FPV laser landing system!

[ecbee]

Hi folks, this is my first time on here so sorry if my questions are old news. Basically what I'm doing is constructing a small but high power laser with a divergent beam which will give a 1" dot at about five feet distance. Set at the angles I've worked out and coupled with a small CCD camera all mounted on a model aircraft I will hopefully be able to judge better the last few feet of descent on landing and thus be able to make it a smooth one without damaging the aircraft. I have had good results so far with all the other aspects of remote First View Piloting but still need a little more information that I would normally get with my MkI eye balls. A distance reference given by the relative position of a point of laser light should give me this information and make judging the last few feet easier.

So, I purchased five of these:- Lot 5 140mW 650nm Red High Power Sony Burn Laser Diode (Ebay seller Gearab)

I don't know exactly what type they are and so don't know what sort of driver I need. Any help finding a source for a simple APC driver, optics and housing which allows focusing, would be greatly appreciated. If any one as a suggestion about power requirement and therefore an alternative diode (and source please) I would also be very grateful.

Anyway, thanks in advance, all the best, Ed.

 

[a_pyro_is]

While I have VERY little experience with RC piloting, I have used other telepresence equipment. I would suggest 2 low power lasers each with a minimum of divergence, mounted to either side of the camera preferably 8-12 inches apart and angled to converge at the maximum distance you care to measure. I’d probably set them to converge at about 8-10 feet, then measure and make a scale to affix to my monitor showing distance for a given spacing between the dots. I’d use low power, and only turn them on close to the ground, so that if I were at 15 feet I wouldn’t be as able to see the dots and mistakenly think I was at only 5 feet.

 

[stevetexas]

I'd use green modules http://www.atlasnova.com/APCModule.htm
that way you can see the beams when you try to land at night.