Inav on 49" FPV Flying Wing

[Stambo]

No worries Derek .
You must be getting close by now.

I am still waiting for a low wind day so I can do some tuning.
I don't know the first thing about tuning PIDs (or PIFs) on a fixed wing so I want to try the autotune feature and see what it comes up with.
I do know after a couple of flights that I have my roll rates too low but that is an easy fix.

[Derek]

Yes...im getting real close. Progress is slowed because of work and home life but its cool. I need to go to the lhs today and pick up some more servo connectors so that i can finish up. Im on a 7 day vacation from work, so hopefully i can get this done soon

[Derek]

Ive been messing with the wiring and setup some more, this morning. I ran into a bit of a issue because i just didnt understand how some of the wiring needed to be. So, i called my Dad. He was kind enough to come over and just give his thoughts. I just needed an outsiders brain. We quickly sorted out the wiring issue and progress has resumed.

Now, i have everything wired up except for a ppm cable...thats the easy part. So....with everything wired up now (meaning flight controller, esc, vtx, fpv camera, and led's), i figured I'd better just plug in the battery to see if i did it all right or if i get magic pixie smoke.

Thankfully, no magic pixie smoke lol. So, I'll get a ppm extension made up. I need to find my smaller zip ties so that i can clean some of this up. Its not bad but not the cleanest lol

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[Derek]

hmmmm, When I connect the USB cable to the fc and connect to the Inav GUI, the motor does a beep, beep.....beep, beep......beep, beep, etc. When I turn on my DX8 and connect the battery, the motor goes into a fast paced beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,beep, etc.

I remember when I was originally setting up this wing (prior to Inav), the motor did that repeated fast paced beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. I had done a Google search about that and found out that the throttle range wasn't wide enough. After taking the throttle range to the max, the repeated beeps when away and everything worked. Unfortunately, I can't open the throttle range now because of the Throttle Endpoints in the Receiver Tab of the gui.

Any ideas why this is going on? Do I need to calibrate the esc like we do with our quads? I don't see that Matthew Ogborne has done it.

[Graham Lawrie]

Check your program and see if you have this line of code:
# adjrange
adjrange 11 2 2 900 2100 12 2

If you do thats the issue:)

[Stambo]

It will keep beeping until it has enough satellites locked, I think you need at least 6.
It will also beep if anything is not calibrated, you have to do 6 point calibration for accelerometers.

[Derek]

Check your program and see if you have this line of code:
# adjrange
adjrange 11 2 2 900 2100 12 2

If you do thats the issue:)

Thanks for that tip, Graham! I'll have a look at the CLI today.

It will keep beeping until it has enough satellites locked, I think you need at least 6.
It will also beep if anything is not calibrated, you have to do 6 point calibration for accelerometers.

Even in my house, I have been able to repeatedly get 11 satellites.....on one occasion, it displayed 12. Quite happy with that! As for the 6 point calibration, I've done that, too. I was happy to see that it was successfully done on the first try, lol. I really want this wing in the air, so I am surely doing to keep pressing on.

[Derek]

As my home life allows, I'm working more on the Inav setup. I was talking about the fast paced beep, beep, beep, beep that I was getting. After calibrating the esc, that solved that...Cool! The other beep beep.......beep beep.......beep beep that I was hearing, I'm still hearing it while connected to the GUI but once I turn on my DX8, those beeps stop. I also noticed the lil red parachute icon on top was red while the beeps were happening....probably meaning the failsafe was active because there was no transmitter signal. The red parachute goes away when I turn on the DX8. So, I'd say that issue is resolved, also.

The GUI showed 14 satellites, even while in my house. That's good to know! All flight modes are working except for RTH and I imagine that's not working because the plane IS at home. I noticed that the elevator is working properly but aileron is backwards. When I tried to reverse the servos, in the GUI only, the ailerons worked properly but the elevator was backwards. However, I realized that I can set the servos so that the elevator works properly and just move the pushrods from the outside of the servo horn to the inside of the servo horn.....doing that will have the elevator still working properly and it will correct the ailerons. PERFECT!

After that, I think it's about time to adhere the flight controller mount to the inside of the electronics bay. I have a spot cut out in the foamboard for the fc mount. I still need to cut out a slot for the GPS unit cable and cut out a circle for the GPS unit, itself. After that, I think I'm all good to go.

Can you guys think of anything that I need to double check? Please speak up....if you suggest something that I think I've already checked, I will surely check it again, to be sure. Damn...I'm getting excited excited excited!!!

[Stambo]

Main thing I can think of is check that the FC is correcting the right way.
In angle mode you will get the most movement.

Also, do your first flight in pass through if you can, make sure it flys straight and level, then switch to acro and make sure it stays where you point it.
Then you can try angle (self level) which may need some trimming on the FC.
Finally when all those are working you get to try GPS modes.

[Derek]

Thanks Stambo! I have written up a bit of a checklist and everything you have mentioned is on my list. Sounds good. So...I just need to do a few more things, tidy up the wires with zip ties, and we should be in good shape. Awesome!

[Derek]

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So close to being done! Servos are moving properly. Stabilization is working properly. I tested the fpv and OSD....too cool! First time I've had OSD. Although, i have the arrow on top of the GPS unit pointing forward.....in the OSD, its showing North but the wing is pointing South. What do i do to fix this?

[DOG]

Mann Derek. That bird looks awesome. You came a long way. Slowly but surely.

[Derek]

Lol...."slowly" is right. Im incredibly happy with how its come together. Its cold, windy, and snowing right now, so ive got time to mess with it today and hopefully get the finishing touches done

[Stambo]

Although, i have the arrow on top of the GPS unit pointing forward.....in the OSD, its showing North but the wing is pointing South. What do i do to fix this?

GPS does not know which way you are facing until you are moving, it will correct itself.

You have disabled the compass right?

[Derek]

Im not sure if i disabled the compass or not but i do remember Matthew Ogborne saying to do so.....so, ill do that

[Derek]

disabling the compass....is that just removing the "Heading Graph" from the OSD Tab? Or is there a different place to actually disable the compass?

I have removed the heading graph.....I just thought it would be kinda neat to know what direction I'm flying....not that I'll be flying real far, but I've never had an OSD before so, let's face it....I've turned on a lot of options. Yes, the screen is a bit cluttered with stuff. Some things will likely get turned off after I play with them a bit.

[Derek]

After looking around some more, I think the Heading Graph has something to do with the Magnetic Declination, in the Config Tab. However, since the flight controller's magnetometer is disabled, the Heading Graph may not work, no matter what I do. That being the case, I'm just going to go and remove the Heading Graph from my OSD and.....life goes on. I'm just stoked to actually have a model that has OSD, for the first time, lol.

[Stambo]

Ok if magnetometer (compass) is disabled in config you are all good.
You should still be able to have the heading graph on as the OSD should get direction information once the plane is moving.
Just be a bit careful with OSD information overload while flying.
You don't want to crash because you were looking at all the numbers.

[Derek]

I've just removed the Heading Graph and I'll move on. I may add it later and see if I can get it working. If not, no big deal.

I've just spent the last few hours double checking settings, control surface travel, control surface gyro compensation, etc. I really thought I was good to go and then I noticed that my FPV camera was showing video in black and white. Not good! I searched for the box that the camera came in because there was a remote to connect to the camera to make setting adjustments. Bummer, I think I threw that box, and all, in the trash. Luckily, I had another type of remote that plugged right into the camera and I was able to make the change from black and white to color. All good now!

So....I think we're finally ready for the maiden flight.....I just need it to stop snowing and preferably be above 40 degrees F.....the high temps all next week are in the low 30's.....brrrrr, cold!

The maiden flight will get video'd from the ground....I'm sure my Dad will make himself available, as he always does. I'll also have my 720p actioncam onboard for the first few flights, just in case something goes wrong. After we get a couple of good flights, I'll put use my new Turnigy 1080p HD camera for some better quality video.

[Stambo]

Cool, looking forward to the vids.
I am getting sick of the wind around here, when it's calm enough to fly I have to work.