OpenPilot Test Forums Feed

Bottle on the Waterfront

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:58:11 +0000

I flew my tricopter around this waterfront park a bit to branch out from boring field flying. It's a pretty, pleasant place but small.

It was just a little windy, not really bad. But I was worried about flying high and getting pulled away from the area. Strong gusts can come quickly in this location, as I had experienced before.

The flying is not so stable, but hopefully you can still enjoy the ride. Still fairly new to flying and video, so I'm happy with it for now.

Alex's Video FPV Build Log * VC-450 * Suppo A2212-13 *

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:49:45 +0000

The Alex Building Experience

___________________________________________________________________________________
***********************************************************************************************************************
___________________________________________________________________________________
Parts:

-VC-450 Kit (Camo)
-Custom Aluminum Camera Tab
-Howeverthings new Power Distribution Board.
-Suppo A2212-13 1000KV
-Turnigy 18A ESCs
-Gaui 8" Props
-Copter Control FC
-1.3mhz 500mw video transmitter
-GoPro Hero2
-ReadyMadeRc's GoPro video out cable.
-EzUHF 4ch Rx (still reading on getting PPM in working) (This will be changed to the new 8ch lite since I’m borrowing it)
-3s2200mAh Turnigy Nano-tech

AUW= 1,119.4 Grams

I Feel this is a great combo for portability and great durability as proven by Pete,Juz,Kevin, and Dave.

___________________________________________________________________________________
*****************************************Pictures********************************************************************
___________________________________________________________________________________

Hoverthings new distrobution board, makes setups so much nicer!

Nylon stand offs with servo thingys as anti-vibration padding.

Testing build. Getting a feel for CC board. So far its amazing!

More photos: http://s388.photobuc...%20fpv%20build/

Hexa Y6 with Camera Stabilization

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:48:58 +0000

Today i am testing the camera stabilization. It is a hexa y6 and this camera mount:
https://www.mikrocontroller.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=110&products_id=598&zenid=cc1e82727c0dce94552e585d0516dda3

This was the first flight:

And this is my configuration:

So it works. But i am not shure about the configuration.

What do you mean?

Thanks for comments.

Claus

Quadrixette 30 frame for Open Pilot Copter Control

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:29:38 +0000

Hi guys,

as the other thread concerned the Nano-version of the frame, this thread is supposed to belong to the Q30-version. With the available adapter board the CC can be easily mounted.
Here are some pictures of the frame with the CC onboard:

Weight:

GFK-parts: 45g
Rods: 60g
+ screws, nuts, bolts (metal): tbd

As with the nano, this frame was build with the following idea:

- getting the propellers out of the way for camera flight
- to be as sturdy as possible
- in case of a crash the arms can be easily homemade and exchanged with minimal costs
- flexible balancing point for different setups
- to look great!

A GoPro-housing is shortly before it's release. I can't show the looks yet, but here is a small preview-video recorded with the Quadrixette 30, the CC and the housing:

(watch it at Vimeo in HD for best impression)

Suggested hardware:

Battery: 3s (1300mAh - 2200mAh)
BECs: Plush 10a
Motors:
1) for agile flying even with a GoPro: Strong Power 2208/17 1200kV
2) for camera flights: Keda 20-50s (or directly from Keda, just write a mail)

Just like the nano-frame the frame is available for purchase in black and white at eyefly.info. The GoPro is supposed to be available until the end of next week (02.12.). If you have any questions, please post them here. I'll do my best to answer them asap :-)

Best regards,
Nic

Rate Ki Vs Attitude Ki

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:24:56 +0000

I would like to start off by saying everyone who answered my last thread has been a huge help. And the documentation was great to.

So I have the quad real dialed in. My setting with Ki in Rate is doing well (I left Attitude Ki at 0 like the documentation suggests. This is set up to fly in Rate more often then Attitude. The settings for this is in a file is called : "Most stable #2" See attached.

Then I tried to set things up so I can fly in Attitude more, for photo work. This time I left Rate Ki at 0 and applied values to Attitude Ki.

I got this setting real dialed in to, except the quad keeps pirouetting to the left. Yaw left is stronger than right when I try to yaw right to counter the pirouette to the left I have to push the stick further than left stick as well. (Of course, Right?) I know I missed something, but i just can't figure it out. Can someone look at this file and see where I messed up? This file is called "(NEEDS WORK!) Attitude mode"

I hope my description is clear enough.

Thanks in advance.

Attached Files

Most stable #2.uav 8.95K 10 downloads
(NEEDS WORK!) Attitude mode.uav 8.94K 4 downloads

Warthox hides his Flyduino Quad in an AR.Drone

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:24:01 +0000

Freakin' Warthox. Why must you tease us mortals?
He has a great sense of humor but this little stunt takes the cake. This vid is gonna circulate into the Parrot forums and everybody is gonna think that this is actually the new AR.Drone. Haha.
It's pretty funny for me, since I started with and still have an AR.Drone. This is what I imagined I could do... Now i finally have something useful to do with my old drone that is collecting dust!

Oh, and if you are new to the multirotor world, you might not want to watch this because it will either make you insanely addicted (like me) or you will want to quit immediately.

VC-450 FPV with Simple Backpack GS

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:22:05 +0000

So I guess it is time that I made my own thread now. Little back round on myself, I am 21 years old, living in Southern California pursuing a career as a Firefighter/Paramedic. I have been flying rc aircraft for around 10 years. It has been a passion of mine for half of my life. I first started getting into Multirotors last November and got hooked instantly, did the research and acquired funds (sold off my 3D plane). Then I discovered FPV (thanks Juz) and that was my goal.

Had my first real FPV flight today after getting good at LOS flying for a month and a half. What an experience! First flight was in attitude mode, which I am not used to (usually rate), but rate mode was making the quad drift left. I am theroizing it is due do my TX and Video battery being mounted east and west on the quad and not being balanced.

More to come.

Here is my settup
Quad:
VC-450 by hoverthings.com
Ntm Prop Drive 28-26
Open Pilot CC
Spectrum AR7000 w/DX7
Exceed RC Proton 30A
Turnigy Nano-Tech 3S 4000mAh
GWS 9x5x3
Video:
RMRC-480 camera
RMRC 400mW TX
RMRC 3s 460 mAh battery
LP Filter
GoPro HD Hero
BackPack Ground Station:
Freebie Planet Eclipse Backpack from my sponsored paintball days
Optimized 1.3 GHz 8dBi Patch Antenna
1.3 GHz Receiver
HeadPlay Liberator Googles w/Protector running off 2s 2200mAh Nanotech
All attached to foam core board (lightweight)

First Flight Help

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:10:56 +0000

Well......good news/bad news. I had the chance to get my quad in the air this weekend (see my blog for build details). Everything went fine, except the quad had a tendency to pogo? I guess you would call it? I would be at a pretty stable hover and suddenly it would start rising straight up, I would correct the throttle a little to stop it and it would head straight for the ground, causing me to really correct the throttle to keep from crashing. Pretty exciting stuff! Could this be caused by my throttle curve settings? Any other ideas would also be appreciated. I have some video, but it's really bad, so didn't really want to post it. I ended up crashing into the side of my house, broke 3 props, so I'm temporarily out of business. I've attached my GCS settings.

Quad Settings.xml 109.96K 5 downloads

so im wondering about FPV and thinking of a thread for just FPV for dummies like me,

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:05:28 +0000

so to the folks that do use FPV i was wondering if youd post your setup,
frame/motors/batts/
FPV gear, ground stations, ect,,

ive been doing searches, but got to thinking maybe a FPV title,,for itself, so when dummies like me come along we can read through it and see what others are using successfully

just a curious thought,
Kevin and astronutski has already been alot of help,
but would love to see picks and info from the others on here also,
john

Custom Mix for Hexa Y6

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:01:04 +0000

While gathering my components to configure a Hexa Y6, I have decided that rather than having higher pitch props on the lower coax motors, I would like to just have those motors spin at a higher rate than the upper set. I am thinking that this will be the custom mix.

What I have done here is created a curve that is lower ( eyeballed at 15-20% ) and mapped that to the upper motors, while the lower motors will have the higher throttle curve.

Is there a better way of doing this in CC?? Would my assumption on this be correct? This makes more sense to me than having different prop pitches since we can fine tune the throttle curves to fit our needs, not just put a higher pitch prop below just because it needs to push air that is already moving.

HELP, First Multirotor components or kit

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:37:18 +0000

Hi everyone,

First would like to say this looks like a great forum to be apart of where everyone is friendly and willing to lend a helping hand, so this leads me to my first.....

I have been flying electric helis for a little while but wanted something a bit simpler and more stable as I am venturing into FPV/videoagraphy. It is what i originally hoped to do with the heli but was a blown away with what can be achieved with a quad etc with what I think is a better result.

I was thinking of getting the DJI naza kit. I liked it for the simplicity and what the flight controller had to offer with the altitude hold. But since doing some reading, the flex is in frames possibly causes camera and FPV vibration (did these people have the rpops balanced?). So I thought the VC 450 frame (plus the additional plates) from hover things looked like the goods and using the naza controller with some Graupner props but his is now where the confusion starts for me.

The manual for Naza says the ESC's need to have a refresh frequency of 400hz, are most esc's rated at this and how to I find out that?

Motor selection is the big one. I don't understand the desription of the motors like TR35-30C-1100 except that may be the last numbers is the kv? Most of all what kv should I be looking for?

The Naza kit is a close ball park figure what I looking to spend also.

All suggestions, opinions and experiances will be taken on board so I thank you all in advance and please feel free to post any photos you want to add

Ben.

New video from James and a new flight mode

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:57:30 +0000

James posted this in the Heli section in the middle of a thread, it really needs to be shared here as well as I think you might like it.

So this mode is all about 3D, specifically designed for helis however should be a load of fun on MultiRotors as well.

There is still a patch that needs adding to this but that is the progress so far.

GPS settings for telemetry

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:41:44 +0000

Hi,

I have a Ublox 6 based GPS module and it is working fine, as long as I connect it to my PC through a USB2TTL adaptor. I tried it with the u-center software, GPS Utility and in GCS as GPS Mouse and Flight GPS connected through serial.
But as soon as I connect it to the CC Board Flexiport, it does not get a fix (constant green LED) and it is shown red in the GCS System Health gadget. I activated the GPS module under "HWSettings>optional Modules" in the UAVObjects Browser. Both CC and the GPS are set to 57600baud.
Did I miss a setting or do I have to select only certain NMEA messages? Does it only show up green in System Health, if it gets a fix?

Sebastian

What's the biggest battery you would fly?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:37:55 +0000

Hi guys,

I'm currently flying with two 3.3 AH batteries, which in FPV give me between 9 and 10 minutes. This is fine, I'm down with that, but naturally I'd like to get more flight times.

Yes, I plan to charge the batteries in the field, but I would need probably two more batteries to make the charging/depleting cycle self sustaining (ie, the first battery is ready to go after the last battery gets depleted).

But also the option of course is to get bigger batteries, which at some point has less of a return. I understand all of that. I'm at the fork in the road, do I add two more 3.3 AH batteries to my existing 3.3 AH batteries and try for the self-sustaining cycle, or should I get maybe a 4.5 AH or bigger to extend the times by maybe a couple of minutes? I'm going nanotech again, and I see some whopping 8 AH's there hehe. Also, I'm using the 3s system.

I'm sure this has been asked before, but this is a rather specific question, I'm looking for real world experience from other VC-450 pilots if possible. What's the highest battery you fly with?

Thanks!!!!

I'm off to ecalc to see if I can get some useful data. Actually, to see if I can put some useful data in it, lol, it's intimidating.

VC-FPV1 prototype

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:16:00 +0000

I just made up the name, VC-FPV1, It will probably be called something else. I was lucky enough to be sent this FPV frame by Tom at Hoverthings to test out.

Initial thoughts are that this should make one super cool FPV UAV.
I am yet to fly a better FPV frame than the VC-450...could this be better?

The new design eliminates the view of the props from an onboard camera such as a gopro. I like this feature, although I am still a big fan of seeing the props in videos.
Dialing this thing in should be fun.
frame is 326 grams (I used a couple of extra spacers than needed, for added rigidity)

I'll be installing
spektrum AR7010 rx
CopterControl
Turnigy Plush 18A escs
NTM 1200kv motors
http://www.hobbyking...200kv_250w.html
swinging gaui 8's
and
rmrc 520 fpv camera
1.3gHz 300mW video tx
nanotech 3S 360mah lipo
gopro HD hero

no OSD as yet. Someone say OpenPilot OSD?

Attached Thumbnails

looking for ecalc opinions on my quad

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:57:04 +0000

AUW without battery 940
ipower motors, 2814 750KV
750W changed it to custom

they say on the website,,, the ipower is the same as the 3536-11 , 750
they do not list any real specs to punch in,,grrrr,,,

looking for opinions on what "C" rated battery to buy,

with the setup listed,

jp

Attached Thumbnails

Spider quad frame in the making.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:25:39 +0000

i have recently got this frame somewhere in the wiki and i thought well lets make a quad out off it.

This will basically the build log and DanZ is cutting it with laser and ionized it black for me.
I will add as i go

CC won't level.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:41:31 +0000

Tried it in linux and windows, and reflashed firmware with matching gcs. The model spins while leveling, but ends up in a random position. Side ways, upside down, and changes every time I press the level button bar. Gave up on BT in linux, works okay in windows, now this. It started responding unpredictably earlier today as I was trying to set stabilization values. Its worked for me several times in the past.

Another CC board makes it into the air

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:32:35 +0000

Test flew my woody quad tonight. Nothing fancy because it was after dark and the thing doesn't have lights (yet). Tested hover stability, directional response and throttle response. All really good with just the default settings. CC rocks!

CC board
AR6255
DT700 motors
Plush 18A ESC
10x4.5 props
a few sticks and a little plywood

The surprise was how powerful the DT700 motors are- a lot of headspace available.

I've included some photos. Obviously I need to finalize the build: shorten the motor shafts, tidy up the wiring, add protection for the electronics, balance props and attend to a few other minor details. Love it.

Rick

Attached Thumbnails

Inverted motor setup, good Idea?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:30:11 +0000

Here are a couple pics of my new setup with my motors inverted. Is it a good idea? It is my hope to increase efficiency by removing the downwash from hitting the arms of the frame. I have flown it a few times so far and have not noticed much of a change in stability and maybe slight increases in efficiency. Has anyone else done this and have any additional tips? I'm also thinking about canting the motors outward a few degrees to give greater stability, like dihedral on an airplane. Anyone try this?