I ditched the Kalman filter and went back to basics, using simple integer math and a single 3-axis gyro.  It won’t auto-level itself, but it’ll stay where I put it remarkably well, and that’s all I really wanted.  Check out the video of my first crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjvJLm725h0

Learning to use the machine has been entertaining - there’s quite a lot to it, and a decent learning curve to the software and just producing something in general.  Having a machine to cut stuff doesn’t automatically give you the ability to make things.  It helps make them a little faster and more accurately, but you still have to work out how to build the things in the first place.

The reason for building the machine was so it could cut out parts while I’m going through the physical prototyping phase the Wolf Spyder.  Hopefully I’ll have more to post soon.

Flight video #2 here (WMV, 56mb) or on YouTube

This is a perfect chip for a project that needs to listen to a remote control, take gyro readings, and move servos all at the same time.  It does lots of other cool stuff too, like generate video, which is incredibly useful when debugging. 

So I got a 3-axis accelerometer, a dual-axis gyro, a 12-bit ADC, and stuck them together with a Kalman filter and some PIDs.  Mix gently and let simmer for a month or so, and voila!

I present flying object #2 (WMV, 48mb), or on YouTube

The software is currently keeping it (somewhat) stable, but within a few more iterations on the software I hope to have it self-levelling.

He’s also been learning to sing lately (if you can call it that).  I wander around the house with him on my shoulder humming random bits of whatever pops into my head, and half the time I don’t remember the words, so I just ‘doop doop be-doop’ to the tune.  Bert seems to have caught on.  Check out the video.  I don’t have a clue what he’s singing, but I doubt he does either.

Here’s a video of it moving.  (WMV)

It’s not overly exciting yet, but I’m making sure I have some basics down before I try to build anything larger.

Pictures:

The first image is a long exposure to show the hands (it’s 10:17 pm).  The second shows the main board, the motor control, and the 18 miles of wire I used to connect the LEDs.  In the lower left of the 2nd image you can see the (slightly bluish) infra-red LED used to determine RPM and disc position.

Next up, the ability to -set- the clock.

It’s pretty dim because I only have 2 LED’s hooked up, and the innards of the CD drive are all black, so they don’t reflect much light.  I have a couple things I’m going to try to fix that.  In the meantime I have to get the hours and minutes displaying and add a way to set it.  I’ll post more pics shortly.

Front & rear views:

Basically I’m using the motor and CD holder from the drive, as well as most of the original chassis.  I’ve hacked up the motor so an RC hobby brushless controller will spin it, and I’ve got a clear CD with a hand etched into it (you can see it in the ‘back’ image).  I’m going to write some microcontroller code to run the motor, sense the RPM, and strobe some LED’s at the right time (like the hard drive clock does) to make the display.

I’ll post more as it (hopefully) comes together.

Video: Tiger 50 flight (WMV, 29mb)