2014 UAV Outback Challenge¶
The 2014 UAV Outback Challenge (OBC) was the 2nd time CanberraUAV had entered the competition.
We came 1st place, successfully dropping a bottle of water to within 2.6m of Joe.
A total of 16 teams made it to Kingaroy, 4 teams being able to drop a water bottle within 100m of Joe (another team dropped the bottle more than 100m from Joe).
- For more information about the event:
- The official competition web site http://www.uavoutbackchallenge.com.au/
- CanberraUAV mission statement: http://canberrauav.org.au/about
- OBC Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAV_Outback_Challenge
- South Burnett Times http://www.southburnetttimes.com.au/news/got-it-first-time-elusive-outback-joe-found/2401560/
- FastCo http://www.fastcoexist.com/3036658/this-drone-just-saved-someone-lost-in-the-australian-wilderness-but-that-someone-was-just-a-
Hardware/Software used¶
Airframe: VQ Porter (2.7m wingspan. 12kg takeoff weight) with DLE35 engine
Flight Controller: Pixhawk running APM:Plane 3.1.1
Datalink1: RFD900’s with 3dBi patch antennas of the aircraft and 6dBi Yagi antenna of the ground
Datalink2: Ubiquiti Rocket 5.8GHz. 28dBi MIMO antenna on the ground, and a 10dBi MIMO omni antenna in the aircraft.
Camera: PointGrey Chameleon
Image Processing: Odroid XU board running Unbuntu and the cuav imaging software
Ground Station: 3 networked laptops running the MAVProxy GCS software.
Procedures and Reference¶
We also created the following documents for our own use at the competition (and practice flights):
The rules:
Deliverables:
Procedures and Checklists:
After the Challenge¶
- We completed a post-OBC review here:
- There are also reviews by Stephen and Tridge on DIYDrones:
- Tridge’s technical review - http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/canberrauav-outback-challenge-2014-debrief
- Stephen’s not-so-technical review - http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/canberrauav-uav-outback-challenge-review