I recently purchased a $24 ArduPilot circuit board from Sparkfun. I have tried to document my early experience using this unique Open Source Autopilot. The board comes from Sparkfun without any 0.1″ header pins so it is up to the end user to do some soldering.
Today I just completed with my brother, Russell, our most adventurous and complex aerial video from our Multiplex Easy Star model airplane. The video is called “An Aerial Exploration of West Dover” and it is a ride high above West Dover, Nova Scotia. It was filmed in 720p High Definition video.
The airplane was controlled by a 72 MHz Hitec Optic 6 R/C radio and flown using a 900 MHz video link which provided a FPV ( First Person View ). This video was recorded on August 18, 2010 in 720p HD with a Canon Powershot SD780IS Camera with CHDK.
The music used in the video was “Un instant per sempre” and “Our Moon” composed by Roger Subirana Mata.
If you are on High Speed Internet make sure to enable the 720p resolution video option on the lower right of the video controls so you will be able to see all sorts of fine detail.
West Dover Harbour
Privateer's Island
The View of Privateer's Island Looking Towards Mackerel Cove
Today I did an experiment, at sunrise with my Uncle and Brother, where we used a Multiplex Easystar to film by FPV video an aerial chase sequence following a 6 foot Homemade Super Zagi around the skies of West Dover, Nova Scotia, Canada. Here is the edited result: