Author Topic: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.  (Read 1845 times)

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Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« on: April 14, 2022, 09:54:01 pm »
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.  ;D
I wonder if there's a 555 in that drone somewhere.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2022, 08:22:04 am by Refrigerator »
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Online ataradov

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2022, 10:25:35 pm »
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.
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Offline vad

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2022, 02:59:46 am »
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.
 

Online tom66

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2022, 09:18:46 am »
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.
 

Online wraper

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2022, 09:25:07 am »
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.
Keep drinking your Kool-Aid.  :palm:
 

Online wraper

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2022, 10:05:02 am »
From Russian Wiki:
Quote
Модификация Орлан-10 для разведки в условиях сильного ПВО использует удешевленный вариант разведывательной аппаратуры на базе профессиональных фотоаппаратов высокого разрешения, которые чаще используются фотографами, как Phase One IXU 150, Phase One IXA 180, Sony RX-1, Canon 5D Mark II. Поскольку штатно это гражданская техника, то для разведывательной съемки она проходит специальную калибровку на стенде и на фотограмметрический полигоне МИИГАиК с проверкой достаточности разрешения для выявления целей как отдельный пехотинец с высоты 5 км. С высоты 500 метров достигается разрешение 5 см на 1 пиксель, с высоты 2,7 км разрешение съемки 8 см на 1 пиксель.
The Orlan-10 modification for reconnaissance in conditions of strong air defense uses 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.
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2022, 11:24:47 am »
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.

Standard 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.
 

Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2022, 11:36:49 am »
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.
These have been reverse-emgineered to make them useable standalone
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Online wraper

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2022, 01:22:52 pm »
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.
PCBs 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:


« Last Edit: April 15, 2022, 01:34:24 pm by wraper »
 

Offline vad

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2022, 06:51:20 pm »
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.
Not 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
 

Offline vad

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2022, 07:00:22 pm »
PCBs 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.
Relax mate. The guys just mocked Russian “аналогов нет” propaganda, when referring to Latin silkscreen labels. I can attest this as fluent Russian and Ukrainian speaker ;)

The 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.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2022, 07:22:49 pm by vad »
 
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Offline bson

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Re: Canon DSLR in a Russian Orlan UAV.
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2022, 09:06:14 pm »
Not 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
Ah, so this is why they skimped on the warning signs...
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