Discussions

Pixhawk or APM 2.6 on a Fixed Wings Plane

Posted by John on July 4, 2014 at 8:33am

HI,

I have a fixed plane and APM 2.6, and I have a mission plan that should go for few km, do few circles then coming back to home. (Maximum 10 waypoints). 

Do I have to upgrade to pixhawk to ensure a safe flight or the APM 2.6 will be able to do it easily without a problem? 

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Replies

  • Moderator
    Nathaniel Caner July 4, 2014 at 8:47am

    APM 2,6 is more than capable, so since you already have one, use it! In case you haven't done so already, be sure to take the time to tune your parameters before attempting "auto" missions.

    Regards,

    Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

    • John > Nathaniel Caner July 4, 2014 at 9:55am

      HI Nathaniel,

      Thanks for your email. 

      I was reading the pitot airspeed sensor is not working well with the APM 2.6, is it correct? that's why we were considering upgrade to pixhawk. 

      As we are afraid, that if the plane was set-up to fly at a groundspeed at 45km/h and if there was an opposite wind of 30Km/h, the plane will fly only at 15km/h and the APM2.6 will not give an order to fly faster even if the GPS detect a slower fly. Am i correct?   only the airspeed sensor will give the order? correct?

      • Moderator
        Nathaniel Caner > John July 4, 2014 at 10:51am

        Elie,

        I haven't used any version above 2.76 yet as I have a short flying season here. But in my experience, if you have the parameters tuned well it seems to work fine. That said I don't typically fly in windy conditions say above 10-15mph.

        Your assessment is correct, if you don't have an airspeed sensor the only data the APM has to rely on is the GPS data to determine ground speed. If you keep your cruise speed well above your stall speed I think you should be OK, however the airspeed sensor adds a nice safety margin.

        Regards,

        Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

        • John > Nathaniel Caner July 4, 2014 at 11:26am

          Nathaniel,

          Most of the time, the wind is around 7 to 15 mph.

          So, if there is a headwind of 10mph,  the GPS will not notice that the ground speed is less than the cruise speed and then give those information to the APM to give order to the engine to go faster to keep the cruise speed at 45km/h. I thought the APM can do this calculation and give the order. 

          I have an airspeed sensor but I didn't use it, because I was reading that there is some problem with the APM. 


           

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