ArduPilot Purple + Skywalker X8 + FPV = Summer Loving
So I have some vacations coming up and already have some quads and a hex I figured I needed a fixed wing to round out my aerial camera fleet. (for now) heh. So I took the plunge and picked myself up an X8 to fill up with electronics.
I'm running an ArduPilot Purple, with a Castle 75 esc waiting for Hobbyking to drop of my new Scorpion motor until then I have a 700W max 50Amp local hobby store motor to power the bird. I'm running 1.2 video feeding through MinimOSD with a Sony 720 line mini cam. I have a roll and tilt GoPro mount in the works that I'll post up some pics when I can get some play time on the router this weekend. Communication is done through a Futaba 10C 72Mhz and some 900Mhz XBees.
I've only made a few mods for now like adding a second motor mount plate that bolt through the foam to the outer plate.
I made some electronics trays and filled in the lower camera cut out with some foam and Gorilla glue.
I ended up bringing the control linkage up through the wing, leaving it on the bottom seemed like a bad idea for a belly lander. I have never flown a or built a fixed wing, but I said the same about the multirotors and DIYDrone's gear and community made it simple, awesome and enjoyable. Only crashes were ah-hem user error. So I'm hoping for the same luck with this bird. I do have tons of hours now on RealFlight sim just to make sure I feel comfortable with the controls. That being said any input from from you guys will be greatly appreciated. I'll update this blog as things progress and as I get the camera mount going. But for now heres some more eye candy. Be happy and safe all!
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Comment by Rick M on June 24, 2012 at 3:37pm -
@Earl, what radio transmitters/amplifiers are you using? In particular, how are you getting 1W 3DR? Thanks!
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Comment by james sowell on June 24, 2012 at 3:40pm -
2:18
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Comment by Toby Mills on June 24, 2012 at 7:33pm -
Yes, I flew a flight out to 8km this morning, no problem at all, was just starting to drop off 99% at that distance, but goes down hill quickly at 10km.
I am using one of these...
http://www.gowifi.co.nz/coming-soon-new-products/900mhz-13dbi-arc-e...
Relatively expensive, but very large patch antenna that works really well.
Not sure on my takeoff weight, but using a 14 x 8 prop.
The flight this morning was 18km round trip, cruising at 50kph and used only 2200mAh of the 7400 onboard.
Also @Rick, I tried your PID settings and they work better than mine. My flight was in reasonably high wind this morning and it tracked well. I think your PIDs should form the basis of a parameter file for the X8.
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Comment by Zachary Eldridge on June 28, 2012 at 5:54am
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Nice plane.
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Comment by Toby Mills on June 30, 2012 at 9:39pm
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Did anyone improve on the posted PID's.
These work ok for me in no wind, but in higher wind I get pitch problems and nav issues.
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Moderator Comment by Hai Tran on July 9, 2012 at 10:10am -
Can someone please advise the recommended control throws for the X8
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Comment by Alexandre Moreno Richwin Ferreir on July 9, 2012 at 11:52am
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I`m playing with the PIDs of X8 too. Saturday we had a flight with really strong wind and APM managed to navigate the X8 through a 35km flight path. But I`ve noticed a lot of variation in Roll when flying against wind (snaking). In other hand when flying in favor of the wind the roll was ok but the Pitch had a lot of variation.
Anyone had similar results or have a hint about it?
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Comment by Toby Mills on July 9, 2012 at 5:55pm
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Hi Alexandre,
Yes I get exactly the same results as you. lots of roll into the wind and pitch problems with the wind.
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Comment by Gustav Kuhn on July 10, 2012 at 2:43am -
Hi guys, are you using an airspeed sensor, or relying on GPS speed?
Because if you only use GPS speed, your true airspeed is going vary tremendously.
I saw similar results on my Discovery, I forgot to connect the Pitot tube once, :-(
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Comment by Rick M on July 10, 2012 at 2:54am
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We were definitely using airspeed.
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