Would be interesting to have a "Look at POI" mode, where the camera would stay oriented in the direction of a POI, regardless the model position.
"Care free" mode is interesting as well, it's a mode quite similar as "Look at home", but where the YAW axis stay free.
It means that if you pull the rudder stick to come back, it will come back in the direction of the home position, regardless the YAW orientation. The initial YAW is the one before launch, but it is possibl to change it during fly with the YAW stick.
I think it could replace simple and simple with "look at home" modes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-qqvgJqfh0
Last, i think that mode selection would need to be slightly modified :
Acro mode : base mode
Stabilize mode : base mode
Auto mode : base mode
GPS 2D stabilisation : optional help, can be added to stabilize
Altitude stabilisation : optional help, can be added to stabilize
care free mode / RTL : optional help, can be added to stabilize or Auto mode
This would translate to eight radio channels :
Ch 1- 4 : main controls
Ch 5 : base mode selection (3 position switch) -> Acro, Stabilize, Auto
Ch 6 : GPS 2D stabilisation (2 position switch)
Ch7 : Altitude stabilisation (2 position switch)
Ch8 : Care free / RTL (2 position switch)
According to wich base mode we fly, Ch8 would select Care Free (stabilize base mode) or RTL (Auto base mode).
I think that this is really better (easier to use) than a 6 positions channel for mode selection.
Replies
I thought about a mode that would return the copter to RTL simply by pulling on the elevator stick. I called it a "polar coordinate" mode. Elevator would adjust the length of the vector, roll would adjust the angle about the launch site.
This would require a reliable GPS lock of course; my thinking was that roll would make the copter describe a circle around the start point. It would make flying exactly "care free" if you knew you could just pull the elevator stick whenever to return home, even if you flew behind your back and got disoriented. The current Simple mode requires you to keep in mind the original direction when the motors were first armed.
The joy of open source! You can customize it to fit your desire!
The lookathome function is just me playing around. I haven't flown it yet.
Jason
We already have "Care free" mode, which is called "Simple" in AC2. All modes are described here.
"Look at POI" is already implemented in APM and coming soon to AC2.