Initial Tasks Detail

Here's info from my earlier email on the individual tasks.

Plane Structures and Aerodynamics
Plane design isn't my forte, but Jerry and Gerard are extremely good at it. Jerry has already completed an initial iteration, and it's up to where he is to determine where you guys start. For now, I have a lot of online resources that I'd like for everyone to read. Please spend some time familiarizing yourself with general RC plane construction and design.
Airfield Models - Model Builder's Information Source
Airfield Models - Formulas Used with Flying Model Aircraft
Airfield Models - Designing Radio Control Model Aircraft
Styles of Model Aircraft Wing Construction
Aircraft Design, Synthesis and Analysis
MIT OpenCourseWare on Aeronautical Engineering

Plane Propulsion
Gaurav and Ben, I think both of you have things under control. I'd like to see a motor selection in about two weeks. That should give you enough time for the plane to get into a state where motor selection is more realistic. Just keep in mind that understanding how to maintain one is just as important as understanding how to select one. The only online resource I have for you is one you've probably already seen.
Airfield Models - Starting, Running, and Breaking In Model Airplane Engines

Camera Gimbal Design
Tom and Eric, I'd like for both of you to work together on the camera gimbal. Tom was at the meeting so he pretty much knows what this is all about. I need you both to decided on how much gimbal control we need. Some teams can pull it off with a single wide angle camera at the bottom, fixed. For more view we could put the camera on a single gimbal have it do a side to side sweep as it moves along. Actually, if our camera has large zoom on it the field of view would be so small that we would have to gimbal it. Also do a trade study on whether or not a two-axis gimbal would work nicely. Some things to consider are if we want the camera center to coincide with the center of rotation. Figure out the details. This one is a bit long term as it'll probably take about a weeks worth of "looking up" and another two weeks of designing. Remember that we're optimizing for weight, cost, and stability. You'll have to stay in contact with the plane structures team to figure out where the camera ball will go and how it will fit with the rest of the plane.

Camera Selection
Matt's got this down I think, but a little more thought needs to go into it. Literally I'd like to see a camera selection in a week or two if it gets difficult. Just do a quick field of view study on what kind of resolution we want and if we need a zoom lens to augment that. The worst case scenarios is a 2 ft x 2 ft target 250 ft off center and a 2 ft x 2 ft target 500 ft up. We're probably limited to a resolution of about 640x480 max so see what kind of field of view will get us a target screen size large enough to achieve identification. On that note, see what screen size would be large enough. Maybe about 40 pixels by 40 pixels, just eyeballing it. Work with the camera gimbal design group so that they'll have the information to perform selection as well. The field of view kind of determines whether or not we have to gimbal the camera.

Wireless RF Communication
Although we've made a lot of progress on the electronics side, we still need to select a radio frequency module. I'd like for both of you to get extremely familiar with RF communication. There are a lot of things we don't know such as antenna design, antenna types, blocking materials, etc. I think the best way to start is by looking at the two RF modules that I've been looking at. Read the data sheets on them and try to understand every part of the data sheet. One thing to note is that we want one with a really simple TTL serial interface. Basically one with RX (receive) and TX (transmit) pins. It also has to be two way (transceivers) so that we can upload new GPS waypoints. The range we're looking for is at least 1.5 miles. The two below satisfy the requirements with my personal preference towards the XStream OEM RF Module. This has a steep learning curve so please contact me often with questions.

XStream OEM RF Module
http://www.digi.com/products/wireless/long-range-multipoint/xtend-module.jsp

AeroComm 4790-200
http://www.aerocomm.com/rf_transceiver_modules/ac4790_mesh-ready_transceiver.htm

Target GPS Coordinate Acquisition
I've already talked to Ian and I know he has a good idea of what I'm looking for. We basically have to figure out the target position in GPS coordinates from the target's screen coordinates. This can be evaluated given plane GPS position, plane orientation, camera offset, camera orientation, camera field of view, etc. There's probably a lot of information you'll need so keep in touch with me and other team members. You can probably find a nice general solution and fit in the details afterwards. Try to get a good methodology in a week and possibly a full solution in two. Thanks.