I'm reading through the documentation for Pixhawk and APM in anticipation of receiving my Pixhawk this week. This is my 3rd MR build, but first APM based MR. I still consider myself somewhat of a novice. Less than 1 yr experience on Naza, HoverFly, and recently some time on the xAircraft SuperX. I'm probably going to test on my 450mm quad w/ 900kv motors which is a proven Naza based MR.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed with the new terminology & APM settings I'm going to have to learn.
Thought I ask a few questions about my new build.
For Pixhawk and APM:
In the Pixhawk doc's, on page 9, they show select flight modes. I'll be using Futaba 8fg with 8 channel receiver & SBUS connection. It appears from the RC calibration that they want channel 5 mapped to a 3 position switch, and 6,7,& 8 to a 2 position switch. Is this correct?
What is simple vs super simple?
Is there a detailed explanation of each flight mode somewhere?
I ordered the 3DR Radio Set (915 Mhz), for $99. Sorry for the dumb question, but will I receive 2 radio's, 1 for the ground station (either to my pc laptop or droid tablet) and the other to connect to the Pixhawk? Or do I have to buy a 2nd radio?
Any advice for beginning settings to start with APM? (I'm a video and photo shooter, so no acrobat or sport flying).
- If I'm flying a planned route with say 10 waypoints, and I want to take over with my radio to fly, am I sending a command from my radio or from the ground station to have the radio take command?
- What do I do to let the ground station take control back?
Pro's and cons as to using Mission Planner or APM Planner?
I read somewhere that I could point on googlemaps, have it fly to that point and then loiter or fly around there with my radio till I give it another point to go to. Do both Mission Planner and APM Planner do this?
If I want to fly to point A, then circle that at say a 40 ft radius, then fly to point B, etc etc... Do both planners do this?
- Will a planner based flight pan or tilt the gimbal ?
- If yes, am I giving up any of APM's usage of the first 8 channels.
- How does this get wired?
- Will a planner based flight pan or tilt the gimbal ?
I have more, but I think this is enough to start. Sorry for newbie questions and thanks in advance.....
Replies
1.1 Simple mode means when you pull back the copter flys back regardless of the direction of your copter. You need GPS lock and it only works when you fly in front of yourself. If you fly behind yourself then controls become reversed. Pretty scary when happens. Super Simple makes this work when you fly in front and behind. One draw back is that there is dead zone of about 10 meters around you. I usually fly all flight mode in simple mode.
2. Check the wiki or online manual it will explain everything.
3. You get 2 radios. 1 for ground and 1 for the air.
Rest of your questions can be answered by the wiki. I recommend you read it a few times. Also start slow and fly low until you get some skills to flying. Stay in stabilized flight mode until you get really good at flying. Fly safe and have fun.
Hi,
You'll receive booklet with connection/wiring instructions. But you should go through following link:
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/table-of-contents/
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-pixhawk-wiring-and-quick-st...
It has answers to some of your question & much more info you'll need.
AFAIK the set of telemetry radios consists of both air & ground modules. I would share one thing that if you have six to five pin cable that comes with GPS module + mag, then use the six to six pin cable that comes with Pixhawk instead. I did that mistake & there was no GPS until I changed 6 to 6 cable :)
You can check Marco's videos on YouTube describing the flight modes of v3.1
Rest of your question can be better explained by the experts.
Hope it helps.
Usman