SkyMule Project/ Camera Platform

Last fall (2015) I picked up a Durafly SkyMule wanting to try my hand at FPV. Having a very large cargo bay, a second FPV style cockpit and a special mount location for a video transmitter, it seemed ideal for the job.

While selecting the rest of the equipment, I saw HobbyKing had a very inexpensive switch that can connect up to three different cameras. Wow, you mean I can switch between different cameras in flight? Very cool! The SkyMule does have multiple locations for cameras so why not?

I also had previously purchased a light kit that was itching for an airplane to go into.

Now it's beginning to look like a fairly complex build. While waiting for my plane and parts to arrive, I was brainstorming even more. The lighting I would like to have cannot be done with just one light kit, so I ordered a second one and a receiver controlled switch.

The Skymule itself was no longer going to be FPV but a flying camera platform. It would require a second operator to run the cameras using a second transmitter (I had a DX4 that was going unused). To power all this extra equipment, I also purchased a 5A SBEC to prevent overdrawing the built in BEC. I would then connect that to a second battery pack so as not to eat into flight times.

Lighting would be white strobe on each wing tip and tail of fuselage. Solid green/red on wingtips and white on tail. Slow flashing beacons on belly and top of tail. To finish it all off, three switched landing lights- two on front of wing and one at nose gear selected by landing gear switch of the DX6.

The SkyMule is a sizeable airplane. Since I'd have to remove the wings to get it in my Rav4- it would need connectors for aileron servo and wingtip lighting. Since both the navigation light and wingtip strobes have a common ground, I could use a standard three pin servo connector for both.

I was able to pull up the panel that holds the spar channel to run the wires to the tip. A drill bit and some hot glue finished those lights.

The tail strobe was fairly easy as the tail comes disconnected from the fuselage. Just run the wire underneath. The solid tail light is a seperate LED run through the top of the fuselage to come out just below the strobe.

The light at top of the vertical was more difficult. The stabilizer being 8" high, I would need a 9" angled hole to run the wires through. I thought I'd put a skewer in a drill and see if I could run it up while spinning. I held the stabilizer in my hand to feel if the skewer started straying from straight in the slightest. If it did, I would just need to put the light on top of the fuselage.

To my amazement, it went all the way up and came out perfectly in the top! I then spun the drill at full speed while sliding up and down to help keep the hole open until I ran the wires through.

The landing lights are simply a notch cut in the leading edge with a sheet of plastic (from bubble packaging) -creased and glued over top. The nose landing light is just glued in place aimed forward.

As mentioned, all these lights are powered using two separate lighting kits. One working the beacon and tail lights the other the rest with the landing lights which are switched through the flight receiver. 

I think it turned out pretty well (Yes, I know the main gear are in backward in the video. It was the first time they were inserted and not even screwed in yet). 
 

On to the cameras. 

The front camera is on a pan/tilt controlled by the aileron and elevator channels of the DX4 radio. It is simply glued into a slot. Remember to bundle and loop the wires so they don't bind at full movement. I always remove this section when not flying as I've already stripped a servo gear by bumping it into something while carrying the airplane.

The connectors to this camera are labeled for identification to make reinstalling simpler. 

The 420L CCD camera came with a mounting bracket that I screwed straight to a servo and glued the servo into a slot on the bottom of the wing. May not be the best mount but that's why I put the cheaper camera there. It swings left and right using the rudder channel of the DX4. 

The third camera- also a 700TVL- is aiming straight down in a hole put there by Hobby King for some reason. 

This is a simple wire schematic for what I did. The switch is powered by the receiver but the cameras get powered by the video transmitter- through the switch. The cameras would be selected using the three posiiton mode switch on the DX4. 

I fly with a 2700mah 3c lipo for the motors and a 1500mah 3c to power everything else.  

I had a friend help me get a sample video. The 700 cameras did fairly well but the 420L was quite poor. Maybe my next purchase should be some better 900TVL cameras. I would also like a good on board DVR so I can record the flight without the downlink static. I have a Sky700D 7" video monitor and DVR but it being ground based is subject to fuzzy connection. I would also like some slow servos for the pan/tilt as they tend to move the camera rather quickly. 

The lights can be seen in daylight- especially the white landing lights- but they are much more impressive when its darker.

I also found that when not flying and the outer wings are removed, there is a big chance that they get damaged, lost or worse. With that in mind, I found an old Craftsman tool box that they would fit them and padded the interior for even more protection. I can also store the FPV cockpit to protect that camera, the stupid little wing clips and the DX4 as well. Whenever I am taking the SkyMule to the field, it's just one box to grab to make sure I have what I need. 

I find the SkyMule is an excellent platform for what I wanted to do here, though with all the gear and two battery packs, it tends to fly quite heavy (maneuvers slower than you'd expect). I have to make sure I carry power on landing or it hits quite hard. 

I think the lighting came out excellent though its not as spectacular in the sunlight. 

As far as the camera system, I wish I had higher definition cameras installed, and I may yet. I am though, waiting for a shipment of slow servos from Hobbyking (pid#9225000029-0) to slow the movement down. The stock servos are way too quick for steady pan and tilt action. 

I have not tested the range on the transmitter but as you can see in the video, the range I can L.O.S. fly, I get very little static. My receiver is a Sky700D diversity receiver with full DVR. 

In tbe end, it was an interesting project to test and learn about flying with cameras but I fear the usefulness will be limited as it requires such a large open space to fly that it will be limited to club fields and wide open park areas such as in the video. 

Parts Used (mostly HobbyKing):

• Orange R615x DSMX receiver (flight)
• Lemon RX 6channel receiver (cameras)
• 700TVL camera (product ID# 253000059-0)
• 700TVL with pan/tilt (pid# 253000061-0)
• Fatshark 420L CCD PilotCam (pid# 253000031-0)
• 3 channel video switcher (pid#9070000024)
• Turnigy 5A 8-26v SBEC (pid#SBEC26v)
• ImmersionRC 5.8Ghz Video Transmitter (pid#TX-5G8-600)
• Immersion RC Polarized Antenna (pid# 27000009-0)
• Turnigy R/C Light set (pid#TG-LED-FAA)