Quadcopter

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Re: Quadcopter

Postby iflylilplanes » Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:54 am

One other guy to check out is "Simplecopter.com", he's into H and tri copters, you should see what he can do with a tricopter. He has settings as well.
Many Thanks,

Dave W.


Dead Stick Glide Distance: Half the distance from the airplane to the nearest emergency landing field.
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby Jolly-Swagman » Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:27 pm

Yeah cynr100, with your settings on the Quad thaey vary from build to build depending on setup ect of your hardware and Quads final weight
My settings are

Min Thrust - 20 (10-default)
I of P = ON
Link Roll/Pitch = Yes

Roll/Pitch
P Gain - 45
P Limit 100
I Gain 25
I Limit 20

Yaw
P Gain - 60
P Limit 20
I Gain 30
I Limit 10

Self Level

P Gain - 70
P Limit 30
I Gain
I Limit

Stick Scaling
Roll (Aeil) 30
Pit (Ele) 30
Yaw (Rud) 50
Throt 80-90

These have been not too bad, and can be adjusted accordingly to suit flying conditions

George
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:30 pm

Thanks George, really appreciate that.
My present settings are very close to yours (+/- 5 on all points). I wasn't going to follow the recommended path of starting P Gains at 150 then reducing, mine was radically shuddering at 100, I have removed the "shudders" now I need to deal with a small drift.
I need the weather to improve so I can move out into open space, sorting this inside 4 walls can be hazardous to my wallet :lol:
Again, thanks :D
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:20 am

Just a quick update, got the beast outside today and was happy with the result. A few short hops and a little close manouvering (the vid was crap so not posting), one problem came to light, at a little altitude I backed of a small amount of throttle to stop the climb. The quad went into an aileron shudder and hit the deck.............hmmm, not damaged but it did it 3 times. More study of the KK2 required. Later on I lost a prop due to the rubbish way I had installed it, whilst I was sorting that I changed the props from 1045 to 1147's now the quad has nervous jitters no matter what I do to the KK2, so it's back to the 1045's.
The DT750's provide enough lift at 60% that I am not going to bother with the 1147's anymore, also my concerns over the 18amp Turnigy Plush ESC's were unfounded they have handled 2 battery changes and are not even warm.
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:07 am

Finally have a vid up, I did bother with the 1147 props, more stable and less current draw. After 5/6 minutes of yoyo flying the ESC's are barely warm, the poor old 2650maH 20C 3S has a little temperature. It will get a holiday as soon as the 40C Li-po turns up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7waeeShwdk
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:06 am

Has anyone on this forum tried the Hefnycopter firmware for the KK2.0 on a quad or hex, firmware is at the stage where a Arduino HC-SR04 sonic sensor can be used for height hold.
I have a few of these sensors so will more than likely have a tinker with this firmware, just asking before I go barrelling ahead. :lol:
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:50 am

After have stolen every PI setting I could find to locate one that would work (more than one time only) I came to the conclusion that SimonK firmware ESC's were the go.
Having purchased Turnigy Plush ESC's for quality it was disappointing to find that they could not be flashed with the SimonK FW rather another FW that was very complex in its application and no guarantee that the ESC would survive.
I turned to Mongrel Gear
http://www.mongrelgear.com.au/the-mongr ... gory_id=34
and purchased 4 Bird Dog 30A Opto ESC's, now it doesn't matter what PI's I install there is always some degree of control. It is a completely different machine :D
Opto ESC's don't come with BECs so I installed a 5v/3a UBEC to provide power to the KK2.0 this was done by connecting to ch7 on the Rx. Normally power is supplied by ESC through M1 on the board which then provides power to the Rx, I took a punt on a reverse scenario and it worked :o :D
It has now become enjoyable to tool around with rather than a frustrating failure.
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Re: Quadcopter

Postby cynr100 » Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:47 pm

I thought another update was due.
I have spent more money............ :oops: to satisfy my urge for a quad that was reliable.
My numerous poundings around the yard appeared to have damaged the DT750s and the plastic gemfan props. The quad became unstable, again, to the point I lost control and a pot plant assaulted the quad resulting in bent shafts and broken props.
Back to Mongrel Gear for the good stuff, new Bird Dog 900kv motors and carbon 9x5 props. Now it just hums along with factory settings on the KK2.0 v1.5, excepting Roll/Pitch PG at 30. I have put 6 battery packs through her now and even in 15kt wind she is easily managed. I have also graduated from the yard to open paddock, love zipping around at knee height :D .
So far the original cost has doubled to get to this stage, just wish I had gone down the known path originally.
Cost of the current setup:
HK frame - $12
KK2.0 board - $30
HK SBEC - $6
Bird Dog 900kv x 4 - $97
Bird Dog 9x5 carbon props x4 - $35
Bird Dog 30A Opto ESC x 4 - $80

For a total of $260. :)

A few things I have learnt on the way.
1/Use ESCs that have SimonK firmware.
2/Balance the props AND motors.
3/Mount the controller firmly with a little vibration dampening, rely on 2/ for vibration reduction.
4/Resolder any pre "tinned" wires, 60/40 solder does not mix well with 100% factory "tin"
5/CG is important althought the controller can handle small variations.

One more important aspect of the upgrade, my flight time has gone from 5-6 minutes to 12-14 minutes using the same 3S 2650mAh 20-30C pack :mrgreen:
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