Developer

3689514459?profile=original

Hi ya'll,

I've added 'alpha test' support for the Archos Gamepad to Andropilot. I'll post a video soon and do a test flight with my Bixler before declaring it beta. Many thanks to Robert W, Earl C, Jack O, Linus P, Anthony G, Robert L, Jeremy Z and Rana for buying this tablet so I could develop this feature. I'll fly with it for the next few weeks and give occasional updates. I think it could be a winner for some applications, but it is not perfect.

Here's my mini review...

(For full history see Robert's great proposal)

Cons:

  • Feels kinda cheap
  • No gps (so no 'follow-me' or 'lead-it' mode)
  • No bluetooth
  • Screen needs an antiglare sticker before it will be usable in the sun

Pros:

  • $130-$180
  • Nice mode switching keys - I've set up/down arrow to cycle between the modes you selected as your six primary modes
  • Nice info tab keys - I've set left/right arrow to cycle between screens
  • Since R2 is just above your right joystick, I've bound that key to RTL as a 'panic' key
  • Right joystick - aileron & elevator - seems to have 'okay' resolution. I suspect just fine for FBW flying or nudging, possibly painful for manual. I'll report back after flight testing
  • Left joystick - throttle & rudder
  • The L1 switch is very handy - I have it set-up to toggle geofence
  • The 'start' button is by the right stick - press it to return joystick control to the RC transmitter

Misc notes on gamepad performance:

  • Any time the app gets relaunched (because you brought another app to the foreground) I turn the built-in joysticks off. The next time you use the sticks they will be enabled again.
  • When sticks are enabled/disabled the speech subsystem will make an announcement.

Conclusions:

  •  If you don't want the integrated joysticks/buttons - I think you are probably better off with something approximately like the Nexus 7. However this is quite a fine tablet. After I've done some flying actually _using_ the sticks I can give feedback on if this could totally replace the RC transmitter.
  • If this is able to replace the RC radio it becomes a much more appealing offering.  TBD... ;-)

 

Downloads are up in the usual place.

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • Mine used to work, but now, it does not even is able to turn on the 3dr modem... is there something wrong with my otg cable?? (i tried two already) or the software updates made it not working??

  • Developer

    Hi Soren,

    Almost certainly - the main thing to check is that if the device supports "USB OTG" mode (nearly all new devices do).

  • Hi Kevin would Andropilot also run on the Archos Gamepad 2? It is an updated version with better, screen, RAM, CPU, battery and still very cheap.

  • Many many thanks Kevin !

  • Developer

    Hi Rana,

    Thanks for the detailed report - I've reproduced the problem you describe.  Sure enough UDP uplink to the desktop has issues.  I'll include a fix next week (kinda busy with 'work' work this week ;-))

  • Hi Kevin, 3DR radio is attached to the tablet. My PC and the tab both are hooked wirelessly to the home wireless network (wifi router).

  • Developer

    Hi Rana, just so I understand the problem you are describing: For your topology where is the radio link attached.  The PC or the tablet?

  • Hi Kevin, tried 1.4.02 also but no success.

  • Thank a lot Kevin, I shall wait for that.

  • Developer

    Hi Rana,

    No problem.  I'll try to repo your config this week and write up a section on the wiki with what I find.

    Kevin

This reply was deleted.