Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by roger on December 25, 2010 at 6:13pm

Jani,

 

I take it that the motors that came with the ardupilot electronics+frame kit are only rated for 3S batteries? Can't find technical details on those motors hence the question. The ESC that came with the kit indicated up to 16v so that can easily handle 4s batteries.

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JDronesPermalink Reply by Jani Hirvinen on December 25, 2010 at 8:54pm

Both ArduCopter motors (small and big) are rated for 4S use and so is ESC

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Winterson on September 11, 2010 at 12:17am

Cheers guys, looks like i'll be going for the 3S 11.1v 8000mAh ones instead, there a bit cheaper and lighter!

For those who use Xbees, do you use RC equipment as well? Or do you use a joystick / laptop combo to control your ArduCopter?

Cheers,
Jez

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Permalink Reply by Mark Curry on September 11, 2010 at 3:10pm

In all fairness, motors don't really care about voltage (3-4 or 5 cell). What affects motors is amp draw for a given gauge of wire. If you are using the 2217/20 (860kv), then these should work with 3 or 4 cell on 10 inch props, but would perhaps be better on 3 cell for 12 inch as you may overamp them (or the ESC).

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on September 11, 2010 at 3:37pm

8000mAh??!!

Those are massive--they weigh about a pound each. Why do you need some much juice? I fly it on one 3,000 mAh pack and get 15 mins at least.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on September 11, 2010 at 7:39pm

i imagine cause he wants long flight time with heavy payload... i mean i want to haul AWU + 1.5kg so ya i need big batts and bad ass engines i imagine hes similar

personally i'd like to see a 30-45m quad, especially once gps navi is up and working

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JDronesPermalink Reply by Jani Hirvinen on September 11, 2010 at 9:54pm

Currently only method to control ArduCopter is traditional RC radio, in our software roadmap we do have plans to support also gamepads or similar controllers. When and what is not yet decided.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Winterson on September 13, 2010 at 2:03am

So is the Xbee only for transmitting waypoints and return data from the ArduCopter then? Also did Chris say that gps navi isn't working as in, the ArduCopter doesn't have gps waypoint navigation?

What kind of RC gear do you all use? Guessing 7 channel will do then?

Cheers

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JDronesPermalink Reply by Jani Hirvinen on September 13, 2010 at 3:09am

Currently we are only using Xbee to transport settings and flight telemetry between GCS laptop and ArduCopter. ArduCopter does not have GPS navigation yet, not even proper GPS hold. Whole ArduCopter software is still really young. Well actually all our codes for ArduPilot Mega + OilPan are really young and under rapid development.

We do have some preliminary GPS functions already developed but there are still many things to do with it. Hopefully on our initial public alpha release contains GPS position hold. And estimate hammering time for initial alpha release is about month or so. Eg no actual date yet...

Will ArduCopter have GPS navigation in future, absolutely :)

7 ch is ok but if you plan to get radio for self now I highly suggest to get 9 ch due future expansions are then a lot easier.

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