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Testing & Tuning the AttoPilot 1.9 RTL with my Funjet

Posted by Max on June 9, 2010 at 9:03am
I haven't quite got enough cash to outfit my Skywalker airframe yet, so I've installed the new AttoPilot v1.9 RTL into my Multiplex Funjet to play around with the tuning / have some fun ;)

This is the new RTL which features a rectangular return to home path, when you engage RTL the aircraft will cover a 500m x 200m path centered around the area where you switched on RTL.
Once this path has been flown the aircraft returns to home and loiters above.

My grand idea is to have the Skywalker fitted with a nice 10megapixel camera looking straight down, along with a nice FPV setup to remotely fly and trigger the RTL at an area. The system would then just map the area automatically, once its done I can choose to fly it to another area and repeat the process straight away.

Anyway, the Atto-Funjet is just to get some experience tuning the autopilot & see how nicely we can get it flying the RTL path.

I'll post up all the onboard video, KML's and SET file changes as I go along.

Tags: attopilot, autopilot, camera, fpv, funjet, launch, loiter, map, rc, return
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Comments

  • Max June 14, 2010 at 11:03pm
    Hey guys, sorry my minidv recorder decided to play up, just got it fixed today, hoping to get the flight data and video up this week :)
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer June 14, 2010 at 9:53am
    Ah yes but it was the first of the gang to have speech, thats what I meant. I think the choice of voice could be better, Homer Simpson or some such!
  • AVS June 14, 2010 at 9:39am
    Thanks, I've looked at the millswood one, good but not overly impressed. I think we can do a better job but I have been known to be wrong :) Speech is very easy without the need for roborealm. Infact speech is a big thing for disabled people so is built into windows as standard.

    Thanks for the note about the ITAR, much appreciated
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer June 14, 2010 at 9:33am
    Yeah there's a form we will send you and that gets submitted that side and then you wait for the US State Dept! In fact let me attach it. I will need to change it to 1.9! I know GCS are your thing you should look at the Millswood one http://www.millswoodeng.com.au/downloads.html you need Roborealm, which is free to try for 30 days, its a cool thing and bought speech to this small arena ;-)
    YellowPlane Atto 1.8 checklist.pdf
  • AVS June 14, 2010 at 9:25am
    Gary, can you give any insight into wow do we apply for ITAR clearence? Thanks
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer June 9, 2010 at 11:28pm
    Don't forget you can apply for your ITAR clearance at the same time time as purchasing a 1.9RTL and then set your airframe up, once the clearance is through you can return the unit to the USA to have it unlocked.
  • Max June 9, 2010 at 11:23pm
    Hi Alex, Its the same price as the entry level AttoPilot @ $800, no export restrictions tho!
    It uses the same hardware as 1.8/1.9 but has the waypoint navigation locked out, it has some other features like the grid RTL paths tho.
    Was about 20-30 knots today so ill play it safe and go tomorrow :)
    Should have lots more info in the next few days.
  • Moderator
    Alex June 9, 2010 at 11:17pm
    Cool, never realized attopilot rtl had that grid feature!.. How much does one sell for? And does the RTL version require any paperwork like the others if you are outside USA?
  • Max June 9, 2010 at 8:33pm
    Too windy today lol... tomorrow looks much better... grr
  • Max June 9, 2010 at 9:44am
    On my test flights Atto says 118.9 km/h airspeed @ 20amps... it can go faster ;)
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