Flying IR Helicopter with Wiimote on Autopilot mode

UPDATE:
I have included a new version of the program that allows to transmit the IR signals using the headphone jack of the computer (See Sound Card tab)
I also included the source code of the program and the protocol files (.hcomm extension) for a couple of helicopters.
In order to use the headphone jack you need to build a circuit. A schematic developed by me is included as well as a .nl5 simulator design.

Download IR HeliAutoPilot program:
http://www.box.com/s/1huuuaym64xota9re8jj

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Notice: Take off in manual mode (1 led on), then turn on Autopilot (4 leds on) for automatic altitude control.
Set altitude target with buttons 1 (up) & 2 (down) of the wiimote. Left/Right Forward/Back with nunchuck joystick.

Camera on top of TV tracks heli position and sends it to the notebook on the floor. The notebook sends IR signals to the heli.

Hardware:
- Helicopter FalconX
- USB IR Toy v1 (Dangerous Prototypes) for IR signaling
- Camera from Logitech HD 1080
- Wiimote from Nintendo
- Protoboard, leds, resistors & transistor from Radio Shack

Software:
- GlovePie (Carl Kenner) for Wiimote communication
- nl5 (Alexei Smirnov) for circuit design (IR extender)
- John A Shaw's PID Algorithm for process control
- OpenCV v2.2 libraries for camera capture
- C++ Express for Heli tracking program
- C# Express for programming Heli Communication
- C Language compiler from MPLAB for programming PICF18F2550

Communication Protocols:
- Computer Vision (helicopter to camera)
- USB (camera to desktop)
- Bluetooth (wiimote to desktop)
- Wifi (desktop to netbook)
- USB (netbook to IR Toy)
- Infrared (IR Toy to helicopter)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• IR
• Helicopter
• Wiimote
• Autopilot

[GameFreakDude]

Good show! Now turn the Wiimote into a flightstick :>

[victormieres]

Cheverisimo!