Ritewing Zephyr II plus APM1
OK I need some advice from some experience zephyr II builders. I've studied the various blogs here and youtube builds but I want to see the best way to position all the equipment and I guess every build is a bit unique so here are my details. I will paint it yellow and then laminate it.
Here's what I need to put in but the question is where is the best placement?
APM1 with mag and gps and airspeed sensor.
Ritewing Zephyr II came with 150gr 1300 kv motor 60A esc
came with plastic gopro mount. I would prefer the wood case I saw at blacksheep but this will do for now.
I will use the gopro with this RMRC-600XV 600TVL WDR CCD (NTSC)
ImmersionRC 600mW 5.8GHz A/V Transmitter with 5.8 GHz Bluebeam Whip Antenna Set (RHCP)
EZUHF 8 Channel Diversity Receiver
XBee-PRO 900 extended range module w/ wire antenna
2 of Turnigy nano-tech 3300mah 4S 35~70C Lipo Pack
Remzibi OSD with it's own GPS
Turnigy Voltage Protector 550000uf (1.4sec) (for BEC 5v line)
So my questions are:
Where to best position for the equipment?? If I embed anything in the wing, I want to be able to see the equipment from the top of the wing for status lights and maybe use a clear hinged cover for protection or just use the laminate and cut if off when necessary. Also will have to consider cooling for the components that get hot like the OSD, ESC, BEC.
I think it's impossible to use the battery bay in the center because I will need that space for the APM or can I put the APM embedded in the wing with a clear cover? Does it need to be over the COG or can it be to the side. Is the Zephyr more stable with the batteries in the front like I have in the picture?
I think I prefer the idea of mounting the batteries on the front. This gives me the center battery bay for APM, BEC and maybe Remzibi OSD. I will gorilla glue down a piece of 3mm plywood to help reinforce the center or can I use similar thickness balsa to save weight? I hear this is the weak point in the zephyr II according to blacksheep and I don't have their battery box.
Do I need to have a cooling channel for these two center compartments? The ESC will go by itself in the back compartment.
Or can I put the APM to the side of the battery compartment and use the original battery compartment for the batteries. Does the APM need to be near the center?
Do I need to mount the ezUHF receiver out near the wing tip. I'm going to be dealing with 900MHz xBee, 400Mhz UHF, 2 x GPS, 5.8GHz video. I think what is going to have the most bulky cable is the ezUHF depending on how many channels I will use. If I can just use the signal wires and one power connection from the APM to the ezUHF then it wouldn't be so bad but I dread digging too many long distance cable channels in this sleek airfoil :) If I can put the ezUHF with the APM in the standard battery bay then that would make for less cable clutter but I don't want to create any interference problems.
The vTx should be on the wing tip?
What about shielding? Do I need to shield any of the wires or will twisting them and / or use ferrite rings deal with any noise? I know xBees can cause interference.
I've laid out all the equipment and also laid a roll of laminate to get an idea of the weight and it came in at 2.1 kilos which seems lighter than my similarly equipped soon to retire skywalker. It still should be hair raising to launch, especially considering it's my first wing.
I'm not seeing a parameter file for the zephyr. Anyone have some good PIDs for it?
Found some parameters here from İlhan Başçuhadar. Maybe I will start with those.
Where should the center of gravity be so I can make sure the placement doesn't unbalance it.
I'm going to have an experienced pilot do the initial trimming in manual mode but what is the best way to launch them using the APM? Stabilize mode (that is what I use on the skywalker) or FBW A or FBW B or Alt Hold? I launch into a valley so the ground isn't a problem right away :)
Tags: apm, fpv, ritewing, zephyr
- Attachments:
-
-
zepherii.jpg, 1.9 MB
-
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Brad Smith on -
maybe you could post your config file ! and do you know if you've set min alt to 0? F11 you will want to practice moving your hand to your TX without hitting your switches ! part of my problem is that mine is a 30in wing span delta with a roll rate faster than my reflexes :)
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on -
Andreas would you mind sending me your parameter file. I'm going to try taking off in fwb tomorrow if the weather allows :)
-
Permalink Reply by Andreas on -
I have not changed the default parameters in terms of PID parameters. Also, the AP version on my APM1 is probably 6-12 months old. The only things I have changed so far (but it would fly just fine without):
-Reduced cruise speed or throttle rate (was flying too fast in auto mode)
-Increased max climb angle for stabilized modes (allow steeper climb out)Good luck with the maiden flight. Really helps if you have a buddy helping you with the launch.
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on
-
Thanks! I will do it in stable mode which is what I'm use to on the skywalker. I'm left handed and my control has throttle on the left so I will throw with my left hand or have someone do it for me and then I will grab for the throttle. The new ESC is installed and now just waiting for some good weather.
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on
-
Waiting for some bad weather to pass and using the time to set up my failsafe. I'm getting a strange behavior that I think is related to my receiver instead of APM but not sure. I'm using ezUHF 8ch with my JR9503 Tx. Everything is working fine and when I set failsafe by setting my mode to RTL and pushing the throttle down to 1004 by using my throttle trim and then pressing the failsafe button it beeps confirming the failsafe.
Then I pull the power or trainer plug from the ezUHF to simulate a failure the servos jump around and so does the throttle. It goes from about 1004 (the failsafe I set) and some other low throttle setting like 1100 and about every second it oscillates between these values. I also see the flight mode go from 1800 more or less to 1500 which was my failsafe setting.
I see from monitoring the Setup/Radio that those two channels are changing every second between those two values so my flight changes from manual to RTL and back over and over. Obviously not something I want to happen if the Tx loses connection.
What would cause it to osscilate between these two settings?
-
Permalink Reply by Brad Smith on
-
i know there's a certain amount dead band fluctuation. have you tried it with a servo straight to the receiver ?
might just need too adjust the output closer to the middle of the RTL range or if your dropping below 980 on the throttle i could be triggering the APM failsafe
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on
-
I found out the problem is the ezuhf. I was pulling the trainer plug to test the failsafe but since I have external battery on ezuhf tx it would still sort of be in communication with rx and cause the bouncing from last known value to failsafe value. Sander at immersion said he knows of the problem and is releasing a update this weekend. I'm sure this is what toasted my ESC because when I did the failsafe test by pulling the trainer cable, the motor jumped around a lot and probably put some back emf on the ESC that it couldnt handle. For now I can test the failsafe by pilling the power to the ezuhf or by trimming e throttle below my threshold which I set to 1010.
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on
-
Well the FBW-A launch was a no go. It just kept flying away from me and seemed to not be able to turn. I have +- 8mm elevator and aileron +-15mm. I'm guessing in FBW mode the throws are diminished so it wasn't enough to make it turn. I eventually hit RTL and at that point I have to guess because it went out of my view. From the video and the sound it seems like the collet unscrewed itself, probably at the point the motor sped up from RTL engaging, then it must have hit the ground. Luckily nothing broke. When I got there the propeller was 1" from the motor like it had stayed on after the collet came off.
Anyway tomorrow I'm going to try in stabilize mode. I always had success using that with the skywalker and I think the 15mm aileron throws should be enough to turn it. In FBW it might not be giving full aileron throw but need to check.
And now for the video :)
-
Permalink Reply by Andreas on
-
Sorry that the FBW advice did not work out. The ZII really needs very little throw to maneuver. But yes turns while climbing are limited due to elevons.
Very odd to hear that oscillating throttle. Also my ZII would never go up and down like that after launch.
Where do you live? Lots of hills and palm trees to crash into ;)
-
Permalink Reply by steve F11music.com on
-
Ah I never realized that about climbing and turning. That explains why it seemed stiff and not wanting to turn. Is it best to level out before trying to turn?
The throttle may have been it's attempt to get to the elevator position I was holding? Not really sure because I was more concerned with bringing it back and eventually had to engage RTL because it was going away fast and then I think it spun off the collet from the motor spinning up quickly! I only had it at like 30-40% throttle. It feels like a rocket compared to my skywalker! I think taking off in stable mode will be better because I can have more ability to turn it.
And the beautiful place is Rio de Janeiro. Perfect location for flying but you better make sure you have good locating abilities and beepers and GPS on the plane. I found it pretty easy this time but I also have a skywalker somewhere in the forest lost 9 months ago :) It makes these maiden launches that much more exciting :)
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next ›
Social Networking
Top Content
Contests
Season Two of the Trust Time Trial (T3) Contest has now begun. The fourth round is an accuracy round for multicopters, which requires contestants to fly a cube. The deadline is April 14th.A list of all T3 contests is here.
Groups
-
ArduCopter User Group
1296 members
-
ArduPlane User Group
690 members
-
Documentation Editors
51 members
-
Indian DIY Drones User G…
8 members
-
Moderators
24 members
Advertisement
© 2013 Created by Chris Anderson.
Powered by
