With a latency of about 250 ms from the UAV to ground control, the Parrot Cockpitglasses provide a FPV full High Definition (HD) video and still photographs (Goldman, 2016).  Sensor placement of the HD camera is in the absolute nose of the aircraft and advantageous to FPV flight through the Cockpitglasses.  Since a smartphone is connected by USB it is also positioned to face the smartphone camera downward and view the ground through the rear camera position.  I have chosen the Parrot disco for the placement of the forward and rear cameras with constant forward flight providing multiple angles. 


            It has some differences from flying a multi-rotor UAV.  Since it does not have Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) capability and needs to constantly fly forward, it will need more open space to fly.  It can be landed manually or automatic but it has no sense-and-avoid system so you could crash it if you are in close proximity to terrain and obstacles.  With a range of 1.2 miles and a user-set geofence it will fly back to home if it goes off course.  It is an overall different flying experience than multirotor and takes great video for its $1300 price including cockpitclasses and controller.



            The Walkera F210 is a multirotor VTOL quadcopter racing drone.  It is a FPV UAV that provides real-time HD video through its 5.8G double antennas.  It is ready to fly upon purchase and includes the FPV 3D glasses and F3 flight controller.  Smooth transmission of real-time flight data can be achieved up to 800 from controller to drone (Walkera F210, 2017).  The F210 has a modular design and crash resistant carbon fiber airframe. In manual mode the user can adjust the angle of the camera with a framing angle up to 120 degrees. 

What may set this racer apart is the 700TVL Night Vision camera and flood lights.  The photosensitive adjust to the available brightness.  It is advertised to be flown day or night.  Its camera is placed at the front and can angle up and down up to 120 degrees as the operator prefers.  I am not an expert on drones but at a price of $399, it sounds like it has good value.

           


References

Goldman, J. (2016). Parrot Disco fixed-wing drone priced at $1,300, lands in September (hands-on). CNET. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://www.cnet.com/products/parrot-disco/

Walkera F210 5.8GHZ Complete RTF FPV Racing Drone with DEVO7 Remote Control & Battery Included. (2017). Dronenerds.com. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from http://www.dronenerds.com/products/racing-quads/ready-to-fly-kits/walkera-f210-5-8ghz-rtf-fpv-racing-drone-with-devo7-remote-walkeraf210-dronenerds.html?gclid=CPbHpvXvmNMCFY6EswodIKQEMg

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