Discussion New source for UAVP components- UAVP Info thread

[joeling]

Hi Rusty,

Thanks for your encouragement ! I have lift off ! Still a little twitchy though. No head hold (yaw drift a little). Anyway, I have more questions but have to leave the PC for now as I have a dinner date with the in-laws.











Regards,
Joe Ling

[joeling]

Ok back from dinner & put the wife & kids to sleep. Now for some more questions to Rusty.

1) Eventhough I got the green LED, I'm also getting the adjacent red LED flashing. One green solid LED & one flashing red LED. What could this mean ? I check the manual briefly but there was no explanation on this probable error state.

2) I am getting some Yaw drift. Do I just increase the value of the compass sensor to get a lock ? What was the thing u did not like with the compassed turned on ? How to get better yaw lock without the compass ?

3) I have to trim the sticks a little to get a more stable flight. This probably means that the acc sensor is not properly calibrated. Can I manually adjust this for better non-drift flight ?

4) When I give the uavp some rudder input, I get yaw but also increase in overall throttle of the whole ufo resulting in increase in altitude. Is this normal ? How to adjust for no change in lift when performing yaw ?

Thanks again.

Regards,
Joe Ling

[13brv3]

Hi Joe,

Great to see another UAVP airborne. Congrats.

Originally Posted by joeling

1) Eventhough I got the green LED, I'm also getting the adjacent red LED flashing. One green solid LED & one flashing red LED. What could this mean ? I check the manual briefly but there was no explanation on this probable error state.

Usually this means your battery voltage has dropped below the low voltage threshold you set in UAVPSet. It will be accompanied by a painfully loud beeping if your beeper is hooked up properly. If the beeper is just faintly clicking, it's plugged in back wards. Imagine how I know this

Note that this low voltage alarm latches any time the voltage drops below the threshold. That means if you goose the throttle, and momentarily drop the voltage, it goes off and keeps going off until you reset the UAVP. I've been trying to find a setting that allows me to avoid the alarm, but yet still gives reasonable protection to the battery.

I've suggested that it would be better if it didn't latch, or if it required the battery voltage to be low for a couple seconds before latching, but I don't know that either of those changes will be implemented.

If that's not it, then it's something else

Originally Posted by joeling

2) I am getting some Yaw drift. Do I just increase the value of the compass sensor to get a lock ? What was the thing u did not like with the compassed turned on ? How to get better yaw lock without the compass ?

Read the compass section, near the end of the manual. I just read it myself, since it's new to this version of the manual, and I learned some things I didn't know before. It mentions the slow yaw, which I've seen, but still don't quite understand. I supposed it's yaw gyro drift?

I've got my compass set to 8, and it seems that's as high as you're allowed to set it. I used to have it at 5, so I may go back to that.

It also says the compass mode doesn't kick in until 3 seconds have passed without touching the yaw. Now THAT explains a few things, and I'm going to have to do some more test now that I know that. This is one of the things I didn't like (or understand) about the compass. I couldn't seem to get it to stay where I pointed it. Now I see that it will only stay were it is 3 seconds after point it.

Originally Posted by joeling

3) I have to trim the sticks a little to get a more stable flight. This probably means that the acc sensor is not properly calibrated. Can I manually adjust this for better non-drift flight ?

The file I sent has zeros in the parameters that define "level" for your particular installation. You should set your UAVP on a surface such that the copter is perfectly level, connect the serial cable, and have UAVPSet running. Plug in the battery, and click the "neutral" icon on the left (looks like an aircraft aircraft attitude indicator gyro).

This will generate some parameters for roll, nick, and yaw, and even allow you to save them to the active parameter set. I can't recall if it puts the yaw value in or not, but I don't believe that's used at this time, so I just leave the yaw value at zero.

Originally Posted by joeling

4) When I give the uavp some rudder input, I get yaw but also increase in overall throttle of the whole ufo resulting in increase in altitude. Is this normal ? How to adjust for no change in lift when performing yaw ?

Mine does this too, and I don't know of a way to stop it. I have to admit that I've never really looked into it much either, though it is annoying. I've noticed that one direction of yaw tends to be much worse than the other.

The parameter set I sent has a yaw "limiter" value of 50, which may be too high for the diameter of your copter, and will make yaw really sensitive. You might want to try a lower number, around 30 or so. The 50 was a hold over from a previous experiment with a much larger span between motors. I should probably tone mine down some too.

Cheers,
Rusty

[13brv3]

Here's the best explanation I've found, along with some changes I've made. Sorry I can't recall the original author, but it was on the UAVP international forum.

Rusty




1. Proportional

Means a "answer" of the engines proportional to the rotation of the craft, eg. if it SPINS fast, more force is applied to stop this. this calms down all motions and is central to stability, you can fly with proportional only and all other params at zero.

2. Integral

Means a "gathered" correction, eg. if it spins 15 degree, it applies force until these are reduced to zero. This is NOT SO USEFUL without the linear sensor, as errors accumulate and the craft doesn't know upward direction. With the linear sensor installed, this will level the craft against gravity if no command is given. Without it, the craft stays stable at any angle eg. it flys fast to some direction if stick is neutral. With enough integral, the craft levels itself on neutral and stops if accurately adjusted.


3. Differential

This counteracts fast motions eg jolts etc, vibration etc. Could fly without but makes movement more soft but therefore also less accurate.


4. Limiter

This limits the applied forces and can prevent extreme reactions in extreme situations. The force is also limited to the lowest motor speed set.


5. Integral Limit

This limits the force the Integral can apply. Keeping this low is useful as the integral can make vast errors in complex flight situations (multiple axis turns) so a limit allow you to stick against erratic behavior of the craft. It has been recommended that this remain at 4, but can never be higher than 127 divided by the integral parameter.


'ACC-sensor left/right mix' and 'Acc-sensor fore/alt mix'

Should be kept at zero.


Acc-sensor up/down

You can play with this if you like. It can help maintaining the hovering altitude. Try + or - 1 to 3. Don't get carried away, and don't try it for the first time under a roof. Once again, imagine how I know this

[kb6mcc]

I have my first out door UAVP flight today after many of the in-door learning.

The cheap PWM ESC it working very well to me.

UAVP Quadrocopter 四轴飞行 (4 min 14 sec)

[Arthur P.]

Nice machine.

Somehow I get the impression it isn't completely leveling out itsself, continues drifting in whichever direction you've steered it and that you are purposefully having to try and stop that drift?

What did you use for the "cockpit" cover? And what is that yellowish thing sitting in the middle of your landing gear?

Always nice to see some close-up pics of peoples handiwork

[Arthur P.]

@Joe Ling,

Nice machine. Nice also to see the man (or woman) behind the machine. Would you ever have considered flying a 1-2kg heli in such a confined space?

[joeling]

Hi kb6mcc,

Originally Posted by kb6mcc

I have my first out door UAVP flight today after many of the in-door learning.

The cheap PWM ESC it working very well to me.

I like !

Hi Arthur,

Thanks for your compliments. You're right, flying a heli in the space that I have here is a no no. The QC is definately very controllable & stable.

Hi Rusty,

I have fiddled around with the integral parameter of the YAW. According to the manual, it is an important for YAW control. Well, it did help & yaw is much better now. There is still drift. Maybe it can never be dialled out.

Also working on manual adjustment of the nick & roll neutral setting by manual adjustment of the settings. Still not there yet.

Anyway, weather has been crappy this weekend. So no outdoors testing.

Regards,
Joe Ling

[kb6mcc]

Originally Posted by Arthur P.

Nice machine.

Somehow I get the impression it isn't completely leveling out itsself, continues drifting in whichever direction you've steered it and that you are purposefully having to try and stop that drift?

What did you use for the "cockpit" cover? And what is that yellowish thing sitting in the middle of your landing gear?

Always nice to see some close-up pics of peoples handiwork

Thanks, The cockpit is just a polyform and I use hot glue put it together.
The thing on the middle of the landing gear is two pack of the 800ma 3s lipo battery.

I think is a pilot issue on the drift The pilot have a history that never fly anything outdoor without breaking it within a minute. This flight is a new record..

The frame are make by the fiberglass rod from the kite store. (cheap) I use the dental floss tie them together. (jhonson & johnson wax floss 99cents for 250 yrs) It works very well and better than epoxy. The epoxy crack so easy.

[tend2it]

Originally Posted by kb6mcc

Thanks, The cockpit is just a polyform and I use hot glue put it together.
The thing on the middle of the landing gear is two pack of the 800ma 3s lipo battery.

I think is a pilot issue on the drift The pilot have a history that never fly anything outdoor without breaking it within a minute. This flight is a new record..

The frame are make by the fiberglass rod from the kite store. (cheap) I use the dental floss tie them together. (jhonson & johnson wax floss 99cents for 250 yrs) It works very well and better than epoxy. The epoxy crack so easy.

Sweet looking quadro ... like the whiffle balls ... if you want more in-the air distinction ... you might want to switch the color for the front ... I use white and it works wonders ...

That cool frame kinda reminds me of this one ... http://www.rc-luftbilder.de/modelle/ufo/xufo.htm ... can you post some detailed pics of yours ... I want to make a landing rack similar using kite parts ...

--Eric--

[13brv3]

Great to see all the new UAVP's flying

Eventually, all those misguided "Thermal Intelligence" boys will come over to our side

Cheers,
Rusty (causing trouble)

[Old Man Mike]

Originally Posted by 13brv3

Great to see all the new UAVP's flying

Eventually, all those misguided "Thermal Intelligence" boys will come over to our side

Cheers,
Rusty (causing trouble)

Hey, don't make me post my pimped out UAVP Kquad here. At least I have both types of quads so that one is always available to fly when things get too confusing with the UAVP. Just ask Rusty how difficult it is to remember what PIC device is in the UAVP......

Mike

[13brv3]

Originally Posted by Old Man Mike

Just ask Rusty how difficult it is to remember what PIC device is in the UAVP......

Mike

Just checking to see if you were paying attention

Rusty (can neither confirm, nor deny ordering an MK)

[joeling]

Hi Rusty,

i have just ordered a barometric sensor board from the shop & would like your guidance on how to hook it up to the uavp. Is v3.14 suitable to support this sensor ?

Regards,
Joe Ling

PS : after u build & successful fly the MK, I will follow suit to get some free advice ok ?

[41south]

Just ordered mine too! How is that crash testing of 3.14 going Rusty