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Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

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Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:48 pm

Hi fellows,
I would like to announce the availability of a new aircraft which deserves its own section under UAV.
Our friend pjedvaj developed the first public model which I encourage you to test and comment and even better if you could send us fixes.

The aircraft is available in github and it is released under the GPL license.
https://github.com/meirm/MQ-9
Image
I would like to thank pjedvaj for his work.
Last edited by falafel on Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby wlbragg » Mon Jul 04, 2016 6:15 pm

Nice start! I have wanted to see a drone in FG for quite a while. It would be really cool to have a remote control station for it.
I flew it and it seems like the FDM is overly sensitive? The flight envelope is really tight, is that realistic? Also the flight control surfaces cause a really quick pitch up/down movement which seem overly sensitive. Maybe that is a realistic behavior, I have no idea.
None the less, looks good and again, really nice start.
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:17 pm

Thanks for the review, I also had difficulties flying it without a joystick. I guess that a lot of work on the FDM. I am calling the community to jump and help, this could be the base UAV for many more.
Pjedvaj did a great job so we could launch with a good start. Now we need help with FDM, more liveries, creating a flight control, building a new HUD for targeting, something like this:
Image
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby dg-505 » Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:48 pm

This could make great use of the in-development multi-window feature and the infrared vision!
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Mon Jul 04, 2016 9:24 pm

I tried the infrared vision and it gives a nice result.
I foresee the following things I would like to see in this model:
* Fully operational HUD with targeting.
* Accurate FDM model
* Ground control panel
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby J Maverick 16 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:11 pm

Hi all, I've spend about an hour and a half flying it between yesterday and today and I must say I do love the 3D model (that moving sensor is amazing!).
I've got the same issues which wlbragg stated plus I add the fact that it's hard to take off because when you pull up gently the stick it starts to loose speed and it's difficult to climb at first. My first flight ended up with a sort of flat fall due to autopilot (which also have problems in keeping the UAV at 0 angle plus the heading bug AP make too hard turns to reach target hdg, resulting in a consistent lost of speed which becomes a stall).
Landing (the only one I've done) was more or less fine.
Has it got speed-brakes in real life?

Also, I've decided to implement the OPRF nasal damage code which enables an aircraft to receive damage when hit by a missile/bomb as we are considering it to become part of our fleet.
In the end, I've also done a small edit to the original texture by adding the ANG emblem on the tails.
My little modifications can be found here: https://github.com/JMaverick16/MQ-9

I must say I was waiting for a working UAV in FG for a while, and this one is really nice and a good start.
Keep it going!! :D
Regards, Maverick
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby erik » Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:51 pm

Here's an FDM created with AeromatiC++: http://adalin.com/ehtw.info/MQ-9.zip

Treat it like a stand alone package and do not unzip it in the MQ-9 directory since it might overwrite some files. I don't have time to integrate it but adapting it for your needs should be straight forward

A quick test shows it flies quite nicely.

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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:39 pm

JMaverick,
Thanks for the feedback. I already merged your changes into my github repository
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:41 pm

Hi Erik,
Thanks. I will check your changes.
I invite others to test and help us fixing the FDM.


erik wrote in Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:51 pm:Here's an FDM created with AeromatiC++: http://adalin.com/ehtw.info/MQ-9.zip

Treat it like a stand alone package and do not unzip it in the MQ-9 directory since it might overwrite some files. I don't have time to integrate it but adapting it for your needs should be straight forward

A quick test shows it flies quite nicely.

Erik
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby J Maverick 16 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:43 pm

As soon as it get fixed, I'm ready to test it!

EDIT: Thanks for integrating my changes! ;)
Regards, Maverick
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:37 pm

Sorry Erik,
I lack the knowledge to test your zip file.

falafel wrote in Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:41 pm:Hi Erik,
Thanks. I will check your changes.
I invite others to test and help us fixing the FDM.


erik wrote in Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:51 pm:Here's an FDM created with AeromatiC++: http://adalin.com/ehtw.info/MQ-9.zip

Treat it like a stand alone package and do not unzip it in the MQ-9 directory since it might overwrite some files. I don't have time to integrate it but adapting it for your needs should be straight forward

A quick test shows it flies quite nicely.

Erik
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby wlbragg » Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:47 pm

Sorry Erik,
I lack the knowledge to test your zip file.

I'll test it later this afternoon and can push a merge request to to your repo if you like.
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby falafel » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:14 pm

Sure, test it and I send a merge request. I will test it and merge.
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby J Maverick 16 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:43 pm

I've gave a look at the FDM zip file and it looks nice, can't wait to see it fitted in the MQ-9.
Also, I think that some guys at OPRF can help with implementing bombs and missiles to it.
Has it got a working radar?
Regards, Maverick
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Re: Announcing New UAV MQ-9 Predator B

Postby pjedvaj » Wed Jul 06, 2016 7:18 am

I've remapped the UV on the MQ-9 model and made a new default livery, normal map, specular map and vector paint kit PDF, falafel will upload them to git later. You need to add weapon pointmass and armament system to this new FDM to use bombable version. :!:

Code: Select all
  <pointmass name="station1">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 100 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y> -89 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
  </pointmass>
 
   <pointmass name="station2">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 100 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y> -74 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
   </pointmass>
   
   <pointmass name="station3">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 510 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y> -48 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
   </pointmass>
   
   <pointmass name="station4">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 510 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y>  48 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
   </pointmass>
   
   <pointmass name="station5">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 100 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y>  74 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
   </pointmass>
   
   <pointmass name="station6">
      <weight unit="LBS"> 100 </weight>
      <location name="POINTMASS" unit="IN">
          <x> 207 </x>
          <y>  89 </y>
          <z>  -3 </z>
      </location>
  </pointmass>


Code: Select all
 <system file="Armament"/>
 <system file="Particles"/>
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