SkyShield v 2.0 beta test

[Chris Fastie]

On Saturday I received six PCBs for the next iteration of SkyShield. This is a custom shield for the Arduino Nano designed for kite aerial photography. I am offering five of these at a special price to anyone interested is trying it out and posting a research note or two at Public Lab describing their experiences (new research note about this package). For $115, you get a package with the SkyShield assembled and ready to fly, and a kit to build a Saturn V Rig to fly it on. There is a tiny bit of soldering to do, and a few hours of simple kit assembly. Then you will have a motorized KAP rig for your own PowerShot camera which can systematically take photos in all directions for stitching into aerial panoramas (see some here).  

Above: a completed Saturn V Rig with Picavet suspension and SkyShield autoKAP controller. The package includes everything but the camera.

 

Let me know if you have any questions about this package or the SkyShield project.

Thanks,

Chris

[Chris Fastie]

There is now one Saturn V beta Rig available that is completely assembled. The current Saturn V Rig beta package includes an assembled SkyShield controller and a kit to build your own Saturn V Rig. I am working on the assembly instructions so I was taking photos of the assembly steps and ended up pretty much assembling a rig in the process. So instead of taking it apart, I just raised the price $10. You may now purchase it and become a beta tester (and you don't have to test the assembly part!). Select  "Rig is assembled" here: http://kaptery.com/product/saturn-v-rig-beta-2.

While I was taking photos, this one got assembled.

There are also a couple of kits still available. Kit assembly takes a few hours, but you will get to use all the photos I just took. Friday is the last day that this rig or any other KAPtery products can be ordered for prompt shipping until mid July. Anything ordered before midnight EDT Friday (June 26) will be shipped by Tuesday.  Otherwise I will not be shipping until about July 18. 

Thanks,

Chris

P.S. Here is one of the thrilling photos I took showing how to put the connector on the wires from the battery case: