Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Willis on May 11, 2012 at 7:34am

I don't have a video but I will try to get one this weekend. I haven't adjusted the PIDs at all but I know I have seen that with a 3DR frame and 850 motors I shouldn't be far off. I expected it to need some throttle added but sometimes it feels like I'm close to full throttle and it's bouncing off the ground or coming close. 

Thanks for your input and I will try to get video up this weekend if the wind dies down.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Willis on May 11, 2012 at 8:03am

Yes its a 3s 2200.

I may have found a problem, I remember reading that the stock PID should work with my setup so I haven't touched them but I was just reading in the manual and it says to download and load the PIDs in MP. If that is what I should have done I misunderstood and thought it was already in the Mission Planner. Are the stock PIDs in the MP or should I have loaded them?   

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Permalink Reply by Ellison Chan on May 11, 2012 at 8:22am

There's no need to load anything for default PID.  They come that way after you load the firmware for the first time.  After that any changes written to the EEPROM are persistent.  You can save the parameters to file, and then load then using the MP.

From the sound of your description, it sounds like the P_STAB values are too high for your frame.  Are you getting high angles with slight touches of the stick?  It is natural that a certain amount of altitude loss comes when the craft pitches and rolls, but there's code that boosts your motor speed slightly to compensate.  However, if your roll and pitch angles are too steep, that code would not be able to compensate sufficiently, and you will see drops in altitude.

Of course, as suggested, a video will help with diagnosis.  Also, post the specs of your craft, motor  , props, and flying weight.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Willis on May 11, 2012 at 9:03am

It does seem to get high angles with a slight touch, sometimes while trying to hover a tiny touch of the stick will send it flying off in that direction and dropping. I will get a video up soon.

I don't know the flying weights but it's a 3DR frame, 850 motors, 10x 47 props and APM2 all from the store here. the only other thing I have added so far is sonar with the 3DR brace ( It's on the quad but not wired yet) and led lights.        

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Permalink Reply by Arif R. on June 9, 2012 at 1:38pm

Hi, i  wanted to ask a newbie question.  I have been looking into getting an APM 2 and my own quad copter frame + motors+esc from ebay or hobby king for cheap and put it together with a tx/rx.  I did not think about getting the arducopter frame because i want to keep my costs low.  And I have gone through the forums and the APM 2 assembly instructions to make sure i can make this work, I believe I can.  Now after reading this post and http://www.arducopter.co.uk/what-do-i-need.html , it seems like if i get my own frame and not an arducopter frame, i will need to tweak PID settings for the various frames.  My question is what are PID settings, where and how do i tweak them? Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Willis on June 9, 2012 at 3:19pm

This is great, it lets you play with the PID and see what they do. You can fint them under the gains button.

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/arducopter-sim-development-and-...

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Permalink Reply by Arif R. on June 9, 2012 at 3:16pm

Looks like i found the page http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_Tweaks , mentions where to set pid settings, but there are so many settings, and they seem to be trial and error, might be hard to have a stable quad without a arducopter frame

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Permalink Reply by Jason Willis on June 9, 2012 at 4:09pm

Lots of people here have other frames working great but it's going to take some work. I chose a 3DR frame as my first to make it easier but I'm sure it's doable.

 

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Permalink Reply by Steven agnes thomas on June 9, 2012 at 10:04pm

yeah, that is usual to all first flyers.

That is why all of us can't control an RC without experience

For any unexperienced pilots, we have to design to more stable structure such as dihedral angle, more excess power.

That is my point of view

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Permalink Reply by Arif R. on June 10, 2012 at 10:08am

I am thinking about getting the APM 2 fully assembled for 199 and

this frame http://www.ebay.ca/itm/110765109250?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_t...

the ebay seller recommends these motors http://www.ebay.com/itm/EMAX-CF2822-1200KV-Brushless-Motor-RC-Airpl...

 

and these esc http://www.ebay.com/itm/XXD-30A-Brushless-Speed-Controller-ESC-Quad...

 

this battery http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grade-A-11-1V-2200mAH-20C-Lipo-battery-AKKU...

 

these props http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110882319320

 

this protection plate(not sure why i need it) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reinforced-Protection-cover-plate-KK-MK-Mul...

 

i found this cheap 9 channel

TX/RX http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8992__Turnigy_9X_9Ch_Tra...

 

Any thoughts on the parts I am planning on getting to make my quad copter, maybe some better ones for the same or less price. I plan on trying normal flying, and then when i get the hang of it,  get some FPV equipment, for FPV flying. Thanks.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by jasper on July 1, 2012 at 4:15am

Hello Arif,

I bought similar kit from rchobbypart, he is a great ebay seller! My kit cost less than  250 dollars and i built my own indestructible frame for under 10 dollars, the frame i bought from him was light but too flimsy for a beginner.

I bought the following fromrchobbypart:

1. Flysky Radio (comes with a receiver) ( I bought a 9 channel but should rather have bought a 6 channel because you cant use the other 5 channels without flashing the transmitter or using a complicated mix)

2. Crius Multiwii SE controller board (make him an  offer on this, you can get it for less than 60 dollars)

3. 4x XXD 30a ESC's (buy an extra one)

4. 4 x motors (i bought his 1400 kv motors and they have survived more than 50 tough crashes and a dosing of sand) - buy an extra one

5. 2 x batteries 2200ma (these have been pretty reliable until i started fast charging them)

6. 20 sets of x 8" Propellers (you will use them all in a month!)

7.balance battery charger

8. Power/ESC speed connector Board  -for soldering all the wires together

9.. MultiWii Flight Control Board config Uploader FTDI  (this is important to tweak the settings and reset the gyro using your pc. all the software for multiwii is online.

Thats it ! you can build your own quad copter for under 300 dollars with no prior Radio controlled exeprience or equipment!!

 note: the XXD ESC's dont come with manuals, but the default setting is fine for Quad copters, if by any chance they get reprogrammed (e.g. one of mine cut-off on low power- which causes a nasty crash), you might need to reset them if so, i can give you the reset command or you can use most of the other common ESC programming guides. I used:

http://image.helipal.com/storn_ESC_manual002.pdf

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Permalink Reply by jasper on July 1, 2012 at 9:16am

oh by the way, dont worry about fpv for a while because it is a big investment - more than the price of the quad copter - and with learning and crashing you will wreck it. rather build one quad cheaply and get used to flying /crashing it. By the time you are flying stable, your motors , batteries esc's , and frame will be a bit wrecked, then keep that quad for practice and build up another one just for fpv.

The PID settings only really affect how much and how quickly the quad responds to your radio control movements. on the multiwii I increased the setting from 4 to 5 on the "P" to make it a bit less twitchy,. 

As a beginner, don't expect the quad to help you keep a constant height.  CPU is good to keep it level (make sure you follow your quad's instructions to put it in stable mode!! that will keep it level).

The baro will try to maintain altitiude, but as a beginner, turn it off because you  need to understand how to control the quad using the throttle. there are no shortcuts, its tough and costs lots of props and repairs.

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