Re: [Paparazzi-devel] mikrokopter

[Gareth Roberts]

Hi Regius,

We had a BEng student just finish a similar project.
Have you considered a Parrotdrone? Cheap, stable, and you can get it off  
Amazon.  SDK is a PITA to install but works once you have.

The fact that you have Labview involved in the software stack concerns me  
on many levels.
* Labview doesn't run on Linux (at least not properly) which rules out  
Paparazzi
* The first 50% of everything seems really easy, and the last 50% is  
absolutely impossible or a massive unmaintainable mess
* Do you have experience with Labview and serial communications? Have you  
tried it yet?  It's just...it's unholy

Personally I'd use SimpleCV + Python + FreeNect/OpenNI drivers + Parrot  
Drone & Parrot SDK.
Heck, there's a .NET port of the Parrotdrone SDK - you could use the  
Windows Kinect SDK, which gives you the pose data for free.

You don't need 90% of what most open source quadrotors can do.  I presume  
you want something that stays where you put it and that you can tell to  
move around.
That's something a parrotdrone does very well.  If you need to work  
outdoors, navigate or do anything more complex - it's not such a good  
choice.

Cheers,
--G