Comments

• Developer

  Randy September 10, 2012 at 7:51pm

  @Zachary re getting help understanding the arducopter code,

       You could start a discussion (which allows threads in the reply) here or in the "Learning to program the ardupilot mega" group.  Good luck
• Zachary Koh September 10, 2012 at 7:43pm

  Hi guys,

  I'm relatively new to the arducopter/plane scene (just started in June). A group of friends and I are trying something ambitious as our first project that requires some coding which I am supposed to do. I was hoping to find some help/people to consult here. Would this be the right place to ask such things? It'd be pretty awesome if someone who completely understands the arducopter code could see this.

  But any help would be greatly appreciated.

  Thanks.
• Developer

  Randy September 3, 2012 at 9:05am

  @Kanchana,

       At the moment, we don't have a good way to do that.  What you need one of the pwm output channels (like channel 10 or 11 maybe) from the APM to be an unmixed throttle value.  At the moment, for all motors we mix roll+pitch+yaw+throttle to arrive at a final value..

      I can see why you want to do this though..one of the successful copters in the hobbyking beer lift had an extra prop on the top in the middle for just this purpose.  Of course I guess you could likely accomplish the same thing by just increasing the size of the other 6 or 8 motors your have...but maybe i'm missing something.
• 

  KANCHANA ATTANAYAKE September 3, 2012 at 7:09am

  I am starting to build a APM 2.5 board based quad and i have few questions since i am new to this. if i want to add two extra counter rotating motors which are purely for thrust only ( just to increase the endurance) powered by a separate battery, how should i couple it to the throttle channel of the program? just wondering how to make them (two extra motors) take over 90% of the thrust at alt hold, level flight and ascending and descending in order to take off the burden off the other four motors. i guess mixing would do but really need some help when its on auto flight. thanks  
• 

  Gustav Kuhn August 13, 2012 at 10:55am

  Hi Chris,

  I did get a new board :-)

  But you have to multiply our currency by 10 to get that new board :-(

  And I think we ain't the only ones in that boat either....

  I'm in the almost fortunate position to almost afford to go this route, as I did, but I still think that there are some frivolous features in the latest code.

  Most people laid out cash to do fpv, airframe stab for camera work, and nav, not to watch nice LED displays, and aerobatic moves.

  For that you can by a much cheaper controller from Hobby King.

  The very much improved BASIC code will fit on a 1280. I think.

  Then draw the line.

  The rate the code is improving, APM1 with a 2560 board, is also going to be kept hanging soon.....

  I'm also still flying a fixed wing on a 1280 board, very happy with it :-)

  And the redundant 1280 card is going into my "Mars Rover", yes I suppose I'm fortunate :-)
• 3D Robotics

  Chris Anderson August 13, 2012 at 10:13am

  Gustov: I'm sure there are ways to trim more of the code to fit, but you'll have to do it again with every release, which seems like a hassle. You don't need a new APM to get back in the fully-supported mainstream. Just upgrade the base board to a 2560 ($64) and you're done.
• 

  Gustav Kuhn August 13, 2012 at 10:08am

  Hi Chris,

  Thanks for the reply.

  Yes, out of memory/too large for 1280.

  By disabling things like cam stab, mount, etc (and probably things I shouldn't disable), I'm at a point where I'm only about 5.5 kilobytes too big still.

  Not on the computer I used earlier today, so can't say exactly what I did.

  Messing with the GPS defines doesn't make any difference, neither does Copter Leds.

  I'm not sure how to remove bits of code like Flip, Toy, etc, and not too sure how much space it will save.

  It would be a shame to turf the 1280 boards, I already upgraded my quad to 2560, but am involved to a certain extent with a LHS, that now has to explain to irate customers why a system that that was expensive, and promised a lot, now should be replaced, to deliver.

  And I have to say, 2.7 has awesome loiter, even in a frisk breeze.

  I really would like to try a waypoint mission, but we are finding out the hard way, why the old sailors called this place, "The Cape of Storms" !!!
• 3D Robotics

  Chris Anderson August 13, 2012 at 6:13am

  Gustov: what compile error? Is it an out of memory one? As I mentioned I don't have a 1280 and it's not officially supported anymore, so I may not be able to help on this one. Perhaps someone else can. 
• 

  Gustav Kuhn August 13, 2012 at 3:48am

  Hi Chris,

  Still giving a compile error for the 1280 board with those two lines :-(
• 3D Robotics

  Chris Anderson August 12, 2012 at 5:51pm

  Try this, in the APM_Config.h

  Uncomment this line (remove the //): 

  //#define LOGGING_ENABLED DISABLED

  add the line: 

  #  define CLI_ENABLED DISABLED

  I'm assuming you already know how to compile the code with Arduino? If not, instructions are here.