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ArduCopter Configurations and Settings for beginners !

Posted by Rui Manuel Cravo Marques on January 28, 2012 at 4:43pm

Hello.

I'm starting this discussion since there's a lot of confusion and lack of knowledge about PID settings and control theory, so, you can find here a table with several different frames, multycopter types and firmware versions in order to let you start flying and tuning your copter. Be aware that this are not rigid values. Each person has it's own configuration and flying preferences, but, if you have an identical configuration, you may start using those values and tune them for yourself. If you'd like to share your configuration, specs and settings, as well as flying tests, weather conditions and videos, I'll try to keep it up to date.

Thanks.

 Ok, I have inserted a googledocs file, never worked with this before :) It looks easy, here's the link

 

 

flying configurations-29-01-2012.xlsx

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Tags: arducopter, configuration, multicopter, pid, pid settings, quadcopter, settings, tuning settings
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Replies

  • Paul Emous April 3, 2012 at 8:32am

    Hey guys,

    I have some issues with PID tuning as well. I use a carbon Y6 950mm frame with 850 motors and 10" props. Everything is pretty centre so no COG issues if I look at the copter.

    Currently I use: Rate Roll / Pitch 0.120

    when the copter takes of, it is fare from stable in the beginning and flies around (15 meters radius) trying to sort itself out without success. Any suggestions?

    Thx.

    Paul

  • Maki April 3, 2012 at 8:13am

    A note on safety for hand PID tuning: the more the better! 

    Balistic shooting glasses are the mimimum safety gear I wear while I've been tuning PIDS with my quad in hand overhead (ever seen a prop come apart at 10k rpm?)  Blowing dust and grit in the air are another reason for glasses.  Gloves are unwieldy, but a long sleeve shirt works fairly well to turn potential puncture wounds into a torn shirt or mild scratch.  Props do come apart, prop adapters can come off the motor shaft, and control circuits can fail.  Eyeballs are cool, I like mine.

  • Ramesh Tahlan March 17, 2012 at 7:54am

    Ok guys. 

    this is fantastic, did all checks thoroughly, gradually powered up the home made Quad in my tiny hobby room, and i got so confident, i even hovered it in my hobby room. she was awesome, like pusy cat, off course i did everything from the book as given by DIY, no tuning done as yet, and it is on video.....

    DIY, you guys are making the most amazing controller, i am convinced, the guys who crashed on very first start up, did not do all checks, and definitely skipped some very important ones.....i even listened to the sound of motors without props to see what was happening when i was giving ele and aile controls.

    hope u enjoy the video, the next video will be outdoors. here is the link of indoor test flight. 

    http://youtu.be/e8jAuu4yyG8

  • John Campen March 14, 2012 at 7:24pm

    Any chance to get this updated Rui? 

  • Ramesh Tahlan March 14, 2012 at 7:32am

    Ready for test flight, but before that do i need to do any calibration with mission planner for things like accelerometers.... 

    And is it possible that the DIY development team make some kind of  friendly user interface on mission planner for tuning the machines instead of going through PIDs ??? which is scaring the hell out of me....

    thinking that i will just go out and do the test flight.....

    any suggestion anyone.... 

  • Ramesh Tahlan March 14, 2012 at 6:52am

    Mission Planner is a saving grace for guys like me who dont understand a nut about technical language.... 

    But Seriously, thanks to the DIY guys, made my own Quad from scratch, have installed APM2, and have reached a point where i have calibrated the ESCs, and check motors while giving control from my JR DSMX 11, and all motors responded perfect. i guess i have just one last check to do of accelerometers which i guess will be on mission planner before i take it out to launch....

    So here my Thanks to all u guys, specially DIY lot,  the journey so far has been just super, i am only hoping there is no tuning to be done when i take her out to fly :-)

  • Bradley J Carr March 8, 2012 at 6:42am

    Could you tell me what the Dip switches are used for on the APM1 board?

  • Ramesh Tahlan March 8, 2012 at 5:24am

    hi,

    i have connected APM2 via usb cable to my PC, loaded Mission planner, it shows - APM Planner 1.1.48

    but it does not show ArduPilotMega, next to it i have selected com port and baud as 115200.

    in the window instead of ArduPilotMega that it is supposed to show automatically, if i click on drop down arrow, i get only 2 options -Arduplane and ArduCopter2.

    on the APM2 the Green power light is solid on, GPS blue is flashing, A red is flashing, and C blue is flashing.

    WHY IS IT NOT DETECTING ArduPilotMega automatically

    Also if i select Configuration/setup, it tells me "please connect first"

    WHAT SHOULD I DO.

    I HAD EARLIER INSTALLED 1.1.20 PUT THEN SAW 1.1.48 SO UPGRADED IT BY JUST CONNECTING APM TO PC AND CLICKING ON .EXE, SO NOW WHEN I LOAD MISSION PLANNER, IT DOES SHOW 1.1.48

    HELPPPPPPPPPPPPP

  • Rui Manuel Cravo Marques March 8, 2012 at 3:41am

    I'm sorry to you all following this thread, but the table is a bit outdated since in the newer versions the PID gains have been a bit changed, so I'm waiting for a stable release with the DCM leaning problem corrected as other small bugs, so I can start updating the table with new values.

     

  • Ramesh Tahlan March 8, 2012 at 3:30am

    HELP, how do i tell my APM2 that i have configured my quad as a x or a +

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