A few noob questions about bat bones tricopter

[rifled]

Ive watched the build video and ordered all the parts to build the Davids tricopter but I have a few probably stupid questions.

1. On a tricopter should all the props spin in the same direction or is one spinning in the oposite direction similar to a quad copter?

2. What direction should the yaw servo move when standing behind the motor? I think that if the tricopter is in front of me and I am looking at the back of the tricopter the servo should deflect the motor to the left when I move my remote stick to the right, is this correct?

3. Also I have only built scratchbuilt airplanes in the past but flitetest usually gives a degree of deflection on the control surfaces such as the elevator should have 1 inch deflection with 30 percent expo. Is there a general rule as to how much movement should be programmed into the yaw servo?

4. Does anyone know if there is a good step by step manual on setting up the arducopter 2.6 for a tricopter?

Im sure these are probably very stupid questions because I can not seem to find any videos that cover the topics but I would really appreciate some guidance.

Thanks in advance

 

[FinalGlideAus]

They can be all the same direction but it is a bit more efficient if you have a counter rotating prop.

If Yawing to the right with right rudder stick the tail servo should tilt to the left.

Yaw is measured in stick scaling not in servo deflection so it's different to a fixed wing there. The amount of servo travel depends on the motor and prop combo and the flight controller adjusts according to your settings. It's a matter of starting off at a low stick scaling and slowly increasing it till your happy.

Your Arducopter FC is a complicated setup for a beginner but not impossible if you take your time. I'm putting on an APM 2.5 on my tricopter soon but haven't started yet so can't really help.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

This should help you a little.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QfvCJ5scHMQ

 

[rifled]

Great thank you! I have flown a few rtf weeks quad copters that you buy at the toystore, but never a tricopter. For a beginner do you think I should start with a kk2 board to get use to flying first. My intention is to eventually use this for FPV that is why I went with the ardupilot because of the Rth feature.

 

[Craftydan]

Rifled,

For simplicity of setup, the kk2's are only beat by a pre-tuned, manufactured RTF airframe. There's still quite a lot of work left in setup and tuning, but after you've flashed the board (optional, but easy and I ***HIGHLY*** recommend it) it all happens on the copter, mostly in the field, needing nothign more than instructions, radio and batteries. Most other controllers will require quite a bit of setup first on a PC, and then most steps in the final tuning will require you to plug it back into a PC, change the setting, then back outside to fly and see how that works -- for a first go-around when you're still learning what each setting or gain does this is beyond painful.

There are plenty of videos, tutorials and instructions floating around on how to go from mostly assembeld airframe, through testign and setting up components, initial flight tests, and finally tuning. It's also a pretty common board around here, so it won't be hard to either find the question answered or find someone willing to lend a hand with our setup.

As I said before, plan on reflashing it. You'll need a USBASP programmer with a 6 pin connector cable (or 8->6 pin adaptor), but you don't have to pick up HK's adaptor if it isn't in stock -- it's a pretty common piece of kit, so it's reddily available elsewhere. All told, it'll run an extra $5-10, but it's worth it and could also be used in the future to re-flash many ESCs to multirotor-friendly ROMs.

All that being said, spending ~$40 for a good control board to learn setup on is cheap education. When you feel ready to move upward (and haven't yet chosen to build a new, different airframe), you can simply pull the board and start setting up the more complicated, more powerful board.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

Craftydan is right on the money there Rifled. When I bought my first tricopter I bought kK2.1 and an APM2.5 at the same time. TheAPM was for the same reasons as you but I decided to learn on the KK2.1 and I'm soo glad I did as it's been a total joy to use. Now that I've got the hang of these Multicopters my next one is getting the APM but my trusty acro bat bone will keep the KK just because it's so easy to use. Get a Kk2.1 and a USBasp flashing tool and you won't be disappointed.

 

[rifled]

I guess I'll order a kk2 board and for the mean time put the ardupilot on my versa wing and use that for fpv while i learn to fly the tricopter. Is this the correct programmer that I will need for both the kk2 board and to flash most escs? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turnigy-9XR...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a3617a59d

 

[rifled]

Well Hobbyking is out of stock on the KK2.1 with no option to back order so maybe I'll have to try my best to get the arducopter to work....

 

[Cyberdactyl]

HK shows the 'fixed' KK2.1 in stock.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...ntrol_Board_With_6050MPU_And_Atmel_644PA.html

 

[xuzme720]

I just ordered one to replace the KK2 I might have bricked. Was replacing one of the button switches when my helping hands took a tumble with only 1 connection left on the switch. Needless to say it pulled the solder pad off and now I have other issues...:black_eyed:

 

[rifled]

Too bad about your board breaking. I just ordered the kk2 but I was also reading about tuning the ardupilot and the new version has an auto tune feature the tune the pid automatically. Has anyone tried this?

 

[xuzme720]

The version of Megapirate that I use on my multiwii has that but I haven't used it yet. Currently working through some other issues on the hex. And our weather has been so lousy on my days off that I haven't been able to do much flying...

 

[rifled]

Same here with the weather that's what made me start thinking about a new build project. I've build many planes so I figured time to try multiroters.

 

[cranialrectosis]

"I've build many planes so I figured time to try multiroters." Welcome to the Dark Side Muahamuahamuhahahaha..

 

[xuzme720]

"I've build many planes so I figured time to try multiroters." Welcome to the Dark Side Muahamuahamuhahahaha..

At least you didn't bring up cookies this time!