We should be releasing the 2.2 code early next week. In the meantime, here's a beta of the official ArduPilot manual. Corrections/comments/wishlist and other feedback in the comments here please!
Chris,
Here is some more input on the manual, for what it’s worth---
-Under “What you need to make a complete autopilot”, the availability of the new XYZ sensors still states, “mid-June”.
-Under “Preparing the hardware” it states which inputs should go to which Rx channels. For example, “Input 1 should go to your receiver’s Channel 1 (aileron)”. These Rx channel assignments only apply to Futaba systems but there are others like JR that have the Rx channel 1 assigned to throttle. It might be better to state, “Input 1 should go to your receiver’s aileron channel” and not specify an Rx number.
-Under “Loading the code”, you could add a statement like, “Make sure you’ve downloaded the latest FTDI drivers” where you talk about plugging in the FTDI cable to upload the code. The picture showing the Sparkfun FTDI board in the shield could be updated with the newly recommended FTDI cable.
-Under “Ground testing with the fixed direction mode”, if you put your hand in front of the XY sensor, this mimics the plane pitching down, not up. The elevator should deflect up in this case, not down.
When talking about the two modes of Ardupilot it says, “In the second, you do not enter in any waypoints and the aircraft just returns to the Lat/Lon it was at when you first powered on the board(at you launch location). Is this correct or does the aircraft return to where you last performed the field calibration with the jumper?
-Under “Correct LED behavior” and Ardupilot 2.x code loaded, it says, “jumper removed from digital pins 6&7”. It should say pins 6& ground (on the shield).
Thanks
I’ve been following the manual step by step to set up my new Ardupilot board and shield. These are very clear instructions but I’ve come across a few areas of confusion:
First, the shield assembly states “Start by breaking off an eight-pin and a two-pin male connector from the breakaway strip. Solder them as shown below.”
In the next paragraph, I find, “Add a 8-pin male breakway connector strip next to the GPS connector on the Shield, as shown at left below.” I think this is the same 8-pin that was already mentioned.
Further down I read, “Cut one of the male-to-female servo cables in half and solder the black and white wires to the Shield D6 and GND holes as shown below with the red arrow”. (Alternatively, you can just put a two-pin header in those holes, and use a jumper cap to bridge them, something you'll see in several of the pictures here) Same issue; I think this is the same 2-pin that was already mentioned in the first paragraph.
I would just remove that first reference ( “Start by breaking off an eight-pin and a two-pin male connector from the breakaway strip. Solder them as shown below.”).
Second, the shield kit includes the connectors for the XY and Z sensors. Which connector goes to which sensor? I would state, “The connector with four wires goes to the XY sensor.”
Third, under the Ardupilot home page, Jordi commented yesterday on how to start tuning the PID’s. If this could be placed under Appendix 3-How PID loops work, it would really help those of us flying different platforms.
Thanks Chris
One of the photographs shows the pitot airspeed tube only projecting a few mms from the fuz. Is that a good place to mount it - I know it will be relatively safe compared with one mounted with the end of the tube a couple of cms from the fuz - but will it be shielded by airflow around the fuz?
In the glossary you say IC2 rather than I2C or TWI, a small error but thats one I spotted. It's a good manual and I hope to see it grow into more than just for the Ardupilot (the Appendix 3 looks like the place for that).
Comments
Here is some more input on the manual, for what it’s worth---
-Under “What you need to make a complete autopilot”, the availability of the new XYZ sensors still states, “mid-June”.
-Under “Preparing the hardware” it states which inputs should go to which Rx channels. For example, “Input 1 should go to your receiver’s Channel 1 (aileron)”. These Rx channel assignments only apply to Futaba systems but there are others like JR that have the Rx channel 1 assigned to throttle. It might be better to state, “Input 1 should go to your receiver’s aileron channel” and not specify an Rx number.
-Under “Loading the code”, you could add a statement like, “Make sure you’ve downloaded the latest FTDI drivers” where you talk about plugging in the FTDI cable to upload the code. The picture showing the Sparkfun FTDI board in the shield could be updated with the newly recommended FTDI cable.
-Under “Ground testing with the fixed direction mode”, if you put your hand in front of the XY sensor, this mimics the plane pitching down, not up. The elevator should deflect up in this case, not down.
When talking about the two modes of Ardupilot it says, “In the second, you do not enter in any waypoints and the aircraft just returns to the Lat/Lon it was at when you first powered on the board(at you launch location). Is this correct or does the aircraft return to where you last performed the field calibration with the jumper?
-Under “Correct LED behavior” and Ardupilot 2.x code loaded, it says, “jumper removed from digital pins 6&7”. It should say pins 6& ground (on the shield).
Thanks
Great catches and suggestions. All incorporated. Thanks!
Chris
First, the shield assembly states “Start by breaking off an eight-pin and a two-pin male connector from the breakaway strip. Solder them as shown below.”
In the next paragraph, I find, “Add a 8-pin male breakway connector strip next to the GPS connector on the Shield, as shown at left below.” I think this is the same 8-pin that was already mentioned.
Further down I read, “Cut one of the male-to-female servo cables in half and solder the black and white wires to the Shield D6 and GND holes as shown below with the red arrow”. (Alternatively, you can just put a two-pin header in those holes, and use a jumper cap to bridge them, something you'll see in several of the pictures here) Same issue; I think this is the same 2-pin that was already mentioned in the first paragraph.
I would just remove that first reference ( “Start by breaking off an eight-pin and a two-pin male connector from the breakaway strip. Solder them as shown below.”).
Second, the shield kit includes the connectors for the XY and Z sensors. Which connector goes to which sensor? I would state, “The connector with four wires goes to the XY sensor.”
Third, under the Ardupilot home page, Jordi commented yesterday on how to start tuning the PID’s. If this could be placed under Appendix 3-How PID loops work, it would really help those of us flying different platforms.
Thanks Chris
Erwin
Peter
Great job guys.
Good catch. Fixed.
A hardware functional diagram would be a good addition. I'll put that in the next version.
Target airspeed is line 4-6 in the ArduPilot.h file (see Appendix 2 of the manual)
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