AfroMini in a Plane Hints ?

[Plüschi]

My "on the way" afromini should go into an easyglider.

Are there some instructions / links on how to set up the thing?

Is the actual baseflight baro code good for airplanes?

I made up a way to use GPS data to find the heading and merge this with the gyro data. In my tarduino testbed with navi_sim emulating the gps it works nicely as long as the plane moves forward. This way afromini + gps should be able to do RTH or waypoint. No mag needed ...

[timecop]

Hiya,
It should "just work".
I think i recently committed something that enables baro alt hold on planes (it added a new cli variable). All of this is untested.
There's some people who had naze32's in planes/flying wings, so.. it works at least to some degree
The S1..S4 servos are mapped according to the mixer, probably no documentation but you can peek in airplaneMixer() code to see which one goes where.

[PatrikE]

I have tested using baropid on Arduinoboard but it needs more work to fly properly!
It kept altitude but it was flying like a dolphin so it's way to powerful as it is.
I don't recommend using it as it works now!

[brm]

I have tested using baropid on Arduinoboard but it needs more work to fly properly!
It kept altitude but it was flying like a dolphin so it's way to powerful as it is.
I don't recommend using it as it works now!

what about softer pid settings?
and pid calculations have a problem anyway in planes.

edit: you may google for phugoid motion on real planes.

[PatrikE]

I just tested it on my RTH FixedWing dev.
And it uses same Pid's as BaroPID.
With proper PID tuning it's probably possible to tame it.
I haven't checked TC's implementation just my own homebrew.

[Plüschi]

Is your version available ?

[timecop]

I think he's referring to fixedwingnav tarduino branch.

i.e. http://code.google.com/p/multiwii/source/detail?r=1660

[felixrising]

So, I've got a Acro Naze32 on a small wing, but looking at a AfroMini instead... is rc pin 4 (and pin5) broken out on the AfroMini or do we need to get out our magnifying glass and fine soldering iron?

[timecop]

You mean UART? Of course, its on the bottom as rx/tx pads.

[felixrising]

Yes, UART Nice... that could come in handy... so when are you cooking up another batch?

[timecop]

Waiting for stencil, I switched to BMP180 baro (old one is EOL), so I had to redo pcb. Should be in a couple days.

[Plüschi]

I did maiden fly my Easystar today. Its still alive (!) and now ready for the AfroMini.

I like to have stabilized / normal on a switch, but i was not able to find such a setting. Is there a simple solution to switch off all stabilizing?

Edit: found it. PASSTHRU_MODE

[Plüschi]

I did maiden fly my AfroMini today. Its still alive (!)

Works like expected. Acro / Angle / Horizon switch works, Passtrough works.
I had very small PID values to avoid that constant servo movements. Going to up those tomorrow.

Althold (baro) was difficult. I had the impression the plane pulled up when too low, but once i think it didnt stop climbing. How should i package the baro so it doesent get wind pressure?
Is there a way to properly test althold? Again i had the PID very low, I = zero to avoid pumping. Any tips?

[brm]

I did maiden fly my AfroMini today. Its still alive (!)

Works like expected. Acro / Angle / Horizon switch works, Passtrough works.
I had very small PID values to avoid that constant servo movements. Going to up those tomorrow.

Althold (baro) was difficult. I had the impression the plane pulled up when too low, but once i think it didnt stop climbing. How should i package the baro so it doesent get wind pressure?
Is there a way to properly test althold? Again i had the PID very low, I = zero to avoid pumping. Any tips?

DSC_0139.jpg

first add a small deadzone then
add a pt1 element with a cutoff frquency of 20 to 40 hz for the servos.
this would dampen the changes.

a cascaded pi loop would also be nice - maybe this would be better for gimbals...

the baro needs more work... the p value needs to be a function of the altitude.
lower pressure means lower p settings.

[Plüschi]

I have done a dozen flights with afromini and taranis now and this works good. The taranis speaks out altitude and Vbatt nicely. Vario works but the constant beeping is somewhat disturbing.
Above 200m height i start to feel unsafe. If i loose the plane out of sight it gets difficult to find it again. I need a GPS telling me bearing and distance to home. Accurate enough to "manually" fly the plane back.

I dont want to invent new things, i would like to use the existing frsky telemetry path and the existing taranis telemetry display. Which messages should i use to have bearing + distance displayed?

[noobee]

any chance you would consider an ms5611-based baro in the future?

thanks!

Waiting for stencil, I switched to BMP180 baro (old one is EOL), so I had to redo pcb. Should be in a couple days.

[timecop]

Not until it stops being way too expensive.

[bhines]

I have done a dozen flights with afromini and taranis now and this works good. The taranis speaks out altitude and Vbatt nicely. Vario works but the constant beeping is somewhat disturbing.
Above 200m height i start to feel unsafe. If i loose the plane out of sight it gets difficult to find it again. I need a GPS telling me bearing and distance to home. Accurate enough to "manually" fly the plane back.

I dont want to invent new things, i would like to use the existing frsky telemetry path and the existing taranis telemetry display. Which messages should i use to have bearing + distance displayed?

would you post your pids please? going to fly a wing, but never tuned naze32 before so nice to have a place to start.

first add a small deadzone then
add a pt1 element with a cutoff frquency of 20 to 40 hz for the servos.
this would dampen the changes

WhaT? how

[Gaijin]

Excellent,

Ublox Neo-6M and AfroMini in the post, I plan to use it for RTH on failsafe / panic in an FPV Delta Wing.

Would someone mind extracting and posting the servo out layout from airplaneMixer for those of us less able e.g left elevon to Servo 1, right elevon to Servo 2 etc

It might be worth adding a little more board space for a GPS pin header breakout on the next revision, it would be nice and neat to just plug the gps straight in drawing the 5v supply straight from the servo input rails without making a Y cable.

At £30 for one of these and a Neo6M GPS it's an awesome solution for Fixed wing FPV pilots, these will sell like gangbusters when the word gets out.

P.s If I connect a battery or bec to the PPM Input Or servo outputs will it pass through to supply a bluetooth module connected to the serial connection, I'm planning to bury mine in the foam eventually.

[Plüschi]

It might be worth adding a little more board space for a GPS pin header breakout on the next revision

+1

[crashlander]

It might be worth adding a little more board space for a GPS pin header breakout on the next revision

+1

After soldering pins on bottom and pull them out with pcb and than finished with soldering wires directly on MCU legs....
+1

[timecop]

Weeeelllll this stuff was never planned to use GPS since its for like you know, miniquads right?

[crashlander]

Weeeelllll this stuff was never planned to use GPS since its for like you know, miniquads right?

Cool! But since you forgot to put DJI like disclaimer/warning we all find it nice for mini (and not so mini) planes

[timecop]

shit, DJI makes plane frames now?
* quickly editing product description

[Gaijin]

They will now, everyone knows they monitor TC's every action rather than innovate themselves, he probably has a flock of surveillance phantom's watching him at all times!

[crashlander]

shit, DJI makes plane frames now?
* quickly editing product description

Ups...
Not to my knowledge...
I meant that Afro mini is missing disclaimer that is should not be used on any DJI products + planes

[Truglodite]

DJI planes...

Weeeelllll this stuff was never planned to use GPS since its for like you know, miniquads right?

Just my $.02...
You may have designed the mini with only small copters in mind, however there are some truths that form the matrix of demand for GPS with the mini. 1) Lighter and smaller FC boards are always better no matter what you fly (small or big, F=ma), 2) the mini board is cheaper, 3) a smaller PCB is required for some planes with small fuses (probably nothing DJI will make), 4) additional I/O (beyond the mini) is rarely required in projects that fit under items 1-3 (most FPV'ers have all they need in a mini), and 5) onboard compasses often succumb to inteference (especially bigger rigs with more current, which renders Naze32 a waste of space, weight, & a 5883... unless you are one of the rare dudes who needs the extra I/O and Naze).

Considering all the above, IMHO the mini beats the full Naze from every angle except when it comes to the pinouts. Honestly to me, the lack of pins is an insignificant annoyance in the scope building a typical "gps aircraft". However I imagine many folks are spending extra money and time to shoehorn the full board in a tight spot, just because they lack finer soldering tasks. It's even sadder to think that plane-RTH does not even listen to the 5883. It wouldn't be this way if the mini just had ~1/8" more PCB to place 6 extra pins (maybe 7 pins, because 3v3 is also nice to have). I highly doubt miniquad guys would raise hell about a few extra pins... plus have you seen how many ppl are using GPS on 250s? It's understandable why they do it. Mini's are meant to crash, which means they have a much higher chance of needing GPS coords to recover their tiny frames from deep grass/shrubs/etc. I don't ever use anything but acro on my mini, but the GPS has made some otherwise impossible recoveries very quick/easy.

Kev

[PatrikE]

It's even sadder to think that plane-RTH does not even listen to the 5883.

Actually it does!..
But not the Baro!

[leocopter]

I've noticed some activity on making the CJMCU board/frame work with Baseflight. Would Baseflight support brushed motors on the Afromini 32 ? Could it be done by adding FETs to the board ? I've built a few successful X darts and x4s with the MicroMWC boards ... The Afromini 32 would certainly be superior to that.

[timecop]

... ? it has supported brushed motors since several months ago.
just set motor_pwm_rate to > 500, like 8000 (noisy) or 16000 (less noisy) or 32000 (amazing) etc, and make your own brushed drivers. there was a pic of some guy who fit them all into the motor pads breakout area, very neatly.