Hi all, I'm hoping that my question is not too open ended.
I'm interested in learning how to code the control systems for quadcopters. As a start, I would like to look into solving the equations and coding for hovering maybe? There are a lot of systems out there, and it is confusing. I'm hoping that the ArduCopter has open source code that I can look at, and that the good members here can point me to a suitable kit, perhaps a micro-drone, because I will be crashing it a lot.
If the ArduCopter group is not the right place to put this in, then I do apologise and hope that someone can point me to the right direction.
Replies
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2691960 looks to be a good deal and only needs you to supply a hawk/GPS/RX/TX, Arms are still available and cheap :)
Thanks Craig, I have sent the seller a PM. Let's see what he says :)
The nice thing about these old frames is the arms are like 4 bucks each and the plates are pretty cheap as well. You can entire replacement frames for like 15 bucks [without the PCB on the bottom plate] on ebay so parts are readily available :)
The motors are fair [but the bearings tend to get noisy and chatter] but as a learner platform they are pretty good all in all.
I'm not a fan of DJI to be honest, but they did a few things back then that were pretty cool and the old Flamewheels where one of them :)
If you don't mind a little soldering you can always just make one yourself for about 75 bucks
Frame
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quad-copter-Replacement-Frame-Arm-Kit-f-DJI...
14
Motors
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-pcs-920KV-CW-CCW-Brushless-Motor-for-DJI-...
26
ESC
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-HP-SimonK-30A-ESC-Brushless-Speed-Contro...
25.50
PDB
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgraded-5V-12V-PDB-Power-Distribution-Boar...
4.50
Props
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GoolRC-5-Pairs-Nylon-10x4-5-1045R-CW-CCW-Pr...
6
or if you prefer you can get complete kits for a few dollars more
complete kit
http://www.ebay.com/itm/F450-ATF-Quadcopter-Frame-Kit-Sunnysky-X221...
122
http://www.ebay.com/itm/F450-ATF-Quadcopter-Frame-Hobbypower-920KV-...
99
That's a sweet list you have given me Craig, thank you so much! I think I will get this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/F450-ATF-Quadcopter-Frame-Hobbypower-920KV-...
After talking to the seller from rcgroups, due to shipping unfortunately(I'm not from the US), I have to let that go.
Just a few more questions if you don't mind Craig, this kit needs a flight controller and batteries, and I was thinking of these, will they be suitable, do you think?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__99193__Px4Pilot_32Bit_Au...
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=...
Also, the other sensors like gyrometer, GPS, IMU, do they come built into the Pixhawk or do they need to be gotten seperately?
Thanks so much for your kind answers Craig.
Regards,
XJ
for the Flight controller I'd suggest this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pixhawk-PX4-V2-4-8-32Bit-Flight-Controller-...
it's a pixhawk 2.4.8 [no 1mb flash issue] and comes with the power module and m8n GPS
Those are GREAT batteries. I have a few myself and as long as you take care of them [don't let them go to low] and store them [put them on the charger in storage mode] right after you are done flying them they last forever.
That frame kit will do you well until you progress and want bigger/better/faster/etc lol always happens.
You also need a charger and a transmitter and reciever. I honestly suggest paying a tad extra and getting one of the most awesome TX/RX's out there. The Taranis and X8R RX. It's SO worth the 200[ish] as it will grow with you instead of paying 200 for a POS spektrum dx6i 6 channel.
If you're on a tight budget them look at the great Turnigy 9x [very awesome radio on a budget [after modding anyway :)]] or the very good Turnigy 9x Pro [not my fav as it's ergonomics suck but has a great set of features for the price]
The 9x comes with a module and it's ok and also comes with a RX and it to is "ok" but without the DIY kit it only does PWM. The 9xR pro needs an additional module and RX but can do cPPM but by the time you fork out for everthing you are only about 50 bucks away from a Taranis that does everything including S.Bus, has a smart port, does telemetry right out of the box. and is 16 channels!
For your charger I'd prolly go with one or two of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Imax-B6AC-50W-AC-DC-Dual-Power-Balance-Char...
they work well enough and with 2 you can always round robin your batteries so you always have one charging, one charged, and one flying if you get 3 batteries lol. Sucks having to "wait" for batteries to charge.
Also pick up a bunch of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8S-Lipo-Li-ion-Fe-Battery-Low-Voltage-Met...
they will save your butt and your batteries :)
Thanks Craig!
For the battery charger, the seller doesn't ship to my part of the neighborhood, so I looked at another alternative instead.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Imax-B6AC-LiPo-LiIon-LiFe-NiMH-Nicd-50W-Dua...
The specs look the same except that the max charge is 80w rather than 50w. Will it explode the batteries in my face? :D
The TX/RX unit is going to have to wait a little until payday haha. I guess in the meantime I can look through the source code abit!
You might also be interested in reviewing this course (offered by Penn State through Coursera): https://www.coursera.org/learn/robotics-flight
It covers the mathematical representation of the control problem, which may help you to understand what various pieces of software are doing.
Thank you very much for your reply Tim, :D It so happens that I am taking that course, so perhaps great minds think alike and all that? ;)
I'm almost through the first part, and it's been quite challenging, and I really want to solidify the concepts in my mind, which is why I would like to have a kit to experiment with.
Thank you all very much for the speedy replies, I will look through the documentation by Emin :)
https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot is the source code. There really are no "developement kits" for this.
Grab yourself a cheap frame, some motors, escs, some props, and a hawk [many of which now are going for about 60 dollars] and start coding away :)
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