FPV

[43rdRecceReg]

Not quite FPV, but this guy's videos are truly astonishing. He has a paintball firing cannon mounted on a custom made tank- loosely based on Soviet design principles.
Do check out his other videos, not only for the tank's amazing stunts, but also for the tank mounted camera action..

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

[Max-U52]

I remember seeing that video here, and I think I recognize the chassis he used to build that tank. I just can't remember the name. It's buzzsaw or ripsaw or something like that. Help me out here.

[jstevens]

I suppose there is no reason why you couldn't have a crosshair on the camera lens aimed at a set distance with a few calculations and some testing a certain amount of accuracy could be achieved. The set up I am fitting to the challenger I can have more than one camera and can have either a split screen or switch cameras.

[General Jumbo01]

I am adding a laser pen aiming beam but l also use a 15mm long 5mm diameter matt black tube in front of the lR emitter so there is no spread of the IR beam, spot on aim or you miss. All this is just realistic.

[43rdRecceReg]

I remember seeing that video here, and I think I recognize the chassis he used to build that tank. I just can't remember the name. It's buzzsaw or ripsaw or something like that. Help me out here.

Yes, I posted that video here, Gary, a few years back. The paintball tank and camera maestro is Finn with the handle 'OttoH', on Youtube.
Translated from Finnish, this is the spec of his tank ( which took around $2000 to develop)- although no tank name is given:
FEATURES

-360 degrees swivel tower.
- Infrared camera
-Motor: Two 24V 500W electric motors
-Peak speed: 10km / h
-Cannon: Spyder Semi car 0.68cal
- Charging system: Qloader - Automatic 100 rounds
- Speed of light: 30 shots per minute.
- Tower rotation speed: 360 ° / 4sec
-Gun height: 10 °
-Gun lower heel: 10 °


DIMENSIONS

-Weight: 107kg
-Length: 1.10m
Width: 0.67m
-Height: 0.41m


IN THE WORKS

-Pneumatic body tilt.

Without straying too much off topic, here you'll find interesting pics of the Tank's internal structure and gizmo assortment here:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/rex/RCtankki/RCtankki.html

[Max-U52]

Interesting, we're both using the Spyder paintball guns Except Mine is a .50 cal

[Vertigo]

On the multiple tanks using FPV:-
Don't forget that just like with the RC channels if your using radio comms each camera will need a different channel. The older cameras/receivers don't have the same number as the newer ones. Can't remember all the settings but you have to set the switches on the TX and RX to the same channel. Don't know what you get if you have 2 TX on the same channel. And if your at an event there maybe non tank users as well.
Camera location:-
With my camera up high - about commander height i get a good view.
My camera has a wide field of view which is great for when the turret is turned as you can still see ahead of the tank.
The high position allows you to see further ahead, especially if the tank goes slightly nose down or there is an object ahead. The lower you put the camera the more obstacles will block your view.
The high position also means i can just see the corners of the hull so with turret slewed i can see at what angle the turret is.
Camera in the hull (drivers position) is very limited.
Camera next to the gun gets its view blocked by the barrel.
The cameras get hot. I drilled a load of holes in the back of my search light to try and get some air flow. Not ideal. My camera/TX has leds on the back to indicate the powers on and the channel selected. Its worth considering how you will see these ready for when your wondering why you don't get a signal.
Also the TX on mine has the channel set by a small switch on the back. Again with multiple tanks you need access to press the switch. So burying the camera/TX inside the tank would be a pain to access.
Don't forget to find somewhere for batteries. You can use the tank battery - probably have to drop the voltage. I keep mine separate. Also think about how you will turn the power on. I keep meaning to fit an inline switch (somewhere) but currently i have an inline connector so just plug the battery in.

[General Jumbo01]

I'm no expert but all the drone cameras l have and use are 2.4 (can be a bit slow)or 5.8mhz wifi and constantly channel hop using the same technology as mobile phones so no need to worry about channel clashes. What sort of comms are you using as l've never come across this problem?

[jstevens]

I am quite lucky the guy who runs my local model shop is really switched on with electrics, FPV and radio gear so he answers all my questions.

[Vertigo]

Sharing:-
Spent some time tuning and upgrading my FPV. Im only using a 25mw transmitter but with me indoors (to cold outside) it now works much better with the tank outside and functional out to about 20M.
I have just converted to Night Vision. Removed the IR filter in the camera lens and added some 940nm 5mm LEDs.
The LEDs are 1.1v so i wired 3 in series so i can use the same power pack as the camera. I have a connector in series so i can disconnect them in daylight.
These are standard shape domed LEDs and they seem to throw the light in about a 14degree cone. So with 3 facing forward the camera view was very limited. I have just made a new mount where i set the Left and Right LEDs pointing outwards by 5 degrees so as to widen the view.
Tested it in doors but its to cold or wet to try outside yet.
With the camera and its LEDs up on the turret its easy to loose track of the hull position so I want to put another LED in the hull front. Not worked out where to put it yet. I want to try wiring in series with the existing front light. Since the light is not visible it can be on at the same time and no one will know.
I was trying to hide the main LEDs so set them low under the "search light" camera mount. However one of them is producing a lot of reflection of some of the tank features. These very bright spots create a lot of contrast with the large unlitt areas and bias the camera contrast reducing the picture quality. So better to fit the LEDs in a place where ther are no reflections but that implies they need to be higher and its hard to think of a way to conceal them.
Looking forward to some warmer nights when i can go out on patrol.