(note below that this was a problem with the way I was testing, not with the system)Greetings,I've got the V2 setup mounted on a piece of cardboard, so I could verify it's operation before mounting it in the plane. I guess I'm glad I did, because so far, it's not doing what I'd expect. All the hardware is exactly as recommended, and using a Futaba 8ch FASST receiver.Best I can tell, I get all the proper lights, and a solid blue lock LED. I point the nose of the cardboard to the ground, enable the AP, and it does it's little dance. When the AP is off, the controls are normal, as expected.When the AP is turned on, the elevator seems to work OK. Pitching the cardboard up and down results in the expected corrective movements. The only thing that's a bit abnormal is that full up elevator does make the servo move a bit, when I'd expect it to be completely ignored.The roll servo drives CCW about 45 degrees, and stays there. Rolling the cardboard has no effect, and neither does driving around in various directions from home. Moving the stick has no effect either. The servo, together with the elevator servo, both twitch about once per second.I wondered if maybe I needed to use one of the FMA servo buffers due to the simultaneous timing of the channels, but I found that it makes no difference.The wiring diagram shows channel 1 going from the receiver to the AP board, but the servo that's connected is labeled aileron or rudder. I am assuming that we use the correct channel for our application (1 for ailerons, 4 for rudder). I did try both, and there was no change.I have not tested the FMA sensor, but I have unplugged it completely to see if it was stopping the roll tracking from working. Same results on the roll servo.Another question about the IR sensor would be teaching it what "level" is. I've used (unfortunately) these sensors in quadrocopters, and also with the normal FMA system. In both of those, you have to not only do the nose down cal, but also set "level". Did I miss the level cal instructions somewhere, or do you just assume the sensor is mounted level and skip the cal?Thanks,Rusty
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Hey seems that there is an error in the code, because happened to me the same the last time i went to fly, i will check it, if so, sorry about that, i will correct it in the next release...
Thanks for the comments. I was just coming back to re-write, or even delete this, because I seem to be having some success now. My original tests were done on the dash of a vehicle, driving around the neighborhood. That works fine with the V1 setup, but it seems that V2 needs to see both roll angle, and course change to function?
If I walk around the back yard, rolling the cardboard, at the same time I'm simulating a turn, then it behaves much more reasonably. I can almost keep the roll servo centered toward "home" if I simulate what the plane would be doing in both roll and course. I have to believe it IS in fact working normally, and my original test was just a bad way to test it. I'll probably go ahead and upgrade the plane setup to V2, and give it a test. Unfortunately, that will be next weekend.
Jordi, I presume you meant "safety jumper", but either way, I don't know what you're referring to. Are you talking about the jumper (switch in my case) that starts the calibration routine, and tells the GPS to use binary mode? It appears that you have to close these contacts every time you power up, and complete the cal, which makes sense I suppose.
I'd like you both to know that I'm holding you personally responsible for the Arduino breeding that seems to be going on around my house. I've long wanted to get around to learning some physical programming, but was able to resist until I saw the cool ArduPilot. Now I have 3 of them, and 2 Duemilanova boards that are running motors, measuring thrust, and threatening to do lots of other things that are probably going to cost me a LOT of time learning to program. In other words, I love it! Thanks!!!
Are you using the safely jumper? Seem that you are not calibrating the IR's correctly...Another important point, you must leave the stick centered when you power up, if not the control will overwrite the axis (because is like fly by wire)...
Have you successfully used this sensor before with a FMA co-pilot before? If not, if may have a bad thermopile. You can see if it's working right by running the test program at the bottom of this post.
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I have Paris Hilton firmware, do you want it?
If I walk around the back yard, rolling the cardboard, at the same time I'm simulating a turn, then it behaves much more reasonably. I can almost keep the roll servo centered toward "home" if I simulate what the plane would be doing in both roll and course. I have to believe it IS in fact working normally, and my original test was just a bad way to test it. I'll probably go ahead and upgrade the plane setup to V2, and give it a test. Unfortunately, that will be next weekend.
Jordi, I presume you meant "safety jumper", but either way, I don't know what you're referring to. Are you talking about the jumper (switch in my case) that starts the calibration routine, and tells the GPS to use binary mode? It appears that you have to close these contacts every time you power up, and complete the cal, which makes sense I suppose.
I'd like you both to know that I'm holding you personally responsible for the Arduino breeding that seems to be going on around my house. I've long wanted to get around to learning some physical programming, but was able to resist until I saw the cool ArduPilot. Now I have 3 of them, and 2 Duemilanova boards that are running motors, measuring thrust, and threatening to do lots of other things that are probably going to cost me a LOT of time learning to program. In other words, I love it! Thanks!!!
Rusty (wondering if I can reprogram my wife )