Hi everyone.I am trying to setup arducopter on an APM 2.5 for a beginner. I would like to tone down the controls for him. I did this previously with a kk2 by simply changing the travel adjustment on the tx.When I try this with arducopter I am unable to arm the quad.I thought about lowering the kP for roll/pitch rate, though I am concerned that this would also affect the return to launch if I implement it to get him out of trouble.What's the best way to tone down stick travel?Thanks!
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Hi Martin, there are a couple of things you can do.
First, the reason why you cannot just use End Travel Adjustment or Dual Ratesin the Tx, is because the APM wants to see FULL yaw deflection to arm. So, you could use ETA or DR on Channels 1 and 2 (Pitch and Roll) only, but don't put any on yaw. But this is not a great way to do it. The problem is, if you do this and then redo the radio calibration, the APM will set the reduced travel as full travel, and you'll be right back to where you started. Also, using ETA can mess up the way that Loiter works.
One way to make the control a bit easier, is to adjust the Angle_Max parameter. It defaults to 4500, which is 45.00 degrees. This can be a bit much for beginners. You can try using 2500 for 25.00 degrees instead. This mean that at full roll or pitch input, the copter will only lean over 25 degrees, instead of the 45 is does as default.
Another thing you can do, is to use Expo on your radio. This softens the middle, while still leaving you with full control at the end of your stick travel.
You can also use Dual Rates, but put it to a switch, such that you can turn it on and off. You can set the Dual Rates high to arm, or for sporty flying. And then switching the DR low when a beginner is flying.
A combination of 25 degree Angle Max, Expo, and Dual Rates would make a copter pretty "soft" for a beginner to fly.
DO NOT attempt to make the copter "easier to fly" by playing with the Rate PID's!
As a complete beginner to RC, I find that once I get in the air in Stabilized mode, I quickly switch to Alt-Hold and it is much easier to fly. Even easier is Loiter (if you don't have a GPS glitch). It gave me the time I needed to learn the controls. I haven't tried Acro mode and I probably never will.
As far as toning down response, you can probably adjust the Roll and Pitch to 50% or 75%. You can't do much with Throttle or Yaw on the transmitter due to the requirements for arming. As was mentioned before, you could also set up a curve on the TX, but it would have to go from 0-100% I think you can also set some of the PIDs in the APM to get the same result. Good Luck
Replies
Hi Martin, there are a couple of things you can do.
First, the reason why you cannot just use End Travel Adjustment or Dual Ratesin the Tx, is because the APM wants to see FULL yaw deflection to arm. So, you could use ETA or DR on Channels 1 and 2 (Pitch and Roll) only, but don't put any on yaw. But this is not a great way to do it. The problem is, if you do this and then redo the radio calibration, the APM will set the reduced travel as full travel, and you'll be right back to where you started. Also, using ETA can mess up the way that Loiter works.
One way to make the control a bit easier, is to adjust the Angle_Max parameter. It defaults to 4500, which is 45.00 degrees. This can be a bit much for beginners. You can try using 2500 for 25.00 degrees instead. This mean that at full roll or pitch input, the copter will only lean over 25 degrees, instead of the 45 is does as default.
Another thing you can do, is to use Expo on your radio. This softens the middle, while still leaving you with full control at the end of your stick travel.
You can also use Dual Rates, but put it to a switch, such that you can turn it on and off. You can set the Dual Rates high to arm, or for sporty flying. And then switching the DR low when a beginner is flying.
A combination of 25 degree Angle Max, Expo, and Dual Rates would make a copter pretty "soft" for a beginner to fly.
DO NOT attempt to make the copter "easier to fly" by playing with the Rate PID's!
Hi Martin,
As a complete beginner to RC, I find that once I get in the air in Stabilized mode, I quickly switch to Alt-Hold and it is much easier to fly. Even easier is Loiter (if you don't have a GPS glitch). It gave me the time I needed to learn the controls. I haven't tried Acro mode and I probably never will.
As far as toning down response, you can probably adjust the Roll and Pitch to 50% or 75%. You can't do much with Throttle or Yaw on the transmitter due to the requirements for arming. As was mentioned before, you could also set up a curve on the TX, but it would have to go from 0-100% I think you can also set some of the PIDs in the APM to get the same result. Good Luck
Maybe switch to exponential control on the Tx?