APM help needed....

[Lola]

Noted about the RTL height, I wonder how many that centimetre gem has caught out..?...Is there an option to RTL at the current height as well..?

Lets say your RTL is set to 10000 which is 100 meters, you fly at 200 meters and hit RTL, the plane will return at 200 meters until it arrives home, then it will circle above your head and drop its alt to the pre-programmed 100 meters and wait for you to retake control.

If you are flying at 50 meters and hit RTL it will climb to 100 meters and come home. If you are flying from a hill and you fly below your starting alt the APM sets a minus so its knows it has to climb when you change to Cruise or RTL. The only other mode that uses the height setting is AUTO mode but you will only set this if you decide to set waypoints.

NB: FBWA, FBWB and Stabilization modes do not use the height setting. You don't need to use FBWB mode as you do not have an Air-Speed Sensor, FBWA is just like Cruise mode, you just have control over the elevator.

This is another reason to get your Min and Max cruise speed correct, you don't want the plane to stall when climbing because the Max_Cruise setting is too low.
Now you need to look at the TECS on the basic settings page in Mission Planner. There you will find the climb and descend rates. the default is 5 meters per second, I have dropped mine down to 2.5

How far have you got with setting it up? Have you calibrated the TX? Do you have a 6 position switch for all the flight modes? If not you can assign just 3 modes on a 3 pos switch to get you going, Manual is mandatory, then you can choose RTL (for panic reasons) and then Stab or Cruise. I assume you have a minimosd and FTDi adapter to program it?

[English Turbines]

Lets say your RTL is set to 10000 which is 100 meters, you fly at 200 meters and hit RTL, the plane will return at 200 meters until it arrives home, then it will circle above your head and drop its alt to the pre-programmed 100 meters and wait for you to retake control.

If you are flying at 50 meters and hit RTL it will climb to 100 meters and come home. If you are flying from a hill and you fly below your starting alt the APM sets a minus so its knows it has to climb when you change to Cruise or RTL. The only other mode that uses the height setting is AUTO mode but you will only set this if you decide to set waypoints.

NB: FBWA, FBWB and Stabilization modes do not use the height setting. You don't need to use FBWB mode as you do not have an Air-Speed Sensor, FBWA is just like Cruise mode, you just have control over the elevator.

This is another reason to get your Min and Max cruise speed correct, you don't want the plane to stall when climbing because the Max_Cruise setting is too low.
Now you need to look at the TECS on the basic settings page in Mission Planner. There you will find the climb and descend rates. the default is 5 meters per second, I have dropped mine down to 2.5

How far have you got with setting it up? Have you calibrated the TX? Do you have a 6 position switch for all the flight modes? If not you can assign just 3 modes on a 3 pos switch to get you going, Manual is mandatory, then you can choose RTL (for panic reasons) and then Stab or Cruise. I assume you have a minimosd and FTDi adapter to program it?

Hi Lola,

And thanks for the altitude explanations, very helpful....Yes, Im feeling pretty good about the APM now.  Today I managed to set up a Flying Wing model (Elevons)...and saved the Parameter File for it.
  Amazed I managed it, but I read up how to do it beforehand...It seems to work ok, with the two servos going the correct way in Stab Mode and Manual too. The Compass I re-calibrated, disabling auto read and got over 2,000 registers. No sign of Bad Compass health as yet...:)
  To make life a bit easier, Im using my trusty old DX7 Spectrum radio while I learn APM, Im familiar with it and its to hand right now...My Micro Minim is wired to Camera and VTX and as yet untested because Im waiting on a cable to go from the Minim to the APM Module (they dont give you one...:)
  Feeling pretty pleased I have got this far with it in such a short time, not bad for an Old Fart...lol.
Jeez....I cant believe how developed Mission Planner is...it's mind boggling once you start getting into it...!!!!

  Keeping it simple, my DX7 only has one 3 position switch and on it I have set 1.Manual....2.Stabilise....3.RTH. Modes.

And a SIX position Flight Mode switch...?......WTF?

APMs not for everybody, but it's not too bad if you persist with it....I can see how some people would not have time or patience for twiddling with it though.  If I can do it, anybody can....LOL.

Stay tuned though....Im bound to get stuck soon with something....:)....and Thanks again.... :flying:


                 :vulture:

[zagifly]

Just to sing the praise of APM I achieved a target I set myself some years ago, off the south coast at eastbourne there is a light tower 7 miles out. I flew round it with an X5 using apm in auto mode, I had 7 or 8 club members as spectators.
The most daunting part was switching my transmitter off straight after launch, total flight time was 23mins and battery consumed was 4.1Ahr      out of a multistar 5.2Ahr 3 cell. Radio was Taranis with Hobbyking LRS and video was 1.3 at 600mW, flight was recorded on fatshark goggles through a base station with a 5.8g repeater. Max distance on video was 11.8 kilometre out to sea, video will not be posted due to current situation with drones but I will post a couple of screen shots.

Dave H

[English Turbines]

Just to sing the praise of APM I achieved a target I set myself some years ago, off the south coast at eastbourne there is a light tower 7 miles out. I flew round it with an X5 using apm in auto mode, I had 7 or 8 club members as spectators.
The most daunting part was switching my transmitter off straight after launch, total flight time was 23mins and battery consumed was 4.1Ahr      out of a multistar 5.2Ahr 3 cell. Radio was Taranis with Hobbyking LRS and video was 1.3 at 600mW, flight was recorded on fatshark goggles through a base station with a 5.8g repeater. Max distance on video was 11.8 kilometre out to sea, video will not be posted due to current situation with drones but I will post a couple of screen shots.

Dave H

Hi Dave,

  Thats sounds like quite a trip of faith, nice one....Im still trying to get my head round Mission Planner...I have only just scratched the surface with the basics.
  I could have just got myself another Storm...but wanted the sheer challenge of making APM work...I can see why people are put off by its apparent complexity.
  I was expecting Mission Planner to be a little more refined to the point where I wasnt expected to ammend lines of code though....Now, I realise I can save parameter files for a given model type to use as a basis for another similar model I may build in the future...
  Its made my old brain hurt a bit though, but if I can do it, anybody can.

          :vulture:

[zagifly]

I am working on a completely autonomous flight from take off to landing using a 916 link and a game controller connected to a laptop, the out to sea flight was a proof of faith flight. I have lost a couple of aircraft due to external influences and airframe failure but in auto mode they always come back. Need to test contour follow as I have only flown over level ground.

Dave H

[English Turbines]

 My only real gripe about my new APM 2.8 is those stupid tiny white plugs and sockets. Mine are all a really tight fit, making it worse.

  So, its staying plugged together for the most part.....I may try the APM Mini Pro at some point, I like the DuPont servo connectors.

So far its working pretty good, just need a new plane to put it all in...lol.

    :vulture:

[English Turbines]

So, my new preferred Minim OSD in case has arrived. After some fiddling with KV Mod Firmware, and character sets, I now have it looking very nice on the Monitor. I also had to re-solder the 5vdc jumper pad...



A little gripe I have is that depending on how it boots up, depends on if it resets the altitude to zero..... and also the distance from Home can be a bit hit and miss too.

  Is there a way to programme a TX switch to make the APM Module reset Home and Altitude to zero....?

  Other than this I really like the OSD and how I can have it laid out exactly as I want it.....:)

:vulture:

[English Turbines]

Update Time...and I still need a little help from the APM experts please...:)

I sold the APM 2.8 to a fellow club flyer, and upgraded to the APM Pro Mini...:)

To recap on my current setup:

APM Pro Mini....(Servo Pin Outs only version)....May need a Parameter adjustment..???
EZUHF 4 Ch micro RX running in Muxed (8ch)Mode.. with Link quality reporting on CH8...working fine.
Cased Minim using Arduplane and latest Firmware.....Also working fine....zero to 100% RSSI....all working ok.

Problem:

After powering up, I can get 10 Sats indoors, no problem, compass all working ok etc...
  It sets the new Home position and also the Altitude to zero, but after a few seconds shows approx 20 to 30mtrs of spurious altitude for some weird reason?

Is it reporting some kind of remembered height above sea level or something?????????

It's a small problem, but a very annoying one, and is there a way of using a spare channel to reset both Home and altitude after the system has booted and settled down..??????

Anyone else had a similar problem...?.......Heeeeelp.... :-[

:vulture:   

[Lola]

Update Time...and I still need a little help from the APM experts please...:)

I sold the APM 2.8 to a fellow club flyer, and upgraded to the APM Pro Mini...:)

To recap on my current setup:

APM Pro Mini....(Servo Pin Outs only version)....May need a Parameter adjustment..???



EZUHF 4 Ch micro RX running in Muxed (8ch)Mode.. with Link quality reporting on CH8...working fine.
Cased Minim using Arduplane and latest Firmware.....Also working fine....zero to 100% RSSI....all working ok.

Problem:

After powering up, I can get 10 Sats indoors, no problem, compass all working ok etc...
  It sets the new Home position and also the Altitude to zero, but after a few seconds shows approx 20 to 30mtrs of spurious altitude for some weird reason?

Is it reporting some kind of remembered height above sea level or something?????????

It's a small problem, but a very annoying one, and is there a way of using a spare channel to reset both Home and altitude after the system has booted and settled down..??????

Anyone else had a similar problem...?.......Heeeeelp.... :-[

:vulture:   

Sounds like the barometer could be faulty. Does the Baro have a small piece of spong covering it?

You can use the Cli on MP to test it. Plug the apm to your pc and open mp. Don't connect just yet! Go to Terminal and then hit connect. Once it's connected you can type "test ?" That will give you a list of what you can test. Baro should be there somewhere. Test then post the results.

[English Turbines]

Sounds like the barometer could be faulty. Does the Baro have a small piece of sponge covering it?

You can use the Cli on MP to test it. Plug the apm to your pc and open mp. Don't connect just yet! Go to Terminal and then hit connect. Once it's connected you can type "test ?" That will give you a list of what you can test. Baro should be there somewhere. Test then post the results.

Hi Lola, and thanks for dropping by m8...:)

Cli...??....I have since had it plugged into MP again and noticed that on there the altitude reported only drifts very slowly once it has set zero..?so like + 5mtrs after 15 mins or so......But...Not on the OSD...it's an instant 20 or 30 metres or so...:(...strange?

If it was just 5 mtrs error I would not be too bothered about it, but 30 mtrs is a lot...:(

Ill take a look see about the sponge cover on the Baro sensor..:)

  Thanks..... :vulture:

[Lola]

cli stands for command line interface. In mp it's called terminal.

The barometer should be covered with a small piece of sponge to stop any unnecessary "breathing".

Go to terminal on mp and connect to the apm. Then as I said type test ? And see what it offers you. The command is probably test Baro.

The alt variation should be no more than half a meter and even that's too much really.

The OSD only displays what the apm is computing and does not have any sensors of its own so you do really need to test the barometer before anything else.

If it is faulty I would send it back for a replacement.

[English Turbines]

Baro...:

Opened up the case, the sponge block is present, seems ok.....The soldering on this board looks first class, very impressive...:)

Its strange, because when connected to MP, the altitude is reporting very stable around zero with very little drift, its just on the OSD that the error is showing up, going from zero jumping up to about +20 mtrs or so...very odd..?

  Other than this, it all seems to be working as it should, so Im happy to install it into a test model and try and fly it.

I just have 3 simple Flight Modes set up at the moment:

1) Manual
2) Stabilise.
3) RTL.

If its in Stab Mode, will it try and maintain Altitude and heading if I leave the sticks alone?....Not sure what its going to do yet?

  Thanks for the help Lola....I owe Ya...:)

:vulture:

[BlueFlyer]

the OSD and MP might be getting their altitude values from different places. One might be reading from the GPS data and the other from the barometer.

[English Turbines]

the OSD and MP might be getting their altitude values from different places. One might be reading from the GPS data and the other from the barometer.

Hi M8,

Its a good point Blue, but I dont think this is the case...I noticed a command line in the Parameter list which makes it always use the far more reliable Baro....The OSD gets its info from the A.P.

   :vulture:

[Lola]

The standard settings on the apm is to take its height from the Baro as Gps is notoriously unreliable in that area.
You could change one of your flight modes to cruise as that holds altitude for you.

I would also reflash the firmware on the OSD, maybe that is playing up.