Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on April 29, 2012 at 7:56am

I'm working on this now.  APM2 on an Axial SCX10.  So far it's going OK, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the servo setup.  My servo and ESC both are going in the wrong direction.  I don't know how to reverse the outputs.  I tried using the radio config, but I'm not sure that's right, and it doesn't work anyway.  It changes the input direction, but the servos still go the wrong way anyway?  I can't find any way to reverse the servos, which I find weird.

I manage to get them going the right way in manual mode by reversing the channels in my radio, but I don't think that's right either.

Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on April 29, 2012 at 8:02am

I also can't figure out how to change the servo trim??  The steering is off.  I tried manually doing it with RC1_Trim, but nothing happens?

Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on April 29, 2012 at 11:51am

Well, I spent most of a day working on this, and can't get it to work.  I got it driving, but I can't center the servo.  I tried saving waypoints, then putting it in Auto, and nothing happens.  Well, the steering moves, but that's it.  I tried connecting the Xbee to I could try and see what the problem is, but that doesn't work either.  Bricked it trying, unbricked it.  Tested it on another APM to see if the Xbee is still working, it does.  Connected back to the APM2 ArduRover, won't connect.  

I have no idea.

Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on April 29, 2012 at 5:30pm

I got it!  I gave it another shot, and I realized I stupidly missed/misunderstood the part about plugging the Ch2 into Ch3, and then plugging the ESC into Ch3, not 2.  It was confusing because I went 2-2-2, and it worked fine in manual mode.

I never really figured out the servo reversing, but miraculously it works???

Anyway, so for the most part it works.

I think one problem is that the route I am trying to drive is too small for the GPS performance we are getting.  I'm just in my back-yard, and sometimes it crashes into things.  Other times, especially when I have just laid out a pattern and flip it into auto, it goes around and around and around trying to hit that point.  Like it's not happy that it got close enough so it just keeps trying.  But then eventually it gets it, and moves on to the next point.  But then strangely all the other points it's VERY liberal about hitting those points.  As long as it passes within 5 feet, it's happy and moves on to the next.  I made a square using about 9 points, with the box being about 30-40 feet to a side.  It basically ends up driving a circle with a radius of about 20-30 feet *inside* the box that I laid out.

So it's weird that it seems really picky about the first point, but then really loose with the other points?

Anyway, it was neat finally having something driving by itself, as I haven't got an aircraft to that point yet.  

Also, I had some indications about just how bad the GPS data is, at one point it was following the pattern, but the whole pattern was offset about 40 feet to the east.  That's bad.  But then, on the other hand, the speed regulation is quite good. ???

JL, I'd really like you to put this into APM-Trunk as a new folder so I can contribute.  I'll also talk to the dev group about somehow making a "ArduRover" environment for us in MP.  Currently you pretent it's an Arduplane, let's fix that so we can rename things.

Any idea why the Xbee doesn't work?

I'd like to get the sensors working.  If the accels work, then we can try to get some anti-tipover stuff going.

Comment by John Hestness on April 29, 2012 at 8:19pm

R Lefebvre,  I am glad you got your APM 2 rover going.  The Xbee does not work on my APM 1 rover either, but I think that might be by design as Jean-Louis said this version was to be minimalist.  You can configure MP using the usb cable. 

I agree about having a seperate category for the rover project.  Planes might turn by rolling but I wonder if the rover should steer with yaw control.

 

Developer Comment by R_Lefebvre on April 29, 2012 at 8:24pm

Yeah, I would have thought the Rover would steer with yaw but... whatever, it works.  I'm sure it's all just semantics at this point.  But if we get our own environment for MP, then we can change the names.

I'ld like to use input 2 on APM, and output 2 on APM for the throttle.  Makes more sense to me?  That should be easy to do.

Developer Comment by Jean-Louis Naudin on April 29, 2012 at 10:08pm

Hello Robert,

Glad to see that you have get the APMrover working. For a better accuracy of the tracking you may update the AP_GPS library (AP_GPS_MTK16.cpp and AP_GPS_MTK.cpp) and set the mtkgps to 10 Hz.

// set 4Hz update rate
//_port->print(MTK_OUTPUT_4HZ);

// set 10Hz update rate
_port->print(MTK_OUTPUT_10HZ);

// turn on SBAS and WAAS
_port->print(SBAS_ON);
_port->print(WAAS_ON);

Regards Jean-Louis

Developer Comment by Jean-Louis Naudin on April 29, 2012 at 10:24pm

Hello Robert,

To reverse the direction of the wheels in MANUAL and STABILIZE mode you must reverse the direction on your transmitter.

To reverse the direction of the wheels in AUTO mode you must use the APM mission planner and reverse the direction of the ROLL (see below).

For the tuning you need to use the AP Mission planner in arduplane mode and use the configuration pannel

The nav tuning is done with the parameters: Nav Lateral Pid, CrossTrack Gain, Navigation Roll Angle
The speed tuning is done with the parameters: Energy/Alt Pid

As I have said previously, I shall soon upload the APMrover v2.0 with the magnetometer for the APM v1 and APM v2, stay tuned...

Regards, Jean-Louis

Developer Comment by Jean-Louis Naudin on April 29, 2012 at 11:49pm

Hello to ALL,

As I have promised you, I have just uploaded the full firmware of the APMrover v2.0a (alpha) for the full APM v1 (with the Oil Pan shield and its magnetometer) or for the APM v2. You may use the AP mission planner for the setup and params, set only as arduplane. With the magnetometer the navigation will be more accurate at low speed.

You may use the configurator and the planner for the nav. ALL the features of the APMrover v1.0 are implemented (i.e. Live saving of the WP, automatic WP radius calculation...)

You will find the full zip firmare of the APMrover v2.0 at:

http://ardupilotdev.googlecode.com/files/APMrover2_firmware.zip

And also in my GIT repository at:

http://code.google.com/r/jlnaudin-area51/source/browse/#git%2FAPMro...

Enjoy with the APMrover v2.0

Regards, Jean-Louis

Developer Comment by Jean-Louis Naudin on April 30, 2012 at 12:19am

Hello to all,

The APMrover v2.0a (alpha) is now on the official GIT repository at:

Revision:a3e7a0c2ff18

 

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