Airplane mode

Perry · Post by **Perry** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:29 pm

YESSS!!!!
Thankyou very much PatrikE
Today I tested my aircraft in gyro mode and the level mode, and they work fine.
I am very happy, the model flies smoothly and without jerks, spectacular, icredibile!
It seems to run on a railway!
Bye

Rivelino · Post by **Rivelino** » Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:11 pm

Hi,
My project is:
I made a Micro Drone with : ailerons (can be connected with Y cable), motor and V-tail.
Someone can pointing me to correct settings for that type of plane ?
FC is Crius LITE with added sensors: baro and mag
Next , i will be connected a Gps and a Mobidrone OSD for FPV.
Airplane mode can make a RTH with GPS ?

Any resposes are welcomed.
Regards,
Rivelino

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:52 pm

There's no V-tail mixer for airplane.
Some mod is needed!
But can be connected via y cable as elevators.

Otherwise i think you can set it up like a normal plane.
Setup Guide

Airplane mode can make a RTH with GPS ?

Sorry not yet... :cry:

frog32 · Post by **frog32** » Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:29 pm

what happened to your rth implementation for airplanes? i thought you had a flying prototype.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:22 pm

So thought to!..
But it's driving me insane!

Sometimes it seems to work flawless.
Next time it can fly away in any directon..

I start to belive something in may plane is the cause!
It's small and all components is packed close together.

I get no feedback from others!
So I don't know if anyone else even tested it!

It looks right on the table but behaves randomly in the air.

Flight testing a plane needs much more free area than a quad!

Need another rig to test on.
A rc car or some kind of ground wiecle would be nice on a parkinglot.

rbirdie001 · Post by **rbirdie001** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:28 pm

Patrick,
I'm also observing fixed wing RTH with big interest and thank you for your work on the MWC airplane mode! My problem is that I'm not able to code or doing any bigger corrections in it so I need quite "pre-cooked" solution. If you can post actual version with some comments helping to setup it and telling what works fine and what problems you have encountered, I (and maybe some other "non coders) will test it. (But unfortunately now the winter is coming and here in Czech it isn't much warmer than in Sweden so it may take long time to test it... :-)

)
Roman

frog32 · Post by **frog32** » Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:46 pm

o ordered a second gps because i don't want to test this with my knurrus maximus fpv.
did you try putting a logger on the plane to verify if gps data is sane? maybe you got some interference during flight. you use a compass to navigate. maybe the main power line is next to the compass which could lead to wrong readings. you could use the gps direction which should be fine if you got a certain speed.

just some ideas maybe there's something you didn't already think of

faraz · Post by **faraz** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 4:50 am

Hi Patrick,
I really appreciate your work on Multiwii Airplane Mode.. I am anxiously awaiting your fresh updates on RTH functionality .. thanks

crashlander · Post by **crashlander** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:16 am

@PatrikE: would RTH and/or PH also worked with Flying Wing (I have one at hand)? If yes where is your latest/most tested code that supports those GPS functions?

Regards
Andrej

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:05 pm

@Andrej
The Gps Code run before Mixtable and will work for all FixedWing models.
Check the Airplane mode RTH thread created by Sebbi for latest ver

It's getting to cold for test flights in my area.
-10°C and 5-10m/s wind direct from Sibiria Is not nice flying wether

Youll freeze the fingers and the ***** of!

And it will be worse!...

notes.
There is a known problem with MAG if it's tilted over ~25 degrees It shows totally wrong. (This is Not the case in ArduPilot)
Mag can also be effected by Battery cables routed to close!

Good luck testing

//Patrik

*Censured.

davidd · Post by **davidd** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:07 am

Hello,
let me introduce myself:
* I'm fresh new in MultiWii (and in Arduino too) board.
* I have KK-ControlBoard with own firmware which is controlling my 4-Aileron Delta (Flying Wing) without rudder. There is only 3-axis gyro.
I selected MultiWii because it contains Accel, Gyro, Barometer and & GPS. And I'd like to transfer existing functionality to the MultiWii.
You can check what I already have (note: Only DELTA4 modes are tested in the air)
http://www.volny.cz/ddoubrava/AVR_uC/HK ... Board.html

Any comment appreciated.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 1:09 am

I'm modifying the code to move the servo settings to the Gui.
It eliminates the repeted change and upload procedure.

Use Gui together with the sketch in the file.
Servotest.zip
Press the SERVO button to get to the settings.
Press save to save to Eeprom.
Exit switches back to standard Gui.
Abort is for unsaved changes.

Please test and report back.

vpb · Post by **vpb** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 4:30 am

Hi PatrikE, very happy to see that you still take focus on airplane mode, cause I have a spare Crius SE and want to use it in my FPV plane. Does it warm up? and have you tested the new AIRPLANE RTH yet?

Gimbal · Post by **Gimbal** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:29 am

Cheesus, look's really nice, will test it in the weekend when I'm back from France.
Anders

frog32 · Post by **frog32** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:28 pm

@PatrikE: it is very difficult to see the actual code changes, what's de version of multiwii you started with? i like to diff it and try to review the actual code instead of just putting it on a plane and try to guess what it supposed to be doing.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:43 pm

It's based on _shared branch.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:24 pm

Basicly added to Eeprom
#define SERVO_RATES
#define SERVO_DIRECTION
#define SERVO_OFFSET

And in serial
MSP_SERVO_CONF
MSP_SET_SERVO_CONF

In output.
Changed mixer to use values from Eeprom instead of from #define xxx

In Gui.
Graphics, serialcom and logic around it.

copterrichie · Post by **copterrichie** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:31 pm

Way to go PatrikE, there is lots of room in Eeprom and many other define statements should go there too.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:49 pm

Yeah....
But there's so many cases depending on whats defined!
I'm not shure what MSP i can use!

sacarlson · Post by **sacarlson** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:23 am

Hi PatrikE
I've been playing with the flying wing mode of Multiwii on two of my wings now. One of the wings is a small 89cm wing span I call my S3 and another bigger M2 wing that is 138cm wing span. At this point I'm only playing with fly by wire modes and having problems getting stable flight even with just gyro. The elevon servos seem to osculate at any P setting much above 1. I've now added the gyro filter mode set to 20,20 that seemed to help some in ground tests. So I tested a total now of about 6 flights with my last 3 flights P settable from Aux4 nob of my TH9X radio. Even with P settable in flight I can't seem to find a good stable setting. Has anyone used the ITG3205 Triple Axis Gyro chip for this mode on wings of this size? If so what settings of PID or other have been found to work or would you suggest I might try? I'm presently baseline my software on Multiwii 2.1. For More details of my experiments flight history and settings, software and hardware used can be seen in my article http://wings.surething.biz/?p=954 . Also I've been watching this forum and see you making software changes but I don't see the changes reflected in the multiwii svn MultiWii_shared or any place else. What author name might I search to see your changes in svn? Is there another svn or git branch location that you publish your changes to? If not I would suggest you do so and provide a commitish or reference tag as to were the present change discussed is so that we can look at the diff of what was modified. I personally prefer git (example http://github.com) but svn with Google works about the same. Just my 2 cents. Otherwise you've put in a wonderful effort so far, keep it up. Your documentation on your web site is fantastic. I'm having fun playing with what you've created and I will participate any way I can to help make improvements and feedback my test results and software changes that I try.

Hamburger · Post by **Hamburger** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 11:48 am

Hi sacarlson,
let me chime in here if you don't mind. I was among the first to use and develop the FlyingWing mode further - it is kinda separated from Airplane mode for historical reasons mostly.
On my 50cm FW this is what I used:

Code: Select all

#define MAXTHROTTLE 2000
#define ITG3200_LPF_20HZ
#define GYRO_SMOOTHING {40, 40, 1}    // separate averaging ranges for roll, pitch, yaw

with Roll&Pitch PID= 3, .01, 15

May I recomment to compile in LCD_CONF in LCD_TTY mode to tune parameters from the serial monitor in arduino IDE if you do not have another display attached? Better yet, get a bluetooth module and use your smartphone at the field.

sacarlson · Post by **sacarlson** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:18 am

Thanks Hamberger. This looks like just what I needed. I've already plugged the values you gave me into my code and compiled it. I was about to try to load it into my multiwii pro card but I found my last crash seems to have broken off the micro usb connector off my HK multiwii pro card, so I can't give it a try just yet. The card still works, it's just missing one connector. To bad I didn't ask you guys before the crash. Maybe it would have never happened. If I have any more questions would this be the correct forum to ask them in? I would think the only real difference with the wings to planes is with elivon mixing. I would think similar problems and solutions will be encountered. I plan to try auto level also and wonder if those PID values will require changes also. I guess with your (Hambergers's ) 50cm wing span at that size it would almost be a necessity to have stabilization. I don't think I've ever flown anything that small. The small craft I have flown get squirly as they get smaller. Maybe when I get this working I'll have to try build a smaller wing to give it a try. I've also setup a github.com repository to display all my changes and present configs I'll be making and possibly have others add to it if they wish at https://github.com/sacarlson/multiwii . I see I'm not the first as there are now 143 different multiwii repositories on github.com now. I've based mine on the present svn seen on google that can be merged again at any time.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:50 am

There's a FlyingWing thread in the forum to.
But it's ok to write here to.
As you say the only difference is the servo mixes.

Auto level should work for you.
You may need some Low Pass Filter for Acc (ACC_LPF_FACTOR)

The HK multiwii pro have a FTDI port pinned out and can be programmed with a $5 programmer.

/Patrik

sacarlson · Post by **sacarlson** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:10 am

I was able to find a solution for my lost usb connector. I got a computer tech to solder the usb cable wires direct to the multiwii card. So with this I was able to try Hamburgers new values of PID and gyro filters. I was also able to install the SVN version and compile and load it now. With the new values it seems to be working perfect. I detect no more servo oscillation with gyro stabilize active. Even with higher P gain values that are now settable with my AUX4 nob on the r/c radio as an adjustment. I don't note any servo oscillation even at higher P gain settings. I also don't notice any changes in elevon servo movement with changes in throttle as I was seeing before. This is now running the SVN version that might be a part of that. On the bad side I note that I don't see any values of ACC xyz changes visible in the config gui, even if the card is moved. This might be due to that I'm still running the 2.1 version of gui on the SVN version now running in the card in this test. In any case I think it's ready for another flight test that I have planed for tomaro. If the r/c radio receiver passes it's range test I will go ahead and give it a try. The range test is needed to verify that the receiver survived the last crash without damage. All changes in code and configs used in this test are published on https://github.com/sacarlson/multiwii/c ... 72ae5d2a36. Wish me luck! And thanks again for your assistance.

Update:
I found I had an error on the accelerometer chip I had selected that is now corrected that makes ANGLE mode now work correctly. I also tried Hamburgers's values in MultiWii version 2.1 and everything also worked there too. my updated git for the SVN of multiwii_shared now shows my now present corrected values for the HK MultiWii pro card with working accelerometers: https://github.com/sacarlson/multiwii/c ... 34dcbe1627 ,so this is what will now fly tomaro.

ranjeet_naidu · Post by **ranjeet_naidu** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:15 am

Hi guys I am fairly new to MultiWii.

My setup is an Arduino nano V3 with GY-80 chinese board on a modified easy star one with ailerons. I want to know what PID settings to use? Should the control surfaces move quick with short bursts or should it be smooth? Please help.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:13 pm

The control surfaces move relative to how fast you move the plane.
If you want smoother moves you can use
#define GYRO_SMOOTHING {20, 20, 1}

Higher numbers smoothens more.
Never set lower than 1....

rbirdie001 · Post by **rbirdie001** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:42 pm

Hi!
I'm finally building airplane suitable for autonomous flying - until now I tested Multiwii only for stabilization. I'd like to know if:
1) Baro is used in airplane mode and therefore altitude hold should work?
2) For (BETA) fixed wing GPS navigation a magnetometer is needed or not.
Spring is close

only about 2 months...
Thanks
Roman

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:53 pm

Hi.
Baro is not used in airplane.
Only Gps altitude.

If there's a mag it's used at small tilt angles otherwise Gps is used.

Mandatory for navigation is.
Gyro, Acc & Gps.

rbirdie001 · Post by **rbirdie001** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:21 pm

PatrikE wrote:Hi.
Baro is not used in airplane.
Only Gps altitude.

If there's a mag it's used at small tilt angles otherwise Gps is used.

Mandatory for navigation is.
Gyro, Acc & Gps.

Thanks!
I already ordered all-in-one board so I should have also MAG and BARO anyway. Do I understand that also heading hold with the MAG is not implemented in airplane?
Do you think that for the slow plane could be sufficient older GPS with 1Hz refresh?
Thanks for the oppinion!
Roman

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:51 pm

Iw'e never tested it on a plane.
But the Yaw code is the same as for Copter.
HH should controll the rudder.

I don't think Plane need as fast updaterate as the Copters.
1 Hz can work.

rbirdie001 · Post by **rbirdie001** » Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:36 pm

Hi!
I just got my Crius Lite board and completed Multiplex Easystar to put it in. Still very cold here in Czech, but soon should improve.
I'm planning upload fixed wing navigation software into the board and when weather allows to do some tests with it.
Newest FW navig software I found is from 26.1.2013 and my question is:
Is it good version to start with?
Is there planned soon another version (MWC 2.2 is coming so maybe you are planning to do some merging ,Patrick, to be up to date...)
I'm really not the person who likes everything "super fresh" but I know that once a new MWC version is released, immediately old version dies.
I want to use I2C GPS for navigation. Is that MWC version compatible with R62 I2C GPS version?
Sorry for too many teoretic questions. Weather is bad so I can work only on the table

Thanks!
Roman

Lapino · Post by **Lapino** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:04 am

How is the pinout for flyduino mega with 2 wing servos? I found a diagram but the servos don't respond... just give some jitterish noise.
And how to set up flaperons? Sry if I missed that somewhere

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:25 am

Tis is the part who controlls the flaps.

Code: Select all


Flapperons
//#define FLAPPERONS                 AUX4                // Use Aileroins as Flaps .
#define FLAPPERON_EP                  { 1500, 1700 }  // Endpooints for flaps on a 2 way switch
#define FLAPPERON_INVERT             { 1, -1 }           // Change direction of flaps

Make flaps move slow Higher value is Higher Speed. Effects Both types of flaps.
//#define FLAPSPEED     3

FLAPPERON_EP { 1500, 1700 } Change to suit your plane.
1500 should be neutral point on the ailerions.
1700 should be Fully deflected.

This have Worked in previuos versions.

You can test to enable
//#define MEGA_HW_PWM_SERVOS
In the code it seem that servos will not work without it.

I use ProMini based boards and have missed this change.
Pleale report back if i ned to update the guide.
How-to-setup-multiwii-airplane-Guide

Good luck.
/Patrik

Lapino · Post by **Lapino** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:35 pm

Hi Patrik,

the HW_PWM define unfortunately didn't do the trick. actually it made everything worse as I didn't get any signal at the D-Pins.
As I have a flyduino Mega there are only Pins D1-D13 and 30-33 available. How can I change the pinout for the signals? (http://flyduino.net/documents/Flydumega_manual.pdf )

thanks in advance

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:01 pm

A modified def.h to move servos.
Pins
34,35,33 & 37
To
10,9,8,7

Replace original def.h with this one.

Lapino · Post by **Lapino** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:39 pm

Thank you, i'll try that tomorrow and let you know if it worked

Lapino · Post by **Lapino** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:20 pm

Well it didn't work out...nothing moves. i also registered some laggy behaviour when using mw2.2 with frsky ppmsum but that's another topic

I'll have a deeper look at it later. Thank you though

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:02 am

Sorry i made a misstake.
The def.h is not V2.2.

This def.h is working on V2.2

Also note Original AirplaneMix don't use all servos.
Only D2,D3,D5,D6,D7 with this mod.
Or
D2,D3,D5,D6,D37 with original.

You need to modify the code or use Flaps to enable more servos.

Mis · Post by **Mis** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:03 pm

Leatest software dev version have 8 hardware PWM's servo output on Mega boards. This work after uncommenting "#define MEGA_HW_PWM_SERVOS" and servo outputs are:
CamPitch = pin 44
CamRoll = pin 45
CamTrig = pin 46
SERVO4 = pin 11 (aileron left for fixed wing)
SERVO5 = pin 12 (aileron right for fixed wing)
SERVO6 = pin 6 (rudder for fixed wing)
SERVO7 = pin 7 (elevator for fixed wing)
SERVO8 = pin 8 (motor for fixed wing)

Additionally Gimbal servos can be stretched.

Szychor · Post by **Szychor** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:37 pm

Ok i need little help with my strange problem. I connected everything to arduino nano as its in PatrikE tutorial and when i power up everything ESC is constantly beeping. Cant start motor even when i arm board with switch i get only fast beeping . All stick work correctly moving ailerons ,elevator and rudder. So any suggestions what to do ?

Little update :
Problem solved. It was too high min command for esc. I lowered it to 1000 and it works.

Szychor · Post by **Szychor** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:20 pm

Ok i got another problem. I got ARM under switch and when i arm the board, motor starts instantly something like in quadcopter. So i want to make that when i arm board the motor wouldnt start until i give more throttle. I tried to change min command , min throttle, and max throttle and no effect. Any suggestion what parameter need to change to do that effect ?

Lapino · Post by **Lapino** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:38 pm

Define motor_stop maybe

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:19 pm

Lapino wrote:Define motor_stop maybe

Or lower MINTHROTTLE to 1000 because it's easier to find in config.

And make shure throttleChannel reaches down to ~1000

You can test to use my TestDev where you can setup the plane from Gui.
MINTHROTTLE can also be adjusted from Gui.
MAXTHROTTLE Ned to be adjusted to 2000 instead of 1850 to reach full throttle.
https://multiwii.googlecode.com/svn/branches/PatrikE/Servotest.zip

I'm working on a new one but this one works fine.

Szychor · Post by **Szychor** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:53 pm

Ok i think i have wierd ESC min throttle must be 900 and max must be 1850 , other setting starts motor immediately.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:34 pm

Calibrate Esc?....

Szychor · Post by **Szychor** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:51 pm

I did calibration but it doesnt do anything , its ESC fault i changed to one from my quad and it work as supposed to.

macinr · Post by **macinr** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:57 pm

copterrichie wrote:This would be a very interesting implementation: https://store.diydrones.com/Kit_MPXV700 ... 2dp-01.htm

I have seen tons of differential pressure sensors on ebay for less then 10 bucks the the above comes with everything needed.

I did my best to sift through this thread but did not see anything with regards to using airspeed sensors to adjust the rate of corrective action?

My interest is within the realm of Dynamic Soaring sailplanes... currently the record is 498mph, just this past monday a bunch of people were flying 450+... more at http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... 4&page=169

In any case - some people have experimented using single axis gyros from helicopters but I got to thinking that someone must be using a MultiWii board for airplane stabilization, and then a quick google search led me to this thread. I was happy to see the current code supports dual ailerons and flaps.

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:36 pm

It exists a dev with MPXV7002DP but it's not merged to public.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2450

macinr · Post by **macinr** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:34 pm

Thanks for finding and posting the link above. Next question I couldn't seem to find:

Ailerons can have independent inputs - meaning one per aileron - such that you can have differential (ailerons do not move down as much as moving up) or move both ailerons in the same direction - aka flapperons. I see that FLAPPERONS exists in the code, which is great. The test aircraft I'm using has flaps & ailerons (all independently controlled). My plan is to bypass the FC and plug the flaps directly into the receiver.

Is it possible to have one input/channel per aileron?

PatrikE · Post by **PatrikE** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:51 am

The current Mixer don't have differential outputs.
It's simplified and uses only rates in percent.

It's a small change to rewrite the mixer with separate endpoints instead.

Is it possible to have one input/channel per aileron?

If you don't want gyro Yes.
But the code only support one TX-input per gyro-axis.
The code can probably be changed an add a extra channel. But that's over my league...

But i imagine you think about differential aileron outputs and then switching to endpoints is enough.