Tony Read Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Lots of LED's are popular as well. Now you have had a few flights are you happy with the beast? Anything you would change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Nice one Robin. Looks quite intresting, but one question. Where do You fix the cat?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 To here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 Tony, nothing I'd change at the moment. I've still not had it out in a decent sized field, so no time to play with flight modes like return to launch etc. I've got a little 808 keyfob cam, I think I'll try and mount that on it somehow for the next flight. I like that conversion kit for the frame, looks like a dedicated camera mount out the front, might be tempted by that at some point later r. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Hey Robin! Need to see the video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 No progress I'm affraid, between busy days at work and building toys for the kids I've not been able to get out this week. Hopefully next week though! r. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Posted by Robin Kearney on 24/03/2013 20:22:46: No progress I'm affraid, between busy days at work and building toys for the kids I've not been able to get out this week. Hopefully next week though! r. Hope they are getting quads too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 lol, it has four wheels, does that count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 V-I-D-E-O???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Hi Tony, sorry it has been firmly sat on my desk for a while now, been busy with house move related stuff and on the only flying day I've had since Feb I took a collection of long neglected aircraft! I was hoping to fly it indoors at our monthly meeting last week, but the school was shut so I ended up coming home without flying a thing I'll get out soon fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted May 18, 2013 Author Share Posted May 18, 2013 Finally managed to stick the 808 cam on the quad. I have to admit I lost the poor quadcopter during the move, only finding it this week The video is unedited, so excuse it being slightly boring, and it shows I really have quite a bad vibration problem. I really need to sort that out. I lost orientation on one circuit and let it land in some long grass. No damage thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 So since the last video I've played some more, I set one of the flight modes to Loiter, which when I switched to that mode the quad sort of wandered off in about a 10 o'clock direction. Hmm, that isn't loitering in my book! So I had a bit of a read and a lot of people seem to suggest vibration can lead to similar issues, so I figured I ought to balance those props and have another go. I've got to say, I was pretty amazed how out of balance the HK GWS clone props were, I'm certainly not putting one on an airframe without balancing it in future. I guess that is a routine I ought to follow with every prop on every airframe, but I've clearly been complacent and just got away with it in the past Now the quad is a very different animal, lovely and smooth and loiters around just like it is supposed too. The vibration isn't complete gone, but it is so much better than before it is like night and day. Quick video shot in the garden below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Hi Robin! Great to see you back in the multi section - its been a bit like a tumble weed in here of late!! LOL Yep, balanced props can make a BIG difference to a multi, looks like it flies fine now. Are there a couple of budding pilots in the background? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Ha, glad to provide some input again. The house move kncocked any hobby related activity for a while there, and the last weekend was spent building the play house you can see in the corner of the garden. Hopefully I'll have more time now to play with the quad. You are correct, two budding pilots, you'll notice how little attention they paid to a quad hovering around. More interested in sandpits and Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Hi Robin, got a question for you. I have given your spec to a young lad who wants to build a quad, but I'm not sure what you did (if anything) to your ESC's. Did you update the firmware to the 'Simonk' version? If you didn't maybe that would smooth things out even more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Hi Tony, Beyond the recomended calibration of each ESC before assembly, I didnt do anything else. I've been reading about the SimonK firmware though, might give it a try if I can build the cables easily enough. I'm currently pondering a Go-Pro, well to be fair I have for a long while, but the thought of slinging it under the quad is becoming quite apealing I spent a little time out with the quad yesterday, testing out the RTL mode. It seems to work exactly as described, returning itself back to the launch point, very neat. Below is a little video from the onboard keychain cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Excellent!!! Depending upon the chip used on your esc's one of these tools will do the firmware flashing job. If it is right for your esc's you can borrow mine rather than buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 Ooh, I like that tool tony, looks pretty clever. So presumably the black connector on the other end plugs into the USBasp? I've a quietish day tomorrow so hopefully I'll get some time to read up on SimonK firmware. I had the quad fly its first autonomous mission on Sunday, but nerve wracking as I flipped the switch to enable that flight mode, I can tell you! Needn't have worried though, it flew round the way points just fine and returned to loitering just in front of me. Good stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Yep, you have it, plugs right into the USBasp and clips over the chip. I believe its necessary to take the heat sink off which will need to be glued back on. You can use heat conductive paste from plumbers merchants, but I suppose any thin glue might do. If you want to try it drop me a PM, I don't think I will be using it in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Hi Tony, thanks for the offer. I'll likely take you up on that when I've got my head around the firmware. I believe I have a Turnigy Plus 25 ESC with an SiLabs MCU. According to the pictures, that is row 75 in this spreadsheet. Will your programmer work with SiLabs MCUs or is it AtMega only? Also, did you download and compile the firmware yourself? I couldn't find anywhere that stored the compiled code, although having said that cloning his GIT repo and compiling it myself only took a few mins. On a separate note, the screenshot below shows my shiny new Sonar sensor is live and working. Now I just need to mount it on the frame Edited By Robin Kearney on 20/06/2013 15:00:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Drat! I think it only works with AtMega chips. However you might find this useful. I was going to use Chris Telford's method of flashing as detailed here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willhappy Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 hi robin this is great, any more news will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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