Comments

• 

  Anwar Ali Khan July 8, 2012 at 5:18am

  Hi all, I am not yet on air, still testing on ground (in car). Was about to giveup but then decided to test over a large area having each GPS point about a mile away. Doing so I got some related response on the aleron servo but either much before or after the GPS points. Its probably because you know the quality of EM406 and we don't have the WAAS/DGPS etc, here. (I have put black tape around the X-Y sensor for ground/in car testing).

  If you remember my hardware consists of ArduPilot 328, EM406A and X-Y IR sensor (nothing elase). Here I want to ask about the behaviour of my system. Please let me know if each ot the following is rigt or wrong:

  1. I don't get the Lock/blue LED blinking in Manual mode (1). I get it blinking in Stabalize or FBW or AUTO mode (when it starts blinking I switch the toggle back to Manual).

  2. I get the blue LED blinking and lock only in NMEA with 9600 baud but not in Sirf. I got it blinking and lock once or twice in Sirf also but then there was no response of any servo to the radio except in Manual mode.

  3. I get the nudge response (little movement) of ali. and ele. servos to the radio only in FBW mode where as they fully response to the radio in AUTO mode (according to the manual the nudge should be associated to the AUTO).

  4. In Manual mode all 4 servos response to the radio, in Stabilize rudder do not and in AUTO throttle also do not.

  5. Any idea about getting the Sirf to work?

  It gives me pleasure to read all your posts but my connection being slow cannot watch the videos (sorry Mike about this).

  @Luca, try 406 if you have WAAS there (otherwise I am in trouble with this 406).
• 

  Dr Mike Black July 7, 2012 at 4:05pm

  Hi guys,

  Ok...lol...

  @ Harry, very cool tricopter, JL is a very clever chap....always interested in his projects.

  @ Luca, were here if we can help, however, honestly, you really need a better GPS than the 406....good for testign with but navigation is quite vague due to update rate, unless your aircraft is hossing some! But go for it..get it flying!

  @ Graham, i fully agree (hence much fannying around with it again, having fun)

  Happy to post it, i have to be honest though, my code turned left around V2.6, some wierdness in the later versions (V2.71) i couldnt get to the bottom of, so stuck with my version (Variation on 2.64), as it worked and refined that. So not sure how to call that..lol...

  @Brian...

  Wing...almost ready... just need to shell and rib top section and i will post renderings.

  2.2m, capable of carrying 1.5-2kg internally (if my math is right)

  Made from machined and cnc'd XPS, with laser cut parts for structural, strengthening. Vacs to prettify!

  Pretty much all of what you have listed below..

  PM your address and will fwd a 328 to you, but yes you are right, learning the grass roots is def the way forward, so happy to help with that.

  
  first video, long test flight...from our strip to the lakes then to my works, couple of circuits of the than then home....

  All went well.

  Here is my last flight, 4 miles, 20WP's last leg 900m (to test for wing rock and cross tracking) seemed good to me....

  Have a look yourself, and give me your thoughts, if thats ok.

  Thanks for looking,

  Kind regards,

  Mike.
• Moderator

  Brian July 6, 2012 at 11:03pm

  Hey Mike, that's one nice flight.  It looked very smooth and each track seemed to be spot on.  I remember, before I tanked my board that I'd have to circle back sometimes to get the wp lock for the next leg.  Nice to see it work so smooth!  

  I'm with Graham, any thoughts of publishing the version?  

  I am still interested in cutting the fat with the old board just for the sake of learning but wouldn't mind one w/room.  Please let me know what I can do for you!

  Regarding thoughts for the wing... (just my personal views here)

  1. Needs to be big enough to fly in heavy winds, so more wing/more weight.

  2. Impact resistant.  

  3. Skid plate for erosion control. 

  4. Cover-able or Paint-able

  5. Raceways for wiring (lights, servos, sensors)

  6. Bungee launch options (hook, skids...)

  7. Did I say BIG.

  Anyway I have more but being vision oriented, wouldn't mind seeing the beast you've got on the burner. Looking forward to the renderings.
• luca July 6, 2012 at 11:02am

  Yuhhuuu!!!!!!!!!!! Finally someone come back to talk about this old piece of electronic!!! Some months ago i bought one of this with an em-406, but i have never really used couse anyone can/want help me... now i'll bring it again and i'll try to ask to you!!!
• Moderator

  Graham Dyer July 6, 2012 at 6:31am

  Glad ArduPilot Legacy has got some life in it again, always said it could still do SO much!

  Dr Mike, how about releasing a v2.8α?
• Harry July 6, 2012 at 3:37am

  Doc, I think hacking existing code is more art than anything - no set way to proceed. I havent successfully modified the TrIMUpter yet, still digesting.  It uses the IMU as a stabilizer for a tricopter.  Jean-Louis' last comment was that he wanted to add Ardupilot navigation.

  Doc, are you using the shield in yours?  It looks rock solid in videos.
• 

  Dr Mike Black July 5, 2012 at 5:22pm

  Sorry Harry, you are 100% right( i just assumed that the process was a given, but clearly not)

  
  Thanks for clarifying what could have been a potential nightmare for them.

  Krs

  Mike.

  P.S..congrats on convertng V3. Trimupter? what is that? Anything JL does is very cool.
• Harry July 5, 2012 at 4:38pm

  I'd like to add when you remove a tab, do a verify to see how it might have affected things.  If you take too much out at once, it makes it hard to know exactly.  I'm playing with Jean-Louis' TrIMUpter which was for IMU V2, so I've got some work to adapt it to V3 hardware.  When the V3 came out, there wasnt any code and I had to figure out some stuff. I got very close, It mostly worked, but the official code was perfecto.  Compiler error messages really do tell you what's wrong.
• 

  Dr Mike Black July 5, 2012 at 3:51pm

  Hi guys,

  
  Anwar it sounds as though you have it sorted now...well done. You can at least progress now..

  Brian, thanks for the kind words, yeah she is rock steady now.

  Ok, regarding slimming down...

  whn you open the PDE, you will see tabs like MTK, UBLOX, SIM..

  basically you need to remove the ones you are NOT using..for example, i use ublos GPS, so you dont need to keep the MTK, SIM files, so what i do is create a copy of the complete code, then work with that, to remove the files you dont need...

  Go into the folder of the AP, and delete the file marked MTK, then SIM..

  Also depending on what GCS you use, remove the file with the other GCS in..i use the Labview one (my own updated version) so i remove the 'Jason' file..etc..if you see what i mean..when you open the AP PDE next time these files are no longer showing...therefore the file size is less..

  In a personal note...my AP code is sorted..3.5mile round trip done yesterday...no faults...

  Flew from my field to our lakes...then across to work, did a couple of circuits there then came home to me,

  See vid..below...

  
  Also...if you are interested i have many 328 boards (new, unmade) if you want, stop mucking about with the 168, and i will send you a 328...give you a fighting chance..let me know?!

  Also gotyour email, not had a chance to reply yet..but the Wing is nearly there, almost ready to post renderings.

  Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated.

  Kind regards,

  Mike.,
• 

  Anwar Ali Khan July 4, 2012 at 11:37pm

  A bit more learning, if I don't get a lock with the same previous setting with which I could get it, I take the GPS to SiRFDemo, Synchronize Protocol & Baud Rate, Switch to the desigred Protocol (NMEA in my case), and then bring it back to the ArduPilot and get the lock instantly.