Wooking and Zenmuse Z15 - Will this work?

[Dsankey1]

Hi - I am putting together an octo with the WKM flight controller and Z15 nex7 gimbal and am trying to figure out a control system to give me single pilot operation with option for a camera operator (probably via buddy system). I have a JR DSX9 but think I will convert over to futaba for this.
This is what I am thinking.
Futaba 14SG with 8ch + sbus rx
Sbus drops down to Zen controller and takes care of 1-7 channels for gimbal and camera control (I won't need HDMI control)
Channels 8-13 for WKM control individually wired to WKM
Channel 14 for the retractable gear

I could then buddy channels 1-7 with an 8ch TX to allow separate camera control if required

Other option is to forget the SBUS and use 2 separate Rx's although I really want to keep wiring as simple as possible and would like to make the most of SBUS if possible.

I don't know much about the workings of SBUS and how configurable the channels that you can send with it are so any info is much appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[Cheshirecat]

Assuming you could get all that to work, how would you plan to pan/tilt and slew the gimbal from the same TX you are using to fly your rig, using one of the pots on the 14SG for gains only leaves 1 other. i use this TX to fly my SJX4(8) and a second TX for the gimbal which if i am flying alone which is rare i put it on a tripod lock the gimbal in heading track mode and only use the camera TX to start/stop Video, shot a still or adjust tilt where needed. personally i couldn't concentrate on flying and maneuvering the gimbal effectively anyway, much easier to turn the ship around. SBUS works very nicely and you will run out of available channels on the WKM before the TX.

 

[Dsankey1]

Good question - i would only use the single pilot option when I am using the groundstation / autopilot. I would assign a switch on the tx to activate a mix which transfers the gimbal tilt / pan control onto the main tx sticks. As soon as the autopilot is no longer in control or i come out of GPS mode the transmitter aileron / elevator sticks would revert back to normal aircraft control mode. I wouldn't be trying to fly the aircraft and control the gimbal at the same time. Generally it would be a 2 crew operation using the buddy lead. Remote gain is through the 2.4g ground station and laptop.
I think I've got the mixes sussed but would like to know if the channel control would work between SBUS, WKM and Zenmuse for the single receiver / buddy option before I spend the money on the radio.
Looking at the manual the channel assignments would be.


ch1 - WKM A - Aileron stick
ch2 - WKM E - Elevator stick
ch3 - WKM T - Throttle stick
ch4 - WKM R - Rudder stick
ch5 - WKM U - flight mode (3 pos switch)
ch6 - WKM X2 - IOC (3 pos switch)
ch7 - Retract servo (2 pos switch)

ch8 - Gimbal Roll (Pot dial)
ch9 - Gimbal tilt (mixes to elev stick)
ch10 - Gimbal pan (mixes to aileron stick)
ch11 - Zen mode (3 pos switch)
ch12 - Zen shutter (3 pos switch with video)
ch13 - Aux2 (Zen orientation) (2 pos switch)
ch14 - Aux3 (Nex7 video)

Final 3 position switch would select
1. Normal flight mode, TX sticks control aircraft
2. Camera man mode. TX sticks control aircraft and trainer mode enabled to allow second tx to control Ch8-14 above through buddy lead.
3. Auto flight mode. Mixes GPS mode on and right TX stick controls Gimbal Pan / tilt

Ch1-7 would be supplied by individual cables from rx to wkm and retract servo
Ch8-14 would ideally be supplied by single SBUS lead to Zen controller
Rx would need to be in mode B

Could also use 2 receivers if SBUS won't work.
WKM receiver in mode A
Zen receiver in mode C

Seems to make sense to me but Im not sure if the SBUS side of it will work.
Im also not sure if I could buddy an 8 channel TX to take control of channels 8-14. Maybe another 14SG would have to be the camera operators TX.

Any thoughts anyone? I know it sounds complicated but it would simplify the onboard wiring and I would soon get used to the switching.

If you made it this far through my rambling - thanks!

 

[Carapau]

The trouble with the buddy lead is that the pilot normally has to keep a finger pressed on a button to keep it active. Also the buddy lead tends to transfer all commands onto the buddying tx so to speak. Or at least that is how it works for spektrum. Unless things have recently trained the whole idea of the buddy box is to allow one pilot to train another. Eg my son plugs his DX8 into mine. Whilst my finger is pressed on the bind button he has control of the aircraft. When it looks like he is about to stack the aircraft I let go of the bind button bringing full control to me and hopefully I can prevent the dirt nap. So, in short, I don't think your idea of the buddy box is going to work at all but I would be very happy if someone were to prove me wrong!

 

[Dsankey1]

Thanks for the reply. According to the 14sg manual you can assign any switch to toggle on off trainer mode so I think that's ok.

View attachment 15531

This is what the manual has to say about the 3 modes you can assign to each channel. The mode you describe teaching your son with is Func mode. This would be no good for me. It's not written particularly well but the way I interpret it, if I use norm mode it would use the settings from the students (camera operators) tx for the channels I assign. This means the camera operators tx can have independent programming and effectively just uses the master tx to transmit the signals to the aircraft...

I could be completely wrong as this is just my interpretation. Hoping someone may have a definitive answer.

I appreciate this isn't what the trainer function was designed for but it would simplify the on board electronics significantly and reduce the amount of RF going back and forth to the aircraft.

Cheers


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