Attention Makers

CATEGORY: OTHER

Locust Mk 1

MAKERS: Nes , Andy COUNTRY: United States

The Locust uses evolving UAV technology combined with 4G network to allow an untrained operator to perform surveillance and inspections of hard to reach places completely remotely and within budget.

 

The Purpose

There are many cases of information gathering where manpower is the primary source of the cost of the operation. Searching large, open spaces such as wilderness as well as inspections in tight confined spaces can take a lot of man hours and be dangerous for the personnel involved. The Locust seeks to solve these problems by providing a low-cost alternative available for use by an operator without traditional drone flight training. The Locust uses semi-autonomous flight patterns to complete a planned mission while being remotely monitored and adjusted if necessary.

The Technology

The electronics being used to construct the drone are not fancy by any means. Great care has been taken to select low cost parts which use the minimum power possible to get the job done. Although the exact hardware may change before its final iteration, the current prototype is costed at roughly $300 and a major goal of the project is to keep it from going any higher. The Locust's flexibility and ease of use at the target price point sets the Locust apart from most other commercial UAV efforts.

Additional Details

-The Locust hardware is being developed concurrently with flight control software and a user friendly client interface -All of the software running on the flight computer with the exception of the operating system, glibc, and the network stack was written by members of the Locust Mk1 team -The Locust was started in the summer of 2016 and has been entirely built by volunteer time by the team members and money out of out pockets

Home Next

Vote Share Comment