Arducopter PID tunning howto video

Finally, someone has created a PID tunning howto video, from scratch to perfect stabilize flight, that I think will be very useful for the arducopter community, specially for those flying non stock frames.

The concepts are already in the AC2 PID tweaking guide developed by Jason, but a visual howto helps a lot!

The guide has been created by Menno (joebarteam), an active user of the megapirates community in rcgroups. Full credit to him, I'm just spreading his post.

First, acro mode tunning (which I always discard, but I'm realizing it is pretty relevant):

Second, stable mode tunning:

The full post with Menno comments is here.

Note:

If the arducopter developers think it is useful maybe it could be added to the wiki (with Menno permission obviously).

I have found that I can do PID tuning of the acro mode rates while in stable mode: with too much rate_P the quad will have very rapid short oscillations, or jitters (unlike the oscillations from having too much stab_P) for my taste I just lower Rate P until those rapid oscillations are gone, but not any further. Although my method does not really allow an easy way to find Rate_I, I think you do need to fly in acro mode to find the optimum Rate_I.

Setting Rate_P as high as possible without oscillation contributes to the quad's ability to hold still with disturbances, it is, basically, the "brakes" of the quad, when the target rate is zero, and when the target rate is non zero, it is like having a very high force preventing the rate from deviating from where it should be. In my opinion it is best to set Rate_P in this optimal spot, not so much a matter of taste, but a matter of ability to enforce the desired rate with as much force as possible.

Stabilize control is a controller around another controller: It tells the rate controller what rates to use depending on how far off the target angle is from the actual angle. I find that there is a wider range of "setting to taste" of this, although I still like to set it to just around "Critical" basically just under oscillation. Lowering stab_P from there makes the quad feel more "gentle" but not as quick to respond.

In terms of the quads ability to resist outside disturbances like gusts, the critical settings seem to work best for me.

I am also glad to see on your video a demonstration of using high climb rates to test PID settings, since PID settings have to be a good compromise for the widest range of throttle, even if the delta thrust for delta PWM of a motor / prop is variable in its RPM and loading range.

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Comments

Juan Carlos Hdez November 1, 2011 at 5:44am

very interesting. i will try to increase stabilize I to eliminate wobble in fast descents.
steve November 1, 2011 at 4:27am

I've never used acro mode. How do you access it in the latest 2.0.49 code?
Aurelio R. Ramos October 18, 2011 at 7:46am

I have found that I can do PID tuning of the acro mode rates while in stable mode: with too much rate_P the quad will have very rapid short oscillations, or jitters (unlike the oscillations from having too much stab_P) for my taste I just lower Rate P until those rapid oscillations are gone, but not any further. Although my method does not really allow an easy way to find Rate_I, I think you do need to fly in acro mode to find the optimum Rate_I.

Setting Rate_P as high as possible without oscillation contributes to the quad's ability to hold still with disturbances, it is, basically, the "brakes" of the quad, when the target rate is zero, and when the target rate is non zero, it is like having a very high force preventing the rate from deviating from where it should be. In my opinion it is best to set Rate_P in this optimal spot, not so much a matter of taste, but a matter of ability to enforce the desired rate with as much force as possible.

Stabilize control is a controller around another controller: It tells the rate controller what rates to use depending on how far off the target angle is from the actual angle. I find that there is a wider range of "setting to taste" of this, although I still like to set it to just around "Critical" basically just under oscillation. Lowering stab_P from there makes the quad feel more "gentle" but not as quick to respond.

In terms of the quads ability to resist outside disturbances like gusts, the critical settings seem to work best for me.

I am also glad to see on your video a demonstration of using high climb rates to test PID settings, since PID settings have to be a good compromise for the widest range of throttle, even if the delta thrust for delta PWM of a motor / prop is variable in its RPM and loading range.
Jason Wise October 17, 2011 at 1:25am

Dude this is just what Ive been looking for!

This reply was deleted.