I am looking at running a Radiomaster t16Sx to a s-bus receiver, and into a Matek F-765 Wing, plus an arduino board.
I am told that an Arduino MKR Zero would be best.
I want to run ArduCopter firmware.
I need to discuss control options, but the Ardupilot-Discuss group are a bit close-mouthed.- possibly they are all post-graduate-level embedded systems developers.
They are not very chatty to the "Plebs"-rather like my old boss!
I haven't read the Arducopter docs cover-to-cover, but I assume any channels can be multiplexed, and the main copter channels can be gyro-assisted to various levels.
I need to add another "Pot board" to the transmitter to give me 6 pots in total, plus 7-sector led readouts for each.
I have set 11 controller output channels- the 765 has 12, so that is OK.
I will explain the general concept.
transmitter (7) - Gyro bias-pot- set level of assistance. I don't know if this is an acceptable input.
(8) - orbit, autopilot.-switch-standard.
(9) - Elevator pitch bias - pot- mixer control from elevator to fore and aft pitch full linkage.
So pitch can be either elevator-out, mixed elevator and cyclic pitch, or all cyclic pitch and no elevator. -pot- variable mix.
- Not sure whether variable mix is acceptable.
(10) Elevator Macro Trim.- elevator can be biased up substantially to counter cyclic down-pitch.
-pot- This is for normal helicopter-mode forward travel.
check whether this is allowed.
(5) rotor rpm upper limit. - free running is 4000 rpm, but can be pulled down to 2500 rpm for cruise.
- check whether this is allowable.-pot-
(6) Thrust rpm/throttle- as per normal motor throttle.-pot-
(11) Feathering wing. -switch- The copter has a supplementary wing and tail propeller.
The wing follows a flow direction paddle, plus other mixed inputs- angle of attack, elevon, aileron style
Each side is separately pivoted. This is a PWM pass-through to the Arduino.
(12) wing pitch trim. -pot- -PWM pass-through to Arduino.
(Numbering in order from the diagram- normal joysticks are 1-4)
Arduino inputs:
Rudder pass-through. from yaw. PWM
Pitch PWM pass-through
Roll PWM pass-through
feathering wing PWM pass-through
3 sets of pots:
1) air direction.
2) zero trim.
3) scaling trim.
Arduino outputs:
Wing servos, 180 degree, 2 of.
3 lines to air direction pot,
3 lines to wing zeroing pot
3 lines to servo-pot scaling, to match up servo and paddle travel.
I suppose 1 line is test voltage and current,
1 is total voltage drop,
1 is variable voltage drop.
Arduino functions:
1) Run the airflow paddle tracking and PWM output to winglet servos.
2) Set 2 changeover points based on paddle angle to chassis.
1a) Slow speed mode- mix in rudder and pitch to the winglets, in elevon mode-for
flatter low speed manoeuvring.
2a) Level flight mode- mix in roll to the winglets for aileron mode, add wing angle of attack.
This is not really necessary, as rotor roll authority is sufficient.
3a) In between-just feathering, no control mixing.
This may be a bit overwhelming for most hobbyists, but if you are up to it,
I would like to :
1b) Confirm whether the variable mixing functions are allowed.
2b) See whether other flight controller/micro computer'/firmware combinations are better.
Arducopter has a lot of useful functions, and a good gyro/gps/nav section.
The F765 has all the power and outputs I could want.
I hesitate to start delving into the firmware, even though I have the code, as there are 700+ thousand lines of code,
and it is tricky to debug, compile, and test properly.
It is monolithic, and everything uses common memory.- there are some Sandbox options for development.
I am set up for C++ programming, but need tons of practice!
I got all the environment setup stuff from the Ardupilot Wiki.
- that is the sole advice from the Ardupilot-Discuss people (read, practice), but I would like to see if there are options.
There is a simpler Arduino-based system that would run a helicopter, and I could get the code for that, too.
It doesn't do GPS or nav, and 6-axis capability is doubtful. It does do simple gyro.
It is not as huge as Arducopter, but also Arduino boards are much lower spec, and have limited eprom and addressable space.
You cannot load all the nav stuff on there.
I have added some design images so you can see what the aircraft looks like.
I am told that an Arduino MKR Zero would be best.
I want to run ArduCopter firmware.
I need to discuss control options, but the Ardupilot-Discuss group are a bit close-mouthed.- possibly they are all post-graduate-level embedded systems developers.
They are not very chatty to the "Plebs"-rather like my old boss!
I haven't read the Arducopter docs cover-to-cover, but I assume any channels can be multiplexed, and the main copter channels can be gyro-assisted to various levels.
I need to add another "Pot board" to the transmitter to give me 6 pots in total, plus 7-sector led readouts for each.
I have set 11 controller output channels- the 765 has 12, so that is OK.
I will explain the general concept.
transmitter (7) - Gyro bias-pot- set level of assistance. I don't know if this is an acceptable input.
(8) - orbit, autopilot.-switch-standard.
(9) - Elevator pitch bias - pot- mixer control from elevator to fore and aft pitch full linkage.
So pitch can be either elevator-out, mixed elevator and cyclic pitch, or all cyclic pitch and no elevator. -pot- variable mix.
- Not sure whether variable mix is acceptable.
(10) Elevator Macro Trim.- elevator can be biased up substantially to counter cyclic down-pitch.
-pot- This is for normal helicopter-mode forward travel.
check whether this is allowed.
(5) rotor rpm upper limit. - free running is 4000 rpm, but can be pulled down to 2500 rpm for cruise.
- check whether this is allowable.-pot-
(6) Thrust rpm/throttle- as per normal motor throttle.-pot-
(11) Feathering wing. -switch- The copter has a supplementary wing and tail propeller.
The wing follows a flow direction paddle, plus other mixed inputs- angle of attack, elevon, aileron style
Each side is separately pivoted. This is a PWM pass-through to the Arduino.
(12) wing pitch trim. -pot- -PWM pass-through to Arduino.
(Numbering in order from the diagram- normal joysticks are 1-4)
Arduino inputs:
Rudder pass-through. from yaw. PWM
Pitch PWM pass-through
Roll PWM pass-through
feathering wing PWM pass-through
3 sets of pots:
1) air direction.
2) zero trim.
3) scaling trim.
Arduino outputs:
Wing servos, 180 degree, 2 of.
3 lines to air direction pot,
3 lines to wing zeroing pot
3 lines to servo-pot scaling, to match up servo and paddle travel.
I suppose 1 line is test voltage and current,
1 is total voltage drop,
1 is variable voltage drop.
Arduino functions:
1) Run the airflow paddle tracking and PWM output to winglet servos.
2) Set 2 changeover points based on paddle angle to chassis.
1a) Slow speed mode- mix in rudder and pitch to the winglets, in elevon mode-for
flatter low speed manoeuvring.
2a) Level flight mode- mix in roll to the winglets for aileron mode, add wing angle of attack.
This is not really necessary, as rotor roll authority is sufficient.
3a) In between-just feathering, no control mixing.
This may be a bit overwhelming for most hobbyists, but if you are up to it,
I would like to :
1b) Confirm whether the variable mixing functions are allowed.
2b) See whether other flight controller/micro computer'/firmware combinations are better.
Arducopter has a lot of useful functions, and a good gyro/gps/nav section.
The F765 has all the power and outputs I could want.
I hesitate to start delving into the firmware, even though I have the code, as there are 700+ thousand lines of code,
and it is tricky to debug, compile, and test properly.
It is monolithic, and everything uses common memory.- there are some Sandbox options for development.
I am set up for C++ programming, but need tons of practice!
I got all the environment setup stuff from the Ardupilot Wiki.
- that is the sole advice from the Ardupilot-Discuss people (read, practice), but I would like to see if there are options.
There is a simpler Arduino-based system that would run a helicopter, and I could get the code for that, too.
It doesn't do GPS or nav, and 6-axis capability is doubtful. It does do simple gyro.
It is not as huge as Arducopter, but also Arduino boards are much lower spec, and have limited eprom and addressable space.
You cannot load all the nav stuff on there.
I have added some design images so you can see what the aircraft looks like.
Attachments
Last edited:
