Learning FPV

[Kilby]

Hey everyone,

I just started to fly FPV with my 'Creep' tricopter a few weeks back and have about a dozen batteries of flight time so far. Below is a video that I wanted to share of my second time out. It's a little erratic, but this was the first flight on the new airframe and I was trying to see how it handled. I also had all three props setup as ccw, so it was leaning to the left pretty bad, which also caused it to drift when the Flymentor would attempt to correct that lean. All in all it was a good experience, but I should be in a much better place in my next outing since I've fixed all these problems and then some. I've also upgraded from the 100mW vTX to a 600mW. I'm hoping that my range is greatly expanded since I was only getting about 100 + yards before.

 

[matwelli]

Nice work, I have yet to try FPV on a multirotor, helped a friend do it last weekend, very hard to keep track of height and drift (and hes a veteran heli/3d pilot) so your second attempt is awesome ! you did well, esp flying low over the fences/barriers.

Must be a kick to see yourself from the tricopter, sitting on the stand

 

[Droider]

Yo matwell you having your sugar puffs I'm just about to have me curry!
Nice Kilby.. do you have any OSD of orientation height etc. You certainly did better than my mates first attempt.

I am looking at it but want to get OSD of the horizon pitch roll height bla bal bal

Whats the make of your set up?

Dave

 

[Kilby]

Thanks guys. Dave, I do have an OSD, but did not have it installed yet in this run. I'll actually be installing it this weekend (as long as I get the shipment I'm waiting on tomorrow). It's a Remzibi OSD that I found out about on DIYDrones.com. It shows altitude, battery voltage, direction & distance home among other things. My main concern was that I could see altitude and battery voltage. The horizion i'm not as concerned about, I just use the real horizion when possible.

I'm flying a custom carbon fiber tricopter called the "Creep". It was built by a user over at RCGroups.com, Johnorama. I had him modify it slightly from his original design and so far i've been nothing but pleased with the frame. Prior to that I built several frames myself from wood while testing different sizes & configurations. I ended up with a tri that has 14inches from CG to motorshaft (60cm from motorshaft to motorshaft) and weighs just under 3lbs (1300 grams) all loaded up with AP & FPV gear. Right now I'm using 3 HK 401b gyros along with a Flymentor flight stablizer, but I plan on losing the gyros and getting another controller soon. When it's all tuned properly it sights nice and straight and is super easy to fly. One mistake I made when making this video though was having all ccw props. I found out quickly that it leads to a massive lean to the left, which would cause drift when the stablizer compensated for that lean. I now have it set up proper and am dying to try some more fpv.. but the rain and 35mph wind gusts have been keeping me to indoor tests only.

I'll post more as the project progresses. I'm waiting on a new vTX and couple of other parts right now so that I won't be worried about my FPV range as much. As it stands right now I'm only getting around 100+ meters.

 

[Droider]

What I want is this
http://www.vimeo.com/2302687
That type of display in my goggles..
I would contact the producer of the video but he seems to have disappeared!! Less said about that the better but it is a good example of what I want
Dave

 

[Kilby]

Mine looks a more like this. It is configurable though so i will probably set mine up a little different, but close enough to illustrate here. It's just enough for me without feeling like i'm beind distracted by flashing icons. It was important for me to learn to fly sans-OSD first though. I wanted to be able to judge those things for myself before I started to depend on another piece of gear. The one thing that was hard for me though was the sound. I'm using a gopro for both my FPV & AP cam right now. That set up will not send audio signal back to my goggles. As weird as it may sound(no pun intended), I listen my my motors alot and fly it based on how they sound. Maybe it's the liftetime of being a musician that makes me listen so much, but it really does make a difference. The first time I flew my tricopter far enough away where I couldn't hear it anymore was one of the strangest feelings ever. I'm hoping to add a mic and second camera very soon to avoid this issue.

 

[Droider]

Blimy that goes on for a bit.. I watched it till he was 4K out... dont want to go that far!

 

[Kilby]

Wow, I didn't realize it was that long!

this is actually a little closer to what I am trying to do.

 

[Crash]

What I want is this
http://www.vimeo.com/2302687
That type of display in my goggles..
I would contact the producer of the video but he seems to have disappeared!! Less said about that the better but it is a good example of what I want
Dave

I think that is an old version of an EPI-OSD board. I built two last year. I'm going to use one in the ground station and sell the extra.

Kilby: Good flying for an early flight. My second FPV flight in the KK Quad landed upside down due to a technical difficulty at 30 some feet.

BTW, I was going to get the Remzibi for the non-MK stuff.

 

[Droider]

I think that is an old version of an EPI-OSD board. I built two last year. I'm going to use one in the ground station and sell the extra.

BUILT TWO?? what they dont come in a box that u plug in
I thought they went inline with the video some how

 

[Droider]

Blimy Crash just googled it.. thats the fella.. you say you may be selling one coz I dont fancy all that soldering and stuff..

 

[Crash]

BUILT TWO?? what they dont come in a box that u plug in
I thought they went inline with the video some how

I built them but you can buy them prebuilt. They may even come in a nice little box with a bow.

They splice into the video line and add the on screen information.

Psst: You can build your own MK boards also.

 

[Droider]

Thanks Crash.. I have put them on my list to look into further this weekend when I get home.. At my age I really dont want to be learning how to build electronics boards, just keeping up whith the technology I am involved with is enough to fry my brain twice over!

Thanks again for the input

Dave

 

[baker55]

I have a fpv system on my hexacopter and receive video to my goggles, but how do you record that video? Shaun

 

[Crash]

Thanks Crash.. I have put them on my list to look into further this weekend when I get home.. At my age I really dont want to be learning how to build electronics boards, just keeping up whith the technology I am involved with is enough to fry my brain twice over!

Thanks again for the input

Dave

The nice thing about them is that they wire right into the serial lines on the Navi and just use the sensors already in place on the bird. With a wireless serial link, you can run the board on the ground. You will have to get your hands a little dirty though. For example, you will need a Atmel programmer if you ever want to update the firmware. A plug and play OSD option may be better for you (If one exists.)

It's going to be hard for you to really get into FPV and 'keep your hands clean'. At some point, you're probably going to want a soldering iron and learn a little about antennas, etc.

Baker: I use an old Aiptek camera that has video input. It's nice because it has a playback screen. There are some small digital video recorders on the market now also.

 

[Kilby]

Kilby: Good flying for an early flight. My second FPV flight in the KK Quad landed upside down due to a technical difficulty at 30 some feet.

BTW, I was going to get the Remzibi for the non-MK stuff.

Thanks, Crash. For me it's actually easier to fly FPV than LOS. I get confused easily with regards to orientation, but not so when flying FPV. As long as the bird sits straight and is predictable I'm golden. FPV has actually been my goal since building this tricopter. It took me a couple of months playing with the craft to get it predictable, but now it seems pretty straight forward. I'm hoping to get some of great shots I've had in mind for a while now.

BTW... what part of VA are you in? I have a lot of family in south western VA, near a little town called Marion. Was just down there in January and couldn't get over how beautiful it is. I want to go back this summer and get some AP shots.

 

[Redhotpearl]

Thanks, Crash. For me it's actually easier to fly FPV than LOS. I get confused easily with regards to orientation, but not so when flying FPV. As long as the bird sits straight and is predictable I'm golden. FPV has actually been my goal since building this tricopter. It took me a couple of months playing with the craft to get it predictable, but now it seems pretty straight forward. I'm hoping to get some of great shots I've had in mind for a while now.

BTW... what part of VA are you in? I have a lot of family in south western VA, near a little town called Marion. Was just down there in January and couldn't get over how beautiful it is. I want to go back this summer and get some AP shots.

I know Multi's are harder to track across the sky then say a RC plane but if you have a sim practice on the planes. They will help you get your orientation down a lot easier. After a while at a distance you won't even have to know which way is front or back, you can tell by which direction it travels across the sky and which way it moves with stick inputs. It's not ideal but this skill has helped me in some pretty harrowing moments with planes and one with the Hexa. It's also a lot of fun! I started as a RC plane pilot and when in motion the Hexa flies pretty much like a plane.

 

[Crash]

Thanks, Crash. For me it's actually easier to fly FPV than LOS. I get confused easily with regards to orientation, but not so when flying FPV. As long as the bird sits straight and is predictable I'm golden. FPV has actually been my goal since building this tricopter. It took me a couple of months playing with the craft to get it predictable, but now it seems pretty straight forward. I'm hoping to get some of great shots I've had in mind for a while now.

BTW... what part of VA are you in? I have a lot of family in south western VA, near a little town called Marion. Was just down there in January and couldn't get over how beautiful it is. I want to go back this summer and get some AP shots.

I find it easier to fly FPV also. I haven't got the landings down yet though. I'm going to try a head tracker and pan/tilt cam soon.


I'm on the other side of the Blue Ridge from the Lexington exit on 81. Next time you drive down, take Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway. It might add a full day to the trip but it will be worth it.

 

[ThisSideUp]

Darned, Kilby, I think I have a problem. While watching you FPV, I fell out of my chair! Twice. Perhaps this isn't for me. I had the same problem with the simulator for a heli. However I have and can fly actual Quicksilver ultralights and Kolb Experimental planes. The kind you climb into. WOW, what a feeling. I kept trying to correct right while banking left. My grand daughter is still laughing at me.

 

[Kilby]

So I finally got some decent weather here and got a little more time in the goggles. 5 batteries all together yesterday. I had some of the gains cranked up so there is a little wobble side to side, but nothing I cant tune out. This flight was much more successful than any of my previous ones. It was the first time that I really felt like I had total control and knew what was going to happen every step of the way. It helped out tons that I added an OSD & stereo mics to the set up. I can now at least tell how high I am, what rate of speed I'm traveling and can hear the motors in the air. That was the biggest thing for me, just to hear them spinning. I can know tell if I am running to little throttle just by the sound.