A new and improved version of the hands-on Arduino DIY flight controller for ESP32 / RP2040 / STM32 is available.https://madflight.commadflight is now an Arduino library and can be installed directly from the library section in the Arduino IDE.
Read more…I took my Tarot 650 Sport quad out for a test flight today. It seemed to fly okay though yaw control is very quick and I need some practice holding the same altitude. After a minute or so of flying I switched flight modes to RTL. The aircraft flew to a spot, hovered for a second or so and then gradually descended. It seemed to hesitate a second or so a couple of inches above the ground before settling down for a nice touchdown. Then I made my rookie mistake. Forgetting that the aircraft will…
Read more…The drift rate on internal gyros has been reduced since the first generation Pixhawk, and the extended Kalman filter has been improved. How has this effected the ability of a plane to follow routes? How often does it need GPS in order to keep flying in the general direction? If a plane thinks it has passed through several waypoints, and then GPS kicks in, does it just null out the systematic error and then proceed to the next waypoint? I am designing a long range flight with companion computer…
Read more…The maiden flight of my Tarot Sport didn't go well. It was very unstable and ended in a hard landing causing some minor damage. I recorded the flight with the onboard GoPro and upon reviewing the video I could see that there was significant jello effect suggesting excessive vibration. So, I decided to try to check the balance of the propellers. The problem is that I cannot use the typical balancing tool as is: The Tarot propellers do not have a hole all through the center:I hit upon a solution.…
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