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Permalink Reply by Michael Pursifull on May 24, 2012 at 3:30pm

j.baum53 - 

I recommend you read the entire dialog on this post. It is one example of my recommendation to a person in your position. Basically, I do not recommend you build from scratch to begin with. The details of why (and other useful information) is included in the discussion (and many like it.)

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Permalink Reply by j.baum53 on May 25, 2012 at 10:56am

I understand what you mean there, and that this may not be a perfect Idea, but I think I will probably learn more from building it all myself from scratch than by just buying a kit and putting it together.

also, sorry about the typo on the first post, I meant octo, not quad (although an octo is effectively 2 quads put together, all things considered, it can fly as a quad by switching off 4 of 8 motors)

One of the reasons I came here is so that I could learn from people who know much more than I do currently.  I do want to have a full plan laid out before I even consider building it.

I have a basic Idea about what my frame will be, and it will certainly be something diffferent from what I see around here most of the time. I've done some materials research, but I am still trying to figure out what to build this from.  Any suggestions on the pros and cons of materials would be very helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Eagle on May 24, 2012 at 5:47pm

Here is my tips:

If you are planning to use APM.

- Learn to use Mission Planner and stay updated with lastest version.

- If you have a stable airframe attitude and your are tuning pids, do not update APM software nor APM (Mission Planner) unless it is necessary (watch revision logs).  When tuning is done.  Do the updates needed and check again!

...if you don't intend to use APM... forget about what I just wrote.

 

Do you have experienced in RC?   

If not I agree with Mike, stay away from scratch build.

Find yourself a cheap Kit or RTF and crash it.

-Eric

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Permalink Reply by j.baum53 on May 25, 2012 at 10:49am

I may or may not be using APM.

I really want to do it all home-made, and at 200$, the APM is a little too expensive for me.  I was thinking of just taking an arduino mega and coding on it, but I may be a little over-ambitious with writing my own software.

no, I don't have experience with RC before, but I'm hoping that I can build a frame that will crash with minimal damage.

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Permalink Reply by Eagle on May 24, 2012 at 5:49pm

I forgot

ArduPlane Manual

ArduCopter Manual 

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Permalink Reply by j.baum53 on May 25, 2012 at 4:52pm

one of the problems that I have with using APM et al. is that I've taken a look at MP and, quite simply, it seems to be an overdeveloped system, (almost bloatware), where nobody can really give you a full explanation of how the thing is supposed to work. 

Probably first, I'm going to just code in an IMU/Pilot-Assist, and not a full autopilot.

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Permalink Reply by j.baum53 on May 25, 2012 at 10:59am

very good to have those links, thanks

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