Comment

Moderator Comment by Brian on June 28, 2012 at 9:50pm

Hey Mike,

I second the request to continue.  It's good to see your posts as it's a motivator for me.  I have not flown my AP(l) since about February.  I had many hours of flight on the unit, my guess is about 75 hours of flights.  It was working very well for me then one day, it just started acting up and would not disengage the motor after switching out of FBW and into stabilized or manual.  It would work fine until I switched into FBW mode then it would do as stated.  

Anyhow, being me I did not give up on the unit and toss it away, I simply took it out of the loop and started playing with my new platform getting that setup.  The ProJet Nitro-003 RQ11 Raven flies great so I'd like to get an AP setup and working with that plane but I also have a Stryker that I'd like to get flying using my older board.  I have one of the CO-Pilot sensors left (thanks again Simon!, for ripping it from my plane in mid-air, it was fun looking for it in the field) and an ArduIMU.  Not sure if the older ArduPilot will work with the ArduIMU so I'll probably use the CO-Pilot sensor on the Stryker and the IMU on the Raven.  I have not done anything on the delta but am interested in your work.  Also am interested in getting my mits on a big ol' delta.... Your's sounds interesting, you should have someone across the pond do a flight test for you! :)

Comment by evilmacaw on June 28, 2012 at 3:44pm

Yes Please continue !!!! Dr Mike Black 

Comment by Dr Mike Black on June 28, 2012 at 3:22pm

Thank Mike,

Just want to share this, I am totally into the APM/ AMP2 an di have many, but this little baby, teaches you that you have to KNOW what it deos and how it deos it. (Hoooge fun factor for me)

And setup is everything, personally i think EVERYONE should have an DIYD AP MK2 from that, they will learn everything then eed to know about how they work, an what you need to be looking for.

As soooper cool as Micheal Obourns planner is and the way it updates the AP, i think we could all use the grass roots AP lession and get dirty with it, THEN with APM1/2 the faults become easier to define, as you know where to look in the cood.

Just my view, but personally i wanted to get AP1 working flawlessly before we start on the APM's , backgroung knowledge learned ready for the next project.

If you guys are interested i will continue to post teh trial and tribulations of making AP1 work for us. I know there are so may still out there, but saldy not used..

Let me know if you would like me to post my deranged AP meanderings.

Kinds regard,

Mike

Comment by Mike Boland on June 28, 2012 at 2:53pm

I am sure there are many lurkers like myself, and that was useful information, as I am currently having GPS, and with new product.

Thanks for sharing

Comment by Dr Mike Black on June 28, 2012 at 2:37pm

If anyone is watching this thread i dont know...but...

Interesting day, in a frustrating sort of way....

Ok..yesterday..AP flew , absolutely the mutts nuts...today...all over the place...so back to basics..

watching the GCS (with the aircraft on jacks) I watched the ALT go up and down like a strumpets watsits.....

After careful consideration, and many hardware checks, i concluded the GPS was mucking about...(brand new by the way, bought about 7 a year or so ago from DIYd), so got another brand new one..progged it up, hooked it up...locked in 30 secs, ALT stable..went back to the first one...ALT all over the place.

Got another brand new one out, progged that up, locked in 90secs, ALT all over the place...wnt out side, left it...same thing..

got ANOTHER brand new one out...progged that up...locked in 30 ALT stable..

Did the usual, impact engineering test (tap the gps with ones finger se if anything changes) ALT all over the place.

There is a pattern forming here....

tapped the first GPS, it stabilized...tapped again..al over the place..

By the end, i have tested 4 GPS units, all showing the same faults..

under heavy investigation it has been shown that out of the 7 NEW GPS units bought, 5 show this fault..

So....Dug the Epoxy potting out of the GPS connecton ..DRY JOINT....grrrrrr

solderd it up, al works properly..

Did the same for the other 4 and WOW they work properly...

Basically i was sold a dodgy batch of GPS's

Moral of this story...the next time your ublox craps out on you, its probably NOT the GPS, but the VERY POOR assembly by the factory.

I dont know how long they will last as the antenna is a very complex item (i did treat the actual antenna's very carefully) but in my view, poor quality build.

I must have spent about $500 on Ublox GPs units, with 75% of them showing bad antenna assembly.

Bottom line...your GPS is the key to all the locks, the answer to all the questions..

If it is screwing around, your aircraft and your AP will never fly properly...

I know that these days, the MTK is the standard, btu i personally love the quality of the ublox filtering, and they dont drop out (good antenna's not withstanding) which in my case, the MTK can be blocked or they drop out way too easily for my liking..

Basically the last month of mucking about with the AP need not have wasted my time, if the GPS had been good..there was at that point, no reason to doubt it.

If anyone has any thoughts...kindly share..

Comment by Dr Mike Black on June 28, 2012 at 12:44am

Hi Guys,

@Harrry as far as i can remember, without that hook up the throttle plays dead (im sure someone can jump in here if i am wrong though) i rememeber having a head ache in the early day with the 'right' solution and it ws  chosen due to the lack of sata ports.

(again i am going back 2 years now, but i think that is right, it would also explain the lack of use in a glider)

@Brian, great to talk again!

Flying wings...no,. but about too (now designing one up in SW that we can stick though our machines X-8 stylie! (about the same size too 2.2m)

however, as of last night i hve my FAV version 2.6.9 (the version i have been woprkign on and with for years) working again as it should. Woot!!!

4 flights, 7WP, auto take off, low lever lioter - It did the lot!

So i will use that derivative for the wing.

Now that i have it working again, time to re-combine the cameras, and go on a Trev. to our lakes....

About 2 miles from our site (all on our land) and start pushing the envelope again.

If you need help Brian, post your .h here so we can have a read through

hope this helps.

regards,

mike.

Comment by Harry on June 24, 2012 at 10:13am

Anybody know what the connection on pin D6-D8 between the Ardupilot and ArduIMU does? 

I've only been testing stabilize mode and without motor, just glide tests.  The wire came off at some point, but stabilize still worked, so not sure what the purpose is.   

Moderator Comment by Brian on June 24, 2012 at 8:29am

Dr.Mike, are you flying any wings? I have been stalled too. I have an early & late board and an arduimu. I'd like to set up my Stryker or my F16 pusher.

Comment by Dr Mike Black on June 24, 2012 at 1:30am

HI Peter,

Not sure if you are aware, but teh diff between 168 and 328 is the amount of data they can hold...

Im playing with a 328 on 2.7.1 at the mo (trying to get back into the groove if you will)

I can deff help you will code on the 328.

If you get stuck i do have MANY 328 base board still new in thier packs (not that you would want to buy any now that APM is becoming mature)

my version of 2.6.9 (my personal version works well, with one exception, that teh alt hold refuses to play ball at teh mo adn i dont know why!!)

if you need help, just ask.

Krs

Mike,

Comment by Peter on June 23, 2012 at 8:51am

Last I did was 2.4 for 168 and 2.7.1 for 328.  Is there any other variants that work for these boards?  Please help.

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