Hi,
We have been working on this copter for about 3 weeks. First one was made out of plywood and broke while maidening. (Actually never get in the air.) So we decided to build one using U shaped aluminum profiles.
Setup as follows :
4 Turnigy SK35-36 910kV with 2 12x6 hobbyking APC's and 2 12x6 reverse real APC's
4 Turnigy 60A ESC ( don't need that much but they can be used for bigger motors :) )
1 5000mAh 3S1P 40C Zippy Battery (will test with 2 of them)
Magnetometer
Arducopter NG Code with a few thing changed ( to allow changing pid's while in the air and view a few key data)
After 5 minutes of short take of and landings to configure PID's we can fly this thing hands off the stick. Actually it flew itself :)
Here is the first battery being drained to the limits. :) Nothing happened to the copter. (Raw footage not edited yet )
Comments
Umesh,
If you have "no lights" on the board ( ie the APM+oilpan), then it's nbecuase you aren't giving it a 5V supply. It needs this either by :
* connect just one of the ESCs directly to the APM using a 3pin connection, and it will power up.
* connect all the ESCS to the "power distribution" board, and connect the power distribution board to the APM using the two pin connection ( +5 and gnd). only.
* connect the APM+Oilpan via a USB cable to your computer, and your computer will supply 5V to powerup the APM.
Any one of these will do for testing, but obviously, the last one won't work while flying ( cable to PC prevents flying).
After you get that,Please see the link for how to setup/calibrate, especially the "Initial Setup" and "Calibration" with your quad.
http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/Quad_ConfiguratorTool
Buzz.
Umesh,
You need to open ArduConfigurator and do a transmitter calibration. Make sure your stick movements are in the same direction as in the configurator. I mean if you move your throttle up configurator's throttle needle must move up not down. (same as other channels)
If this doesn't help I can't think of anything else.
Also you said ardu board looks like won't power up. Do you see racing / blinking lights ? If not make sure sw1 is in right position if you are using NG code. (One pos goes to command line interface (CLI) but i can't remember which pos )
Thanks Lot Levent.
I am Not sure how do I recalibrate thottle range and also recalibrate your transmitter. Can you please elaborate it for me ?
The same motors + esc + Rc receiver works fine if I connect the alone with out Ardu Board. It is only Ardu Configuration I can think of.Looks to that Ardu Board not even powering up, Is that common (not recognizing your throttle range) ? It would be lot worth to try ur suggestions.
Hi Umesh,
Problem that you are referring seems to me as esc are not recognizing your throttle range. I don't know your esc error codes but it seems like its a throttle range error. recalibrate your throttle range and also recalibrate your transmitter using arducopter configurator.
Chris,
I bet you can get at least 5 min flight times with yours. Mine is approximately 2.5 kg flight ready. I have 3 bladed 10x6 props lying around i would give them a try but i think 3 bladed props could make it worse.
Hello Levent,
I have smiler setup here. I have done all soldering and setups. When I Connect 11.1 V battery to ECS power for all 4.
I have not lights in Ardu board. I just wonder to start up, should we have to connect GPS & IMS or magnetometers or so ? OR do I need to provide separate power input (5v to Ardu board ?
I just get beep........ beep. Looks like motors are getting power. Even though I turn on RC control It wont run. just keep beeping slowing ( 5 sec onces).
Help will be greatly appreciated.
I'm not an expert with any of this, but I believe that if you go beyond the recommended prop sizes, you will get less flight time / lift as the prop offers too much resistance for the motor to spin it up and operate within it's efficient range. Also you will find that you bend or break shafts with props that are too big.
12x5 is the max recommended prop and 11x8.5 is the middle of the road with 10x7 being smallest. I would be inclined to try the 11x8.5 to get easier spinup and more lifting power. Maybe someone with more experience could jump in here and set us both straight.
I asked about flight time as I'm in the process of putting my first quad together and 5-6 mins with a much lighter quad than mine, has me a little concerned that I may end up with 2 mins flight time..LOL.