User:Mecevans

Hello all, Here i will document all my progress and experiences with my Tiny 2.11. I will take pictures and document everything as much as possible to aid others interested in paparazzi. if there is writing or fact error's in this mini how to please email me at Mecevans-at-gmail.com with corrections.

Useful links

http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Main_Page -wiki

http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/paparazzi-devel -mailing list sign up

http://www.engr.usu.edu/wiki/index.php/OSAM - college paparazzi project

http://www.mannberg.co.uk/paparazzi/ - another paparazzi how to guide

http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/index.php -hardware

http://diydrones.com/ http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=851820 - Rcgroups paparazzi forum

http://embed.mibbit.com/?server=irc.freenode.net&channel=%23paparazzi&noServerNotices=true -paparazzi chat room(please join!)

http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki_images/Users_manual.pdf -field guide

Where do i start?

The first step is to sign up for the WIKI, Mailing List , and join the paparazzi Chat room.Read the entire wiki head-to-toe and then if you still have any questions ask.

Which autopilot is right for me?

After reading the entire paparazzi WIKI and saving my money I was ready to consider purchasing or building a complete system. I set a real, saved up budget of $1000US to get things going. I set curtain goal in which i wanted to achieve now, and down the road. The original thread is [URL=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=995908]HERE[/URL]

My goals

[list] [*]I plan to spend $1000US [*]I would like to be able to carry a video or digital camera now or in the near future [*]I would like to trigger or control the cameras with paparazzi [*]I would like long flight times (20-30 minutes or more) [*]I wanted to have everything build, tested and tuned in less than 2 months [/list] Because of my time frame and budget i set my mind on pre-assembled and programmed autopilots from [URL=http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/]PPZUAV[/URL] .the choices were the [URL=http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Tiny_v2]tiny 2.11[/URL] or the [URL=http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Twog_v1]TWOG[/URL] . I even made paper cutouts to get an idea of how amazingly small these things really are. This was not an overnight decision; I had messaged many people with all different levels of experience with paparazzi. The tiny 2.11 is a great first step into the world of UAV's and everything is one board.

Next on the list was the radio modems, either 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz from digi. Originally the kit comes with 2.4 GHz xbee pro V2 but you can request other if you like. After posting [URL=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=999932]THIS[/URL] thread and contacting David from [URL=http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/index.php]PPZUAV[/URL] he convinced me to try the newly released Xbee pro XSC's. My final step with the hardware side of things was to either buy or build the PPM tapped receiver. Luckily the ones pre-modded from PPZUAV were on sale. :)

Parts list

[list] [*](1)[URL=http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=68]Bundle #2: TINY 2.11_LEA-5H Basic[/URL] with 900Mhz pro XSC's [*](1)[URL=http://ppzuav.com/osc/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=13_11&products_id=51]Pre-modded BERG 4L[/URL] [/list]

Installing and using the paparazzi GCS

While waiting for my order to come from David, I set up my laptop to run Ubuntu for paparazzi. The laptop I am going to use is a fairly new HP Pavilion DV5215US with windows already installed. The battery in the laptop only lasted 10 minutes so I ordered a replacement 8 hour battery for field use.

.....Making the live cd.....

[list] [*]plug in charger and boot windows [*]download the [URL=http://www.recherche.enac.fr/paparazzi/paparazzix/]Latest Live Cd[/URL] from the repository and saved it to the desktop [*]use your own or install [URL=http://www.download.com/Free-DVD-ISO-Burner/3000-2242_4-10902630.html?tag=mncol]THIS[/URL] iso burner [*]insert a blank cd and install/run the iso burner [*]select the live cd file you just downloaded and your cd drive [*]burn (Once it’s done don't forget to label it!) [/list]

.....Installing or booting from the cd.....

-A) to boot from the cd simply put the cd into the tray and restart. Select "try Ubuntu without any changes to your computer" -B) to install ubuntu onto your hard drive, click “install Ubuntu” and follow the guide. i used a partitioned space to install Ubuntu so i could also use Windows XP because you still need it. On startup it will ask what operating system you would like to boot.