crayfellow
Member
Wow that is awesome, I had no idea it existed. Thanks for the link!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quadframe Foldable Pro SIXcopter - medium lift need
- Thread starter Mactadpole
- Start date
Mactadpole
Member
It's taken me a bit to get back in the air with this copter after the tree crash due to IMU failure. 3DR confirmed it was an IMU failure and after some back and forth did send me a new Pixhawk. Good on them.
Since I had it torn down I decided to do some modifications.
1) I went from 485mm arms to 500mm arms to increase my clearance when using the larger props.
2) I also added a gear rail system with 12mm cf tubes spaced at 155mm, but the width is easily adjustable.
3) Made a cf gear plate with 12mm quick release clamps so I can easily change out payloads by just unscrewing one device and screwing on the new one. I've decide to go back to a lighter Photohigher Gimbal for still photos during mapping and be able to switch that out with a brushless gimbal for video or my Z1 Tiny2 GoPro gimbal (excellent gimbal btw!)
4) Switch over to CSG shop M8N GPS, mounted above the FC on cf plate. I like this because it shades the FC from the brutal Texas and equatorial sun where I work.
I am now running AC3.3 RC12 firmware on the Pixhawk and I love it! The real-time vibration and EKF graphs are fantastic and the autotune feature is excellent, especially the new yaw tuning feature. Before, I always had a fair amount of swing-back when yawing and now it stops on spot immediately. I also feel like position hold and alt hold are better.
Here are some pics with my crappy test 15" props. Will be putting the triple prop KDE adapters back on as soon as get the replacement blades this week. You'll also see a heavy wrench strapped to the gear rails to simulate gimbal and camera weight for tuning purposes.
View attachment 26350
View attachment 26347 View attachment 26348 View attachment 26349
Since I had it torn down I decided to do some modifications.
1) I went from 485mm arms to 500mm arms to increase my clearance when using the larger props.
2) I also added a gear rail system with 12mm cf tubes spaced at 155mm, but the width is easily adjustable.
3) Made a cf gear plate with 12mm quick release clamps so I can easily change out payloads by just unscrewing one device and screwing on the new one. I've decide to go back to a lighter Photohigher Gimbal for still photos during mapping and be able to switch that out with a brushless gimbal for video or my Z1 Tiny2 GoPro gimbal (excellent gimbal btw!)
4) Switch over to CSG shop M8N GPS, mounted above the FC on cf plate. I like this because it shades the FC from the brutal Texas and equatorial sun where I work.
I am now running AC3.3 RC12 firmware on the Pixhawk and I love it! The real-time vibration and EKF graphs are fantastic and the autotune feature is excellent, especially the new yaw tuning feature. Before, I always had a fair amount of swing-back when yawing and now it stops on spot immediately. I also feel like position hold and alt hold are better.
Here are some pics with my crappy test 15" props. Will be putting the triple prop KDE adapters back on as soon as get the replacement blades this week. You'll also see a heavy wrench strapped to the gear rails to simulate gimbal and camera weight for tuning purposes.
View attachment 26350
View attachment 26347 View attachment 26348 View attachment 26349
Attachments
It appears you are using dual GPS's, if this is the case are they both M8N's? And do you have any wandering behavior as Pixhawk tries to correct for the difference between the two? I had this issue with dual LEA-6 and eventually removed one. I tried a couple of M8N's but found their quality spotty, mind you this was back in Feb when they were really becoming more available. I see CSG shop is offering them shielded, kudos to them for trying to mitigate the M8N problems.
Btw been following this thread, thank you for sharing.
Btw been following this thread, thank you for sharing.
Mactadpole
Member
@ramdmc - I am using dual GPS's, one is M8N from CSG and the other is a NEO -7m. I originally had two cheap M8N's on this (might have been 7M's?) and definitely experienced the wandering behavior. My understanding is it's not trying to correct for the difference, it's switching from one GPS to the other based on lowest number HDOP. With the M8N as primary and NEO7m as secondary I no longer have any wandering. I have read where the developers are working on an algorithm to allow for the use of two GPS's with some sort of averaging being done to "smooth out" differences.
I really like the CSG over the cheap M8N's, definitely more sats and lower HDOP. I am also noticing these days that I never have EKF interference on any channel. Same goes for vibrations.
I actually just received a set of Tarot retracts I am in the process of mounting. I'm tired of the arm mount landing gear twisting the whole tube and making motors out of level. I need to get some more pics up after that and hopefully post some mapping missions soon but I've mostly been doing environmental work for DOT that I can't share, unfortunately.
I really like the CSG over the cheap M8N's, definitely more sats and lower HDOP. I am also noticing these days that I never have EKF interference on any channel. Same goes for vibrations.
I actually just received a set of Tarot retracts I am in the process of mounting. I'm tired of the arm mount landing gear twisting the whole tube and making motors out of level. I need to get some more pics up after that and hopefully post some mapping missions soon but I've mostly been doing environmental work for DOT that I can't share, unfortunately.