Question regarding the drone

[nathmo]

Hi, I'm curious about the drone showed in the video. What is it ? What's the brand / where did you find it ? Thanks a lot :)

[jyjblrd]

Edit: blog post with more details

Hey! The drone is built from off the shelf parts to keep the cost down, since all the research-focused drones I saw online were pretty expensive.

device	price	name
Flight controller	$23	F3 EVO Micro Brushed Flight Controller running Betaflight
Frame Motor & Props	$13	Generic 95mm brushed drone frame, 8520 brushed motors, 55mm props
Battery	$5	YDL 18350 (1100mah, 9A)
Battery holder	$0.5	1S 18350 battery holder
IR markers	$0.1	3mm IR Led (you need to sandpaper the surface so they emit light evenly, instead of just up)
ESP32 receiver	$4	WEMOS D1 Mini ESP32 USB-C

Total cost: ~$50 USD
Flight time: ~10min
Thrust/Weight: very shit lol

You should be able to use any drone you want with this system, since the ESP32 emulates an RC receiver sending joystick commands.

At some point I'll write a blog post about some of the details like how to create the cameras and drones. But in the meantime I hope this helps!

[CleisonManriqueAguirre]

How to setup the infrared camera ? what do I to build that? Amzing project

[nathmo]

battery :

• https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/4000983389825.html
• https://www.amazon.com/RADIOMASTER-Zorro-18350-900mAh-Battery/dp/B0B7NT1PQJ/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=YDL+18350&qid=1700400957&sr=8-2

18350 is the format of the cell, (18mm x 35 mm)

[jyjblrd]

I just added links to where i bought everything. No promises that the links will still be working in a years time tho! The name of the product should be enough to help you find everything

[CleisonManriqueAguirre]

But talking about the cameras ? ps3 cameras are around 45 $ . Isnt it ?

[jyjblrd]

I bought the ps3 eye cameras here for 1 pound (the price has now gone up to 1.50). They are also really cheap second hand on ebay. I'll give more details on the camera in my blog post later.

[jyjblrd]

Blog post with more info on the drones & cameras is up!
https://joshuabird.com/blog/post/mocap-drones

[Flenser42]

Hey, do you have a link for the lenses for the PS Eye Cameras? BTW. Great work have been waiting for the Blog post since the Video is out lol

[Jmmx1237]

Hi,
very cool project, thanks for publishing it.

I wanted to ask, would it also be possible to do the triangulation and positioning using WLAN or small radio transmitters?

The control could be further refined using ML...?