Ground Station Updates

Well tired of serial programming and trying to figure out how to make it work in linux(already done so in Windows),i was frustrated.For days i have been trying to figure out how to make it work..
But now i guess it might prove to be a blessing in disguise.I have since moved on to TCP/IP and for sure it's damn fast and fortunately i am able to achieve file transmission via client-server methodology.It took me less than a second to copy a 50 MB pdf from one location to other on my system.Hope Mr.Suraj hurries up on his side(transmission)so i could start building on the client side.Enclosed pic shows running of the Java program(seems very soothing to my eyes,after about 200 unsuccessful builds for serial transmission this one finally worked)
And btw Linux is very time consuming.Takes you Hours to figure out things you would not even care about in Windows.

Nipun

Ground Station Updates

Finished with file handling via GUI,also done image manipulation i.e.marking of waypoints on the image..Serial port communication has also been done..That leaves us with a very small task of integrating sub modules into a bigger module and then off we go ready for testing.
Images show marking of waypoints on a given map and the other one shows read write operations in GUI.

Navigation sample pics

The pic with straight lines is the ideal path to be followed
The waypoints are (x,y)

50 100
640 150
560 500
100 580
The paths generated by the algorithm using the 2D math model with transition gain k
k=2 (top image) //since gain is large, motion isnt so smooth due to overshoots
k=1.5
k=1

Suraj

COEFFICIENTS !!!

Well for those of you who have a some idea of AERODYNAMICS would have heard of the terms like Coefficient of lift drag blah blah..
But for those innocent Homo-sapiens who are left yet untouched by this Great field this article may be an eye opener

All the forces and moments in Aircraft dynamics are defined in terms of Coefficients like coefficient of lift due to body i.e fuselage, coefficient of lift due to tail deflection, coefficient of drag due to aileron deflection and soooo on...

If you have to determine the dynamics of your vehicle then you need to identify the forces acting on it. Forces are defined by 12 fundamental non linear differential equations of motion.
In the end for an aerial vehicle to be completely characterized, you basically need all its AERODYNAMIC COEFFICIENTS.
Well these for a simple UAV they are about 50 to 70.(Depending in which frame you are using your equations).

It took Mr. Kaul 2 months to determine all of these and it was Captain Nigel M Jodeh at some airforce base in US , Dr. Robert Nelson and USAF Digital Datcom which rescued us.

So as of today Mr. KAUL is still checking his coefficients

Best of luck to him..

navigation update

Good news everyone. Have tested the algorithm with a simplified 2D math model of the UAV dynamics and the results have exceeded my expectations by far. I am now pretty sure that it will work in the final UAV navigation module. The next thing to do is to test it with the actual UAV math model. However, it seems that the control team has run into some serious problems right now with the mathematical modelling, so it will take some time to sort things out. Therefore, navigation will be on hold for a while and I'll be concentrating on linux for now.Will post soon

Suraj

Embedded Update

As Suraj & Nipun told you about Linux and Ground Station. it's time to know something about the Embedded Work.
From the beginning of this project i and Sahil were working on the PIC18f 4431 microcontroller , well you can include Chak also because he is part of each work and he is always available to give his advice on our work any time. Now i would like to tell you the reason behind selecting PIC18f 4431 for our project. We inherited all the stuffs( microcontrollers, MPLAB ICD2 Programmer, software, ICD2 board, etc) required for working on PIC microcontroller. As UAV team used this microcontroller.
But we didn't have PIC Development Board so we needed to do a lot of 'JUGAAD' for programming the microcontroller. ICD2 Board which we had,was a board with some grounding problem so it was a nightmare to work with this board because sometimes it gave wrong reading. But finally after a great effort we were able to flash LED, generate PWM wave,carry out analog to digital conversion. Although Serial Communication was not successful but we succeed in moving the servo moter at any angle.
After some time we came to know that PIC18f 4431 does not support the serial communication. So we had to change the microcontroller.
Finally we decided to work on ATMEL atmega128 microcontroller. The reason behind the selection of this is that we get a source of help for learning this microcontroller . And now i would like to tell you that it support the serial communication. We are working on this. Currently we have been able to carry out a to d conversion, PWM generation, Serial Communication & SPI.

RAGHVENDRA

GROUND STATION SAMPLE

Still far away from the main design,,some progress has been done on the ground station..here is an image depicting the capabilities of java..a simple program which i just created..click on the image to enlarge.and importantly this image is of a java application and not merely an applet..

NIPUN

Ground Station Updates

There was a time i made fun of all those who joined summer courses for learning java..But fate has the last laugh .So here i am studying java with a couple of other fellows Gautam and Akshay..To begin with java is very simple..its all about classes .the gui part seems a bit difficult..well atleast for gautam's HP laptop to handle..we were not able to exit our small GUI programs..and then came the famous ctrl+alt+del to our rescue..
More progress has followed..Now we are able to add mouse events and images onto our Gui as well as closing of GUI by clicking on buttons..
JAVA will definitely be mastered..and i am pretty sure we will be consuming lots of JAVA(cofee) from the night mess before we master this wonderful creation.

NIPUN

The Curious Case of our Proposals

P.S although I am posting this on Valentines Day but the following post has nothing to do with what an average boy thinks of the word Proposal with reference to Valentines Day. Any similarity is purely coincidental (although that may be the case with many of us out here reading this !!!)

Well to start with we decided to look for a Govt. sponsor for our project like DST, DoD(Dept. of Defence )....
Episode I
We decided to send our proposal to ARDB (Aero R&D Board). With a lot of effort Gautam found the form to be filled. With even greater effort it was filled (with maximum similarity to the form which "The Earlier Team" had filled) and SIGNED by all our Investigators and Advisers...
Then the form was printed and taken to ARDB (address was taken from ARDB's website) and lol!! there was No Such Thing as ARDB at that address. Then through some JUGAAD it was finally delivered to ARDB.
Episode II
The team decides we need a backup as well (what if ARDB rejects us ???). So an advice of Mr Sahil Kapur, the team approaches DST where Mr. Kapur says, we will surely get a spons. A little search on net reveals that DSIR is the most suitable agency for us.
We again start filling the form.. again Investigators and Adviser sign it and the form is sent to DSIR...
Episode III
The team's Communications Expert Mr Bahl now discovers a contact in DRDO. Meanwhile ARDB had already rejected our earlier form on the grounds that it had nothing technical in it. They give us time to resubmit. We fill it again and they send it back saying that now you have given us the technical report but no form was filled with it...
So any ways, Mr Bahl's contact "Our Missile Man" says," you dont submit the form to ARDB but send it to another board ( Name of the board is classified by the team)". He says (Missile Man) "You make me your adviser ( one more adviser...) and I will give you my cover letter and then no one will stop your spons. in DRDO"...
So the team happily asks our Director for permission to submit the report to the board and make the Missile Man our adviser...
Episode IV
The Director spoils the game now. He says you dont submit the project to DRDO as they will classify your work and if there's some problem with your research, they will Court Martial you (yes those were his actual words !!). He said you think over it for 24 hours...
The next day Mr. Kapur urgently needed a letter to be sent to DSIR from the director saying that the UAS is actually a project of this college and blah blah... so now it was decided that we had to get that letter to be sent to DSIR and so, we could no longer say that we wish to get spons. from DRDO etc..
The Director himself drafts and sends the letter with all his BEST Regards and Wishes to DST..
Episode V
Now this took place exactly a week ago ...
Mr Kapur calls me late Sunday Night.. "Be ready to go to DST tomorrow to meet some one". He adds that DSIR cant give us more than 2.5 to 3 lakhs..
So an monday we (in suits for the first time) go to DST with a ppt and proposals and brochures... for sponsorship..
and there we get the next surprise...
"Fill a new form for a new agency".... and then give a presentation to our "PEERS" in 2 weeks (PEERS according to DST are profs from IITs and other aeronautics experts who can judge if this project is feasible for II nd year students of DCE)
Episode VI
We have filled the form, it awaits signatures from our Investigators and Advisers...

CHAK

linux : Updates

Have finished process management.Was a little tricky but pretty easy in the end.Now have an idea how to implement the software framework of the UAV.
Am going to begin with the IPC , interprocess communication.Basically, it involves the mechanisms by which the various processes like the autopilot,navigation,data telemetry etc running onboard the UAV will communicate and co-operate with each other.It is a very important subject and if I screw it up , there will be hell to pay.
Leaving you with that cheery thought to ponder,bye for now, will post soon.

Suraj

Linux Updates

done with low level file I/O using system calls.
and more importantly, today i wrote my first program in which i created a new child process from a parent process.In other words, the first hurdle has been crossed.
Things are shaping up, guys.

Suraj

linux: a little explanation

i guess nobody quite knows what i am doing rite now.when anyone asks, i simply say linux.Well,let me try to explain what i am doing in "linux".

Basically,we require process management,memory management,device management(feels like i'm doing an MBA!!) and system administration in the UAV.So right now am studying these things.
Is tough at times but everyday i get to learn something new.That's one of the reasons why linux is fun, i think. Anyway will keep everyone posted on progress.

Suraj

updates:Navigation

well,

the navigation algo is ready to be tested in simulink.
However, it needs a certain function which can only be provided by the control system
team.So we're kind of stuck right now,waiting for abhay and chak to do their magic.
Plz hurry up guys!!

Suraj

SBC coming closer

Well got the quotation for the sbc today.
Seems that by by next week, u can expect to see me playing around with it in the lab.
can hardly wait!!

Suraj

Finally an account and MONEY

YES THATS true

We finally after 4 months have an account for our project and money in it too.
Although college has given that money but still!!!!!!!!
And yes we have cleared our old bills too!!

YEPEE!!