FLYKIT - the first mobile RC ground control station for FPV

flykit_team

New member
FLYKIT is a mobile set of steering devices which can be used to control a drone, RC plane or flight simulator. The kit includes control stick, pedals, thrust lever and pilot seat. With such devices you can control as in an airplane or helicopter, instead of a fingertips control.
FLYKIT_v.2.jpg
FLYKIT can be connected to the most of transmitters via trainer port or you can use it with an RC transmitter module. The whole set fits to a special bag and can be taken wherever you plan to fly. Aluminum construction and hall effect sensors will ensure the longevity. Controller is compatible with latest OpenTx and Ersky9x firmware.

We are currently testing this product and are about to start production of the first batch, but before that we’d like to know your opinion on our design, especially ergonomics and usability of buttons and potentiometers. The photo presents our current design.
switches_button.jpg
Above the LCD, starting from the left:
  • ID 0/1/2 3-pos toggle switch,
  • TRAINER dual-stable button,
  • GEAR 2-pos toggle switch,
  • 6-pos rotating switch,
  • AIL dual rate 2-pos toggle switch,
  • ELV dual rate 2-pos toggle switch,
  • RUD dual rate 2-pos toggle switch,
Near the trim buttons there will be a joystick - 2 axis with a push-button (e.g. for a gimbal control), and a sliding potentiometer 100mm long placed on the side of thrust-lever enclosure (e.g. air-brakes or flaps). Besides that, we have put a two push-buttons on the thrust lever, and one on the control stick.

Do you think that such arrangement of buttons and potentiometers is good enough ? Maybe you would like to move or replace a button/potentiometer e.g. sliding potentiometer or dual rate switches? We’d be very glad to hear your opinions.

More info you can find on http://nuavion.com
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I'm intrigued, and would be even more excited if it included 3 position switches for the rates instead of just two, and ran OpenTX software so as an end user anything could be configured, or reconfigured to our liking and not locked in for a specific use for switches.

I do like the idea of a stock setup already installed and ready to go with basic switch recommendations like you mention above, but depending on the type of model being flown I'd want different things directly accessible without moving a hand.

Looking forward to seeing this develop!
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
AS a long time gamer who has used an Saitek X45 setup for a long time for many applications I would say this...

The ergonomics you have as pictured would be VERY stressing long term and could potentially cause neck and shoulder issues. Having bad shoulders from work I can feel things much sooner then most and reaching out like that to do precise and controlled movements is bad. You need to get the neutral positions for the levers where they sit back between mid thigh and kneecap. This allows for decent range of movement but does not make the user continuously have to support their arms stretched out and puts the joints in a more naturally relaxed position.

Think about a fighter jet cock pit or a helicopter set up. The way you have this now is like WWI bi planes where it was all strong arming to move control surfaces. With the electronics there is little force needed.

As for electronics I am fully with Rockyboy. Let us select what the switches do thru open tx. Dump the buttons on the sticks and use 8 way hat switches for selection and then a 3 position slider switch on the throttle for function selection of what the hat switches control.

Lastly dump that camping chair because you will do serious damage to your legs and circulatory system sitting in a hole like that with the edge of the seat basically cutting off circulation to your legs while holding constant tension when operating rudder pedals. Go with something more ergonomic like the molded fiberglass "Race" style seats. You would actually be better off with two pieces of plywood then that camp chair.

Take this as you will but I am a broken cybernetic organism that lives with pain constantly and your customers will not support you if they feel that pain. Word will get out fast in reviews.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I'm with you Psyborg! Some gaming style control switches like a nice Logitech or something those crazy kids use so the hands and arms can stay in neutral position and on the sticks would be great!

I can see a value to the fold-up camping chair for portability through - perhaps if the product were in more of a U shape frame with control stick coming up on the right hand side of chair, throttle on left hand side of chair, rudder poking out from the middle - and then let the end user bring their own chair - or buy the nice FlyKit branded folding one of course :)
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Hmmm. It may seem odd that all the effort was put into the controls only to throw a flimsy seat at it, but I'm guessing you could easily NOT use that seat and use a racing seat or whatever you want. (real life ejection seat anyone??) Throttle control looks OK, but I'd rather not use the giant glider stick. I fly X-Plane with a Saitek X52 Flight Sytem and Saitek pro pedals. It is VERY easy to custom mount those around a nice race seat (or even a recliner ;). Working on a RMRC Surfer Pro build with an FC. It will have a telemetry link, so I'll be able to use my Saitek gear over that. Telemetry links are somewhat laggy, so it would be better to have the sticks directly set to an RF link. Could potentially use the trainerlink port on a TX to dump the control signals from a PC directly to the TX. Might be a good project for a Raspberry Pi....

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

flykit_team

New member
Thank you for your valuable feedback.
We are aware that comfy chair is very important part of fpv equipment. We are working on universal chair mount which would be helpful for anyone who wants to use his/hers own chair. Our first goal was to make a Flykit as mobile as possible. That is why we decided to use folding chair which is light and travel-friendly. There are many good quality folding chairs which are more comfortable than basic ones so perhaps this could be an intermediate solution.
We tried to fly fpv-quad using Flykit, and it is totally new experience, maybe it is not so easy to make sophisticated air acrobatics but instead you get a much more fun. We can tell you a secret that we are working on dual-joystick module which will fit better to fpv-quad.
 

RCdiy

RCdiy
Provide a flat plate/frame that we can either sit any chair on or peg that frame to the grass/ground... this makes it universal for any chair...

Cool factor +1

Thank you for your valuable feedback.
We are aware that comfy chair is very important part of fpv equipment. We are working on universal chair mount which would be helpful for anyone who wants to use his/hers own chair. Our first goal was to make a Flykit as mobile as possible. That is why we decided to use folding chair which is light and travel-friendly. There are many good quality folding chairs which are more comfortable than basic ones so perhaps this could be an intermediate solution.
We tried to fly fpv-quad using Flykit, and it is totally new experience, maybe it is not so easy to make sophisticated air acrobatics but instead you get a much more fun. We can tell you a secret that we are working on dual-joystick module which will fit better to fpv-quad.