Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lloyd Breckenridge on May 1, 2012 at 2:48pm

In my experience make sure you are completely comfortable controlling it in stable made before attempting loiter.

Make sure that you start high enough off the ground so you have a chance to switch it out of loiter mode if things start to go wrong.

My first few attempts saw the quad start to move quite rapidly and therefore lose a bit of altitude.

Be ready and practice switching back to stabilize to get it under control if things look like they are not working.

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Permalink Reply by Lloyd Breckenridge on May 1, 2012 at 2:49pm

Most of all make sure you do it in a large open space and in the middle of that space, not at one edge.

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Permalink Reply by James Dinh on May 1, 2012 at 3:16pm

Thanks, I'm still practicing feeling comfortable in stable mode, but I will keep all your advice in mind for future.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Mac on May 1, 2012 at 4:16pm

In the Loiter mode it uses atmospheric pressure to control height so there will be some variation depending on winds. It’s best to try it at about 10 feet the first and be ready to turn it off if it goes astray.

You can change the set altitude by moving the throttle higher or lower. It captures the stick position when you engage Loiter as the neutral point. You can also guide it around with the stick. In calm weather my quad works great in Loiter. I live in an area with lots of trees that create turbulence so it does not work very well for me on windy days.

　

 

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Permalink Reply by James Dinh on May 1, 2012 at 4:21pm

Do I have to set PID values in Mission Planner for Loiter Mode?  I'm running six 880 kv motors, 30 amp esc, APM 2 version 2.5.4, 9x 5 props, and my whole set up weighs about 2.7 kg.  What values should I set for loiter, and for RTL? thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Mac on May 1, 2012 at 4:28pm

After tuning the Stabilize P, I had to decrease it a bunch, I found that it loiters well with the default values (V2.5.4 firmware).

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Permalink Reply by James Dinh on May 1, 2012 at 5:16pm

Are you using similar size motors, esc's and props as I have?  Or does that matter?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Mac on May 2, 2012 at 3:19am

I am running KDA20-22L motors with 10 inch props so my quad is slightly larger than yours. I have found that APC SF props fly a little smoother than other brands. I use 10x4.7 props. Hovering close to 50% throttle stick does seam to make for the best setup. You really won’t know if you need any tuning until you make a couple of flights on a nice calm day.

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