I have been thinking about this a while a go and I don't know if it is possible or not.
so I am sharing this hoping that it might help you guys achieving your goals maybe.
what if we had a helicopter that is similar to the Sikorsky X2 and the controls are as follows:
Plane vs. Coaxial Heli.
Throttle = the rear "electrical motor" (you can go backwards too)
Rudder = upper OR lower rotor rpm
elevator = upper AND lower rotor rpm
ailerons = swash plates
i know that the current autopilots (ardupilot) can handle the airplane control surfaces, but what about the Coaxial heli's. ?
as a start (testing phase) i am proposing the following cheap route :
buy one of those heli's and cut the part in the red square
then mount it facing backwards and you will have something similler to X2 heli. then check the controls and how does it react.
now I am not planning on doing this because i am not a big fan of heli's. but it is just an idea that came in my mind and i wanted to share it.
Replies
The current ArduPilot maybe can possibly handle 4 channels, but you will need to write your own code. Our channel 3 implementation is not very smooth. Channel 4 will be choppy also if implemented. Using control laws intended for airplanes with a simple mapping to heli functions like you propose above is not likely to work out well, if at all.
ArduPilot Mega would be a better starting point and will be out before too long.