BumbleDrone 3000

dezertdog

Senior Member
Now for programming the ESC's and Rx.

To enter programming mode on the Plush ESC's you need to turn the Yaw Pot on the KK board to 0%, move the throttle stick up all the way, and plug in power. You will hear the ESC's start up as normal, and then after 5 seconds you will hear a little tune to tell you are in programming mode.

Once programming mode starts, it will cycle through all the options, match the tones to the options using the manual. When the beep pattern matches the option you want to change, move the throttle stick all the way down and the ESC will start to beep in *, **, *** patterns. When you hear the beep pattern matching the setting you need, move the throttle up, and it will verify the selection, and continue in the main programming mode.

I made the following changes so far:
-Verified Brake is off
-Battery type = NiMh / Nicd (note this changes the startup tune, you won't hear a beep per cell any more)
-Cutoff mode = Reduce Power
-Cutoff threshold = Medium
-Verified Startup Mode is "Normal"
-Timing = High

The throttle range also needs to be set in the ESC. With throttle up, plug the battery in and wait until the ESCs beep twice after the startup beeps. Pull throttle down and the ESCs will beep once. Now all the motors will spin up in unison and the ESC will throttle all the motors from 0-100% matching the throw of the throttle stick.

To enter normal ESC operation, put the Yaw Pot back to 50% and connect the battery with the throttle all the way down.

For my DX6i I created a Helicopter model with the following settings for now:
-Type = Heli
-Swash Type = 90*
-DR/Expo = 80%/30%
-Thro = N
-Elev = R
-Aile = R
-Rudd = N
-Pitch = N

I guess all that's left is to go outside with a fresh battery and get my gyro gains set and have a shake down flight. :D
 
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Shadow74

Multi-rotor madman
Hey Dezert,


Build looks good man! Question......why are you choosing to set it up in Heli mode on your DX6i? (just wondering)


Eric
 

Shadow74

Multi-rotor madman
Yeah, I have heard of a few guys doing it this way, but what is the benefit? since the pitch on a tri-copter is fixed......it would really only be a throttle curve at that point, right? Even fixed pitch heli's fly in airplane mode if I am not mistaken.


Eric
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
Oh, yeah. I meant throttle curve. But there's also stunt and normal modes for the throttle :)
 

Shadow74

Multi-rotor madman
I can't wait to build a second tri-copter for flying aerobatics.....seen a few vids on this and it looks FUN!!!!!!! (and also a little risky) ;)


Cheers!

Eric
 

dezertdog

Senior Member
Hey Dezert,
Build looks good man! Question......why are you choosing to set it up in Heli mode on your DX6i? (just wondering)
Eric

Main reason is I like to run a custom throttle curve as well as linear using the idle up switch and I don't think airplane mode supports that? If it does, I'd rather have a little heli icon instead of a plane on the display. ;)
 

dezertdog

Senior Member
So maiden went GREAT! Spent about two batteries getting the gyros tuned up, nothing of note there. Just started at 50% and dialed up till I started to see fast oscillations and backed it back off. The rudder linkage needed to be extended a bit to be able to run centered trim, the tail wants to yaw over just a bit in flight. Yaw gyro isn't doing much right now as I can't get it to arm with the rudder going through the KK board. I have been trying port M4, I might try M6 tomorrow and see if that's where it needs to be. Like I said before though I have no problem flying the tail manually plugged directly into the Rx. I just have it at 100%, no issues. I haven't found any documentation on the kapteinkuk 1.6 pinouts yet which would be nice. The rxexplorer.se site is where I was getting the instruction to use M4.

It pops right off the ground, hovers like a rock and is pretty responsive for having 18" booms. It flies exactly like a heli for the most part, just way wider! One thing that caught me by surprise was I didn't realize how much I watched the body/rotor disk angles subconsciously in a heli hover. With the tri you have to watch the whole airframe at once as the hub really doesn't move much, whereas the boom tips are all over the place. You have to "zoom out" so to speak to track and recognize which counter inputs are needed in hover. It took me about 1 battery to "re-learn" to nose in hover without over thinking it.

I have some 1080p GoPro FPV vid from the maiden, but haven't had time to process it yet. Here is a screen cap though. Sitting about 50' up watching the cars go by, I wonder if anyone saw it?

ap_sample.jpg


So first maiden wouldn't be complete without a first crash. I was so excited to get out there and fly, I didn't put any shoes on and was walking around the yard barefoot. As I was coming around the corner of the yard by a tree I stepped square in dog poo, squished right up through my toes. Needless to say my brain wasn't ready for that and before I knew it I clipped a tree branch and went ass over tea kettle. Of course since I was tuning the gyros I had the protective cover off, lucky me the railroad tie it landed on didn't hurt anything. The booms just folded back and all was well. Lesson learned!
 

Shadow74

Multi-rotor madman
Glad to hear the flight went well....can't wait to see the 1080 vid! Sorry to hear you stepped in dog poo.

Cheers!

Eric
 

dezertdog

Senior Member
Main reason is I like to run a custom throttle curve as well as linear using the idle up switch and I don't think airplane mode supports that? If it does, I'd rather have a little heli icon instead of a plane on the display. ;)

Now that I think about this a little more I realized another benefit of heli mode. The DX6i doesn't support throttle hold in airplane mode. I'm very programmed to use throttle hold any time I'm not in the air, also nice for trimming out the rudder throw on the bench etc. I especially use it when connecting Rx power as I'm always paranoid of accidentally hitting the throttle. TH is also pretty useful when you need to move / adjust an armed copter and need to take your hand off the throttle stick for a second. I know it's no substitute for proper protocol, but it's pretty useful at times.
 
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dezertdog

Senior Member
Doing some AP testing to shake down the gyros and vibration dampers. The pitch gyro is a little hot here so I had some oscillations going on (doesn't help it was windy up there), but major progress!

 

timnilson

Junior Member
Dezertdog -- you did an unbelievable job documenting your build of the pro tricopter kit. This is the most detailed and all encompassing build log of the kit I have ever seen. The build is also extremely clean and well done. I am glad you enjoy the kit and wish you the best for many fun filled flights. I personally fly with the pots at 47%, 47%, and about 60% if you want to give that a try. It will calm your video a little bit. Looking forward to seeing many more of your videos.
 

MeyersLanding

Junior Member
Using a 3/8" square rod, or 9.6mm in your case, might actually be beneficial if you are planning to spray paint the booms. I found that with the 10mm booms, after paint, they are actually oversized to fit into yaw assembly. I actually had to sand away some of the paint to get a less strained fit into the yaw enclosure. Mind you, I put several coats of spray paint on it as the wood just soaks up the paint.
 

dezertdog

Senior Member
Dezertdog -- you did an unbelievable job documenting your build of the pro tricopter kit. This is the most detailed and all encompassing build log of the kit I have ever seen. The build is also extremely clean and well done. I am glad you enjoy the kit and wish you the best for many fun filled flights. I personally fly with the pots at 47%, 47%, and about 60% if you want to give that a try. It will calm your video a little bit. Looking forward to seeing many more of your videos.

Tim thanks so much! The kit is great, I am in love with this thing. I just got done with a test flight using the pot settings you mentioned and you are right, it's a rock now. That pitch oscillation is cleaned right up. Waiting on the charger so I can get back out there. :cool:
 

dezertdog

Senior Member
Using a 3/8" square rod, or 9.6mm in your case, might actually be beneficial if you are planning to spray paint the booms. I found that with the 10mm booms, after paint, they are actually oversized to fit into yaw assembly. I actually had to sand away some of the paint to get a less strained fit into the yaw enclosure. Mind you, I put several coats of spray paint on it as the wood just soaks up the paint.

I just got done staining some hemlock and pine for another project and have been using this conditioner: http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains/minwax-prestain-wood-conditioner

It's made to prevent blotching by not letting the stain over penetrate. I've got a spare set of booms built already so I may not get to test it soon, but I wonder if this would help the issue of getting a good finish without excessive coats. Also that paint isn't light either, so it also could be a slight weight savings.
 
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dezertdog

Senior Member
Some updates on things to come.

1) APM2.0 ordered 04/16/2012, shipped 5/22/2012, a week ahead of what 3D Robotics promised.
2) Full blackout rebuild done, pics tonight I hope.
3) 5.8ghz FPV setup received.

:D
 
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Fishbonez

Active member
Dezertdog,
Very Nice!! Looking forward to seeing more vids from you with this. I may try building one of these sme days. Helis and I have a love hater relationship so we will see...I do like your build log very detailed