zozie
Aug 12, 2008, 11:22 PM
Well after 3 months of nonstop research and coding it is finally done. My plug and play control system that will work on any plane/heli that allows you to control your machine from your computer with a joystick.
I'd prefer not to get into details about the modem used at this point but it's the biggest one you can get without a radio license.
Advantages: You have a 40 mile radio range with virtually no interference. I've tried to get it to glitch but it won't. The modem uses about 50 frequencies at the same time and verifies the state of all servos compared to the joystick 1000 times per sec. I work at an int'l airport where you get a lot of radio signals and it ranges checked perfect for 3 kilometers and missed 1(!) bit from 2 gigs of data which is impressive in my opinion.
Anyways coding all this toke me about 3 months. I scratch built a program to convert signals from my serial port that my servos can understand. (fairly straight forward using c#/c++)
This is where it gets funny. You could use Micro$oft's directX library to program the joystick, but I opted for a cross platform solution so I hard coded my USB joystick using ANSI C, so It also runs on Linux or a MAC. I am using DirectX in the video due to the fact that most people use Windows and this way you can even use an XBOX controller if you like. Not sure about that you can
The data I'm sending over to the rx of the modem is encrypted using 256 bit encryption so even a hacker with nothing better to do would have a hard time crashing it....
So now finally it's all ready, the servo response time is acceptable, may not be as fast as a DX7 but certainly faster than my 9C. I pretty much wrote all the mixing functions one could think of as well. CCPM(3-4 servo) mechanical......
Info like gyro gain is delivered every mili second and in-flight adjustable amongst other things. I'm now in the process of boxing it all up and putting it on my vario benzine. I'll also need a 3cell lipo with about 10000MAH for the modems. Autohover is achieved with a 3 Axis gyro, compass, GPS and 2 accelerometers for an artificial horizon, as it was proven during first hover that I need to re-learn the concept of flying with a joystick.
In case of an unlikely radio failure, it goes into auto hover
I'll make a flying video as well this week.
Lemme know what you think and ask questions if you have any.
Sorry for the lenghty post and the ugly video but I just wanted to share.
(I had a previous post here a few months back but then I gave up on the idea due to crashing my r90 a few times......)
So far I've been a bit more successfull (lucky) then before, ~30 mins of flying time without any mishaps.
For now the platform is an E50 raptor on 10S lipo but once it's tested and proven safe, will move it into my Vario Benzine for endurance and lifting power :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eJgTgWBwQA
I'd prefer not to get into details about the modem used at this point but it's the biggest one you can get without a radio license.
Advantages: You have a 40 mile radio range with virtually no interference. I've tried to get it to glitch but it won't. The modem uses about 50 frequencies at the same time and verifies the state of all servos compared to the joystick 1000 times per sec. I work at an int'l airport where you get a lot of radio signals and it ranges checked perfect for 3 kilometers and missed 1(!) bit from 2 gigs of data which is impressive in my opinion.
Anyways coding all this toke me about 3 months. I scratch built a program to convert signals from my serial port that my servos can understand. (fairly straight forward using c#/c++)
This is where it gets funny. You could use Micro$oft's directX library to program the joystick, but I opted for a cross platform solution so I hard coded my USB joystick using ANSI C, so It also runs on Linux or a MAC. I am using DirectX in the video due to the fact that most people use Windows and this way you can even use an XBOX controller if you like. Not sure about that you can
The data I'm sending over to the rx of the modem is encrypted using 256 bit encryption so even a hacker with nothing better to do would have a hard time crashing it....
So now finally it's all ready, the servo response time is acceptable, may not be as fast as a DX7 but certainly faster than my 9C. I pretty much wrote all the mixing functions one could think of as well. CCPM(3-4 servo) mechanical......
Info like gyro gain is delivered every mili second and in-flight adjustable amongst other things. I'm now in the process of boxing it all up and putting it on my vario benzine. I'll also need a 3cell lipo with about 10000MAH for the modems. Autohover is achieved with a 3 Axis gyro, compass, GPS and 2 accelerometers for an artificial horizon, as it was proven during first hover that I need to re-learn the concept of flying with a joystick.
In case of an unlikely radio failure, it goes into auto hover
I'll make a flying video as well this week.
Lemme know what you think and ask questions if you have any.
Sorry for the lenghty post and the ugly video but I just wanted to share.
(I had a previous post here a few months back but then I gave up on the idea due to crashing my r90 a few times......)
So far I've been a bit more successfull (lucky) then before, ~30 mins of flying time without any mishaps.
For now the platform is an E50 raptor on 10S lipo but once it's tested and proven safe, will move it into my Vario Benzine for endurance and lifting power :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eJgTgWBwQA