Test flight with crash landing.

After some trimming, and thinking, and not to mention good answers to questions I have posted on the UAVX forum at rcgroups.com, I have now test-flown the UAVX quadrocopter.
It went well for a while, but ended in a small crash and a broken propeller.

Video of this can be seen here: Test flight video

I'm a little unsure of what caused this crash, but assume it comes from both a bit inexperienced pilot, and some wrong settings in UAVPSet.
I'll change some parameters, and I have ordered a more powerful lipo, so no voltage drop will create problems.

Replacing the defective propeller, and dismantling the motor for a check after the crash.:

5 volts regulator modifying

5 volt voltage should be taken from the Motor K1 ESC.
It turned out that this one provided voltage up to 7.5 volts, and this can destroy a lot.
I did not wanted to modify the flight controller board with an internal 5 volt regulator, so I started to look around for one that could be used externally.
To make it simple, I ordered a regulator from ebay, but this one was not good. It delivered everything from 5.5 volts to 7 volts.
I have now tested several "stable" 5 volt regulators from ebay, and have not gotten hold of anyone who realy is stable yet.

Do not buy this one:



On my FPV plain, I had a good regulator that delivers konstand 5.14 volts, to supply power to the HD camera. I have now taken this regulator from there, I'd better buy a new one to the FPV plain.
This is made from a 12 volt USB equipment charger like this.:



This provides a very stable voltage, and up to 1 Amp.

Mounted on quadrocopteret it looks like this:

Problems with PPM signal

Since I last wrote something, a lot has happened here.
I've had some problems getting the receiver to talk with the UAVX flight controller.

To fix this problem, I had to buy several PPM encoders. A PPM encoder encodes a multiple-channel PWM signal from a standard RC receiver to a serial ppm signal, which goes to the flight controller.

The first encoder I ordered from Paparazzi http://ppzuav.com, this one did not work.
The next one I ordered from DiyDrones
This one was ok, but I thought I fried it because it turned itself off after a while, and the voltage who should be 5 volts, was closer to 7.5.
I ordered a third encoder from DiyDrones, this did not either worked. And in the meantime I have modified 5 volt power supply to the flight controller.
I also realized that the second encoder I bought turned off when it got too hot, and it works fine now that I have a stable 5 volt supply.

Paparazzi PPM encoder:


DiyDrones PPM encoder in place with shrink wrap for protection:

Div settup

PPM signal

PPM signal from the receiver looks like the picture below. I think there was too much glitch in this signal to make it work.
To get this receiver to work, I had to put a PPM encoder between RX and flight controller. The PPM encoder converts the 8 channels splitted PPM signal into a serial PPM signal who also is corrected to be like a standard Futaba serial PPM signal.

I first orderet a PPM encoder from Paparazzi, but it did not work. I reckon there was something wrong on it, or the program in it.
I then ordered one from Diy Drones, and everthing worked right away.
I have now left some parameters and tests that must be done before mounting the propellers and battery, and can test flight the UAVX.

UAVPSet and RX problems.

I've now got connected UAVX to the pc via USB to RS-232 adapter, and a self-made UAVX to RS-232 cable.
I have also tested the latest version of the program that communicates with UAVX, UAVPSet 4.11.
I have not been able to get UAVX to communicate properly with the radio set that is WFLY WFR08-P receiver, and WFT-09 transmitter.

The report I get from the test program looks like this.:

Soldering sensors

Turnigy 2217/20 brushless motors
and TowerPro Mag8 25A ESC

Roll bar for the UAVX-copter.

Building a quadrocopter

Without good results, I have built some slow flying rc aircrafts to use for aireal photography and HD video.
I will now build a UAVX quadrocopter for this use.

This blog is about the construction and testing of this quadrocopteret.

I have now built an aluminum frame that weighs 250 grams, and has gathered together some of the electronics I will use for this.