Discussions

Kraken130 + Pixhawk?

Posted by Paul Jenness on February 6, 2014 at 3:39am

Have you guys seen the new Kraken 130 from Foxtech.

http://www.foxtechfpv.com/foxtech-kraken130-octocopter-arf-combopreorder-p-1335.html

What do you guys think?

Im impressed with the build and strength and flight time. The airframe and electronics are $2000

However the FC itself they suggest is also $1200 (DJI A2M - $1800 ZeroUAV)

Im wondering if the pixhawk would be enough to conrol it?

What do people think? (Besides it not really being DIY)

Cheers

-P

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Replies

Moderator

Bill Piedra July 30, 2014 at 6:12am

Release the Kraken!

Kraken build in my workshop in Manchester, CT. This Kraken is carrying an Aura2 3 axis gimbal and Canon 5D camera equipped with a Teradek HD Transmitter to send live HD video to the ground.

http://youtu.be/0k6SZwdojyE
- Andre K. > Bill Piedra February 22, 2016 at 4:32am
  
  Hi, I am about to tune a newly built Kraken.
  
  Could you please share a dataflashlog or your PID's , so I can start out with something closer to tuned ?
  
  Currently I have only one 6s 16Ah pack - and it would save me valuable tuning time once it's less windy, and it's winter here in northern Norway, so a shorter tuning/freezing time would be nice :)
Paul Jenness July 20, 2014 at 4:28am

In case no one had seen ther is a rcgroup thread for all things Pixhawk + K130

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2192458

See you there

-P
- Moderator
  
  Bill Piedra > Paul Jenness July 20, 2014 at 7:11am
  
  That's great. I'll add to it. I'm starting a brand new Kraken / Pixhawk build on Tuesday next week. Was planning to shoot video at the same time.
  
  Does anyone who's already built a pixhawk / kraken have a parameter file to share? I was planning to use autotune, but any head start I can get would be appreciated.
Jay Galleno June 17, 2014 at 10:29pm

Why not?! Go and explore things on Earth!
Neil Baker June 17, 2014 at 8:57pm

I have a kraken and probably have over 100 flights on it now. I have had two motor wires break(they are hard and brittle) and I was one of the first that experienced the capacitor issue. I new about long power wires but figure they tested it and it wasn't an issue. I had an esc go out while I was in the middle of the ocean and barely got it back. It has an A2 on it right now but if I had it all over I would put a pixhawk on it. What ever you do make sure you secure the motor wires so they don't vibrate or get mishandled. I ended up changing the motors and esc's to brands I trust and mounting the esc's in the center plate.
- Dan Reed > Neil Baker June 17, 2014 at 10:09pm
  
  Hey Neil, glad you got it back from the ocean.. and thanks for sharing your experience. for me personally i would like to see if we can grab the attention of someone that has a Pixhawk on their Kraken. We are very close to getting some initial tuning flights. I would love to hear other experiences with the PIDs and ESC sync issues .
  
  I feel pretty good about the sync issues after a fair amount of research it appears that the ground wire on the esc needs to be present. I have yet to decide what to do with the power lead (red) i checked the voltage on that wire and it is not seeing any return voltage from the ESC and this, i think to be expected from an opto ESC.
  
  I am curious how are you guy powering everything .. ESC. Pixhawk and gimbles? i am thinking that i am gonna be running separate batteries for each .. (2 person setup)
  - Paul Jenness > Dan Reed June 18, 2014 at 1:37am
    
    I have :
    
    I went thru same thing..here is the result:
    
    http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/double-checking-esc-to-pixhawk-co...
    
    -P
Paul Jenness June 17, 2014 at 12:22pm

Ha

You guys are ahead of me now.

I bought the Kraken foolishly sa my first copter.. was great to build for experience...

Then I did my first take off and realised I was quickly out of my depth. So got an Iris to practice on first :)

Now I need to rebuild the Kraken..I have the kit to move the ESC to the centre plate. Hope to do it in next few weeks.

I dont like any of the leg offerings, Im interested in finding a different solution that fold down like 4-8 stilt legs from the arms. It will balance better and fold up nicer.

Good luck guys!!

-P
- Moderator
  
  Bill Piedra > Paul Jenness June 17, 2014 at 12:24pm
  
  If you move the ESC's to the center plate, you should get the capacitor sets recommended by Fu of Foxtechfpv.
  
  http://www.foxtechfpv.com/foxtech-power-caps-module-p-1485.html
  
  Electrically this makes very good sense to me.