Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2022, 09:54:01 pm
content: Who would have guessed that russians would be putting a whole canon DSLR in their bleeding-edge Orlan drone.Turns out the entire thing is made of foreign tech with barely any (if at all) domestically produced components.Previously there were only pictures but now we have an entire video from the one and only operator Starsky.Unfortunately, they don't show much detail in the video but it's enough to conclude that the Orlan UAV is a giant joke.Word on the street says one of these cost russia about 60-120k USD to produce, but the UAV itself only has about 5-10k worth of parts in it, if not less.They should send that drone (or parts of it) to some engineers for analysis. I have a certain crazy aussie bloke in mind already.And by analysis i mean YT videos for us to watch.I wonder if there's a 555 in that drone somewhere.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2022, 10:25:35 pm
content: Orlan-10 is not "bleeding edge", it is over 10 years old. It is designed to be a cheap and essentially disposable drone. Also, the price of $120k of for a "system" consisting of multiple drones and a control center. Not to say it does not cost Russian taxpayers more than cost of the parts.

author: vad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 02:59:46 am
content: 7-years old Canon Rebel DSLR as the main sensor for military reconnaissance UAV is indeed cutting edge technology for them, because Russia does not have capabilities to design and manufacture such sensors. I would question some design decisions though. Hauling prism and mirror assembly of DSLR is stupid.But hey, forget CMOS sensors. It looks like these guys can’t even buy reliable smoke detectors for their flagship missiles cruiser that sunk after catching fire recently.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 09:18:46 am
content: Looks like the thermal sensor might be from a car but I thought these were designed with encrypted outputs specifically to prevent their dual use.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 09:25:07 am
content: Quote from: vad on April 15, 2022, 02:59:46 amKeep drinking your Kool-Aid.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 10:05:02 am
content: From Russian Wiki:QuoteThe Orlan-10modification for reconnaissance in conditions of strong air defenseuses a cheaper version of reconnaissance equipment based on professional high-resolution cameras, which are more often used by photographers, such as Phase One IXU 150, Phase One IXA 180, Sony RX-1, Canon 5D Mark II. Because it's a civilian equipment by default, for reconnaissance use it undergoes special calibration on a stand and on a photometric polygon МИИГАиК with checking if there is enough resolution for detecting objects such as a single infantryman from 5km height. From 500m altitude 5cm per 1 pixel resolution is achieved, from 2.7km 8 cm per 1 pixel.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 11:24:47 am
content: Quote from: tom66 on April 15, 2022, 09:18:46 amStandard thermal camera for vehicles, either bought off the shelf as spare parts, or obtained simply by getting them from Japanese vehicles exported as scrapped vehicles, so many will be going to Russia as working vehicles, and the Military simply has to remove them from the vehicles and use them . Output is a 9FPS thermal image, with standard monochrome video, nothing complex, though they likely did put on a new lens to get rid of the standard wide field one, giving a zoomed in image of the ground, which probably was made in the USSR as that lens looks like Germanium. Use parts which are cheap, and readily available either new or used, so allowing deniability. Likely the airframe is made in Russia, and so are a lot of the screws used to assemble it, along with the wiring loom, but yes the PCB's all came from China, along with the flat flex cables.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 11:36:49 am
content: Quote from: tom66 on April 15, 2022, 09:18:46 amThese have been reverse-emgineered to make them useable standalone

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 01:22:52 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on April 15, 2022, 11:24:47 amPCBs might be ordered in China, however Russia has enough of PCB houses, they just are not nearly as cheap. Them saying that Latin symbols on PCB and other places could not come from Russia is quite lame. As if Russians these days mark everything in Cyrillic. Especially considering this drone is made by a privately owned llc, not a government owned entity. Also Orlan 10 seems to be more like a platform intended to be used with a lot of different equipment. Here is a photo of camera used in not el cheapo variant of this drone:

author: vad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 06:51:20 pm
content: Quote from: ataradov on April 14, 2022, 10:25:35 pmNot according to Russian FSB (previously known as KGB), who in July 2021 pressed criminal charges against company that supplies camera equipment for Orlan. FSB accused the supplier and its CEO of embezzlement of 446 million rubles (over $6 million) from Russian taxpayers on 26 DOD contracts to supply equipment for the Orlan-10 UAVs. CEO was jailed in July and released on bail in November, pending lawsuit.https://m.realnoevremya.ru/articles/217931-v-kazani-glavu-zavoda-elektropribor-prizemlili-za-bespilotniki-orlan-10

author: vad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2022, 07:00:22 pm
content: Quote from: wraper on April 15, 2022, 01:22:52 pmRelax mate. The guys just mocked Russian “аналогов нет” propaganda, when referring to Latin silkscreen labels. I can attest this as fluent Russian and Ukrainian speakerThe absence of Cyrillic symbols says nothing about the country of origin of PCB. Japanese DSLR was made in China, lens in Thailand, engine in Japan, PCB was bought from Aliexpress, fuel tank and cap were recycled from used Coke bottle, airframe was built by kids in Boy Scouts camp (“дворец пионеров”), software was written by undergrad students, payments were pocket by MOD generals to finance London real estate properties and Italian win yards. The generals did not share with FSB, so CEO was jailed.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 18, 2022, 09:06:14 pm
content: Quote from: vad on April 15, 2022, 06:51:20 pmAh, so this is why they skimped on the warning signs...>> WARNING! Do not press in bad weather or cruiser may self-destruct! WARNING! <<