WKM 5.18 Firmware update available

[VINHEX]

Just looked on site and there is an update for 5.18..

 Function of the distance limit is added.
 After taking off, every time the aircraft recorded a home-point successfully the LED will blink Cyan quickly for indicating.
 Software
 Setting of the distance limit is added in the “Tool”.
 Manual
 Instruction of the distance limit function is added.

 

[Tomstoy2]

Ok Vin, I'll bite. What does distance limit mean? Does this mean when you hit rth it no longer trys to go back to China?

And, what the f,,, color is Cyan?

 

[VINHEX]

Height Limit
If height restriction is needed, please turn to the “Tool” tab of the assistant software. Click ON and write a
value (Range: 20~300m) to the Max Height box, so that the aircraft flight height will not higher than the
max-height in any control mode (Manual/ATTI./GPS ATTI. Mode). However, the fail-safe and the Ground
Station operation are not restricted to this height limit. If no height limit is needed, please click OFF.

Distance Limit
If distance restriction is needed, please turn to the “Tool” tab of the assistant software. Click ON and write a
value (Range: 30~500m) in the Max Radius box, so that the distance from the aircraft to the Home-point will
not be longer than the max-radius you set. The Distance Restriction function ONLY works in GPS ATTI. Mode.
The aircraft may fly out of the restriction when emergency brake is carried out at the border (the buffer zone is
about 10m), if it flies out of the restricted distance the Control Mode LED will blink Cyan. However, the
fail-safe and the Ground Station operation are not restricted to this distance limit. If no distance limit is
needed, please click OFF.
However, the fail-safe and the Ground Station operation are not restricted to this distance limit. If no distance
limit is needed, please click OFF.

 

[fritz99]

Very stable !
No problems !

Fritz

 

[Vojec]

...After taking off, every time the aircraft recorded a home-point successfully the LED will blink Cyan quickly for indicating....

I'm wondering some time a go before firmware 5.18, what will happened if you manual record home-point in the air? Will WKM also consider Z-axis or not. If so, then when your craft approach and hover at home position just turn off motors or not?

 

[Dewster]

Ok Vin, I'll bite. What does distance limit mean? Does this mean when you hit rth it no longer trys to go back to China?

And, what the f,,, color is Cyan?

lol. Has that happened? I saw a video of some that didn't record his Home Point before launching. His craft almost flew out to sea.

 

[PeterLester]

I don't recall this capability being available for regular RC flight which simply acquires one Home point just before take-off. The altimeter/barometer automatically self-references to ground level so motors will not shut off before reaching ground.
Ground Control Station via datalink however will enable the flyer to change the home point during the flight..... I don't like to make assumptions but I believe GCS will not override onboard altimeter self-reference to ground level.

The GCS manual and software remains confusing as it seems that Home points appear in 3D space some distance directly above the final landing spot.
It also seems to me that some of the new firmware features were developed specifically for GCS.

 

[hover.ch]

The GCS manual and software remains confusing as it seems that Home points appear in 3D space some distance directly above the final landing spot.
It also seems to me that some of the new firmware features were developed specifically for GCS.

Altitude and height (above Ground) is one of the most confusing issues in GS. I cannot understand why they make it that complicated. If you once forget to set altitude offset, you end up in misery. In the MK world I never had any problems with height, it was always height above ground / launch site. DJI does a good job in many areas, but sometimes I don't understand their engineering approaches...

 

[PeterLester]

"end up in misery" Would that means the MR hits the ground hard because it thinks ground is lower or it turns the motors off above ground level thinking it has already reached grade level? I am completely uncomfortable with flying by GCS without having this situation totally under control.

Altitude and height (above Ground) is one of the most confusing issues in GS. I cannot understand why they make it that complicated. If you once forget to set altitude offset, you end up in misery. In the MK world I never had any problems with height, it was always height above ground / launch site. DJI does a good job in many areas, but sometimes I don't understand their engineering approaches...

 

[olof]

Barometric pressure changes all the time and GPS is only accurate to 3m (10' vertically) AT BEST, now repeatability can be better. This means that there must be something other than just position to indicate that the craft has landed, at least if I did the programming. This could be sensing the stop of decent (small barometric pressure change could fool this sensor) so it may be the reason why sometimes WKM and Naza has been reported as landing and climbing back a foot or two and the landing again. This is complex stuff.

I am an instrument pilot and in GA you can only use ILS (instrument landing system) to get within 200' of the ground the final landing must be visual (using GPS or other "non precision approaches" it is much higher). And that is only if you have very current barometric pressure info (the tower and ATIS gives you this any time it changes).

So I find it pretty remarkable that these cheap systems work as well as they do. And it is not at all surprising that there are circumstances, including unskilled installations, with no certification testing at all. GA aircraft have to be inspected and all instrument systems have to be re certified at least once a year to be used in aviation.

We are operating very complex machines here that are very cheap. I think it is up to the individuals to make sure they are safe (this may soon be legislated here in the US and I am not entirely against that). To me the bottom line is if your craft can go into fail safe and it return within 30' or so of the take off location and land there even if it breaks that is a very good thing. Much better than getting lost and randomly falling out of the sky and possible killing someone.

It is OK to see if this works but I would not count on it to save your investment, I see it as a last ditch safety feature.

Fly Safe!

 

[hover.ch]

"end up in misery" Would that means the MR hits the ground hard because it thinks ground is lower or it turns the motors off above ground level thinking it has already reached grade level? I am completely uncomfortable with flying by GCS without having this situation totally under control.

I think that WKM is pretty smart in respect to autolanding. Because of the barometric drift, it descends very slowly the "last" 10 meters (instead of just the last 1 meter). And it will not turn off the motors until it touches the ground. I don't know the details, but I assume that the touch down mechanism is well implemented, including acceleratometer feedback.

I made auto-landings 2-3 times and it worked perfect. There was a problem once, when I moved the home point in GS while the MR was auto-landing (I wasn't aware because I looked at my screen). The copter's horizontal speed was > 0 and I was lucky, nothing happened.