Re: [Paparazzi-devel] DiyDrones: discussion about Paparazzi and Linux

[David Conger]

Hi Cory,

I qualify as a "regular" person. I'm not a professor or student and  
simply found Paparazzi by searching for ways to auto-stabilize a Heli  
for AP work. It soon became an obsession to first get PCB then to have  
autopilots assembled (first for myself only).

I started from ground zero with UAV with just some RC experience and  
good programing basic skills. I'm 43 years old and work as a DBA for a  
large company as my primary income.

So, it all was new to me at first. Skills I found most useful for my  
ability to keep moving forward:
1. The desire to make it work. I just don't quit easily
2. A faith that it truly does work. At first I wondered if it was  
truly a hoax or real working hardware/software
3. Willingness to ask for help and find new ways to ask (IRC, email  
list, BBS postings)
4. The desire to give back to the project by helping others or adding  
to the Wiki as I learned

Now I'm curious about why AttoPilot or ArduPilot are considered any  
less complicated or difficult to setup as a paparazzi autopilot? They  
all need to be programmed and configured and tuned. AttoPilot to my  
understanding is not even sold yet. www.ppzuav.com has been selling  
fully assembled paparazzi autopilots since early this year. Designs  
for Tiny1.x have been out for more than a year. Just in my research  
the Paparazzi is the only DIY autopilot that's complete and available  
now not promised in the future. I think that alone is a good reason  
for someone to chose the Paparazzi one. :)

I have had the recent thought that the non Paparazzi autopilots will  
have a very challenging future once they are made more available. The  
challenge: Support! Paparazzi has so many ways to get support and so  
many people willing to offer it. There is not a toll-free number to  
call (yet) but if you need answers they are available. I will really  
want to see how well these others handle this very critical need once  
people start using them. Flying a UAV autonomously is not easy and I  
really don't believe anyone should think any of those available will  
be a "no brainer" to setup and fly. I sure hope they are not  
advertised that way.

Just some thoughts ... I have many but I don't want to write a book  
for a quick answer :)

Regards,
David Conger

On Oct 27, 2008, at 1:52 PM, cory barton wrote:

> Chris Anderson(DIY Drones founder) has asked me to write a short
> article for them about Paparazzi. I am adding his request to me below.
> Please give me any suggestions you may have for the article
>
> Thanks,
>
> Cory
>
> Chris says:
>
> Cory, thanks for the note. I think what's missing is "dummy's guide"
> to Paparazzi, starting with the question "Is Paparazzi right for you?"
> The official wiki is incredibly intimidating for most people and
> doesn't even say that it's Linux-only until you get a few scary levels
> down.
>
> What would be really useful would be sense of why "regular people"
> (ie, our audience, who are typically not university students or pros)
> might want to choose Paparazzi over commerical autopilots like
> AttoPilot or very simply open source DIY ones like ArduPilot. What are
> the Paparazzi features that these amateurs might value that aren't in
> these alternatives?
>
> Then, a really short FAQ:
>
> What are the technical requirements? (Linux, etc)
> How long does it typically take to get it working?
> What are the real costs, all included?
> Where's the best place to get started?
> What's the best place to turn to for help? Hopefully not this thread
> (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=851820), which is
> terrifying!
>
> Make sense!
>
> Thanks for the help---I'm aware that Paparazzi is grossly
> underrepresented here, and I'd like to rectify that.
>
> On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 4:32 PM,  <address@hidden> wrote:
> > My boot-CD-howto has started a discussion about Paparazzi and  
> > Linux, see
> > http://diydrones.com/profiles/blog/show?id=705844%3ABlogPost%3A45741
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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