ArduPilot Purple + Skywalker X8 + FPV = Summer Loving

So I have some vacations coming up and already have some quads and a hex I figured I needed a fixed wing to round out my aerial camera fleet. (for now) heh. So I took the plunge and picked myself up an X8 to fill up with electronics.

I'm running an ArduPilot Purple, with a Castle 75 esc waiting for Hobbyking to drop of my new Scorpion motor until then I have a 700W max 50Amp local hobby store motor to power the bird. I'm running 1.2 video feeding through MinimOSD with a Sony 720 line mini cam. I have a roll and tilt GoPro mount in the works that I'll post up some pics when I can get some play time on the router this weekend. Communication is done through a Futaba 10C 72Mhz and some 900Mhz XBees.

I've only made a few mods for now like adding a second motor mount plate that bolt through the foam to the outer plate.

I made some electronics trays and filled in the lower camera cut out with some foam and Gorilla glue.

I ended up bringing the control linkage up through the wing, leaving it on the bottom seemed like a bad idea for a belly lander. I have never flown a or built a fixed wing, but I said the same about the multirotors and DIYDrone's gear and community made it simple, awesome and enjoyable. Only crashes were ah-hem user error. So I'm hoping for the same luck with this bird. I do have tons of hours now on RealFlight sim just to make sure I feel comfortable with the controls. That being said any input from from you guys will be greatly appreciated. I'll update this blog as things progress and as I get the camera mount going. But for now heres some more eye candy. Be happy and safe all!

Thanks all!

@R Lefebvre The 319DPS reciever does have a failsafe function. Nice catch on the screws will replace as you suggested. Thanks for the heads up on the batteries, but I have a few of them still in boxes for my multirotors, I'll try em out and see how they go.

@Jason 3020 1110Kv on a 3s setup.

@John Moore Large ABS equipment shipping case. The wings are held on by tape so they break down for shipping.

@James sowell I have a flat rubber washer that I mounted between my motor and wodden plate. I also used bolts to hold the motor not the supplied screws and added a second motor plate that bolts through on the inside of the plane, so that I am pinching the foam tightly and it makes a solid base. I learned on my copters that nothing helps the vibration more than just tightening everything down nice and tight.

@Toby Mills No sir not yet what you see there is where I am as of last night. I saw you ask your question on Hooks's blog post about the X8 and have been checking daily to see if anyone has answered you. Are you using default PIDs? Whats been your approach? I imagine PID tuning is a little harder than a copter which you can pretty much hold in your hand and tune to get you close and then can fly it around and make the finer tweeks. Please keep me updated if you find something that works and I will do the same.

@kevin kitchin Hand launch it!

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Comments

Christiaan van Vollenstee June 21, 2012 at 3:56am

Once you have the perfect PID's you must submit them to the forum for download I can imagine this body will take full flex popularity in the near future.
Toby Mills June 21, 2012 at 3:23am

Still not a lot of luck with pids.
I have 7 flights on mine now. Am making slow progress with pids, fix one performance issue and break another.
I started at both default and skyfun pids but this airframe is just so big and different.
I will keep tweaking.
It flies fine on defaults but does snake a fair bit.
I am looking for perfection which takes a lot of patience and trial and error.
james sowell June 21, 2012 at 12:48am

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1555543 christiaan look here
Christiaan van Vollenstee June 20, 2012 at 7:07am

Awesome, wish I can get one but the shipping alone for this, is around $1200 to south africa so its a bit crazy. Can you please post a video soon of this plane of yours souring in the sky.

Regards

Christiaan
Alexander LeBrun June 19, 2012 at 8:13pm

Thanks all!

@R Lefebvre The 319DPS reciever does have a failsafe function. Nice catch on the screws will replace as you suggested. Thanks for the heads up on the batteries, but I have a few of them still in boxes for my multirotors, I'll try em out and see how they go.

@Jason 3020 1110Kv on a 3s setup.

@John Moore Large ABS equipment shipping case. The wings are held on by tape so they break down for shipping.

@James sowell I have a flat rubber washer that I mounted between my motor and wodden plate. I also used bolts to hold the motor not the supplied screws and added a second motor plate that bolts through on the inside of the plane, so that I am pinching the foam tightly and it makes a solid base. I learned on my copters that nothing helps the vibration more than just tightening everything down nice and tight.

@Toby Mills No sir not yet what you see there is where I am as of last night. I saw you ask your question on Hooks's blog post about the X8 and have been checking daily to see if anyone has answered you. Are you using default PIDs? Whats been your approach? I imagine PID tuning is a little harder than a copter which you can pretty much hold in your hand and tune to get you close and then can fly it around and make the finer tweeks. Please keep me updated if you find something that works and I will do the same.

@kevin kitchin Hand launch it!
kevin kitchin June 19, 2012 at 7:05pm

How are you planning on launching this thing again? Meanwhile, awesome work!
Toby Mills June 19, 2012 at 3:38pm

Hi

I have pretty much the same setup as you, have you flown yours yet?
This is really the perfect APM platform, it flies so well and easy.

However, I'm having a real battle with the PID tuning on this beast. Its so sensitive, getting the Servo and Nav tuning is turning into a bit of a nightmare. Do you have a working param file for the bird yet? Or does anyone have one they could share. Even just a screenshot of the PID settings would be good.
james sowell June 19, 2012 at 9:55am

did u put any antivibe in the mtr mount im working on mine now got 3020 890kv 4s they are geting 1 hour with 2 5000 batt.very nice
Crasher June 19, 2012 at 9:25am

You my friend are fully geared up for summer!!
John Moore June 19, 2012 at 8:55am

You said youre taking the X8 on vacation with you, how are you planning to transport it? I was thinking of getting one of these because of the removeable wings.

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