Spitfire76

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    989

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    28

Posts posted by Spitfire76

  1. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    On 9/7/2019 at 6:07 PM, Tom-22 said:

    I am pretty sure this is a good configuration, but I would appreciate any thoughts and/or ideas to improve or tweak it.

    Hello @Tom-22 and welcome to the forum. I have a build using the S550 frame, its a good frame but I would prefer to mount the batterie/s on top of the frame rather than underneath but there is not enough space between the center plates to install a flight controller the size of the 2.4.8 Pixhawk. I am currently experimenting with using a small flight controller on another build that I have using a S500 quad frame. I am using this controller

    http://www.holybro.com/product/kakute-f7/

    Its really meant for a small racing quad but ArduCopter software can now run on these types of boards. 

    http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-autopilots.html

    Since it fits between the center plates of the frame I can install the gimbal/camera in the center underneath the quad and the battery on top. I am also looking into using 2 batteries as I found the flight time using one 3s 5200 mAh battery quite limiting. 

    As you will see from this thread I've been messing around with these frame for a few years. I just like to tinker :)

     

     

  2. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    I can see why Zipline is number 1 as they have been providing medical delivery service  by drone for several years. Altough they are a US company their delivery service is primarily been provided in Rwanda. I recently came across this video that shows some interesting engineering design choices that they made.

     

  6. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, PilotEd said:

    Watched this review video of the Herelink controller just now, Bobby showed us the video transmission got a little bit breakout when the distance went up to 1600 feet. Is it normal since they stated that its range is 20km in FCC mode?

    I believe that Bobby did say that the video breakup could have been due to the proximity of the electrical power lines.

     

  8. Posted · Report reply

    On 7/13/2019 at 3:23 AM, Nilsss said:

    Hello.. I want to buy for my racing drone controller.. Flight Controller: 30.5x30.5mm F3 / F4/ F/7 not just chip but is it possible buy full controller? Drones name SKYSTARS G730L FPV Racing RC Drone with F4 FC Runcam Micro SWIFT 2 Camera.. Does any know some alternatives.. Because I order and drone just arrive but it's not includes an controller remote

    If this drone is PNP (plug and play) it will not come with a receiver and transmitter/controller. If its a BNF (Bind and fly) then it comes with a receiver but not the transmitter/controller. Which one do you have as it will determine what radio you need ?. Also if its BNF what model receiver does it have ?.

    Personally I prefer FrSky radio products that run OpenTX software and I've noticed that a lot of FPV racers use their controllers. You will also need to add goggles or a monitor to view the video but you could do without one of those to get started. 

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I got introduced to drones back in 2013/14 after backing this kickstarter.

    video-314906-h264_high.mp4

    I opted to purchase the DIY kit and a few months later received a box of cheap parts without instructions and little support from the creator but eventually after a lot of googling and help from some other backers I did get it to fly although not quite as well as in the video. The positive outcome from it was I was hooked and since then have built several drones. With the help from DPGS I obtained my Part 107 back in September of 2016 and although I have yet to build a drone business I am an avid follower of the commercial UAV industry with a particular interest in the enabling technologies. For this reason it would be great for me to attend InterDrone for the first time. 

    Cheers

    Richard

  12. Posted · Report reply

    18 hours ago, Papadopoulos said:

    Also in the "configuration" under ESC/Motor Features what is the minimum throttle value ?. On my quad its set to 1000. This is the value the throttle needs to be at for the motors to spin.

    I now understand why you didn't provide this as your quad uses DShot ESCs and those fields don't show up. Instead the field "motor idle throttle value" appears. 

  13. Posted · Report reply

    On 7/27/2019 at 3:22 AM, erfan said:

    Hello ,
    Can anyone explain me the if I can use the height estimation sensor as also object avoidance sensor ?
    I have an evo 3m rangefinder which in descriptions says it is an  object detection sensor , 
    Does that also mean it can be used as object avoidance sensor?
    if so , any one knows how? in what flight modes can I detect and avoide objects ?what about manual mode? is it possible to use for manual mode also ? 
    if not any one has some suggestions for object avoidance sensors ?
    Thanks 
    @Spitfire76

    It looks like ArduCopter has introduced some limited object avoidance code but I have not used it.

    http://ardupilot.org/dev/docs/code-overview-object-avoidance.html

    Of course you would need more sensors if you wanted all round detection. For example I see that TeraBee make a multi-directional array using their Evo sensors. 

    https://www.terabee.com/shop/lidar-tof-multi-directional-arrays/teraranger-tower-evo/

  14. Posted · Report reply

    1 hour ago, erfan said:

    I've seen a lots of articles and threads about adding a 1000μF capacitor to the electronics setup to smooth out the power and stop potential voltage spikes from damaging other electronics. However I've seen no reasoning on the choice of using 1000μF capacitor.

    does any one know the reason ? or any calculation ?



    @Spitfire76

    If the Pixhawk is being powered by the power module I don't see any reason to have a capacitor. Now the Pixhawk can also be powered by the servo rail which could be used as backup power if the power module voltage drops too low. Mainly though the recommendation is to add a zener diode to this rail to limit the voltage although I've seen some also recommend a capacitor but according to the Ardupilot wiki the diode is all that's needed.

    http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-powering-the-pixhawk.html

  15. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    19 hours ago, Papadopoulos said:

    Double-checking in BetaFlight, the motors only spin up when the slider in Motors tab is advanced, stopping when at 0. 

    Its normal for the motors not to spin-up after arming and increasing the throttle when the drone is connected to the BetaFlight Configurator. Its a safety precaution but you can spin them up with the motor test providing you enable the "I understand the risk....".

    19 hours ago, Papadopoulos said:

    Issue #1: After configuring the quad and transmitter in BetaFlight all seemed to be going well while still on the bench. However, when I arm my quad outside of BetaFlight (still without props attached) the motors spin up at a variable rate even when the throttle is not engaged.

    In BF Configurator select "receiver" from the left menu and check the min and max values by moving the throttle. For example on my quad (not the same as yours) the minim throttle value is 988 and the max is 2012. Also in the "configuration" under ESC/Motor Features what is the minimum throttle value ?. On my quad its set to 1000. This is the value the throttle needs to be at for the motors to spin.

     

    19 hours ago, Papadopoulos said:

    Issue #2 (related?): Additionally, when I plug in my 4s 750mAh lipo into the quad, the stack heats up quickly, even without engaging the motors or doing anything except looking at it (I don't have heat vision ;)). After about 2 minutes the quad beeps that it's overheating and is too hot to the touch to handle. 

    When you power up are you getting video on your monitor or goggles as it could be the video transmitter getting hot

     

    19 hours ago, Papadopoulos said:

    Contacting the reseller, they told me, "airmode is set by default, without props they will go irratic as the gyro is trying to level any vibrations and no props are moving so they ramp up etc. I typically set a flight mode to angle with airmode OFF for this reason.

    Is the Permanently enable Airmode off in the configuration menu ?

    1256512971_ScreenShot2019-07-28at9_44_06AM.thumb.png.adabb64316479ea176ff76efcda9b726.png

  16. Posted · Report reply

    23 hours ago, Sandman said:

    I am new to flying drones, I came to the site to figure outwhere to fly near DC.  I decided to try Sandy Point Park.  When I got to the park and was about to pay the entry fee, I told them what I was here for, flying a drone.  The park employee told me that drones were not allowed in the park to respect people’s privacy.

     

    So don’t fly at Sandy Point.

    I am beta testing the new FAA's B4FLY mobile app and assuming I have the correct location of the park here is a screen shot from my iPhone.

    IMG_1624.thumb.jpg.9baac981a541c8f3b53657b56e5b75ac.jpg

    I would check again by calling the state park administration and don't go by just one park employee's word.

  17. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    @Dawson Fernandes @Av8Chuck

    I don't know how this compares with the "HereLink" but they look very similar. The HereLink also has an integrated Android tablet and runs QGroundControl. Its available from various distributors including these guys.

    https://www.getfpv.com/herelink-2-4ghz-long-range-hd-video-transmission-system.html

    It was designed by the same folks that developed the Pixhawk 2.1 "Cube" which is now called the "CubePilot"

    Bobby Watts, the founder of Watts Innovations recently tested this controller.

     

     

  20. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, erfan said:

    My problem was I was not giving the servo on the pixhawk the enough power.

    What do you think of this way?

    Yes, you need to have an external BEC or ESC with a built in BEC in one of the output ports to provide enough power for the servos.

    6 hours ago, erfan said:

    I changed the ServoX_Function  (from 9=AUX1 till 14)  to 1 which is passThru

    If I recall you can do this but since you are simply passing the signal from the receiver to the AUX output you may as well just connect the receiver directly to the servo. For example in the case of retractable landing gear I wanted to have the flight controller deploy it when performing a RTH but at the same time I wanted to have a switch on my Taranis also be able to deploy it manually.

    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    This is a good place to start

    http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-servo.html

    So firstly there are 6 aux outputs that output 2 types of signaling,  either "servo" or relay. Servo would be used when the device that you want to control uses PWM input and relay when it requires just 0/3.3 volt input. You can change this combination of servo/relay allocation of those 6 outputs with the parameter BRD_PWM_COUNT. Also consider these parms

    SERVOx_FUNCTION where x is 9 to 14 for AUX 1 to 6 respectively. This parameter will determine what function is performed.

    CHx_OPT where x is the channel number from the receiver. This will determine what function is performed when the PWM is above 1800.

    I recall for my retractable landing gear that was connected to the first aux port I set these as follows.

    SERVO9_FUNCTION 29

    CH9_OPT 29 (Channel 9 on the radio is mapped to a switch)

    • Like 1

  22. Posted · Report reply

    5 hours ago, erfan said:

    tried to change servo*_function to Rc Thru or landing gear , but it didn't work.

    I know that the its possible as I had configured retractable landing gear on a HexCopter. Initially I just had the landing gear control connected directly to a channel on the X8R receiver and so manually controlled by a switch on the X9D but later connected it to the first AUX port of the Pixhawk so that the landing gear would automatically deploy on a RTH. I'll check my notes on how I did that. 

  23. Posted · Edited by Spitfire76 · Report reply

    Looks like these guys have done a great job of using drones in eduction in Russia. Warning the video is long but if you are interested in using drones in education worth the time to watch.

    P.S I pulled this out of another thread that I created in the DIY category.

     

     

  24. Posted · Report reply

    After watching all the sessions this has to be my favorite. Its a Russian company that focuses on using drones in education and it looks like that they have done a fantastic job. Warning this video is very long but if you are interested in using drones in education its really worth the time.

     

  25. Posted · Report reply

    7 hours ago, Av8Chuck said:

    Aurdupilot and PX4 used to be the same thing

    Yes, I believe that was back when 3DR were still involved with DIY. My understanding is that the licensing is also no longer same. Ardupilot uses the GPL licensing and PX4 uses BSD licensing. The difference is that with GPL any contribution to the code has to be shared whereas with the BSD version that PX4 is using it does not and its why its favored by companies like Yuneec. 

     

    8 hours ago, Av8Chuck said:

    Lorenze is an interesting guy.

    He recently founded https://auterion.com which like RedHat is for enterprise Linux they provide enterprise PX4 software. They received $10M in seed funding last year.