It seems after searching several sites that not many people are using a tricopter? and even less still with the new APM2.0? anyone got any advice, problems, PID settings that work well? mine is nearly there, RTL, Alt hold and Loiter seem to work o.k but only 70% of the time? when they dont work the copter just shoots off in a random direction until its nearly in the ground or out of controllable sight so I am a bit dubious to test it with waypoints e.t.c in case I never see it again? does the APM work better with other frames? any tips advice are very welcome...
Edit: After much studying all of the above problems were down to not understanding the code and how things work, I am pleased to say that I do now understand and have no issues with the board or software, and am glad to do things this way as I have learned alot and enjoyed the rewards..
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I'm wondering if I can join this conversation between the two of you Dean & Ovidiu? It looks like you've got a constructive dialog going.
Tonight I maidened my FPVManuals Delrin Tri with a new APM2. All in all it went pretty well. I've been flying it with a HobbyKing KK clone FC and the APM2 was worlds better. Stable mode worked well and altitude hold just rocked. But I too am having some Yaw issues. I'll make a video tomorrow to show what I'm seeing, but there are 2 main issues - first, when I roll left or right the yaw starts to wander clockwise and doesn't stop until I give it some reverse yaw. Second, when I do a hard yaw, after I return the stick to center the yaw kind of bounces back, maybe 15° is the opposite direction. It looks sort of like it hit something elastic. It doesn't make it unflyable, but it is irritating. I'm wondering if this is all somehow a magneto issue.
I also has serious issues with all things related to the GPS. It took over 25 minutes to acquire a GPS fix, even though I was in a huge field, totally clear, and my cell phone and car GPS had no problems finding satellites. Once it did find them, I tried Loiter and it was a bit dodgy. I probably tried it 15 times, and only once did it really stay inside a 30m or so circle. The other times it would usually drift backwards, regardless of what direction it was pointing. Sometimes very quickly. I let it go maybe 100 meters a few times, then had to stop it before I lost control. Winds were perfectly calm so I don't think that was an issue. I have big plans for scriptable waypoints so I'd love to get this working better.
Here are two pictures of my craft. I'll try to get some videos next time I fly.
I expect you need to reverse the tail servo...
I can get the servo to stay in center on arm and disarm... This isn`t too much trouble? if it bothers you?
What firmware are you using? I think the heli firmware would cause the issue you are having?
Just an idea? I am not saying you have done it wrong.. :)