Is it worth adding GPS to a tricopter?

[TheFinder]

I've got a tricopter built off of David's 2.6HV setup with a KK2. My objective is to get to a FPV setup soon. After around 20 flight I've noticed getting it to hover without drift is difficult. I'm not in an area with lots of space so that can be a problem at times. I've seen a few DJI phantoms fly and they are rock solid in the air. I think it's because of GPS lock so I was thinking of possibly adding it to the tricopter. Has anyone had success with adding GPS to a tricopter?

I was thinking of adding the HobbyKing HKPilot 2.5.

 

[crlock]

It depends. let me see if I can explain.

First, the hover issues, it can be due to numerous factors, perfectly balanced airframe, perfectly true board mounting, wind, self level setup and transmitter trimming. if you are absolutely certain that you have addressed those issues and all of them are 100% ok, then you can think of adding a GPS module to your copter, but what for? if now you have a copter that hover rock solid in one spot?

Now, if what you want to do with the copter is add a return to home feature, or set waypoints, or make it follow you, then, ditch the kk and go for a ardupilot.

The KK board IMHO, is intended for the novice pilot and those of us who want a fair ammount of control over their multirotors.
DJI, APM and others, are meant (again imho) for those who want a very steady and reliable platform for FPV and Aereal video/photo.
Not saying that the kk is not reliable, or something like that, correctly set, the kk is awesome. i love mine.

cheers

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I've thought about GPS, but for very specific reasons. I intend to fly with return to home capabilities, and locking it in place for photography reasons.

Other than that, I'd say no. Especially if you're new to flying. As crlock mentioned, you might just need to properly set up the quad to be better balanced. Careful motor trimming will help too.

All the GPS is doing, is flying the tricopter for you. Instead of you putting in the inputs to keep it in one location, it's doing it. Which partially defeats the purpose of going flying.

 

[Tritium]

I fly several Ardu.xxxx systems with GPS. I can set one in my back yard with a full unobstructed view of the sky and then fire up Mission planner and watch the GPS drift through my wireless telemetry link. The number of satellites locked varies minute by minute and the craft sitting stationary in the yard shows random movement of several 10's of yards while watching it on my map view in mission planner.

Civilian GPS is not very accurate on purpose. Commercial GPS used to locate spots for oil well drilling and other industrial functions is at least 10 times more accurate and Military GPS is insanely accurate to inches or less in most conditions.

No amount of hardware will add anything but more variables to an already complex flight control system so to parrot what has been said proper tuning and control of variables in each subsystem HAS to be accomplished before adding more complexity with more hardware.

Thurmond