New Shapeways Parts - inc FO-OSD (Fibre optic OSD)

[DeweyAXD]

A few more designs added to the pile this week after they arrived.... all on my Shapeways shop now (apart from the GTU10 holder which is coming soon). Link is in my signature.

FO-OSD (Fibre Optic OSD)
A method used by a few people before. The idea is to use fibre optic cable to take show the output of the Phantom's status LED in your FPV goggles/monitor. This is very handy as it tells you when the voltage warnings actually kick in as opposed to OSD systems that just display voltage levels. Pictures/Vids say a thousand words (flight test vid coming soon).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_doIZhQztvs[/youtube]



My kit comprises of two parts:
1) GoPro FO-OSD Lens Ring for Hero3



This pushes snugly around the lens and allows the cable to be held in front of the lens. It can be rotated into the correct position depending on what mode you are using on your Hero3. It set in place via a grub screw or glue but I have never needed either personally.

2) Phantom Rear Mount

Like my FPV Custom Undertray this fits the rear over 2 x 25mm M3 hex spacers. You don't need the FPV Custom Undertray for this to fit but you do need the spacers or long strong bolts. When it place it allows the other end of the fibre optic cable to be pushed or clamped in place and held up to the status LED. This sends the light output down the cable to the GoPro lens ring. No need for opening the case at all.

For this kit to work all you need is the spacers and a really cheap thin 'Toshlink' fibre optic cable... like £2 max and the thinner the better. You snip the connectors off, shave the wire down until it is a nice fit at one end, cut it to length and shave/fit the other end. Easy!

Is my kit overkill... as always for some it might be seen as that. My prototype used a bottle top and a bit of blue foam which worked great but this is stronger, neater and whiter - if you are hand with DIY make your own, if not mine is a good option.

Ok so the next item...

Fatshark 600TVL Camera to GoPro mount
Simple mount that allows you to fit the 600TVL camera to the GoPro mount on the Phantom (or any craft with a stick on GoPro mount). This mount has 2 x mounts at each end which makes it possible to mount it on top of a flying device (ideal for a plane).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dbVJkLT4e4[/youtube]

GoPro “Frame’ish” MK2
Second generation of the popular lightweight, cheap frame. This version holds the camera on its own. Due to popular request the camera shutter button can be accessed from the top or bottom which means you don’t have to use the Up/Down settings in the camera if you don’t want to. There is also a recess for chunkier USB cables.





GoPro “Touch'n'Batt” Frame'ish
This is the Touch’n’Batt option of the Frame’ish. It fits the latest generation Hero3 Touch Screen or Battery back pack. Should fit the Hero3+ too (thanks gopro!).





Turnigy Nano Tech 2250 Battery Cage
This is a larger version of my battery cage designed for Turnigy 2250mah Nano Tech batteries. It can hold any 3s of the same dimensions as the Turnigy (104 x 35 x 27mm). It slots onto the FPV Custom Undertray but can be velcro'd without it via its hangers.



.... and finally a preview of something still to come (final tweaking!)

Garmin GTU10 Holder

I wanted a holder for the GTU10 that kept it secure but left it with room to pick up GPS in as many orientations as possible (assuming it'd be arse over tit in a crash). I was also running low on space under the Phantom.
So far I have this but the clips are too brittle for public sale and fiddly to fit.... the concept works great and it hooks on VERY solid. If you are happy to be careful with the clips and want one I can make a simple mod - PM me if interested.

With 2 x Turnigy Nanotech and EVERYTHING fitted = 1322grams.... a weighty girl and the flight test at this weight will follow soon. If it is too much then I am happy with a stock 2200 + Nanotech... that gives me 10-13 mins useful flight time already.... this is her fully loaded!





Phew.... a beer needed me thinks! :lol:

 

[lilwheat]

A few more designs added to the pile this week after they arrived.... all on my Shapeways shop now (apart from the GTU10 holder which is coming soon). Link is in my signature.

FO-OSD (Fibre Optic OSD)
A method used by a few people before. The idea is to use fibre optic cable to take show the output of the Phantom's status LED in your FPV goggles/monitor. This is very handy as it tells you when the voltage warnings actually kick in as opposed to OSD systems that just display voltage levels. Pictures/Vids say a thousand words (flight test vid coming soon).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_doIZhQztvs[/youtube]



My kit comprises of two parts:
1) GoPro FO-OSD Lens Ring for Hero3



This pushes snugly around the lens and allows the cable to be held in front of the lens. It can be rotated into the correct position depending on what mode you are using on your Hero3. It set in place via a grub screw or glue but I have never needed either personally.

2) Phantom Rear Mount

Like my FPV Custom Undertray this fits the rear over 2 x 25mm M3 hex spacers. You don't need the FPV Custom Undertray for this to fit but you do need the spacers or long strong bolts. When it place it allows the other end of the fibre optic cable to be pushed or clamped in place and held up to the status LED. This sends the light output down the cable to the GoPro lens ring. No need for opening the case at all.

For this kit to work all you need is the spacers and a really cheap thin 'Toshlink' fibre optic cable... like £2 max and the thinner the better. You snip the connectors off, shave the wire down until it is a nice fit at one end, cut it to length and shave/fit the other end. Easy!

Is my kit overkill... as always for some it might be seen as that. My prototype used a bottle top and a bit of blue foam which worked great but this is stronger, neater and whiter - if you are hand with DIY make your own, if not mine is a good option.

I love this idea, but I'm assuming this will not play nice with the zenmuse since you wouldn't want a toslink cable binding the gimbal. :sad face:

 

[DeweyAXD]

Really hard to say if it would cause it issues... The cable is pretty light and fairly stiff so there is no risk of the slack getting twisted up if you left enough expansion room... Pitching fully down would be the biggest issue. I am hoping to have a Aeroxcraft gimbal by November so will test then.

 

[MrMediaGuy]

Unfortunately the fiber-optic idea won't work with the Zenmuse -- between the cable and the mounting ring you'd be way out of balance and the poor motors would squeal themselves to death. If you're not using a gimbal though this is a very elegant solution -- love it. Of course if you're flying FPV with goggles you'd always have a spotter, so you'd never need this....(ahem, cough)....

Now, as for the GTU10 holder, that's something I find very interesting. I don't really like where I mounted mine (foam-taped to the back side of the Zenmuse bracket) but it does fit there and I like that it doesn't protrude. Still, I think the landing-strut frame is much more elegant.

 

[DeweyAXD]

Video of the FO-OSD in flight is now done. I will take some more over time in different lights conditions. I have flown the prototype in bright sun and while the colour is diluted more than here (grey skys) the output is still clearly visible and especially the transition to a Red LED warning.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXbnIlDzL9M[/youtube]

 

[DeweyAXD]

Unfortunately the fiber-optic idea won't work with the Zenmuse -- between the cable and the mounting ring you'd be way out of balance and the poor motors would squeal themselves to death. If you're not using a gimbal though this is a very elegant solution -- love it. Of course if you're flying FPV with goggles you'd always have a spotter, so you'd never need this....(ahem, cough)....

Now, as for the GTU10 holder, that's something I find very interesting. I don't really like where I mounted mine (foam-taped to the back side of the Zenmuse bracket) but it does fit there and I like that it doesn't protrude. Still, I think the landing-strut frame is much more elegant.

You are probably correct on the Zenmuse. That ring is 2-3 grams in weight though and I thought the IMU in the gimbal calibrates based on the load at power up?... that may just be relevent to gimbals with a seperate IMU though. The Zenmuse is probably set based on the stock Hero3 weight (which will be interesting with the Hero3+ and its bigger capacity battery).

I must admit that while i can't yet sell it, i am really happy with my GTU10 holder... The rigidity of it is way over what is needed with this material which is a good thing. It means I can trim some weight and lower the cost to people. The clips are the real issue. Velcoro strap slots is the easy option but it makes it look less elegant and a bit rattly whereas it solid now. Not a problem for those wanting it to just function i guess. The clips are standing up better than I thought they would to be fair and if it was a 'once only' fit they would be fine but over 10-20 fitments I think they will eventually give way. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[DeweyAXD]

I have just weighed the items mentioned above for those interested:

FO-OSD Lens Ring: 2g
FO-OSD Rear Panel: 6g
FO Cable required: <1g

Fatshark 600TVL Mount: 5g
Nanotech battery cage: 9g
Hero3 Frameish: 5g
Hero3 Touch'n'Batt Frameish: 6g

GTU10 Holder (which will be made a bit lighter): 16g

I've had a few messages about the 'Toshlink' cable for this. Toshlink is just the standard for the connector and is used for plugging in modern audio devices.

UK/US Examples of the stuff that'd work are below. Note the relative thinness of the cable... not the best for audio but perfect for this.

UK: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5M-Digi...puting_Fibre_Optic_Cables&hash=item19ddf69be3

USA: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Optical-Fib...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2a263da187

 

[The Don]

Dewey, I love your work. These are all excellent ideas. You design the accessories that we need!

 

[DeweyAXD]

Dewey, I love your work. These are all excellent ideas. You design the accessories that we need!

Thanks Don.... your kind words are very much appreciated!
To be honest its just really nice to be able to share a few of my designs with people and know they are getting some fun out of them. I did product design at Uni like 13 years+ ago and loved it to death. I never got into it as a career though so this has given me chance to be creative in 3D again without a major life change!

I really want to get my hands on a Zenmuse so I can see what I can design around that. Suffice to say what little I make out of selling this stuff won't cover that cost of one for a looooong while though :roll: (Plus I must confess I want an AeroXcraft so I have the option of using it off the Phantom).

 

[MrMediaGuy]

You are probably correct on the Zenmuse. That ring is 2-3 grams in weight though and I thought the IMU in the gimbal calibrates based on the load at power up?... that may just be relevent to gimbals with a seperate IMU though. The Zenmuse is probably set based on the stock Hero3 weight (which will be interesting with the Hero3+ and its bigger capacity battery).

Well, I'm less worried about the ring than the fiber-optic cable. With the Zen, you can't even have anything plugged into the USB port on the GoPro because it hoses up the ability of the motors to keep the thing stable. So I think a cable attached to the lens would fall into the same category.

We are hearing that the H3+ is 2 grams lighter (despite battery) so optimistic that it won't make a difference or can be compensated with a small bit of weight to maintain balance. I'm sure DJI will say before too long if it's compatible.

EDIT: Looks like they have! Quote from DJI Facebook page:

Quick update - We can confirm the new GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition camera will work with our DJI Zenmuse H3-2D Gimbal.

Let us know how the GTU 10 holder progresses!

 

[DeweyAXD]

Last update on this now until I finish the GTU10 holder (Pretty much sorted now MrMediaGuy... 5 days till the second version arrives).

Today I through the whoooole lot on there including both Turnigy Nanotech 2250mah's. Basically everything that is in the first pic!

Copy of the description I have put on Youtube explains it all:

It was weighed just before take off at 1330grams and as you can see it achieved just over 12 mins flight. I feel I should mention it was sat powered up for about 3 mins before take off (that is 3mins after the full IMU warm up). Probably had little drain but maybe a tiny bit of juice used.

This was also a test to see how the FO-OSD faired in really bright sun. I wasn't overly thrilled of the light produced but when I landed I realised that all the fettling with prototypes had meant the Fibre Optic cable was stripped a bit too much and had exposed the raw glass cable. Light was bleeding in a fair bit.... a nice easy fix. Despite this the good news was I could still see the status of the battery in the Predator Goggles 95% of the time and I only had to yaw around a bit to get it out of the sun to check.

As for flight time.... pretty pleased with 12 mins at this weight. Handling wise there were no problems really. The only thing to be wary of is the decent rate when the battery was on red.... takes a lot of juice to slow the decent and there is a risk of it not stopping. Final voltages in the batts will be shown here soon (forgot my multimeter!).

Other things on landing I was keen to check was the heat of the motors. I expected this to be high but they were barely warm. Outside temp was 20c so the air kept them cool.

Not mentioned in my Youtube comment is the fact that the extra 34g from using 2 x 2250's (rather than 1 2250 + a stock 2200mah) seems to 'almost' cancel out any added flight time. I will test it with 2 x 2200's at some point to see if reducing 68g will be postive despite 100mah less.

Anyway here is the vid:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kujEa4GKjjk[/youtube]