ArduPilot is all over the place. I’ve recently moved over to PX4 flight stack. Much cleaner UI and just all around nicer layout in QGC. I’ve been beating my head off work bench for months with ArduPilot and Arducopter and the back and fourth dev drama has pushed me away from using MP and I’m loving the PX4 firmware and GUI
Best way I found is to set up a separate channel for autotune. You can't use one of the six modes on the mode channel for autotune - it has to be a separate channel, perhaps channel 6. When flying, you turn on autotune and then fly around using full stick deflections - the plane is initially very unresponsive as the PIDs start out very low gain. After a few minutes of autotune flying then the plane becomes more responsive. Once you've saved the autotune PID values you're then ready to try loiter, mission, return to home and so on. Read the instructions on autotuning - depending on how you use the mode switch and autotune switch when you cycle the power the autotune values are either stored semi-permanently or forgotten.
You need to verify 100% that the compasses are correctly orientated... Disable one in software and on the dashboard verify that the compass says N when you face the plane towards north. I got tripped up by this before. Also you need to adjust 'things' (I forgot which, probably orientation) so that after you do a compass calibration the offsets are as low as possible. I also remember that the compasses get affected by magnetic fields super hard so you might even need to place the external one on one side of the plane and disable the internal one. You can stuff around with the logs and you might be able to find out about vibration etc as well
I have been following your blogs for over 2 years! I love that you describe the details of your project in detail, enabling us to follow your lead. Your photography and audio are perfect. It is apparent your users are also quite knowledgable. Could you provide a complete parts list for your plane in this project? I suspect it is a LDARC KingKong Tiny Wing with flashy & more visible color scheme. I am still trying to get all my extra parts since I ordered the 2 plane package kit with no battery, motor, or Flight controller. My original source claims the shipper lost the package but later told me that the package was sent back to them for unspecified reasons. and I must ask for a refund and reorder! That tells me I need to find another supplier. Do you have any good suggestions for these parts? I really like the supplied LEDs that uniquely display to identify different flight modes currently active. Have you figured out how to employ another, GPS and waypoint compatible flight controller AND keep the LED display arrangement provided by the original FC? I also had problems finding servos with the tiny white servo connectors that are requiref for the stock FC. Does your current FC need these too, or does it accept standard black Futaba compatible servo connectors? Are you happy with the stock servos? If not, what do you suggest? Thanks for your and your readers insight on these questions. - Jim Eastep
I just set up an F450 on APM2.8 a few hours ago. For anyone thinking about APM 2.x, I would not recommend trying to work it out... just spend the extra 10$ or whatever and get a more modern FC with better documentation.
No 5V on the servo connector is intended. It is documented. You have to provide your own power for the servo. It is made like that because they don't want you to use the same 5V source for powering the flight controller and the servos.
4:04... I just reversed the Channel on my radio... BTW... Thanks for this Step by Step Arduplane setup with the Mini Pix. Doing it as we speak. How did you connect the RadioLink to your Laptop ??
Ah ArduPlane, the software that does everything it can to stop you from actually flying. Good luck with this Chris, you’re going to need it. Matt. PS, check the arming settings, they’re a pain. Oh and for gods sake why don’t they include an OSD in these?
Trying to decide between this and inav. thought i was sold on inav watching your channel but then arxangle keeps having problems after inav runs for 60 mins..... after 60 mins it disarms.
CaymanHillDesigns I have extaly the same problem. I have had great success with Inav but only on a quad. I never equipped a plane with an autopilot bevor. Inav ist cheap and familiar to me but ardupilot seems to work better...
Inav is much easier to wrap your head around, but it’s limited in functionality compared to the APM FCUs. Admittedly due to so many different uses, the software has become bloated. The APM flight modes are adjustable because of all the different control surface numbers. From single aileron, differential aileron, aileron with flaps, Leading edge slats, V-tail, etc or any combination there of. The Arducopter always has the mode switch to ch5 because regardless of motor count, there is always going to be ch1-4 as control inputs (pitch,roll,yaw,collective) 👍🏼
Ardupilot seems to work fine once it's all sorted but OMG -- so many parameters, so much to get wrong. It seems to be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I'd say that in many cases, it's not a good option for the "occasional user" but probably just the bee's knees for someone who is going to use it all the time and has the need for the functionality it offers. (Go on Louis, tell me I'm wrong ;-)
I had somewhat similar experiences with mission planner and APM. Couple of things I did learn, a six channel TX is not going to be able to provide all the modes you need to enjoy the full potential of the FC, and you may have to physically alter the FC unit pitch in the model to offset the need for reflex. NB I am only a novice with this and have already gained loads of tips from your fumbling. Ta
Man, this is really awesome, thank you! Long videos, but they worth it. I'm a complete newbie with no knowledge of code or stuff like that. I was wondering if you could save me some time and tell me what the order of motors/ ESCs should be on this Mini Pix FC board? I've been reading a lot lately and found a lot of conflicting info out there (maybe I'm looking in the wrong spots). Right now I have front-right (CCW) on channel 1, Rear left (CCW) on channel 2, Front left (CW) on channel 3 and Rear right (CW) on channel 4. So far I haven't had a chance to try fly it b/c it didn't let me arm... but after watching your video I think I'll be able to fix that. Does this motor configuration that I described above sound right to you relative to the Mini Pix FC board? Thanks a bunch.
Awesome, thanks. As it happens, this was one of the websites that I looked at and that's how I ended up hooking them up as described above. Thanks mate.
Cant you change your PWM Values so you leave six off switches. I just lowered my PWM ON CHANNEL 5 so it just went to flight mode 5. Am going to try the 2x 3pot switch setup. Fingers crossed. You got me into actually having the balls to try my pix. Now waitting the right weather as always.
If you reverse your flight mode channel on your radio. This will put your switch in the position you want for manual and allow you to assign one additional flight mode. Painless360 has a great series on Arduplane .
I have both my MiniPix and a Logitech controller connected to my PC. How do I manually move my Wing Servos with my controller on this Mission planner program?
You mean like an xbox style game controller? This might help: th-cam.com/video/K61wJ9ps3TY/w-d-xo.html Or you could always just read the docs :) ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-joystick.html
First you need to start using your telemetry modules. You showed them to us last week so use them.. Second you need to try flying in FBAW first, if the plane wont fly in that mode then rtl wont work ether. Also if the plane is trying to fly vertically in rtl something must be configured wrong. RTL is an autonomous flight mode and in that mode the plane wont pich up more then what you have for value "LIM_PITCH_MAX" I suspect your level is not correct. Ardupilot is arguably one of the best flight stacks on the market, Its years ahead of inav(No discredit to inav). You need to understand that you cant just pump in head first and think you plane is going to fly perfect. Its a very advanced platform and has options and configurations up the yin yang. Dont give up on it just yet you won't regret it later down the road. PS: read the wiki..
I have been using the telemetry modules almost from the beginning, as I mentioned in the previous video, that's why I was complaining about how slow the connection process is. But when you say "use them", in what way should it be helping? I don't see why I need to try FBWA to know that RTL won't work either - I mean if FBWA works that doesn't mean RTL will work... at some point I have to try RTL so I might as well just try it. Yes, if it wants to fly vertical in RTL then something is configured wrong... but what, is the question. The artificial horizon display looks fine, if that's what you mean by 'level'.
I just have iNav trying to crash my wing 3 times and one time it did succeed while cursing in altitude hold plus angle mode. It did cut throttle to idle and pointed nose down. All after 40 min of flying and rather predictable behavior. Three times I have manage to switch off alt hold and get it up but last time I was testing RTH mode and by the time I responded it was too late. I'm new to the open source stuff, I have total of 1.5h of flight so I cant say what exactly was responsible for iNav to act this way but I wonder if maybe Arduplane is more intuitive to set up and more reliable?
Reliablity is a bit hard to quantify, but let's just say Arduplane has been around for much longer (and specifically for planes) and is much more mature and has many more pairs of eyes checking for problems. One thing I do know for sure is that Arduplane fixed-wing flight performance (accurate altitude hold, ground tracking in auto modes, RTL circle, slow speed flying etc) is way way better. Setup difficulty is probably similar - as you can see in this video I was unfamiliar with the new user interface, but these days I find Arduplane easier, including initial in-air steps like auto-tune. I guess a good way to measure my opinions is that in the year since this video was made I have set up Ardupilot on every new build (four planes, one hex, one car and a boat), except for my acro mini-quad which I use Betaflight. I think this video might be more useful for you than the 'fumbling' one: th-cam.com/video/WVI7B4IfdKI/w-d-xo.html
@@iforce2d Thank you for response. I hope I'll find the sudden control loss of my wing before its too late. Other ways I might try my luck with Arduplane as I'm looking for something that can I can try to fly FPV reliably.
Reverse channel 5 - you need Manual, FBWA and AUTO. Unless you have two external compasses the second one is the internal one and you need to uncheck the external.
You missed the most important check. You must check that the servos move correctly for movement. Hold the plane level and tip to the right - the controls should oppose the movement. Roll left and the controls should roll right. Pitch up the elevators should go down. Pitch down and the elevators go up. Do this before every single flight. This is the fundamental check for autopilots. I think you have not got the elevator directions right.
Finally for first flights the first check mode after Manual should be FBWA. This uses TECS and will give the best indication that it is working. ACRO disables a lot of the autopilot so you can do aerobatics. When you can fly in FBWA OK then change ACRO to Autotune. Launch in FBWA and gain altitude. Switch to Autotune and tune roll. Move the stick from full left to full right at least 20 times while the plane is flying. You may have to do several passes. When you have done this and regained altitude do the same for pitch. Full up then full down for at least 10 or 15 roller coasters. Switch back to FBWA and the plane should be much better. Land and Change Autotune to AUTO in the radio setup and load a simple mission. Take off again in FBWA and switch to auto - it should follow the mission.
Stephen Gloor hey Stephen. I thought you disabled the internal using the external gps? Doesn't turn the external gps off defeat the point of having ? Hope all going to plan for Outback challenge Cheers
I use FrSky 9x radio control with rmilec long range tx rx with Mini Pix control board.. Unfortunately I could not fix -setup PPM connection 5ch fly modes like APM board Pwm connection. The radio control has 5.Ch gear or thro Hold which fixed by me. I have been setup succesfuly on the board APM 2.8 but PPM connection impossible! How can I do that Mode Switch Setup for Turnigy 9x ( my radio is FrSky 9x) on PPM connection ?
I have no idea. This is probably a question for the ardupilot forums. When you ask there, remember to explain more clearly exactly what you mean by "connection impossible" and think about your question from other people's point of view, otherwise nobody will have a clue what your problem is.
It's the C1 Chaser, turned out to be one of my favorite planes so far. goo.gl/EXmg8J The whole family of this type of plane fly great (z84, fx61, fx79) but this one is a nice medium size to handle.
This is the first time I've ever used pixhawk so if you're looking for a tutorial you might want to try somebody else. But in the video before this looked at some of the initial setup: th-cam.com/video/twW9CaRlj-U/w-d-xo.html
Gidday mate, we are trying to get one of these boards to work at the moment... Can you please tell me how to bloody well arm the thing? Is it throttle stick to the right hand side?
Yes, but most likely it will complain about something unless it has everything just right. I wouldn't even bother unless you are connected to a ground station so you can see on the screen what the problem is. I also wouldn't bother unless it has been sitting still outside with a good view of the sky for a few minutes, so that it can do sensor fusion between the GPS and gyro/accel. Another thing to note is that you can't arm in any of the autonomous modes (eg. auto, rtl etc)
Sounds like your radio is really limiting you. Reversing the channel should work fine to move the endpoint to the opposite switch position. The radiolink host giving you data is probably radiolink providing a mirror to the ardupilot project.
norgtube I use the same radio with both pixhawk and APM , yes it's somewhat limiting, but it is adequate enough. Chris just needs to do a bit more study before playing with things too much
The only time you should have to make complex settings on your radio is when the plane has only 'dumb' equipment like servos and motors. When we're dealing with modern flight controllers with powerful processors and sophisticated GUI interfaces like this, the job of the radio is merely to send the position of the switches and sticks and nothing more. There should be absolutely no need to "do X for this radio" and "do Y for this radio". In Cleanflight I can set up flight modes making use of as many AUX channels as I like, and it makes no difference what my radio is.
Chris, I'm not knocking cleanflight or inav, I use them both on my cheap builds as the boards are very cheap and they are easy to use , but are somewhat basic in the tasks they can do . I do a bit of aerial mapping as a hobby for local landholders, and in my opinion the pixhawk is best for this kind of work or long range missions that exceed your transmitter range . Using the i6 transmitter is a bit annoying as information is sparse on setting up mode settings , but it is there. Users of a taranis have the luxury of a plentiful supply of information.
Yes, you do get something else, they don't support Ardupilot, as I said yesterday, don't use the wizard! Remember this is also a fake M8N so don't expect the full performance. You might also find more help for this controller and issues here. discuss.ardupilot.org/c/hardware-discussion/unsupported-hardware
Artificial horizon and heading looking good? Servo directions can be ok in manual yet reversed in auto! Double check FBWA bench test described in the "ground checks" here: plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/roll-pitch-controller-tuning/
iforce2d It seemed as tho something was reversed when FC took over! During radio endpoints calibration, green bars should move same as sticks. FC should try to self level in pitch and roll. Note: 1st pwm output is left elevon & 2nd is right! ardupilot.org/plane/docs/guide-elevon-plane.html
Might want to look at the other ground station softwares for ardupilot such as qGroundControl ardupilot.org/plane/docs/common-choosing-a-ground-station.html
Thank you! I got it to work now. But one question. When in stabilized... When I pitch the plane forward only the left elevon is moving upwards. And when I tilt the plane to the left only the right elevon is moving upward.. So... Is it supposed to be like this? That one elevon is controlling the level flight, and one elevon is controlling the pitch? All the elevons move correctly when im using the sticks in both Manual and Stabilized or FBWA.
Try here and run through this way of setting it up, ardupilot.org/plane/docs/starting-up-and-calibrating-arduplane.html autotune is like magic in my experience BTW
I have to disagree. There may be a lot of information but it doesn't mean it's good information. If 3DR could consolidate, structure and regularly update their instructions I'm sure their would be a lot more confidence in the community about their product by both current and prospective users.
The pixhawk was my first ever flight controller , and for a complete noob I found the documentation quite substantial. I think once you have used it , things just become instinctive and any updates or changes are no problem . Mission planner can be as basic or complex as you choose , but you gotta be prepared to do your study and spend time with setting up correctly.
I agree it's not a plug and play system. You need to be prepared to do a bit of reading. I suppose my frustration is there are some common problems that keep cropping up. The channel for the flight mode switch for instance. For me this would be a red flag that there is an issue for users that needs to be addressed.
Sometimes I wondered if ArduPilot was trying to threw people off. The way they have the parameters list showed and the warning messages are so out of context. Makes no freaking sense! Oh by the way try having a conversation with one of these devs and see how that works out for yeah! Rudest bunch I’ve ever encountered in this hobby. They have a higher than thou complex issue.
Man, this whole ardupilot thing really needs some help with the ui stuff, it's frustrating to even watch. Im sure it's very advanced but the user experience is pretty amateur..
NS Gaming note that the UI is mission planner (and yes it's far from the best experience). There are many other UIs for ardupilot. I have tried mission planner and qgroundcontrol. Q has a better user experience imho but is lacking features.
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ArduPilot is all over the place. I’ve recently moved over to PX4 flight stack. Much cleaner UI and just all around nicer layout in QGC. I’ve been beating my head off work bench for months with ArduPilot and Arducopter and the back and fourth dev drama has pushed me away from using MP and I’m loving the PX4 firmware and GUI
Best way I found is to set up a separate channel for autotune. You can't use one of the six modes on the mode channel for autotune - it has to be a separate channel, perhaps channel 6. When flying, you turn on autotune and then fly around using full stick deflections - the plane is initially very unresponsive as the PIDs start out very low gain. After a few minutes of autotune flying then the plane becomes more responsive. Once you've saved the autotune PID values you're then ready to try loiter, mission, return to home and so on. Read the instructions on autotuning - depending on how you use the mode switch and autotune switch when you cycle the power the autotune values are either stored semi-permanently or forgotten.
You need to verify 100% that the compasses are correctly orientated... Disable one in software and on the dashboard verify that the compass says N when you face the plane towards north. I got tripped up by this before. Also you need to adjust 'things' (I forgot which, probably orientation) so that after you do a compass calibration the offsets are as low as possible. I also remember that the compasses get affected by magnetic fields super hard so you might even need to place the external one on one side of the plane and disable the internal one. You can stuff around with the logs and you might be able to find out about vibration etc as well
I have been following your blogs for over 2 years! I love that you describe the details of your project in detail, enabling us to follow your lead. Your photography and audio are perfect. It is apparent your users are also quite knowledgable.
Could you provide a complete parts list for your plane in this project? I suspect it is a LDARC KingKong Tiny Wing with flashy & more visible color scheme. I am still trying to get all my extra parts since I ordered the 2 plane package kit with no battery, motor, or Flight controller. My original source claims the shipper lost the package but later told me that the package was sent back to them for unspecified reasons. and I must ask for a refund and reorder! That tells me I need to find another supplier. Do you have any good suggestions for these parts?
I really like the supplied LEDs that uniquely display to identify different flight modes currently active. Have you figured out how to employ another, GPS and waypoint compatible flight controller AND keep the LED display arrangement provided by the original FC?
I also had problems finding servos with the tiny white servo connectors that are requiref for the stock FC. Does your current FC need these too, or does it accept standard black Futaba compatible servo connectors?
Are you happy with the stock servos? If not, what do you suggest?
Thanks for your and your readers insight on these questions. - Jim Eastep
reverse channel 5 on remote! Thankyou! I was having the same issue!
I just set up an F450 on APM2.8 a few hours ago. For anyone thinking about APM 2.x, I would not recommend trying to work it out... just spend the extra 10$ or whatever and get a more modern FC with better documentation.
ImRichRu Getting an old 8bit APM board going from sctratch today is a pain. This radiolink is new 32bit hardware released a couple months ago!
Nothing wrong with the ardupilot documentation
No 5V on the servo connector is intended. It is documented. You have to provide your own power for the servo. It is made like that because they don't want you to use the same 5V source for powering the flight controller and the servos.
Yes I figured that might be the case, makes sense.
If you flash the firmware with the Radiolink mission planner, can you then go to the normal mission planner for setup and use?
Yes.
4:04... I just reversed the Channel on my radio...
BTW... Thanks for this Step by Step Arduplane setup with the Mini Pix.
Doing it as we speak. How did you connect the RadioLink to your Laptop ??
Invert radio ch 5, that way your normal manual switch can be in the normal position your used to. .... I too came across that
Ah ArduPlane, the software that does everything it can to stop you from actually flying. Good luck with this Chris, you’re going to need it. Matt. PS, check the arming settings, they’re a pain. Oh and for gods sake why don’t they include an OSD in these?
Trying to decide between this and inav. thought i was sold on inav watching your channel but then arxangle keeps having problems after inav runs for 60 mins..... after 60 mins it disarms.
CaymanHillDesigns I have extaly the same problem. I have had great success with Inav but only on a quad. I never equipped a plane with an autopilot bevor. Inav ist cheap and familiar to me but ardupilot seems to work better...
Yeah, its a a tough choice. I really wan inav. I really do... bit certain fixed wing reviews make me doubt it.
Inav is much easier to wrap your head around, but it’s limited in functionality compared to the APM FCUs. Admittedly due to so many different uses, the software has become bloated. The APM flight modes are adjustable because of all the different control surface numbers. From single aileron, differential aileron, aileron with flaps, Leading edge slats, V-tail, etc or any combination there of. The Arducopter always has the mode switch to ch5 because regardless of motor count, there is always going to be ch1-4 as control inputs (pitch,roll,yaw,collective) 👍🏼
OK, gracias por sus videos, thanks for your videos
J.M.Castilla@2018
Ardupilot seems to work fine once it's all sorted but OMG -- so many parameters, so much to get wrong. It seems to be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I'd say that in many cases, it's not a good option for the "occasional user" but probably just the bee's knees for someone who is going to use it all the time and has the need for the functionality it offers. (Go on Louis, tell me I'm wrong ;-)
I had somewhat similar experiences with mission planner and APM. Couple of things I did learn, a six channel TX is not going to be able to provide all the modes you need to enjoy the full potential of the FC, and you may have to physically alter the FC unit pitch in the model to offset the need for reflex. NB I am only a novice with this and have already gained loads of tips from your fumbling. Ta
Man, this is really awesome, thank you! Long videos, but they worth it. I'm a complete newbie with no knowledge of code or stuff like that. I was wondering if you could save me some time and tell me what the order of motors/ ESCs should be on this Mini Pix FC board? I've been reading a lot lately and found a lot of conflicting info out there (maybe I'm looking in the wrong spots). Right now I have front-right (CCW) on channel 1, Rear left (CCW) on channel 2, Front left (CW) on channel 3 and Rear right (CW) on channel 4. So far I haven't had a chance to try fly it b/c it didn't let me arm... but after watching your video I think I'll be able to fix that.
Does this motor configuration that I described above sound right to you relative to the Mini Pix FC board? Thanks a bunch.
ardupilot.org/copter/docs/connect-escs-and-motors.html
Awesome, thanks. As it happens, this was one of the websites that I looked at and that's how I ended up hooking them up as described above. Thanks mate.
Cant you change your PWM Values so you leave six off switches. I just lowered my PWM ON CHANNEL 5 so it just went to flight mode 5. Am going to try the 2x 3pot switch setup. Fingers crossed. You got me into actually having the balls to try my pix. Now waitting the right weather as always.
If you reverse your flight mode channel on your radio. This will put your switch in the position you want for manual and allow you to assign one additional flight mode. Painless360 has a great series on Arduplane .
Reverse the channel on the controller
For RTH,have you set your altitude, throttle percentage, and climb rate/angle?
I have both my MiniPix and a Logitech controller connected to my PC. How do I manually move my Wing Servos with my controller on this Mission planner program?
You mean like an xbox style game controller? This might help: th-cam.com/video/K61wJ9ps3TY/w-d-xo.html
Or you could always just read the docs :)
ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-joystick.html
First you need to start using your telemetry modules. You showed them to us last week so use them.. Second you need to try flying in FBAW first, if the plane wont fly in that mode then rtl wont work ether. Also if the plane is trying to fly vertically in rtl something must be configured wrong. RTL is an autonomous flight mode and in that mode the plane wont pich up more then what you have for value "LIM_PITCH_MAX" I suspect your level is not correct. Ardupilot is arguably one of the best flight stacks on the market, Its years ahead of inav(No discredit to inav). You need to understand that you cant just pump in head first and think you plane is going to fly perfect. Its a very advanced platform and has options and configurations up the yin yang. Dont give up on it just yet you won't regret it later down the road. PS: read the wiki..
I have been using the telemetry modules almost from the beginning, as I mentioned in the previous video, that's why I was complaining about how slow the connection process is. But when you say "use them", in what way should it be helping?
I don't see why I need to try FBWA to know that RTL won't work either - I mean if FBWA works that doesn't mean RTL will work... at some point I have to try RTL so I might as well just try it.
Yes, if it wants to fly vertical in RTL then something is configured wrong... but what, is the question. The artificial horizon display looks fine, if that's what you mean by 'level'.
@@iforce2d Good point.
APM finally:-)
also having both compasses is probably using up alot of controller resources and causing alot of problems have to use one or the other.
I just have iNav trying to crash my wing 3 times and one time it did succeed while cursing in altitude hold plus angle mode. It did cut throttle to idle and pointed nose down. All after 40 min of flying and rather predictable behavior. Three times I have manage to switch off alt hold and get it up but last time I was testing RTH mode and by the time I responded it was too late. I'm new to the open source stuff, I have total of 1.5h of flight so I cant say what exactly was responsible for iNav to act this way but I wonder if maybe Arduplane is more intuitive to set up and more reliable?
Reliablity is a bit hard to quantify, but let's just say Arduplane has been around for much longer (and specifically for planes) and is much more mature and has many more pairs of eyes checking for problems. One thing I do know for sure is that Arduplane fixed-wing flight performance (accurate altitude hold, ground tracking in auto modes, RTL circle, slow speed flying etc) is way way better. Setup difficulty is probably similar - as you can see in this video I was unfamiliar with the new user interface, but these days I find Arduplane easier, including initial in-air steps like auto-tune. I guess a good way to measure my opinions is that in the year since this video was made I have set up Ardupilot on every new build (four planes, one hex, one car and a boat), except for my acro mini-quad which I use Betaflight.
I think this video might be more useful for you than the 'fumbling' one:
th-cam.com/video/WVI7B4IfdKI/w-d-xo.html
@@iforce2d Thank you for response. I hope I'll find the sudden control loss of my wing before its too late. Other ways I might try my luck with Arduplane as I'm looking for something that can I can try to fly FPV reliably.
Reverse channel 5 - you need Manual, FBWA and AUTO. Unless you have two external compasses the second one is the internal one and you need to uncheck the external.
You missed the most important check. You must check that the servos move correctly for movement. Hold the plane level and tip to the right - the controls should oppose the movement. Roll left and the controls should roll right. Pitch up the elevators should go down. Pitch down and the elevators go up. Do this before every single flight. This is the fundamental check for autopilots. I think you have not got the elevator directions right.
Finally for first flights the first check mode after Manual should be FBWA. This uses TECS and will give the best indication that it is working. ACRO disables a lot of the autopilot so you can do aerobatics. When you can fly in FBWA OK then change ACRO to Autotune. Launch in FBWA and gain altitude. Switch to Autotune and tune roll. Move the stick from full left to full right at least 20 times while the plane is flying. You may have to do several passes. When you have done this and regained altitude do the same for pitch. Full up then full down for at least 10 or 15 roller coasters. Switch back to FBWA and the plane should be much better. Land and Change Autotune to AUTO in the radio setup and load a simple mission. Take off again in FBWA and switch to auto - it should follow the mission.
Stephen Gloor hey Stephen. I thought you disabled the internal using the external gps? Doesn't turn the external gps off defeat the point of having ?
Hope all going to plan for Outback challenge Cheers
I use FrSky 9x radio control with rmilec long range tx rx with Mini Pix control board..
Unfortunately I could not fix -setup PPM connection 5ch fly modes like APM board Pwm connection. The radio control has 5.Ch gear or thro Hold which fixed by me. I have been setup succesfuly on the board APM 2.8 but PPM connection impossible! How can I do that Mode Switch Setup for Turnigy 9x ( my radio is FrSky 9x) on PPM connection ?
I have no idea. This is probably a question for the ardupilot forums. When you ask there, remember to explain more clearly exactly what you mean by "connection impossible" and think about your question from other people's point of view, otherwise nobody will have a clue what your problem is.
@@iforce2d connection ppm with only one signal cable...as you know pwm connection has each signal different channels...
You could do some in-radio-configuration to make it so your channel 5 is inverted
I’m curious as to which flying wing you have your system installed. Have you done a video of the installation of your PixHawk yet?
It's the C1 Chaser, turned out to be one of my favorite planes so far. goo.gl/EXmg8J The whole family of this type of plane fly great (z84, fx61, fx79) but this one is a nice medium size to handle.
This is the first time I've ever used pixhawk so if you're looking for a tutorial you might want to try somebody else. But in the video before this looked at some of the initial setup: th-cam.com/video/twW9CaRlj-U/w-d-xo.html
Gidday mate, we are trying to get one of these boards to work at the moment... Can you please tell me how to bloody well arm the thing? Is it throttle stick to the right hand side?
Yes, but most likely it will complain about something unless it has everything just right. I wouldn't even bother unless you are connected to a ground station so you can see on the screen what the problem is. I also wouldn't bother unless it has been sitting still outside with a good view of the sky for a few minutes, so that it can do sensor fusion between the GPS and gyro/accel. Another thing to note is that you can't arm in any of the autonomous modes (eg. auto, rtl etc)
Do you have to have a GPS module in to arm the thing?
You can change the flags for what to check when arming, the default is to check everything.
ardupilot.org/copter/docs/prearm_safety_check.html
@@randaldell-spector3431 or the button?
Sounds like your radio is really limiting you. Reversing the channel should work fine to move the endpoint to the opposite switch position. The radiolink host giving you data is probably radiolink providing a mirror to the ardupilot project.
norgtube
I use the same radio with both pixhawk and APM , yes it's somewhat limiting, but it is adequate enough. Chris just needs to do a bit more study before playing with things too much
The only time you should have to make complex settings on your radio is when the plane has only 'dumb' equipment like servos and motors. When we're dealing with modern flight controllers with powerful processors and sophisticated GUI interfaces like this, the job of the radio is merely to send the position of the switches and sticks and nothing more. There should be absolutely no need to "do X for this radio" and "do Y for this radio".
In Cleanflight I can set up flight modes making use of as many AUX channels as I like, and it makes no difference what my radio is.
Chris, I'm not knocking cleanflight or inav, I use them both on my cheap builds as the boards are very cheap and they are easy to use , but are somewhat basic in the tasks they can do . I do a bit of aerial mapping as a hobby for local landholders, and in my opinion the pixhawk is best for this kind of work or long range missions that exceed your transmitter range . Using the i6 transmitter is a bit annoying as information is sparse on setting up mode settings , but it is there. Users of a taranis have the luxury of a plentiful supply of information.
Right, in an ideal world that's how it'd work. Also peace in our time, etc. There's no doubt the betaflight style mode config is worlds better.
About the forced Flightmode 5 - reverse the channel?
Yes, you do get something else, they don't support Ardupilot, as I said yesterday, don't use the wizard! Remember this is also a fake M8N so don't expect the full performance. You might also find more help for this controller and issues here. discuss.ardupilot.org/c/hardware-discussion/unsupported-hardware
Artificial horizon and heading looking good? Servo directions can be ok in manual yet reversed in auto! Double check FBWA bench test described in the "ground checks" here: plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/roll-pitch-controller-tuning/
Yes, artificial horizon is ok. I hope you are joking about servo directions being reversed in some flight modes...
iforce2d It seemed as tho something was reversed when FC took over! During radio endpoints calibration, green bars should move same as sticks. FC should try to self level in pitch and roll. Note: 1st pwm output is left elevon & 2nd is right! ardupilot.org/plane/docs/guide-elevon-plane.html
lovely sunset :) where are you located?
Waikato, NZ
Ah okay so its your summer right now then!
Might want to look at the other ground station softwares for ardupilot such as qGroundControl ardupilot.org/plane/docs/common-choosing-a-ground-station.html
How did you set up the elevons? Bought this package for my S800 :)
14:44
See also: ardupilot.org/plane/docs/reversing-servos-and-setting-normalelevon-mode.html
See also th-cam.com/video/WVI7B4IfdKI/w-d-xo.html
Thank you! I got it to work now. But one question. When in stabilized... When I pitch the plane forward only the left elevon is moving upwards. And when I tilt the plane to the left only the right elevon is moving upward..
So... Is it supposed to be like this? That one elevon is controlling the level flight, and one elevon is controlling the pitch?
All the elevons move correctly when im using the sticks in both Manual and Stabilized or FBWA.
The elevons should do the same as with the input you would give to make the necessary correction...
Hmmm... perhaps I have to look into the mixing gain settings then.
reverse ch5 on your radio to change flight mode order
you can see why people go with inav, but im sure you will sort it out
It'll be neat once you can FPV-chase your autopiloted stuff.
Try here and run through this way of setting it up, ardupilot.org/plane/docs/starting-up-and-calibrating-arduplane.html autotune is like magic in my experience BTW
Like so many open source projects it's let down by poor documentation.
jwtfpv
Documentation is pretty good really, and there is so much information available on TH-cam.
The Ardupilot documentation is very good.
I have to disagree. There may be a lot of information but it doesn't mean it's good information. If 3DR could consolidate, structure and regularly update their instructions I'm sure their would be a lot more confidence in the community about their product by both current and prospective users.
The pixhawk was my first ever flight controller , and for a complete noob I found the documentation quite substantial. I think once you have used it , things just become instinctive and any updates or changes are no problem . Mission planner can be as basic or complex as you choose , but you gotta be prepared to do your study and spend time with setting up correctly.
I agree it's not a plug and play system. You need to be prepared to do a bit of reading. I suppose my frustration is there are some common problems that keep cropping up. The channel for the flight mode switch for instance. For me this would be a red flag that there is an issue for users that needs to be addressed.
Sometimes I wondered if ArduPilot was trying to threw people off. The way they have the parameters list showed and the warning messages are so out of context. Makes no freaking sense! Oh by the way try having a conversation with one of these devs and see how that works out for yeah! Rudest bunch I’ve ever encountered in this hobby. They have a higher than thou complex issue.
Man, this whole ardupilot thing really needs some help with the ui stuff, it's frustrating to even watch. Im sure it's very advanced but the user experience is pretty amateur..
NS Gaming note that the UI is mission planner (and yes it's far from the best experience). There are many other UIs for ardupilot. I have tried mission planner and qgroundcontrol. Q has a better user experience imho but is lacking features.