RVOSD gen2 Settings and adjusts. Instruction Manual here. [Archive]

View Full Version : RVOSD gen2 Settings and adjusts. Instruction Manual here.

Alex Villa

04-14-2009, 08:11 PM

Before entering to the explanations I will make a suggestion that should save some planes out there. The radio control receiver is a very sensitive part to electromagnetic fields generated all over the electronics on the plane, placing your receiver as far as possible from the rest of the electronics (at least 20 cm) is a very good practice. I think the sources of interferences can organized followin this order from more to less interfering capabilities:

-Video transmitter. A lot of armonics can be generated inside the transmitter, those are being radiated thru the antenna, the worst part of it scape thru the video and power cabling. Wiring those cables together around a toroid and twisting the rest of the cable lenght will give you a lot of improvment.
-GPS module. This is a unit that can be afected by the video transmitter, but also can be the source of interference affecting your receiver, the cabling that go to the OSD transport a high speed data comunications that can be radiated if they pass near the receiver or antenna.
-ESC. Speed controllers have a microprocessor that use an internal crystal that can generate armonics on the RC link band, also the PWM output to the motor can be radiated.
-BEC. A switching regulator operating on the KHz bands can generate armonics.
-The OSD. Two microprocessors running at 120 Mhz with crystal oscillators at 10 Mhz, interference on the armonics. Also high speed data all over the unit. low pass filters were added to all the inputs and outputs but still suggested a separation of 10 cm or more to the receiver and antenna.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To navigate thru RVOSD screens and menus you can use the provided remote control, the “Mute” Key can be used to cycle screens, the “CH+” and “CH-“ keys can be used to navigate menu items and the “VOL+” and “VOL-“ keys can be used to change the items. In case you lose it, you can use any universal remote control set to SONY TV brand.
Please connect your Rx (servo in) to the OSD, and turn ON your RC Tx before turning on the OSD.

RVOSD will try to detect servo pulses on the inputs, up to the seventh second after being turned on. If it detects no valid pulses, then servo pass thru is disabled and RC Link lost indication (Failsafe or autopilot) display is also disabled.

Up to the seventh second, RVOSD will look for:

In RVOSD PPM mode the OSD will look for pulses in Auxiliary input.
In RVOSD PCM mode the OSD will look for pulses in Auxiliary and Throttle inputs.
RVOSD can be adjusted to detect lost of RC link by two means, when it is set to PPM mode it analyze the servo pulses incoming on the auxiliary channel, if those pulses are not present or randomly changing then it knows the link was lost and take the appropriate actions based on menu item “Autopilot” on the autopilot submenu. When it is set to PCM mode it will do the same action on the auxiliary channel, but will also look at the throttle input for any servo period greater than the values set in the menu item “Set pcm FS point”.
If your receiver doesn’t have servo pulses post-processing, so it just output random or no pulses at all when the RC link it’s lost then you can use the PPM mode on RVOSD.
But if your receiver have servo pulses post-processing, so it can set failsafe on throttle channel you can use the PCM mode on RVOSD. And do the following instructions:
-Remove the propeller.
-With the inputs connected (auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected, the others are optional) Make sure RVOSD it´s set to PPM mode in the menu item “Receiver mode”. If not, set it, save configuration and restart the OSD.
-Set your throttle stick to 105% of normal range.
-With the remote control go to the RVOSD menu.
-Save the throttle value in the menu item “Set pcm FS point".
-Change receiver mode to PCM.
-Go to the menu item “Save configuration” and execute (This way the changes on the menu will stay after you cycle power on the OSD). You will see the word “Done” blink on the screen.
-On the receiver, set throttle channel failsafe to 110%.
-Set throttle stick on your transmitter to normal range 0-100% (example: 0.90--1.9mS)

Now if you turn off your RC Transmitter, Throttle should go to 110%, this value is greater than the set pcm FS point set at 105% thus RVOSD will set RC link lost display action. With the Rc Transmitter ON again this value will go to normal range 0--100%. This value is less than the set pcm FS point witch it is set to 105%. Thus RVOSD will remove Rc Link lost action.

The OSD will never let the FS (110%) value goes out to the ESC.

The auxiliary channel can be used to cycle screens, to turn OFF and ON some items and to navigate and modify the autopilot menu. To do this you need a three position switch assigned to this channel, each time you toggle up you will cycle one screen and each time you toggle down it will turn ON and OFF some of the OSD options, this action will depend on some the menu settings. If the “autopilot” menu item its set to anything else than OFF, then you can navigate and change items on this submenu, by using the elevator and Rudder sticks. In order to allow these actions the servo outputs will stay at the values they had just before entering the submenu. So you can’t control the plane while navigating the submenu, to regain control just cycle screens again. If while you are navigating the submenu the RC link it’s lost the OSD will automatically go out of the submenu to allow faster retake of control.
RVOSD Menu:
Use Mute key to cycle screens
Use channel+ and channel- keys to cycle thru all the menu options.
Use Volume+ and Volume- keys to modify menu items

Enter autopilot menu:
-Door to the autopilot submenu
Hide ground distance:
-Maximum distance to display Ground Distance, if this value set to zero Ground Distance is always displayed.
Low altitude angle:
-If the plane has an angle in the horizon less than this value, GPS coordinates will be shown, also date, in case “Warnings screen” is selected “Low altitude” warning is displayed.
Reset home:
-Restart main microprocessor unit, conditions to set home required again.
Curr sensor type:
-Adjust gains for different current sensor type, five types of sensor will be available, 50-100-130-150-200.
Set Batt capacity:
-Set the maximum battery capacity of your pack, RVOSD only measure motor consumption, thus you need to calculate your static consumption (video Tx, camera, receiver). A typical value for 500mW Tx, KX191 camera and usual EzStar Rx and micro servos, its 500mAh. Then if your battery has a capacity of 2200mAh, a good practice is to set 2200-500=1700mAh as battery capacity for 1 hr flight time. Current indicator will start to blink when mAh consumed go over 80% of the value set, in case “Warnings screen” is selected “Battery Empty” warning is displayed when 80% of battery capacity is consumed.
Dist warning:
-Distance indicator will start to blink when it goes over the value set, in case “Warnings screen” is selected “Distance Far” warning is displayed.

Batt warning:
-Main Battery voltage indicator will start to blink when it goes under the value set, in case “Warnings screen” is selected “Main Battery Low” warning is displayed.
-Video Battery voltage indicator will start to blink when it goes under 10.6V, in case “Warnings screen” is selected “Video Battery Low” warning is displayed. This value is fixed.
HDOP counter:
-RVOSD GPS send new position and parameter updates at 5Hz (5 times/sec), this counter set how many good HDOPs needs to be received before setting home.
Set max HDOP:
-This value set the minimum GPS signal Horizontal Dilution of Position (HDOP) RVOSD will accept to start setting home. RVOSD will display “Searching Sats” when there is not any satellite lock reported from GPS, and will change to “Setting Home” as soon as it locks on the first satellite.
-Its recommended to set this value to the minimum possible (around 1.00) to have an accurate set of zero altitude and home GPS coordinates, however it can take too long to set home with this value to low. Setting it to 1.30 looks to be the best compromise between accuracy and lower time to set. Keep in mind that this must be done on clear open sky visibility.
Display clear ground:
-When this parameter is ON, most of the OSD information is displayed in the upper side of the screen.
Display Vario:
-When this parameter is ON, F16 screen will show a Variometer information.
FPM position adjust:
-This setting allow adjust of vertical position of the Flight Path Marker (FPM) as well as the center of the rotating Home and Waypoint indicators.
Call Sign:
-You can set your call sign here, also turn it ON or OFF.
Set pcm FS point:
-In PCM mode this parameter set the throttle point at which RVOSD will interpret receiver went to Fail Safe mode. Adjust this to be over your 100 % normal throttle position and under the FS setting on your throttle channel.
Display units:
-Allow the use of metric or imperial units
Receiver mode:
-Select PCM or PPM receivers
Set elevator failsafe:
-In “Autopilot OFF” mode, RVOSD will output this value to elevator if RC link lost its detected.
Set aileron failsafe:
-In “Autopilot OFF” mode, RVOSD will output this value to aileron if RC link lost its detected.
Set throttle failsafe:
-In “Autopilot OFF” mode, RVOSD will output this value to throttle if RC link lost its detected. In “Autopilot ON” mode RVOSD also will output this value if the plane altitude its more than “Cruise Altitude” + “Altitude Bearing Limit” so you must set it to neutral(engine off), or to a low value to keep altitude if possible.
Set rudder failsafe:
-In “Autopilot OFF” mode, RVOSD will output this value to rudder if RC link lost its detected.
Waypoint LAT:
-Set waypoint latitude position. Keep in mind that RVOSD use Decimal degrees convention.
Waypoint LON:
-Set waypoint longitude position. Keep in mind that RVOSD use Decimal degrees convention.
Display FPM:
- Enable/Disable Flight Path Marker (FPM)
Display speed ladder:
- Enable/Disable the speed ladder on the F16 screen
Display altitude ladder:
- Enable/Disable the altitude ladder on the F16 screen
Display compass:
- Enable/Disable the compass on the F16 screen
Display waypoint indicator:
- Enable/Disable the waypoint direction, and distance indicator
Save configuration:
-Save all to permanent memory, so when you cycle power to OSD parameters will be kept in memory. (You will see a very fast “Done” blink to confirm action) after that no further save needed unless you want to modify something else. Be conservative because this option will work 1800 times but can be as low as 800 times.

On Autopilot sub menus you have the following options:
Bank limit:
-When using the autopilot without the FMA sensors, this parameter can be used to limit the maximum servo deflection, allowing more authoritative response of the autopilot while avoiding too much bank angle when the plane it’s going completely away from home (maximum autopilot output)
Bank proportional gain:
-This option adjust the proportional gain on the YAW PID control, autopilot output it’s proportional to the heading error (Plane heading – home direction), this parameter determine how much this error will deflect the rudder of the plane.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, then this parameter will set the desired bank angle instead of rudder deflection.
Rate of turn limit:
-This option adjust the derivative gain on the YAW PID control, this parameter will act as a damper, making the rate of turn of the plane softer.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will make the same action on the correction of the roll angles (smoother changes of roll)
Bank Integral gain:
-This option adjust the integral gain on the YAW PID control, this parameter will make corrections to the set point of the PID control, when the neutral rudder position it’s not adjusted properly or there is some wind, an additional correction is needed to make the heading to home more accurate.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will do the fine correction to the desired bank angles, on my tests I found this is not needed, but it is here anyways.
Set neutral rudder:
-Set the neutral trim for the airplane YAW control, adjust the airplane to fly straight and then set this parameter.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter also reset the zero roll angle of the AHI and the autopilot.
Yaw servo direction:
-Correct the sign of the Autopilot action on the YAW servo.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter sets the direction of the correction for the autopilot angles, change if you notice that the plane banks away from home while on autopilot mode.
Cruise altitude:
-Desired altitude for autopilot corrections on the Pitch control (meter’s or feet’s depend on units setting on main menu).

Pitch limit:
-Limits PID action over and under Cruise altitude. Also if actual altitude its greater than “Cruise altitude” + “Pitch limit” autopilot will set throttle to “throttle FS” and pitch control will be annulated, leaving it to the “set neutral elevator” to set the pitch of the plane.
Pitch proportional gain:
-This option adjust the proportional gain on the PITCH PID control, autopilot output it’s proportional to the altitude error (Plane altitude – cruise altitude), this parameter determine how much this error will deflect the elevator of the plane.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, then this parameter will set the desired pitch angle instead of elevator deflection.

Rate of climb limit:
-This option adjust the derivative gain on the PITCH PID control, this parameter will act as a damper, making the rate of climb of the plane softer.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will make the same action on the correction of the pitch angles (smoother changes of pitch)

Climb integral gain:
-This option adjusts the gain to the rudder to elevator mix available if you want to compensate pitch down due to rudder action.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will do the fine correction to the desired pitch angles, on my tests I found this is not needed, but it is here anyways.
Set neutral elevator:
-Set the neutral trim for the airplane Pitch control, adjust the airplane to fly straight and then set this parameter.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter also reset the zero pitch angles of the AHI and the autopilot.

Pitch servo direction:
-Correct the sign of the Autopilot action on the Pitch servo.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter sets the direction of the correction for the autopilot angles, change if you notice that the plane pitch away from leveled flight while on autopilot mode.
Set cruise throttle:
-Set the engine throttle position when the autopilot it’s trying to correct altitude (less than “Cruise altitude” + “Pitch limit”)
Set neutral aileron:
-Set Roll (Aileron) position when Autopilot it’s set to ON.
Test in the air rudder:
-Enable Rudder control while Autopilot it’s set to “Test in the air” mode.
Test in the air elevator:
-Enable elevator control while Autopilot it’s set to “Test in the air” mode.
Autopilot:
-Change Autopilot to desired mode. Can’t be changed if adjusting with the RC Tx.

Exit:
-Exit autopilot sub menu. Can’t be changed if adjusting with the RC Tx.

If the FMA sensors are connected, you will notice a new submenu page after this. This is where you adjust some of the new possible settings.
Autopilot output:
-This menu it’s not being used in the version 2.00.
Elevon reverse:
-This menu it’s not being used in the version 2.00.

CDP4 pitch direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction, if you place the XY head with pitch sensors inverted
CDP4 roll direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction, if you place the XY head with roll sensors inverted
CDP4 position:
-This menu it’s not being used in the version 2.00.
CDP4 gain:
-This parameter will set how much the autopilot will deflect the controlled flight surfaces to level the plane.
CDP4 calibrate:
-With the Z sensors on clear view of the horizon set this parameter to adjust the 90° pitch and roll point. Or the angle at which the autopilot will know the transition from upside to upside down. This parameter should only be adjusted while not flying.
Max pitch angle:
-Maximum angle the autopilot will allow the plane to pitch while correcting altitude.
Max roll angle:
-Maximum angle the autopilot will allow the plane to roll while correcting altitude.
AHI screen:
-Set on witch screens the AHI will be displayed.
AHI toggle:
-Set how the AHI will be displayed, ON = always, Autopilot = on autopilot activation, OFF = toggling down auxiliary channel.

Autopilot adjust:
Before trying the autopilot you should be able to fly to 1Km ground distance and 200 - 300mts altitude and feel comfortable doing so. This is not a thing you should try being a newbie to FPV. Also make sure you did a test range and that the RC link lost detection its working properly. Until that I strongly recommend to fly with the autopilot OFF and the RVOSD fail safes properly set.

RVOSD needs valid servo pulses on the inputs at startup or else it will ignore inputs and will never look for RC link lost detection, this was programmed to be able to fly the OSD w/o the annoying RC link lost indicator displayed for those that don’t want to use the control options. Note that servo outputs will take arbitrary values, thus you should never turn RVOSD ON before your Tx-Rx system.
The Auxiliary input is used to control the OSD in flight, it works measuring the period of the pulse input (servo pulses), on change from less to more than 1.85mS it cycle screens, on change from more to less than 1.35mS it cycle autopilot mode while on “Test in the air” option is active and “Autopilot Rudder” and “Autopilot Elevator” are set to ON. This last action is used to ease adjusting of the autopilot by split the control adjusts. While Autopilot mode is set to OFF, cycle screens will only allow change on normal display. But if autopilot mode is set to ON or to any of the test modes, cycle screen will also allow entering the autopilot menu and navigate it with the RC Tx. This is done by using elevator and rudder control sticks, in the same way than the Infrared remote control use channel and volume keys.
When you enter the Autopilot menu with the RC Tx, RVOSD takes the last pulses the Tx sent and keep sending those to the outputs. Then you lose control of the model, so be sure that you only enter the menu while the plane is in straight or controlled fly. Or else you will need to go out fast of autopilot menu to regain control, this is made so you can move the sticks without affecting control surfaces or Throttle. Then making possible, storage of bias (trimmed) settings.
RangeVideo OSD has a return home algorithm embedded with it, which it is based on the GPS indications of heading, altitude and home direction calculations, GPS information come at a rate of 5Hz (one each 0.2 Seconds) and each new position reported has an small delay of nearly 1 second, this makes any control of attitude very difficult to achieve and in the best case, sluggish. RVOSD has no sensor to detect plane attitude (Pitch Roll and Yaw), thus it can only fly a plane that it is stable on all axis. However if your plane is stable and the wind speed its low enough to not be a significant actor on the airplane behavior, it can return your plane to home in a very accurate way, by just making corrections to plane surfaces based on the altitude, position and heading reported by GPS.
The autopilot software, use a PID algorithm to control heading and proportional-derivative algorithm to control altitude. With some modifications added to better management of the plane.
These are the steps we suggest adjusting your autopilot without the FMA sensors:
First you should set the “Autopilot” option in the Autopilot menu to “Test in the ground” and adjust the following options:
-“Autopilot Rudder” (ON)
- “Autopilot Elevator” (ON)
-“Bank limit” to 50
-“Bank proportional gain” to 150
-“Rate of turn limit” to zero
-“Bank integral gain” to zero
-“Cruise altitude” to 100
-“Pitch limit” to 100
-“Pitch proportional gain” to 150
-“Rate of climb limit” to zero
-“Climb integral gain” to zero
The objective of this is to set Autopilot to exaggerate his actions. Now back to F16 screen and pulse down the auxiliary channel try to set “Autopilot Rudder”, look at the rudder movement relative to heading change and make sure it moves the correct way, if not, go back to autopilot menu and change “Yaw servo direction”.
Back to F16 screen and pulse down the auxiliary channel try to set “Autopilot Elevator”, look at the elevator movement relative to altitude change and make sure it moves the correct way, if not, go back to autopilot menu and change “Pitch servo direction”.

Now that you adjusted servo directions, you can set Autopilot to “test in the air” mode. Adjust throttle to zero, in the menu “set throttle failsafe”, autopilot will set this value to throttle when the model is at altitude greater than “Cruise altitude” + “Altitude bearing limit”. While “Set cruise throttle” menu item sets autopilot output to throttle when model is trying to control altitude (model altitude is less than “Cruise altitude” + “Altitude bearing limit)
Now set:
-“Bank proportional gain” to 23
-“Cruise altitude” to desired cruise altitude
-“Pitch limit” to desired control area around cruise altitude (aprox. 100)
-“Pitch proportional gain” to 25
Now test that you have full control of all surfaces which pass thru RVOSD, also that your control channel is able to do the appropriate action. Do the usual RC range test, and you are ready to adjust the autopilot flying your model.

Flying:
With the auxiliary control set Autopilot rudder, make all adjusts on the F16 screen.

-With “Rate of turn limit” (Derivative) and “Bank integral gain” (Integral) gains to zero, adjust “Bank proportional gain” (proportional), until you see a small overshoot. We found a value around 15-20 to be optimal while adjusting the Easy-Star. However this value depends on your throttle settings and control surfaces.

-Increase “Rate of turn limit” (derivative) until overshoot disappear (we suggest 10-15), and increase the “Target bearing gain” (proportional) again but never let it to overshoot, the objective is to make AP do the correction until direction its almost correct but never overshoot. Derivative term it’s supposed to avoid too sharp turns, this is very important because smoother turns will help to reduce loss of signal of the GPS caused by inclination of the model, which will cause your plane to go in a down spiral.

-Increase “Bank integral gain” (Integral) until AP slowly corrects biasing or inaccuracy caused by slight miss adjust on the Yaw bias, and typical behavior of Proportional only controls, we suggest 40-60 but it is highly dependable on your model aerodynamics. Integral action will only be seen when the plane heading it’s close to alignment with home direction (+- 45 degrees). Remember that integral corrections should work really slow, it will take like 6-10 seconds to act enough, if it takes more than that, it needs gain increase (Integral), but it needs that time to build up.

Cruise altitude is the height you want the aircraft to remain at when on Autopilot; the RVOSD also has a margin outside this altitude which is a limit where the AP will act differently. So, say you want the AP to cruise at 150 meters and you set of limit of 50 meters outside this. Therefore, too high for constant AP altitude control limit, is 200 meters.

You are flying along at 250 meters and lose link, AP is engaged. In this case all it will do with the elevator is set it to the trim you have specified in the AP menu, this is called Set neutral elevator but can also be understood as straight flight elevator trim. The motor will go to the failsafe value you have set, this is set outside the AP menu, normally this is set to zero throttle. So in this case you are at 250 meters, the rc link fails, the ap will set the elevator for level trim and turn off the motor. If you have the trim and aircraft setup right, the plane should enter a nice glide.

As the plane falls below 200 meters (cruise + limit), the AP will set the throttle to your cruise throttle. Normally this is set to half to 3/4 throttle but of course depend on the airframe. With the throttle set the AP will then use the elevator to control the height of the aircraft. The rate that the AP does this is based on how far away you are from the cruise altitude and how aggressive you want the elevator to react. The aggressiveness of the elevator is set with the Pitch proportional gain, if your aircraft needs a lot of elevator movement to change pitch this is to be set higher if not, then use a lower gain. Finally, the Rate of Climb limit is used to reduce the control inputs and acts like a dampener.

The Pitch Gain option, basically when an aircraft turns you normally need to add some up elevator because a turning aircraft has lower lift and will lose height as a result. This option is a mix that will add up elevator to compensate for this.

Adjusting the autopilot with the FMA sensors:
The best way to start adjusting the FMA sensors is turning ON the AHI on the “AHI toggle” menu.
First you need to place the XY head in a POD over the EZstar, or on the belly of the plane if you have landing gear to protect it. Make sure the sensor Pitch (marked as red “P´s”) is parallel to the fuselage, and that the Z head is placed perpendicular to the fuselage with the sensors placed as FMA mark “up” suggest.
Now with both Z head sensors with clear view of the horizon, and the plane pointing nose up set the “CDP4 calibrate” menu, the value that it is more to the right indicate the actual thermal difference (the first value is irrelevant), I found that a value near to 127 should be appropriate, maybe on a future patch I can eliminate this step.
With the plane leveled, now you can adjust the pitch axis, the pitch sensors need to have clear view of the horizon while doing this. Now use the “set neutral elevator” menu, on this step you set the zero pitch for the AHI//autopilot and also set elevator servo value to allow straight flight. So it’s recommended to do this adjust after being sure your plane it’s trimmed. This step can be also done while flying, but need to be sure the plane is leveled before set this menu. Now you should see the AHI leveled on the pitch axis and if your camera it’s centered on the horizon it should match the real horizon movement. If the AHI move against the horizon then you need to set the menu “CDP4 pitch dir” to reverse.
To adjust the roll axis, the roll sensors need to have clear view of the horizon while doing this. Now use the “set neutral rudder” menu, on this step you set the zero roll for the AHI//autopilot and also set rudder servo value to allow straight flight. So it’s recommended to do this adjust after being sure your plane it’s trimmed. This step can be also done while flying, but need to be sure the plane is leveled before set this menu. Now you should see the AHI leveled on the roll axis and if your camera it’s centered on the horizon it should match the real horizon movement. If the AHI move against the horizon then you need to set the menu “CDP4 roll dir” to reverse.
Set the “autopilot” to “test in the air”, “Test in the air rudder” to “ON” and “Test in the air elevator” to “ON”. This way you can see if the plane surface controls are working to the right direction. By activating “autopilot rudder” with the auxiliary channel of your transmitter you can see if the rudder moves to the correct direction while tilting the plane, if it is necessary reverse it with the menu item “Yaw servo direction”. Now activate “autopilot elevator” and do the same test to the pitch, if necessary reverse it using the menu “Pitch servo direction”. When all it’s done remember to save the configuration.
Now all it’s ready to take off and adjust your plane while flying. Keep enough altitude while testing to be able to recover from mistakes (~200mts should be enough) Remember that toggling the auxiliary channel down you cycle thru “autopilot rudder”, “autopilot elevator” and normal flight, while “autopilot rudder” its activated you keep control of all surfaces while the autopilot takes control of the rudder, while “autopilot elevator” its activated you keep control of all surfaces while the autopilot takes control of the elevator. With the transmitter you can also change most of the autopilot menu options while flying. Once in the menu your plane will be flying with the last servo settings it had before entering the menu, so make sure your plane it’s leveled and stable before entering the menu with the transmitter. Also the AHI must be displayed correctly for the autopilot to work.
Try to adjust the following menu options, values that worked on my EZstar on the brackets:
-Bank proportional gain (23)
-Rate of turn limit (29)
-Cruise altitude (200)
-Pitch limit (100)
-Pitch proportional gain (13)
-Rate of climb limit (50)

Then fly with the autopilot ON to make the final adjusts. Remember to save your configurations before remove power to RVOSD after any successful adjust. Flying your plane with the autopilot not adjusted and activated can be very dangerous, please set the autopilot to OFF, and the proper failsafe values if you didn’t adjusted the autopilot yet.

Debug screen:
If the autopilot it’s set to “test in the air” or “test in the ground” the screen that is usually blank, will display some values that can be used to test the servo inputs and thermal sensors inputs.

Pitch thermal = X sensors
Roll thermal = Y sensors
Abs thermal = Z sensor

The value can be from 0 to 255, but inside your house they will stay around 127, by moving your hand near the sensors you should be able to see some changes around this point. If so then all it is ok.

The servo values should be around 1.50mS, and change when you change the stick positions on the RC transmitter.

AndreK

04-15-2009, 10:08 AM

Alex Villa

04-15-2009, 01:30 PM

1.- Is there any calibration needed for the current sensor ? - /how often ?
2.-How often do I need to calibrate the FMA sensors ?
-also, a video-tutorial would be nice :)

3.-Please explain the engage/disengage procedure of autopilot in the air (with TX on)
4.-
5.-Is this the whole manual, or should I read something else as well ?
6.- "Please connect your Rx (servo in) to the OSD, and turn ON your RC Tx before turning on the OSD. " -Do you suggest two power-switches ? - one to turn on RX, then another to switch on RVOSD ? I would prefer to switch on both parts using one switch - reduce points of failure.

Thank you.
1- The only "calibration" needed for current sensor is, set the current sensor type, because the manufacturer (http://www.allegromicro.com/en/Products/Categories/Sensors/currentsensor.asp) of the current sensors offer 5 options with 50-100-130-150-200 maximum amperes. The best is to use the lower type that fit your system, because the lower versions have better accuracy. In order to allow compatibility with the bidirectional ones, the OSD use the first 30 seconds after start to autozero the sensor, then you must not use the engine during that calibration time. Also the AHI will be unfunctional during this period.

2-In this version the thermal sensors should be calibrated any time you notice the AHI loose accuracy, this should be when you flight on diferents hour of the day or when temperature//weather changes. On the next patch I plan to allow the system to do this automatically, and remove some of the calibration steps.

3-Engage/disengage of the autopilot in the air can be done by turning your RC transmitter ON/OFF when "autopilot" menu it's set to "ON", or by toggling auxiliary channel down to cycle thru "autopilot rudder", "autopilot elevator", and normal control. When "autopilot" menu it's set to "Test in the air" (read more about this on the first post)

5- This is what you will have for now, We plan to make few videos to explain it better. But you also have this forum to ask for any doubt, Vova is the guy that has more flying experience with RVOSD, and I am the designer. So you are in good hands.

6- This means that you need to turn ON all your system together, to allow RVOSD to detect servo inputs in the first 7 seconds, no separate switches needed.

AndreK

04-16-2009, 07:11 AM

1- The only "calibration" needed for current sensor is, set the current sensor type, because the manufacturer (http://www.allegromicro.com/en/Products/Categories/Sensors/currentsensor.asp) of the current sensors offer 5 options with 50-100-130-150-200 maximum amperes. The best is to use the lower type that fit your system, because the lower versions have better accuracy. In order to allow compatibility with the bidirectional ones, the OSD use the first 30 seconds after start to autozero the sensor, then you must not use the engine during that calibration time. Also the AHI will be unfunctional during this period.

I assume this calibration /zeroing is the reason that normal RX/camera/RVOSD current is not measured by the sensor, if sensor is connected between battery and all the other equipment.
-how often is the calibration happening ? each power-up?
Would it be possible to calibrate without any current on the sensor, and then to *save* the calibration value in FLASH, and so, from that point on, measure all current consumed from the battery ?

(As I understood from some other forum thread, is seems like the "ususal load" is not being measured, because the sensor is zeroed each time.)

2-In this version the thermal sensors should be calibrated any time you notice the AHI loose accuracy, this should be when you flight on diferents hour of the day or when temperature//weather changes. On the next patch I plan to allow the system to do this automatically, and remove some of the calibration steps.

Looking forward to future firmware :)

Thank you.

Alex Villa

04-16-2009, 12:47 PM

Yes current sensor zeroing will be done each startup, not a big deal since those 30seconds It should be getting sats anyways.

AndreK

04-16-2009, 02:40 PM

Yes current sensor zeroing will be done each startup, not a big deal since those 30seconds It should be getting sats anyways.

Yes, but could the calibration date be saved ?, and this way be able to measure all power consumption in the future ?
Please consider this a feature request.

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 12:58 AM

AndreK

04-18-2009, 11:59 AM

The best way to start adjusting the FMA sensors is turning ON the AHI on the “AHI toggle” menu.
First you need to place the XY head in a POD over the EZstar, or on the belly of the plane if you have landing gear to protect it. Make sure the sensor Pitch (marked as red “P´s”) is parallel to the fuselage, and that the Z head is placed perpendicular to the fuselage with the sensors placed as FMA mark “up” suggest.
Now with both Z head sensors with clear view of the horizon, and the plane pointing nose up set the “CDP4 calibrate” menu, the value that it is more to the right indicate the actual thermal difference (the first value is irrelevant), I found that a value near to 127 should be appropriate, maybe on a future patch I can eliminate this step

my Artifitial horizon bars are standing vertically to the left on the OSD, covering one X or one Y axis does influence the reult, but the artificial horizon is never near the real thing.

What do I do wrong ? if the sensor can "see" a little bit og the wings (depending on how "wide" it can see) - may this be the cause ?

no matter what direction I point the plane in, it's never responding enough to be able to center the A.H.-indicator.

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 12:57 PM

my Artifitial horizon bars are standing vertically to the left on the OSD, covering one X or one Y axis does influence the reult, but the artificial horizon is never near the real thing.

What do I do wrong ? if the sensor can "see" a little bit og the wings (depending on how "wide" it can see) - may this be the cause ?

no matter what direction I point the plane in, it's never responding enough to be able to center the A.H.-indicator.
Did you made the calibration procedure with clear view of the horizon?

AndreK

04-18-2009, 01:07 PM

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 01:37 PM

Yes, and there was no problem achieving values close to 127.
One more thing - I live in a area with mountains, so I cannot see a absolutely level horizon an all directions - so I pointed the plane both vertically up, and also tried to compensate for the terrain - it did not help,
ok, you need to follow the instructions related to "Adjusting the autopilot with the FMA sensors:"

Things must be done in that order, the first calibration procedure has to be done with the plane nose up, so the Z head sensors are lined up with the horizon (and looking at it), during this stage the system will stablish the point at wich the plane is vertical (crossing from upside to upside down) it will also temporary store the maximum temperature diference to calibrate the IMU, this is using the pitch head sensors wich are looking straight to the zenit and nadir. If you repeat this procedure while the plane is leveled, it will confuse the system because it will try to set this position as it is going vertical.

The second calibration is to stablish the "level flight" attitude for pitch and roll, during this stage the plane will calibrate the X, Y sensors to level horizon (most be on clear view of it). And will also use the Z sensor(since it is vertical) to stablish again the maximum thermal difference and to calibrate the horizon.

If you live in an area with mountains your results will be much better if you repeat this second stage at 100mts and up altitude. At the end remember to save your settings before powering off the OSD, or they will be lost.

Inside your house the AHI will jump all around because it use the horizon as reference, it works based on the thermal differences between the sky and the earth. Sky should be always colder than earth. When you are flying and leveled both sensors see the same amount of earth/sky. If you bank//pitch one sensor will see more sky and the other will see more earth. This is translated to voltage differences that feed the MCU and it will calculate desired AHI position and servo corrections to bring the plane back to level.

If you patched the new sensor MCU software version then calibration procedures have changed, read the relative patch post.

AndreK

04-18-2009, 02:31 PM

it works now-- thanks.

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 02:41 PM

lol, dont be shy to ask again :D

AndreK

04-18-2009, 03:35 PM

I am back from my first flight with full Autopilot testing.
-Your product works great - just as announced. :)
The autopilot used the aileron like crazy, I have to find out what gain-setting to reduce.

Some flow-charts would help, like what does influence aileron - is it horizon only, or is it actual-bearing vs desired bearing as well.

Please explain this to me:

Cruise altitude: =200 , -Desired altitude for autopilot corrections on .....
Altitude limit: =100 , -Limits PID action over and under Cruise altitude. ...

If autopilot kicks in at 205meters, how far will the plane sink before adding throttle ?
If I *land* on (snow) at a height of 20meters ..somewhere away from me (or hit a tree/whatever) - and the control-RX is out of range, will motors start and keep going even GPS position is not changing ? (plane stuck/crashed)

Another flowchart ? :)

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 04:11 PM

I am back from my first flight with full Autopilot testing.
-Your product works great - just as announced. :)
The autopilot used the aileron like crazy, I have to find out what gain-setting to reduce.

Some flow-charts would help, like what does influence aileron - is it horizon only, or is it actual-bearing vs desired bearing as well.

I've found one minor "bug" - I guess - will post in another thread.
Oh then you are using aileron control instead of rudder... Then I guess you reversed aileron and rudder I/O's on your OSD board. The gains to ajust are CDP4 gain and Pitch proportional gain.
The best instructions after you did the first successfull AP flight are this: http://www.rangevideo.com/forum/showpost.php?p=780&postcount=7

AndreK

04-18-2009, 04:29 PM

Then I guess you reversed aileron and rudder I/O's on your OSD board.

I don't think so, all controls work fine during manual flight/test
It just seems like the autopilot uses excessively much aileron, maybe not for course-correction (because It's set up to use rudder - (AFAIK))
I'll reduce CDP4gain on next flight.

Please explain this to me:

Cruise altitude: =200 , -Desired altitude for autopilot corrections on .....
Altitude limit: =100 , -Limits PID action over and under Cruise altitude. ...

If autopilot kicks in at 205meters, how far will the plane sink before adding throttle ?
If I *land* on (snow) at a height of 20meters ..somewhere away from me (or hit a tree/whatever) - and the control-RX is out of range, will motors start and keep going even GPS position is not changing ? (plane stuck/crashed)

A flowchart would do the job for everyone for the future :)

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 06:37 PM

I don't think so, all controls work fine during manual flight/test
It just seems like the autopilot uses excessively much aileron, maybe not for course-correction (because It's set up to use rudder - (AFAIK))
I'll reduce CDP4gain on next flight.

Please explain this to me:

Cruise altitude: =200 , -Desired altitude for autopilot corrections on .....
Altitude limit: =100 , -Limits PID action over and under Cruise altitude. ...

If autopilot kicks in at 205meters, how far will the plane sink before adding throttle ?
If I *land* on (snow) at a height of 20meters ..somewhere away from me (or hit a tree/whatever) - and the control-RX is out of range, will motors start and keep going even GPS position is not changing ? (plane stuck/crashed)

A flowchart would do the job for everyone for the future :)
The autopilot will take control off the rudder, elevator and throttle outputs. Aileron channel will only be set to the Set neutral aileron position all the time.

If your plane crash or land, the autopilot will be working as it is still in the air, maybe I should change that on the next patch, however this is a delicate issue because we dont want the system to think it crashed when it is still in the air.

About Throttle management.....

"Cruise altitude is the height you want the aircraft to remain at when on Autopilot; the RVOSD also has a margin outside this altitude which is a limit where the AP will act differently. So, say you want the AP to cruise at 150 meters and you set of limit of 50 meters outside this. Therefore, too high for constant AP altitude control limit, is 200 meters.

You are flying along at 250 meters and lose link, AP is engaged. In this case all it will do with the elevator is set it to the trim you have specified in the AP menu, this is called Set neutral elevator but can also be understood as straight flight elevator trim. The motor will go to the failsafe value you have set, this is set outside the AP menu, normally this is set to zero throttle. So in this case you are at 250 meters, the rc link fails, the ap will set the elevator for level trim and turn off the motor. If you have the trim and aircraft setup right, the plane should enter a nice glide.

As the plane falls below 200 meters (cruise + limit), the AP will set the throttle to your cruise throttle. Normally this is set to half to 3/4 throttle but of course depend on the airframe. With the throttle set the AP will then use the elevator to control the height of the aircraft. The rate that the AP does this is based on how far away you are from the cruise altitude and how aggressive you want the elevator to react. The aggressiveness of the elevator is set with the Pitch proportional gain, if your aircraft needs a lot of elevator movement to change pitch this is to be set higher if not, then use a lower gain. Finally, the Rate of Climb limit is used to reduce the control inputs and acts like a dampener."

AndreK

04-18-2009, 10:12 PM

Alex Villa

04-18-2009, 10:22 PM

ok, Thanks .

so if:
Cruise altitude: =200
Altitude limit: =50

Then:
Plane will use no throttle while sinking from 201 to 150meters, at 150 meters it will then start motor and climb to 200meters. (?)

Did I got it right ?
No, throttle fail safe at anything over 250 mts, also it will try to keep the plane leveled.
Cruise throttle on anything under 250 mts, plus pitch control to try to keep 200mts altitude.

bjacobs00

04-20-2009, 11:10 PM

OK, I wasn't able to get my AHI indicating correctly. After following the procedure in your notes below, I ended up with an AHI that was all over the place. Please help me understand how to calibrate the sensors. I have the following questions:

1. I am using XY sensor as Z sensor. I went to the debug screen and located the pair of cells that give the largest difference on Abs thermal channel when a finger is placed in front of it. I then mounted the sensor to the side of the fuselage with the sensor that gave the highest number pointing down at the ground. Is this correct?

2. What do you mean when you say "Clear view of the horizon"? I thought the horizon is the point in the distance where the sky and ground meet. I think what you mean by horizon is an unobstructed view of the sky? Is this correct?

3. When calibrating neutral rudder and elevator, do I need to pick up the plane and tilt it so that the XY sensor is pointing at the sky? Or I need to point it at the ground? How do I hold it so that the pitch sensors have a clear view of the horizon? How do I hold it so that the roll sensors have a clear view of the horizon? If I'm tilting it for this, then one sensor will be pointed at the sky but the corresponding sensor on the other end will be pointed at the ground. Is this correct?

ok, you need to follow the instructions related to "Adjusting the autopilot with the FMA sensors:"

Things must be done in that order, the first calibration procedure has to be done with the plane nose up, so the Z head sensors are lined up with the horizon (and looking at it), during this stage the system will stablish the point at wich the plane is vertical (crossing from upside to upside down) it will also temporary store the maximum temperature diference to calibrate the IMU, this is using the pitch head sensors wich are looking straight to the zenit and nadir. If you repeat this procedure while the plane is leveled, it will confuse the system because it will try to set this position as it is going vertical.

The second calibration is to stablish the "level flight" attitude for pitch and roll, during this stage the plane will calibrate the X, Y sensors to level horizon (most be on clear view of it). And will also use the Z sensor(since it is vertical) to stablish again the maximum thermal difference and to calibrate the horizon.

If you live in an area with mountains your results will be much better if you repeat this second stage at 100mts and up altitude. At the end remember to save your settings before powering off the OSD, or they will be lost.

Inside your house the AHI will jump all around because it use the horizon as reference, it works based on the thermal differences between the sky and the earth. Sky should be always colder than earth. When you are flying and leveled both sensors see the same amount of earth/sky. If you bank//pitch one sensor will see more sky and the other will see more earth. This is translated to voltage differences that feed the MCU and it will calculate desired AHI position and servo corrections to bring the plane back to level.

Alex Villa

04-21-2009, 01:16 AM

bjacobs00

04-21-2009, 02:34 AM

Alex Villa

04-21-2009, 02:52 AM

OK, seems like I figured it out. Alex, thanks so much for your help.

I had a few things wrong. First, XY sensor was mounted in the wrong direction. But the second XY I was using for Z was in the correct direction as you described. And the horizon is what I originally thought, so when calibrating, the sensor just needs a view of the horizon which is not obstructed by large objects. I finally got the aritificial horizon to track with the real horizon. It's a good feeling.

Now, one more question. Do I need to set the aileron neutral point or perform any calibration of ailerons like what was done on the rudder?
Please read the manual//instructions post. You need a good understanding of neutrals rudder, elevator, aileron and throttle. Rudder and elevator neutrals have dual function they set the neutral pitch and roll levels to FMA sensors, but it also trims the plane control surfaces to level flight.

elpimous

04-21-2009, 05:51 PM

Alex Villa

04-21-2009, 06:00 PM

hello guys !!!
well, i've soldered the 1k resisor on my z sensor module !
How to know if my solder was good, without flying ???..in the ground, so !!
Is there any test possible ? a light ?
Thanks guys and very good work to RV.
Vincent.:p
I guess you used a 1K SMD resistor right?

Look at the end of the first post (Debug screen: ) :rolleyes: ...and make sure to read all in between :D

elpimous

04-21-2009, 06:24 PM

Thanks Alex.
......debug screen Ok !!
I'll test it soon.
Thanks again !
Vincent

bjacobs00

04-21-2009, 09:02 PM

reznikvova

04-21-2009, 09:10 PM

Ok, I'm reading it and my first question is: How do know if my receiver is PPM or PCM? I am using a Spektrum AR6200.

Second question: what do you mean by set throttle stick to 105% normal range? My normal range is anywhere from 0-100% during a normal flight.

Thanks!

What does your receiver do when it loses RC link?

Do the servos hold last known position? or can you program them to move to a predefined position. Maybe they just glitch?

We need to let the RVOSD know when the receiver has RC link lost.

I think that spectrum receiver can program a failsafe position on the throttle channel.

You need to set the Spektrum throttle failsafe outside of normal range (so you dont activate RVOSD autopilot in normal flight when RClink is not lost)

Then tell the RVOSD this throttle position by settin "PCM FS point"

(PCM FS point) Is when the autopilot will engage.

Alex Villa

04-21-2009, 09:12 PM

bjacobs00

04-21-2009, 10:25 PM

If your receiver can set Failsafe on the throttle channel, then use the PCM mode. If the receiver will output random or no pulses at all if RC link its lost then you should try the PPM mode.
Stick to 105% means trim the throttle channel so the output is more than the maximum normal throttle range.

Oh yes, spektrum receiver can save throttle failsafe. I always set my failsafes to the lowest throttle stick position (throttle off). So can i still keep my throttle off failsafe? Or I need to program a new failsafe to the receiver?

Alex Villa

04-21-2009, 10:54 PM

Your answer its on the first post, also here: http://www.rangevideo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155

bjacobs00

04-22-2009, 12:33 AM

Your answer its on the first post, also here: http://www.rangevideo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155

Ok. I have to set the throttle failsafe to 110%. I'm a little uneasy about that but will try it.

Alex Villa

04-22-2009, 12:44 AM

Remmeber that the real fail safe value will be set on the OSD, and this is what your ESC will see.

AndreK

04-26-2009, 05:23 PM

Bank limit:
-When using the autopilot without the FMA sensors, ...

Does this setting have any function *with* FMA sensors ?
and
Does what does a higher vs lower value do /which direction is "softer" ?

What's the correct way to adjust
"CDP4 gain" vs "Bank proportional gain:" + "Pitch proportional gain:"
I assume the same result may be achieved by increasing the first value, and decreasing the other two ?
Please tell how to adjust these setting properly. /what too look for.

Please add answers to documentation.. (the first post)

Alex Villa

04-26-2009, 05:46 PM

Does this setting have any function *with* FMA sensors ?
and
Does what does a higher vs lower value do /which direction is "softer" ?

What's the correct way to adjust
"CDP4 gain" vs "Bank proportional gain:" + "Pitch proportional gain:"
I assume the same result may be achieved by increasing the first value, and decreasing the other two ?
Please tell how to adjust these setting properly. /what too look for.

Please add answers to documentation.. (the first post)
Yes, Bank limit will controll the maximum error passed to the PID control and thus the rudder output. When using the FMA heads there is no need to use this since the bank angle is already controlled by the menu item "Max roll angle". However "bank limit" still controls the heading error reported to define the desired bank angle.

Higher value will allow higer throw of the servos when the heading error is bigger. Not recomended to allow this value to be to much high because to much servo throw can make the plane to bank to much, losing GPS signal and making the plane to go into a death spiral. With FMA heads this problem is controlled by the Max roll//pitch angles menus.

I think the way to do the most accurate tweak of the system is by starting the adjust all the autopilots gains and limits to zero ("Bank proportional gain", "Rate of turn limit", "Bank Integral gain", "Pitch proportional gain", "Rate of climb limit", "Climb integral gain") By doing this you are leaving just the stabilization system ON, and the autopilot system OFF. From here you can adjust "CDP4 gain", "Rate of turn limit", "Bank Integral gain", "Rate of climb limit" and "Climb integral gain" to have the best stabilization. Then adjust the autopilot heading (Bank proportional gain) and altitude (Pitch proportional gain) corrections.
I know this all seems really twisted, but you wanted to know the internals of the system...

AndreK

04-26-2009, 06:21 PM

I know this all seems really twisted, but you wanted to know the internals of the system...

No, it's great ! - I finally know how to narrow down a nice setup, it's gonna take some battery packs before I get it all right..

chiloschista

04-26-2009, 08:54 PM

bjacobs00

04-26-2009, 09:12 PM

I can't find altitude limit in the autopilot menu. It is not there.
I only have cruise altitude.
Is it possible :confused:?
Is there a fixed default value?

Anyway a question:

what happens when I am at 50m and autopilot engage, with cruise alt. =150m and altitude limit=50m?

I had the same issue. I'm guessing this is now called "pitch limit?" That is the only setting that appears to be close.

chiloschista

04-26-2009, 09:18 PM

About autopilot engage.

1) If I set on RC TX a second throttle curve, fixed at 110%, with a switch, would autopilt engage in a safe way?

2) When autopilot engage what happens in the RVOSD with signals coming from RC TX?

Esc wouldn't start engine while over 100% it doesn't work (skorpion).

The advantage is that I can start autopilot functions without power off my TX.
This could be important for those user that have a 2,4 Ghz that take a long time to reinitialize (Futaba, old Spektrum).
Anyway it would be comfortable when making settings.

AndreK

04-26-2009, 09:54 PM

About autopilot engage.

The advantage is that I can start autopilot functions without power off my TX.
This could be important for those user that have a 2,4 Ghz that take a long time to reinitialize (Futaba, old Spektrum).
Anyway it would be comfortable when making settings.

Yes, having a way to easily/quickly enable autopilot without switching off radio, would be nice

pit3k

04-26-2009, 10:22 PM

I had the same issue. I'm guessing this is now called "pitch limit?" That is the only setting that appears to be close.
I'm also confused by this... so the option refered to as "altitude limit" in the manual now called "pitch limit" in the menu - is that correct Alex?

If I set on RC TX a second throttle curve, fixed at 110%, with a switch, would autopilt engage in a safe way?
That is what I am doing - I have a "Hold" switch programmed so that it outputs 110% on the throttle channel, causing RVOSD to enter the Autopilot mode. This way I can easily engage autopilot any time I want, without turning off the TX.

The cool thing about it, is that I was able to program my DX7 so that, when the autopilot is engaged that way, my left stick now controls the auxiliary channels (6th and 7th) which are connected to servos controlling my camera position (pan and tilt). So while the autopilot heads home I can enjoy the views around :) Until I figure out how to use head tracker with my DX7 this is a nice "workaround".

Alex Villa

04-26-2009, 10:58 PM

I'm also confused by this... so the option refered to as "altitude limit" in the manual now called "pitch limit" in the menu - is that correct Alex?
Thats correct, sorry guys ill fix it now.

That is what I am doing - I have a "Hold" switch programmed so that it outputs 110% on the throttle channel, causing RVOSD to enter the Autopilot mode. This way I can easily engage autopilot any time I want, without turning off the TX.

The cool thing about it, is that I was able to program my DX7 so that, when the autopilot is engaged that way, my left stick now controls the auxiliary channels (6th and 7th) which are connected to servos controlling my camera position (pan and tilt). So while the autopilot heads home I can enjoy the views around :) Until I figure out how to use head tracker with my DX7 this is a nice "workaround".

Thats cool but remember that the autopilot needs to kick in when signal fails, so remember to set the failsafe to 110% also.

pit3k

04-26-2009, 11:06 PM

Thats cool but remember that the autopilot needs to kick in when signal fails, so remember to set the failsafe to 110% also.
Yes, of course, I have my throttle fail-safe set to the same 110% value :)

Alex Villa

04-26-2009, 11:14 PM

Yes, of course, I have my throttle fail-safe set to the same 110% value :)
Come guys, post videos of your flights. This is the best way I can detect failures, or bad things.

AndreK

04-27-2009, 05:14 AM

do you have a FTP ? - I could upload lots "for your eyes only" - unmodified recordings of whole flights.

chiloschista

04-27-2009, 10:13 AM

When autopilot engage what happens in the RVOSD with signals coming from RC TX?

Would AP simple ignore what come from RC RX (other than aux ch), or will it "ear" RX?
In case of AP engaged by a switch (then TX fully functional), signals from RX are executed or simply ignored?

what happens when I am at 50m and autopilot engage, with cruise alt. =150m and altitude limit=50m?
Model will climb at maximum throttle or cruise throttle?
What happens when it reaches 100m (150m-50m)?
Would it continue to climb until cruise alt is reached?

AndreK

04-27-2009, 10:25 AM

what happens when I am at 50m and autopilot engage, with cruise alt. =150m and altitude limit=50m?

I actually tried that at 220meters altitude, just to see motor being cut, and glide , but it does never happen- motor seems to go at "cruise throttle" all the time

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 12:56 PM

Would AP simple ignore what come from RC RX (other than aux ch), or will it "ear" RX?
In case of AP engaged by a switch (then TX fully functional), signals from RX are executed or simply ignored?

The autopilot, action depends on receiver mode selected, If the conditions set for the detection of RC link lost are fulfillled it will take control, as soon as this conditions are not meet, it will pass control the Rx again.

Model will climb at maximum throttle or cruise throttle?
What happens when it reaches 100m (150m-50m)?
Would it continue to climb until cruise alt is reached?

If altitude its over "Cruise altitude" + "Pitch limit" throttle will be set at "set throttle failsafe" level. Anything under, will be set to "Set cruise throttle".

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 01:00 PM

do you have a FTP ? - I could upload lots "for your eyes only" - unmodified recordings of whole flights.
www.vimeo.com and www.youtube.com This is what we all FPVers use to upload the videos. Share with the world! Is good for others to see the success with RVOSD but also the failures so they dont make the same mistakes, or I can correct my design mistakes :D

AndreK

04-27-2009, 01:07 PM

www.vimeo.com and www.youtube.com This is what we all FPVers use to upload the videos. Share with the world! Is good for others to see the success with RVOSD but also the failures so they dont make the same mistakes, or I can correct my design mistakes :D

Sure, sharing is great- but I don't want to publish myself, my car, and stuff like that in the same video while landing/taxing so I need to find a MP4 cutting tool that actually works, most recordings are over 150MB.

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 01:32 PM

Sure, sharing is great- but I don't want to publish myself, my car, and stuff like that in the same video while landing/taxing so I need to find a MP4 cutting tool that actually works, most recordings are over 150MB.
Aaahh :cool: then I guess neither you want to show the GPS coordinates or the view from the air, lol. I guess we need to wait to get an ftp to upload videos :(

AndreK

04-27-2009, 01:54 PM

take it easy - I just need to remove unimportant parts - not the landscape.

chiloschista

04-27-2009, 04:19 PM

Alex, I have seen that you fixed setting and adjust (first post), but I don't understand if altitude limit is a fixed value (if so wich value?) or I can find it somewhere (where?)?

AndreK

04-27-2009, 05:00 PM

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 05:29 PM

"From here you can adjust "CDP4 gain", "Rate of turn limit", "Bank Integral gain", "Rate of climb limit" and "Climb integral gain" to have the best stabilization."

What settings influence the way AHI is drawn on the OSD ?

Sometimes it the AHI bars do greater movement than expected, sometimes they move less than they should.

Also, how often do I need to tune the settings that influence this function ?
is there anything else the CDP4 calibration that needs to be done "each day" ?
The adjusts that affect the AHI calibration are "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" each time you do that, you make the system know the maximum thermal difference and recalibrate the AHI. Plus it also stablish the leveled roll and pitch, and neutral points for the autopilot to make all corrections. So by seting either adjusting "Set neutral rudder" or "Set neutral elevator" the temperature to angle ratio its set.

I already made the code to make this parameter to be set automatically, but didnt wanted to release it w/o extensive tests.

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 05:29 PM

Alex, I have seen that you fixed setting and adjust (first post), but I don't understand if altitude limit is a fixed value (if so wich value?) or I can find it somewhere (where?)?
"altitude limit" = "pitch limit" and yes this parameter can be adjusted.

AndreK

04-27-2009, 06:04 PM

The adjusts that affect the AHI calibration are "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" each time you do that, you make the system know the maximum thermal difference and recalibrate the AHI. Plus it also stablish the leveled roll and pitch, and neutral points for the autopilot to make all corrections. So by seting either adjusting "Set neutral rudder" or "Set neutral elevator" the temperature to angle ratio its set.

I already made the code to make this parameter to be set automatically, but didnt wanted to release it w/o extensive tests.

1.- please tell *what* parameter will be set auto-magically in the future. (looking forward to it)
2.- As I understand it, the "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" does not neet to be re-set for each flight/conditions, but only if I would move the FMA sensor out of it's position
3.- What setting can make AHI be too active vs reality, or too lazy vs reality ? - what needs to be corrected ?
(Sometimes it the AHI bars do greater movement than expected, sometimes they move less than they should.)
I guess CDP4 Gain - but it there more ?

Alex Villa

04-27-2009, 06:17 PM

1.- please tell *what* parameter will be set auto-magically in the future. (looking forward to it)
2.- As I understand it, the "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" does not neet to be re-set for each flight/conditions, but only if I would move the FMA sensor out of it's position
3.- What setting can make AHI be too active vs reality, or too lazy vs reality ? - what needs to be corrected ?
(Sometimes it the AHI bars do greater movement than expected, sometimes they move less than they should.)
I guess CDP4 Gain - but it there more ?
The system use the Z sensor to know the maximun thermal difference (sky-ground) to know how to translate the XY sensors outputs to reliable angle calculations and then to show the AHI. But since this value need to be stored only when the plane its flying leveled, I decided to do it when you adjust "Set neutral rudder" or "Set neutral elevator". So every time you see the AHI is exagerating the movement or laging behind, you should set either of those adjusts.

This is where the magic can come to help.

AndreK

04-28-2009, 06:23 AM

ah, finally.
I managed to chop down a video, it was originally far better quality, but the video-editing software recompressed it again with MPEG4, (even unchanged frames) , and the quality is .. poor.

http://www.vimeo.com/4370167

pit3k

04-28-2009, 09:20 AM

Nice landscape!
The autopilot seems to work real nice - I've got to get those FMA sensor, which are not in the damn stock :mad:

AndreK

04-28-2009, 09:29 AM

Nice landscape!
The autopilot seems to work real nice - I've got to get those FMA sensor, which are not in the damn stock :mad:

Yes, I purchased mine as soon it was clear that they were only option for RVOSD, so I had them long before the RVOSD, I hope you get yours soon.

You should know, that it does not work that well every time, if there are heavy rain clouds (at low altitude) , it seems like the sensors only return an difference of 3-8 "points" (of 256 possible) and under such conditions they do not work as expected. - Enabling autopilot then will result in crash.

But mostly, during reasonable weather, they work fine.

Question to the author; maybe future version can detect unreliable conditions, and disable use of these IR-sensors ?

pit3k

04-28-2009, 09:54 AM

You should know, that it does not work that well every time, if there are heavy rain clouds (at low altitude) , it seems like the sensors only return an difference of 3-8 "points" (of 256 possible) and under such conditions they do not work as expected. - Enabling autopilot then will result in crash.
Thanks for first-hand results. Can't wait till i test it myself, and understand how bad a weather must be for them to not work.

I wonder if reducing the gains significantly could allow these sensor to function properly in those kind of bad conditions? Have you tried that?

I'm also wondering if this is the limitation of the sensor themselves, or of the RVOSD's ADC, which I presume is 8-bit. What do you think Alex? :)

AndreK

04-28-2009, 10:13 AM

I wonder if reducing the gains significantly could allow these sensor to function properly in those kind of bad conditions? Have you tried that?

no, I was actually thinking about *incrasing* gain - to make this small difference bigger, but I did not try it.

I'm also wondering if this is the limitation of the sensor themselves, or of the RVOSD's ADC, which I presume is 8-bit. What do you think Alex? :)

In (my) theory higher AD resolution will not help, as even a roll based on one bit could be enough to fly (0=too much left) (1=too much right) - sure, it would not be pretty, but it could work with that little, and so, it should be able to work with other small differences.

I think it's mostly about the way software interpret these small changes, and being sure where the "center" is

The biggest problem may be cold, snowy mountains and cold low clouds - both much warmer than the outer space - which, when clouded cannot be seen :)

pit3k

04-28-2009, 10:42 AM

n (my) theory higher AD resolution will not help, as even a roll based on one bit could be enough to fly (0=too much left) (1=too much right) - sure, it would not be pretty, but it could work with that little, and so, it should be able to work with other small differences.

It does sond logical what you are saying, so I think the autopilot should indeed be able to handle the small differences, as long as the gains are set appropriately. Therefore, all we need is an adaptive algorithm in RVOSD that will change the PID regulator coefficients in response to weather changes :D

I think it's mostly about the way software interpret these small changes, and being sure where the "center" is
So what is the auto-piloted plane behaviour in such bad conditions? Does it become unstable trying to correct left and right alternately causing massive uncontrollable oscillations, or it just rolls to one side with the autopilot being unable to counter that?

AndreK

04-28-2009, 11:20 AM

So what is the auto-piloted plane behaviour in such bad conditions? Does it become unstable trying to correct left and right alternately causing massive uncontrollable oscillations, or it just rolls to one side with the autopilot being unable to counter that?

Let me describe the experience:
I cruise at 200meters, and reset the AHI using set neutral elevator/rudder
-then the AHI seems ok, - it hangs around center.
-I change course a little - like 45 degrees
-now the AHI thinks the plane is rolling at 15-20degree, and it thinks the nose is way down.
-I change the course another ~90degrees and head back,
-now the AHI may display as if I was rolled at 20-25degree, and the vertical placement (pitch) is completely wrong.

So, if autopilot was flying by this data, and trying to correct what may seem like 20degree bank, it would surely result in a crash.

In short, if skies are too low, it may seem like any tiny bit of clear sky or different cloud-type (at different altitude/temperature) in the horizon - will confuse it badly.

I think that barometric pressure sensors, (altitude AND airspeed) could give a better autopilot when combined with two gyros.

- this way - software could calculate and verify proper rudder positions, and even "detect" correct plane pich/roll position by "observing" air-speed vs altitude changes while moving control surfaces.
Such solution would actually be able to "learn" to fly itself.

pit3k

04-28-2009, 11:41 AM

In short, if skies are too low, it may seem like any tiny bit of clear sky or different cloud-type (at different altitude/temperature) in the horizon - will confuse it badly.
OK, I think I understand it now. It seems that this is the limitation of the "horizon" sensors themselves. They are unable to locate the horizon in a sufficiently precise way, due to low temperature difference between ground and sky, in presence of relatively large temperature variations of the clouds etc. So there is nothing that RVOSD can do about it.

I think that barometric pressure sensors, (altitude AND airspeed) could give a better autopilot when combined with two gyros.
It could surely help with the pitch problem, but I'm not sure about the roll. You still need to know when the plane is perfectly level, but gyros and barometric sensors would not answer this, as gyros have to much drift.

What might help is an accelerometer (best 2 or 3-axis) that could detect the direction of the gravity vector in certain (stable) conditions. No?

The ultimate solution would be the one taking advantage of AHI, gyros, accelerometers and barometric altitude and air-speed. However, I would imagine the software algorithms needed to make good use of all those sensor simultaneously are quite complicated and difficult to develop ;)

AndreK

04-28-2009, 11:53 AM

It could surely help with the pitch problem, but I'm not sure about the roll. You still need to know when the plane is perfectly level, but gyros and barometric sensors would not answer this, as gyros have to much drift.

barometric sensors speed+altitude would help, because speed/drop in altitude could very well be used to detect how wings/control surfaces influence the drop/speed.

What might help is an accelerometer (best 2 or 3-axis)

sure I was thinking of accelerometers as gyros, after all, it's much the same thing.

The ultimate solution would be the one taking advantage of AHI, gyros, accelerometers and barometric altitude and air-speed. However, I would imagine the software algorithms needed to make good use of all those sensor simultaneously are quite complicated and difficult to develop ;)

let's call it a "challenge" :) - I do not know how important the FMA sensors are, when combined with the rest - I would guess they easily will become the least relaiable part of such construction.

pit3k

04-28-2009, 12:25 PM

barometric sensors speed+altitude would help, because speed/drop in altitude could very well be used to detect how wings/control surfaces influence the drop/speed.
They would help with pitch maybe, but how would you detect the roll angle? The change of altitude and speed can be caused by many different factors, such as wind, motor, all of the control surfaces movement, you would not be able to reliably determine roll angle that way at all.

sure I was thinking of accelerometers as gyros, after all, it's much the same thing.
I don't really agree. Accelerometers (http://www.sensorwiki.org/doku.php/sensors/accelerometer) and Gyroscopes (http://www.sensorwiki.org/doku.php/sensors/gyroscope) are two different beasts. The former let you determine the orientation of the plane (by measuring the vector of force of gravity) but only when the plane is NOT accelerating, turning or rotating along any axis. Gyro on the other hand lets you measure change of orientation along given axis, but it does not allow you to determine absolute angle along that axis.

So gyro won't tell you when the plane is level. Accelerometer will, but only in certain conditions.

Combined together (accelerometer + gyro) however and with smart software, these could yield very accurate measurements under any conditions I believe. In that case FMS sensor might indeed be not that important any more. However, there is only one person here who knows which direction is the RVOSD going :)

let's call it a "challenge" :)
Who is that "challenge" for? ;)

Alex Villa

04-28-2009, 01:23 PM

Ok, saw the video. You have all the conditions that are supposed to affect the reliable detection of the horizon by thermopiles. Snow, water mass, mountains, lol only dark clouds left to make the perfect party stopper. Still It is amazing how the autopilot works, you managed to adjust it much better than me. Iam very glad I didnt lost my time here explaining all to you, this video worth all of that and more! Thank you very much. Now I would like to know if you switched the rudder and ailerons channels, and if this worked better, I think this video is made with the autopilot controlling the ailerons, because the roll control seems smooth and very accurate, but maybe I am wrong.

The ADC on the dsPIC33FJ can work on 10 or 12 bits, I am using 12 bits, but because I have certain limitations on the interprocessor communications, it can only send frames of 3 bytes, I mix 2 of the bytes to make a word, but always have a byte free, so I use this bytes to send data that doesnt need to be so accurate. Like those debug values wich are scalled down to 8bits.

When I started the development of RVOSD I made an IMU to make the same work than thermopiles, but because of cost, problems with temperature making change the drift pattern and amount of the gyros,and size of the final design I decided to stop that. The prototype OSD also had baro altitude, but again the cost and seeing that GPS altitude is much more accurate than the people use to think, It was also removed. From those times I kept the idea of making a daughter board that can have all those options, and also be optional to buy. And for sure we plan to make it available asap.
Now we are working on adding data logging capabilities to the OSD so this is the next step.

AndreK

04-28-2009, 01:38 PM

Ok, saw the video. You have all the conditions that are supposed to affect the reliable detection of the horizon by thermopiles. Snow, water mass, mountains, lol only dark clouds left to make the perfect party stopper. Still It is amazing how the autopilot works, you managed to adjust it much better than me. Iam very glad I didnt lost my time here explaining all to you, this video worth all of that and more! Thank you very much. Now I would like to know if you switched the rudder and ailerons channels, and if this worked better, I think this video is made with the autopilot controlling the ailerons, because the roll control seems smooth and very accurate, but maybe I am wrong.

I'm glad you did not feel like wasting your time.
If you organize more of the answers you gave over time in a WIKI, or anything, you can build up a great manual. (if you feel like you are getting the same questions more than once.)

The video you see uses the rudder - the turns you see must me the nature of the TwinStarII /adjustment.

I did switch to ailereon use recently - zeroed all relevant settings, and did not had chance to adjust it, because of the shi**y weather we had recently (just as described above) So, the autopilot is not working properly yet with ailerons.

pit3k

04-28-2009, 01:52 PM

From those times I kept the idea of making a daughter board that can have all those options, and also be optional to buy.
I think that was a very good design decision. The RVOSD as it is, is already very capable in its auto-piloting capabilities, as can be seen on AndreK's video. With the optional daughter board and all the gyros it is going to be a real killer I'm sure :D

Now we are working on adding data logging capabilities to the OSD so this is the next step.
I'm very much looking forward to it. I would love to have Spektrum DATA port support for signal strength logging as well ;)

AndreK

04-28-2009, 02:31 PM

same here, when you are ordering these boards from manufacturer, you can order one for me at once :)
-please add Spektrum DATA port to all the other goodies I assume you are developing.

chiloschista

04-29-2009, 05:21 AM

It could surely help with the pitch problem, but I'm not sure about the roll. You still need to know when the plane is perfectly level, but gyros and barometric sensors would not answer this, as gyros have to much drift.

Alex, have you ever considered the possibility to use inclinometer for XY axis, instead of FMA sensor, like the one used on digital meter for setting wing incidence?
(Is it something like the one used in the iPhone?)

http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN193

This device is capable of measuring angle from 0 to 360 degrees. With two of this it would be possible to eliminate the z sensor.

Alex Villa

04-29-2009, 12:58 PM

Alex, have you ever considered the possibility to use inclinometer for XY axis, instead of FMA sensor, like the one used on digital meter for setting wing incidence?
(Is it something like the one used in the iPhone?)

http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN193

This device is capable of measuring angle from 0 to 360 degrees. With two of this it would be possible to eliminate the z sensor.
Inclinometers (aka acelerometers) are useless in a plane because they detect angle based on acelerations, when you are static the only aceleration detected is gravity, but as soon as you start moving, you have linear acelerations added, and when you start turning, centripetal acelerations also add to the equation.

AndreK

04-29-2009, 09:07 PM

I had autopilot working fine with rudder, now it's perfect with aileron.
This is the first time I bother to describe my problem, yet I always had it:

"Set cruise throttle:" is set to 45% throttle
“Cruise altitude” = 110(meters)
“Altitude limit” 50 (meters)

After much confusion in the beginning - because I just did not make it work as expected, I understand this means that:

if altitude is >160meters, then motor should stop
when altitude reached 110meters, motor should start. (and climb to 160?)

The problem is, I've never seen autopilot stop the motor, I can cruise at 300meters, enable autopilot, and motor continues to run.

Alex Villa

04-30-2009, 02:28 AM

In this case motor will be at "set cruise throttle" under 160mts and trying to control altitude with the elevator, and will be at "throttle failsafe" when altitude>160mts, at this altitude the elevator will be kept to neutral.

AndreK

04-30-2009, 05:24 AM

what can possibly cause it to not stop the motor ?
throttle failsafe is set to "no throttle", 1.11ms. - yet motors do not stop at any altitude.

Alex Villa

04-30-2009, 01:36 PM

hmmm, Ill take a look at the code

AndreK

04-30-2009, 08:12 PM

hmmm, Ill take a look at the code

Here's some more goodies for you. (now with autopilot on ailerons)
http://www.vimeo.com/4417892
please observe 4 things:

1.- AHI is smooth and fine, water and snowy mountains does not influence it, I don't know why people thinks so.
I recorded same tests, when there was sunshine, AHO was exactly as good as this.

2.- please check out my settings at video position 00:35+' - maybe it can help you figure out what's happening
3.- please observe that when I engage autopilot, at 00:44, it climbs slowly, rather than cut the motors. - like the theory says, this is why I asked you about it so many times, because it did not work as described.

4.- I cannot find the famous "Altitude limit" variable, I have earlier mistaken "Pitch limit" for being it, but I see there is no variable named "altitude limit"

and a bonus for you all: http://www.vimeo.com/4418321 - bomb craters near Tirpitz.

Alex Villa

04-30-2009, 11:48 PM

Beautiful videos, now I think you can concentrate on flying lol, seems like everything is done on RVOSD. I am surprise at the value you are using for CDP4 gain, on my tests I had it set to 70.
Actually my goal with the autopilot wasent to have a system capable of flying the plane all the way back home, I just wanted something that can make the plane go back to control range when flying on the edge of the radio gear. While trying to push the distance limits.
When the first OSD video was presented some people throw to me that this screen (F16) is to much intrussive. But while flyinng I cant use anything but this screen or else I feel uneasy. Now looking at the videos of RVOSD working I see that most of the people use just this screen.
Obviously the throttle channel kept the motor running, unless you had wrong settings on throttle failsafe this part of the program its not working as I wanted to.

Abraxas

05-01-2009, 07:04 AM

Hello Alex,
Just received my new RVOSD some small questions also of interest for others.

I use Thomas Scherrers long range Rx,Tx Euipment ,works fine ,tested up to 10 km
(I think it works up to more than 100km with yagi Antenna)
I use Thomas failsave function-it is a "in flight adjustable" failsave,so i fly nearby me,adjust a litte rudder (to get wide circles) ,engine 70%(to get high)
aileron trimm as stable as possible
Works fine ,if Radio signal is out ,plane starts to get high and the chance to reconnect is big.So if i loose video ,I switch off Radio (failsave active),wait until Video is here again and reconnect radio,works very fine.
Now I want to add FMA (I learned by bad expirience,that FMA is not realy good working near hills-temp line is not horizontal-100 %crash was nearly to sell it)now i want to use it again(no hill area)
How can I connect both systems,the RVOSD failsave and the inflight Thomas failsave
together with FMA copilot?
If receiver has no signal,the servos went to the predefinied position and stay there
also one channel can work as signal autopilot "on" swich,so I need no detection from bad servo signals.

after that happens these setting have to be overruled from RVOSD and FMA(including way home function)
I am not a friend of setting failsave parameters on the radio
How much rudder? -its a try and error procedure-in Helis only as emergency crash function possible with helicommand(pitch at +3,Engine at 50% until Lipo is emty and damaged.
I know the RVOSD is not working on helis,but i think always a step foreward
(helicommand or gyrobot 900 and RVOSDfor helis ,Gyro stabi ACT Fuzzy logic and RVOSD on wingplane,I am dreaming)

Any idea?

AndreK

05-01-2009, 07:38 AM

on my tests I had it set to 70.

Can you please say something about what you think the difference it makes for me ? Like if I increased to 70, then I should see ...... behave differently ?
- May it work a little better then the difference between sky and ground temperatur is smaller ?

When the first OSD video was presented some people throw to me that this screen (F16) is to much intrussive. But while flyinng I cant use anything but this screen or else I feel uneasy. Now looking at the videos of RVOSD working I see that most of the people use just this screen.

Yes, I thought so for the first 10seconds, but as soon I saw that everything was useful data, presented at a glance - I changed my mind, today, I feel lost without it :) I guess Lockheed Martin did some good research there.

Obviously the throttle channel kept the motor running, unless you had wrong
settings on throttle failsafe this part of the program its not working as I wanted to.

Ok, will wait for next version, flying on an island, or almost anywhere in northern Norway - means flying near hills/mountains - and it's important for me to gain altitude quickly, in case of lost link.

studiopetros

05-01-2009, 08:49 AM

Alex Villa

05-01-2009, 02:08 PM

Alex Villa

05-01-2009, 02:10 PM

Hi
The objective of this is to set Autopilot to exaggerate his actions. Now back to F16 screen and pulse down the auxiliary channel try to set “Autopilot Rudder”, look at the rudder movement relative to heading change and make sure it moves the correct way, if not, go back to autopilot menu and change “Yaw servo direction”.

what you mean? Have I take my plane on hand and walk arround to see if the ruder make a correct direction moves? Or simple move the sticks on the transmitter and see for the right directions??
Thanks
Those adjust are for testing the system on the ground, it will simulate heading and altitude changes so you can see if the servos are making the appropriate movement, you can also test this by moving your hands around the sensors to simulate AHI changes and look at the servo corrections.

Alex Villa

05-01-2009, 02:14 PM

Can you please say something about what you think the difference it makes for me ? Like if I increased to 70, then I should see ...... behave differently ?
- May it work a little better then the difference between sky and ground temperatur is smaller ?

Yes, I thought so for the first 10seconds, but as soon I saw that everything was useful data, presented at a glance - I changed my mind, today, I feel lost without it :) I guess Lockheed Martin did some good research there.

Ok, will wait for next version, flying on an island, or almost anywhere in northern Norway - means flying near hills/mountains - and it's important for me to gain altitude quickly, in case of lost link.
Higher CDP4 gain will make the stabilization system to make faster corrections toward the desired angle when the AP its engaged, however I think your settings are working nice. IF the CDP4 gain is to much high the flying surfaces will be deflected at higher throws. If the value its too low then it might be not enough to achieve stabilization. I dont think it will help when the FMA sensors dont have enough temperature difference to work properly.

bjacobs00

05-02-2009, 07:41 PM

This can be an alternative way to adjust the autopilot if you have the FMA sensors plugged, make sure to fully read the instructions on the first post, and that you have every thing working properly before attempting this method.

The first thing you need, is to have the AHI working properly, with precise indications of your plane attitude. The AHI is like your debug tool on the autopilot, because the autopilot have the attitude information from the same source.

Then you can test plane stabilization by setting:
Bank limit: 50
Bank proportional gain: 0
Rate of turn limit:0
Bank integral gain: 0

Cruise altitude: 200
Altitude limit: 100
Pitch proportional gain: 0
Rate of climb limit: 0
Climb integral gain: 0
Set cruise throttle: (set to a position that give you enough thrust to keep flying straight)
Rudder and elevator neutral points properly trimmed.
CDP4 gain: 50-70

With this settings when autopilot kicks it should just level the plane, if pitch or roll is correcting the oposite way then you need to reverse the appropriate servo Yaw servo direction: for Yaw//Roll and Pitch servo direction: for pitch. CDP4 gain: Will set how aggressive will be the plane stabilization, if the value is too high it will oscilate around the seting point, value too low and it will not be responsive enough.

After you achieve plane leveling you can start adjusting home heading by increasing Bank proportional gain:, keep in mind that this is also controlled by Max roll angle:, this is the maximum roll angle allowed for the autopilot to do corrections. This value is on degrees and appropriate setting will be from 10° to 20° try to avoid to much sharp angles. Then you can have an smoother response by increasing Rate of turn limit:.

Finally increase Pitch proportional gain: to achieve altitude control(make sure you read instructions about how it works), the limit in this case is Max pitch angle:. After it is working you will have smoother response by using Rate of climb limit:

I tried using the stabilization settings listed above and it did stabilize the plane. Problem is, it decided to fly inverted!! I had the AHI indicating properly and I'm pretty sure all the servo directions are set correctly.

The only things I can think of:
1. Maybe my Z (using X-Y) is installed incorrectly. If this were true, wouldn't this show up as incorrect AHI?
2. Maybe my CPD4 calibration step was incorrect somehow. I pointed the nose of the plane directly at the sky and made sure the sensor was clear.
3. It was very cloudy, dark overcast sky with slight precipitation. Maybe the clouds confused the autopilot?

I guess I will try it again on a sunny day and see what happens. It would be great if anyone has an idea of what could cause the inversion. I thought as long as AHI is working properly, then it can't be any settings or calibration issue...

I've attached some iPhone pics of how my sensors are installed on the planbe in case it might help.

chiloschista

05-02-2009, 09:47 PM

bjacobs00

05-02-2009, 09:52 PM

bjacobs00, XY FMA sensor has to be mounted with P along the fuselage (roll axis) and Z sensor has to be mounted with P in vertical direction (yaw axis). You have both wrong mounted.
I had to mount Z sensor inverted too (I don't know why, but it works).

Wow, then I'm surprised it worked. Maybe I got lucky! For both sensors, can you tell me which exact side should face the front of the plane? Is it the side with the red FMA label or the other side?

Or rather for XY, which side faces front and for Z which saide faces the sky (vertical direction)?

Thanks!

chiloschista

05-02-2009, 09:56 PM

It's the same. You have to control the correct direction of FMA responce. If not you can invert this in the software.

CDP4 pitch direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction, if you place the XY head with pitch sensors inverted
CDP4 roll direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction, if you place the XY head with roll sensors inverted

bjacobs00

05-02-2009, 10:02 PM

It's the same. You have to control the correct direction of FMA responce. If not you can invert this in the software.

Sorry, I'm still kind of lost. Each sensor has 4 cells. For the XY sensor mounted upside down on the belly of the plane, any idea which of the 4 cells should face the front of the plane? And for the Z sensor, which one of the 4 cells should face the sky?

I guess you are saying that if it is placed incorrectly that I should invert the direction in the OSD menu? I thought those settings both needed to be inverted because my XY was mounted on the belloy of the plane. Maybe that isn't the case...

chiloschista

05-02-2009, 10:14 PM

bjacobs00

05-02-2009, 10:56 PM

No, XY has to be mounted with both P longitudinally.
Then if the AHI work inverted on pitch or on roll or both you have to invert the values in the menu.

Z has to be mouned with P vertically. I use also an XY sensor and has to mount it inverted (writings facing down). Simply try the right direction.

In other words: roll your's sensors 90 degrees!

Hope this will help.

OK, I re-oriented the sensors as shown in these new photos. Unfortunately, when I do this and then follow the calibration procedure, I end up with an AHI that does't do anything. It just sits there solid and striaght across the flight path marker and doesn't move with the plane at all. The only way I could get the AHI to work correctly is with the previous sensor configuration. I'm not sure why this is so hard for me, but I'm about at wits end with this. Maybe someone could look over my calibration procedure and sensor orientation to see if that's a problem?

1. Hold the plane straight up into the air (nose up). Press CPD4 Calibrate.
2. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from nose to tail of the plane (this should make sure pitch sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Elevator.
3. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from left to right of the plane (this should make sure roll sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Rudder.

Thanks

Alex Villa

05-02-2009, 11:26 PM

OK, I re-oriented the sensors as shown in these new photos. Unfortunately, when I do this and then follow the calibration procedure, I end up with an AHI that does't do anything. It just sits there solid and striaght across the flight path marker and doesn't move with the plane at all. The only way I could get the AHI to work correctly is with the previous sensor configuration. I'm not sure why this is so hard for me, but I'm about at wits end with this. Maybe someone could look over my calibration procedure and sensor orientation to see if that's a problem?

1. Hold the plane straight up into the air (nose up). Press CPD4 Calibrate.
2. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from nose to tail of the plane (this should make sure pitch sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Elevator.
3. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from left to right of the plane (this should make sure roll sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Rudder.

Thanks
Check the connectors, those FMA cables come with very bad connectors. Having the AHI not moving at all means the FMA sensors are not connected, also check the debug screen and by moving your hand over the sensors you will find wich are active.

bjacobs00

05-03-2009, 12:25 AM

Check the connectors, those FMA cables come with very bad connectors. Having the AHI not moving at all means the FMA sensors are not connected, also check the debug screen and by moving your hand over the sensors you will find wich are active.

All sensors are connected. All are giving variable readings in the debug menu when I put a finger in front of them.

I guess it's possible that all of these FMA sensors are not made the same. Just because someone had to mount them in configuration A may not mean mine needs to be the same. Could you answer the following and maybe I can figure out how to orient these sensors:

1. Please describe in the debug menu how you determine which set of sensors is the active set for pitch, roll and ABS Thermal. I think I know, but would like you to check my description to be sure I've got it right.

My description is to look at whatever number in debug menu (say pitch first). Put finger in front of 1 of the 4 cells on the XY sensor. If the pitch number only changes by a few numbers, then this is the inactive pair (this cell and the cell 180 degrees opposite are not active for pitch). Then put a finger in front of the cell 90 degrees opposite the inactive side and the debug menu should show a big thermal difference (number goes way up or way down). This cell and the one 180 degrees opposite it are the active pair.

2. Please describe how the active pitch sensors should be mounted to the plane fuselage? Longitudinally (looking front to back) or latitudinally (looking left to right) ? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

3. Please describe how the active roll sensors should be mounted to the plane? Longitudinally (looking front to back) or latitudinally (looking left to right) ? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

3. Please describe how the active ABS thermal sensors mount on the plane? I know they are supposed tgo be on the side of the fuse, but do the active cells look at sky vs. ground when flying level or they see the horizon front to back when flying level? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

4. Do you anticipate anything I need to do in the OSD autopilot menu to account for the fact that my XY sensor is mounted on the belly of the plane?

5. The active cells for ABS thermal should be oriented to see the horizon when performing CPD4 calibrate?

6. Set Neutral Elevator also calibrates the pitch sensors?

7. Set Neutral Rudder also calibrates the roll sensors?

8. Please confirm on the OSD, connector P17 is XY and P18 is Z?

Sorry for so many questions, but I can't think of any other way to debug this other than to ask. Thanks

Alex Villa

05-03-2009, 02:35 AM

All sensors are connected. All are giving variable readings in the debug menu when I put a finger in front of them.

I guess it's possible that all of these FMA sensors are not made the same. Just because someone had to mount them in configuration A may not mean mine needs to be the same. Could you answer the following and maybe I can figure out how to orient these sensors:

1. Please describe in the debug menu how you determine which set of sensors is the active set for pitch, roll and ABS Thermal. I think I know, but would like you to check my description to be sure I've got it right.

My description is to look at whatever number in debug menu (say pitch first). Put finger in front of 1 of the 4 cells on the XY sensor. If the pitch number only changes by a few numbers, then this is the inactive pair (this cell and the cell 180 degrees opposite are not active for pitch). Then put a finger in front of the cell 90 degrees opposite the inactive side and the debug menu should show a big thermal difference (number goes way up or way down). This cell and the one 180 degrees opposite it are the active pair.

Your description is correct

2. Please describe how the active pitch sensors should be mounted to the plane fuselage? Longitudinally (looking front to back) or latitudinally (looking left to right) ? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

Active pitch sensors longitudinally

3. Please describe how the active roll sensors should be mounted to the plane? Longitudinally (looking front to back) or latitudinally (looking left to right) ? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

Active roll sensors latitudinally

3. Please describe how the active ABS thermal sensors mount on the plane? I know they are supposed tgo be on the side of the fuse, but do the active cells look at sky vs. ground when flying level or they see the horizon front to back when flying level? And the side with the highest or lowest reading should face which direction?

Active cells should be looking sky//ground (Zenit//nadir) when flying level, the side with the highest reading should go to the ground.

4. Do you anticipate anything I need to do in the OSD autopilot menu to account for the fact that my XY sensor is mounted on the belly of the plane?

By looking at the AHI you will know if you have to change "CDP4 pitch direction" or "CDP4 roll direction".

5. The active cells for ABS thermal should be oriented to see the horizon when performing CPD4 calibrate?

Thats correct

6. Set Neutral Elevator also calibrates the pitch sensors?

Yes, and it also take the Z sensor value at that moment to obtain the correct thermal vs angle equation.

7. Set Neutral Rudder also calibrates the roll sensors?

Yes, and it also take the Z sensor value at that moment to obtain the correct thermal vs angle equation.

8. Please confirm on the OSD, connector P17 is XY and P18 is Z?

Thats correct

Alex Villa

05-03-2009, 02:38 AM

OK, I re-oriented the sensors as shown in these new photos. Unfortunately, when I do this and then follow the calibration procedure, I end up with an AHI that does't do anything. It just sits there solid and striaght across the flight path marker and doesn't move with the plane at all. The only way I could get the AHI to work correctly is with the previous sensor configuration. I'm not sure why this is so hard for me, but I'm about at wits end with this. Maybe someone could look over my calibration procedure and sensor orientation to see if that's a problem?

1. Hold the plane straight up into the air (nose up). Press CPD4 Calibrate.

Thats correct, also make sure the Z sensors have unobstructed view to the horizon when doing this calibration.

2. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from nose to tail of the plane (this should make sure pitch sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Elevator.

Thats correct

3. Hold the plane level (as if level flight) and make sure the horizon is visible from left to right of the plane (this should make sure roll sensors see horizon). Press Set Neutral Rudder.

Thats correct

bjacobs00

05-03-2009, 03:59 AM

Alex Villa

05-03-2009, 04:57 AM

I just double checked and found that the active pitch sensors are NOT the ones with the red P's. Same thing with the Z style sensor. The active cells were NOT the ones with the red P's.

It seems not all FMA sensors are made the same!

Now I'm left wondering why the autopilot inverted. I'll try it again and maybe it wont happen again, but if it does, hopefully I'll have some video.
The first thing you need is to have the AHI working properly with CDP4 pitch and roll directions menus. After that, autopilot adjusts are with Yaw and Pitch directions menus, then adjust the gains. Good luck.

elpimous

05-03-2009, 06:50 PM

Yeah, bjacobs00 !!!
I had the same problem !!!
P's parallel to fuse and Z sensor perpendicular was not good for me !

I had to put XY sensor with P's parallel to wings
and invert Z sensor (I think it was the fault of my menu choices, I'll see later)

Now, I have Imu nearly ok...a bit fast...but ok, with big line in top of small one.

Bye all

VOVA, I think I'll try to make a french manual of rvosd, based to first post !! What do U think of this ?

Vincent.

Alex Villa

05-03-2009, 08:06 PM

VOVA, I think I'll try to make a french manual of rvosd, based to first post !! What do U think of this ?

Vincent.

This would be great.

Jumpjet

05-06-2009, 04:35 AM

I can also verify that the throttle failsafe is not working. The motor continues to run at the cruise throttle no matter what altitude I am flying at.

Jumpjet

05-07-2009, 04:42 AM

I see that most of the people use just this screen.
Obviously the throttle channel kept the motor running, unless you had wrong settings on throttle failsafe this part of the program its not working as I wanted to.

Do you have an idea when you will release a patch to fix the throttle problem? Or is there a work-around?

Alex Villa

05-07-2009, 01:08 PM

Do you have an idea when you will release a patch to fix the throttle problem? Or is there a work-around?
Yes, I am preparing the next patch. This is very easy to do and maybe I will split the fixes//improvments in order to release this earlier.

Jumpjet

05-07-2009, 10:41 PM

I think releasing a fix patch would be a great idea if you plan on releasing it sooner than the update patch. I guess it all depends on how difficult it would be for you to release a quick patch.

studiopetros

05-17-2009, 06:24 PM

Hi
Today was my first experience with the AP on the easy glider platform. I was trying it without the FMA sensors ,on the "test in the air" mode.
It was beutiful to see how the AP is trying to find the right way to come back to home.
So i need some help. When I kick the autopilot rudder :

1. the plane make a very sharp turn with nose down.
2. when the plane coming back it going left and right over the center of home arrow.
3. when the plane came to home position its make a very fast turns left and right like crazy and the nose go down. not doing circle over the home posision.
Which settings have I increase/decrease?

I KNOW that my settings is wrong, but i am little confused with all of that," bank,Derivative,Integral,PID,bearing gain and many other technical words.
Is it possible to expound more simple to understanding, please.
In view I have read the most of the post on this forum.
I hope that my questions and your answers will help a many others like me to setup their RVOSD more easy from me.
Thanks

studiopetros

05-17-2009, 06:36 PM

Alex Villa

05-17-2009, 08:32 PM

The menu items related to the rudder are:
Bank limit:
-When using the autopilot without the FMA sensors, this parameter can be used to limit the maximum servo deflection, allowing more authoritative response of the autopilot while avoiding too much bank angle when the plane it’s going completely away from home (maximum autopilot output)
Bank proportional gain:
-This option adjust the proportional gain on the YAW PID control, autopilot output it’s proportional to the heading error (Plane heading – home direction), this parameter determine how much this error will deflect the rudder of the plane.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, then this parameter will set the desired bank angle instead of rudder deflection.
Rate of turn limit:
-This option adjust the derivative gain on the YAW PID control, this parameter will act as a damper, making the rate of turn of the plane softer.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will make the same action on the correction of the roll angles (smoother changes of roll)
Bank Integral gain:
-This option adjust the integral gain on the YAW PID control, this parameter will make corrections to the set point of the PID control, when the neutral rudder position it’s not adjusted properly or there is some wind, an additional correction is needed to make the heading to home more accurate.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will do the fine correction to the desired bank angles, on my tests I found this is not needed, but it is here anyways.
Set neutral rudder:
-Set the neutral trim for the airplane YAW control, adjust the airplane to fly straight and then set this parameter.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter also reset the zero roll angle of the AHI and the autopilot.
Yaw servo direction:
-Correct the sign of the Autopilot action on the YAW servo.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter sets the direction of the correction for the autopilot angles, change if you notice that the plane banks away from home while on autopilot mode.

I think you should start with "Bank limit" to 64 and "Bank proportional gain" to 20, the rest rudder relative menus to zero.

Test the autopilot rudder and set the correct "Yaw servo direction" then increase the "Bank proportional gain" untill the plane does a slow turn to head for home, if the turn is to much sharp decrease this value. This adjust its correct when the turn is not sharp and the plane overshoot the home direction going to home by making "S" path toward home. "Bank limit" allow limiting the servo travel when the plane is to much away from the correct direction.

After that, you can increase "Rate of turn limit" to smooth the bank angles while turning. "Bank integral gain" can be used to correct the final heading when the plane is aligned to home, but not properly tunned on the neutral rudder.

The formula is pretty much like:
Servo throw = neutral rudder + (angle to home * Bank proportional gain)
Angle to home its limited by "Bank limit" and the convention used is that angles inside RVOSD are from 0...256° or (brads), this means 64°RVOSD = 90° Real. Some numbers are scalled down and up in the process. But i guess this gives you a picture of how to adjust it.
The menu "Climb integral gain" should be set to zero, because it is not using to control elevator but instead to make some elevator up, proportional to rudder servo deflection.

I know I suck explaining things, but I cant figure a better way to do it.

Alex Villa

05-17-2009, 08:36 PM

P.S
on the test in the air elevator:
I have a “Cruise altitude” - 110
“Altitude bearing limit - 50
so the AP set up elevator on 160 and going to 200meter and than set the fail safe elevator. Is it right and why exactly on 200?
Olso I have not see the Pitch limit menu.
Thanks
You are wrong on this, "Cruise altitude" is the altitude you want the plane to be kept at. the limits are just there to limit how much the altitude difference can make the elevator to go up or down, and also to set the point at wich the throttle will change from glide down to actual control of altitude. The elevator is controlled between "Cruise altitude" +- "Altitude bearing limit", with some engine to allow altitude control.

martinv

05-18-2009, 11:02 PM

While reading through the first post I decided to edit so it would be easier to understand my 2nd time through. I went through it several times and made ~100s of small edits, hopefully for the better. I tried to maintain the correct meaning as I went but it would be wise to have someone very knowlegeable read through an make sure.

Hope this helps some:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Before making any explanations I will make a suggestion that should save some planes out there. The radio control receiver is very sensitive to electromagnetic fields generated all over the electronics on the plane. Placing your receiver as far as possible from the rest of the electronics (at least 20 cm) is a very good practice. I think the sources of interference can be organized following this order from more to less interfering.

-Video transmitter. A lot of harmonics can be generated inside the transmitter. They are radiated thru the antenna and the worst part of it escapes thru the video and power cabling. Wiring those cables together around a toroid and twisting the rest of the cable length will give you a lot of improvement.
-GPS module. This unit can be affected by the video transmitter, but also can be the source of interference affecting your receiver. The cabling that goes to the OSD transports high speed data communications that can be radiated if they pass near the receiver or antenna.
-ESC. Speed controllers have a microprocessor that uses an internal crystal that can generate harmonics on the RC link band. Also, the PWM output to the motor can be radiated.
-BEC. A switching regulator operating on the KHz bands can generate harmonics.
-The OSD. The OSD contains two microprocessors running at 120 Mhz with crystal oscillators at 10 Mhz which can cause interference on its harmonics. Also, high speed data flows all over the unit. Low pass filters were added to all the inputs and outputs but it is still suggested you use a separation of 10 cm or more between the OSD and the receiver and antenna.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To navigate thru the RVOSD screens and menus you can use the provided remote control. The "Mute" key can be used to cycle screens. The "CH+" and "CH-" keys can be used to navigate menu items and the "VOL+" and "VOL-" keys can be used to change the items. In case you lose it, you can use any universal remote control set to SONY TV brand.
Please connect your Rx (servo in) to the OSD, and turn ON your RC Tx before turning on the OSD.

RVOSD will try to detect servo pulses on the inputs up to the seventh second after being turned on. If it detects no valid pulses the servo pass thru is disabled and the RC Link lost indication (Failsafe or autopilot) display is also disabled.

Up to the seventh second, RVOSD will look for:

In RVOSD PPM mode the OSD will look for pulses in Auxiliary input.
In RVOSD PCM mode the OSD will look for pulses in Auxiliary and Throttle inputs.
RVOSD can be adjusted to detect loss of RC link by two means. When it is set to PPM mode it analyzes the incoming servo pulses on the auxiliary channel. If those pulses are not present or randomly changing then it knows the link was lost and takes the appropriate actions based on menu item "Autopilot" in the autopilot submenu. When it is set to PCM mode it will do the same action on the auxiliary channel, but will also look at the throttle input for any servo period greater than the values set in the menu item "Set PCM FS point".
If your receiver doesn’t have servo pulse post-processing, it just outputs random or no pulses at all when the RC link is lost. In this case you can use the PPM mode on RVOSD.
If your receiver has servo pulse post-processing so it can set failsafe on throttle channel, you can use the PCM mode on RVOSD and do the following instructions:
-Remove the propeller.
-With the inputs connected, (auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected, the others are optional) make sure RVOSD is set to PPM mode in the menu item "Receiver mode". If not, set it, save configuration and restart the OSD.
-Set your throttle stick to 105% of normal range.
-With the remote control go to the RVOSD menu.
-Save the throttle value in the menu item "Set pcm FS point".
-Change receiver mode to PCM.
-Go to the menu item "Save configuration" and execute (This way the changes on the menu will stay after you cycle power on the OSD). You will see the word "Done" blink on the screen.
-On the receiver, set throttle channel failsafe to 110%.
-Set throttle stick on your transmitter to normal range 0-100% (example: 0.90--1.9mS)

Now if you turn off your RC Transmitter, Throttle should go to 110%, this value is greater than the set PCM FS point set at 105% thus RVOSD will set RC link lost display action. With the RC Transmitter ON again this value will go to normal range 0--100%. This value is less than the set PCM FS point witch it is set to 105%. Thus RVOSD will remove RC Link lost action.

The OSD will never let the FS (110%) value go out to the ESC.

The auxiliary channel can be used to cycle screens, to turn OFF and ON some items and to navigate and modify the autopilot menu. To do this you need a three position switch assigned to this channel. Each time you toggle up you will cycle one screen and each time you toggle down it will turn ON and OFF some of the OSD options. This action will depend on some of the menu settings. If the "autopilot" menu item is set to anything other than OFF, you can navigate and change items on this submenu by using the elevator and rudder sticks. In order to allow these actions, the servo outputs will stay at the values they had just before entering the submenu. You can’t control the plane while navigating the submenu. To regain control just cycle screens again. If while you are navigating the submenu the RC link is lost, the OSD will automatically go out of the submenu to allow faster retake of control.

RVOSD Menu:
Use Mute key to cycle screens
Use channel+ and channel- keys to cycle thru all the menu options.
Use Volume+ and Volume- keys to modify menu items.

Enter autopilot menu:
-Door to the autopilot submenu
Hide ground distance:
-Maximum distance to display Ground Distance, if this value set to zero Ground Distance is always displayed.
Low altitude angle:
-If the plane has an angle in the horizon less than this value, GPS coordinates and date will be shown. If "Warnings screen" is selected "Low altitude" warning is displayed.
Reset home:
-Restart main microprocessor unit, conditions to set home required again.
Curr sensor type:
-Adjust gains for different current sensor type. Five types of sensors will be available, 50-100-130-150-200.
Set Batt capacity:
-Sets the maximum battery capacity of your pack. RVOSD only measures motor consumption, thus you need to calculate your static consumption (video Tx, camera, receiver). A typical value for 500mW Tx, KX191 camera and usual EzStar Rx and micro servos, its 500mAh. If your battery has a capacity of 2200mAh, a good practice is to set 2200-500=1700mAh as battery capacity for 1 hr flight time. The current indicator will start to blink when mAh consumed go over 80% of the value set, in case "Warnings screen" is selected "Battery Empty" warning is displayed when 80% of battery capacity is consumed.
Dist warning:
-Distance indicator will start to blink when it goes over the value set. If the "Warnings screen" is selected "Distance Far" warning is displayed.

Batt warning:
-The Main Battery voltage indicator will start to blink when it goes under the value set. If the "Warnings screen" is selected "Main Battery Low" warning is displayed.
-The Video Battery voltage indicator will start to blink when it goes under 10.6V. If the "Warnings screen" is selected "Video Battery Low" warning is displayed. This value is fixed.
HDOP counter:
-RVOSD GPS sends new position and parameter updates at 5Hz (5 times/sec). This counter sets how many good HDOPs need to be received before setting home.
Set max HDOP:
-This value sets the minimum GPS signal Horizontal Dilution of Position (HDOP) RVOSD will accept to start setting home. RVOSD will display "Searching Sats" when there is not any satellite lock reported from GPS and will change to "Setting Home" as soon as it locks on the first satellite.
-Its recommended to set this value to the minimum possible (around 1.00) to have an accurate set of zero altitude and home GPS coordinates, however it can take too long to set home with this value to low. Setting it to 1.30 seems to be the best compromise between accuracy and lower time to set. Keep in mind that this must be done with clear open sky visibility.
Display clear ground:
-When this parameter is ON, most of the OSD information is displayed in the upper side of the screen.
Display Vario:
-When this parameter is ON, F16 screen will show Variometer information.
FPM position adjust:
-This setting allows adjustment of the vertical position of the Flight Path Marker (FPM) as well as the center of the rotating Home and Waypoint indicators.
Call Sign:
-You can set your call sign here and also turn it ON or OFF.
Set PCM FS point:
-In PCM mode this parameter set the throttle point at which RVOSD will interpret receiver went to Fail Safe mode. Adjust this to be over your 100 % normal throttle position and under the FS setting on your throttle channel.
Display units:
-Allows the use of metric or imperial units
Receiver mode:
-Selects PCM or PPM receivers.
Set elevator failsafe:
-In "Autopilot OFF" mode, RVOSD will output this value to elevator if RC link lost is detected.
Set aileron failsafe:
-In "Autopilot OFF" mode, RVOSD will output this value to aileron if RC link lost is detected.
Set throttle failsafe:
-In "Autopilot OFF" mode, RVOSD will output this value to throttle if RC link lost is detected. In "Autopilot ON" mode RVOSD also will output this value if the plane altitude is more than "Cruise Altitude" + "Altitude Bearing Limit" so you must set it to neutral(engine off), or to a low value to keep altitude if possible.
Set rudder failsafe:
-In "Autopilot OFF" mode, RVOSD will output this value to rudder if RC link lost is detected.
Waypoint LAT:
-Sets waypoint latitude position. Keep in mind that RVOSD uses Decimal degrees convention.
Waypoint LON:
-Sets waypoint longitude position. Keep in mind that RVOSD uses Decimal degrees convention.
Display FPM:
- Enable/Disable Flight Path Marker (FPM).
Display speed ladder:
- Enable/Disable the speed ladder on the F16 screen.
Display altitude ladder:
- Enable/Disable the altitude ladder on the F16 screen.
Display compass:
- Enable/Disable the compass on the F16 screen.
Display waypoint indicator:
- Enable/Disable the waypoint direction and distance indicator.
Save configuration:
-Saves all settings to permanent memory so when you cycle power to the OSD its parameters will be kept in memory. (You will see a very fast "Done" blink to confirm this action). After that, no further save is needed unless you want to modify something else. Be conservative because this option will work 1800 times but can be as low as 800 times.

On Autopilot sub menus you have the following options:
Bank limit:
-When using the autopilot without the FMA sensors, this parameter can be used to limit the maximum servo deflection allowing more authoritative response of the autopilot while avoiding too much bank angle when the plane is going completely away from home (maximum autopilot output)
Bank proportional gain:
-This option adjusts the proportional gain on the YAW PID control. Autopilot output is proportional to the heading error (Plane heading – home direction). This parameter determines how much this error will deflect the rudder of the plane.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, then this parameter will set the desired bank angle instead of rudder deflection.
Rate of turn limit:
-This option adjusts the derivative gain on the YAW PID control. This parameter will act as a damper making the planes rate of turn softer.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will make the same action on the correction of the roll angles (smoother changes of roll).
Bank Integral gain:
-This option adjusts the integral gain on the YAW PID control. This parameter will make corrections to the set point of the PID control. When the neutral rudder position is not adjusted properly or there is some wind, an additional correction is needed to make the heading to home more accurate.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will do the fine correction to the desired bank angles, on my tests I found this is not needed, but it is here anyways.
Set neutral rudder:
-Sets the neutral trim for the airplane YAW control. Adjust the airplane to fly straight and then set this parameter.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter also reset the zero roll angle of the AHI and the autopilot.
Yaw servo direction:
-Corrects the sign of the Autopilot action on the YAW servo.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter sets the direction of correction for the autopilot angles. Change this if you notice that the plane banks away from home while on autopilot mode.
Cruise altitude:
-Sets desired altitude for autopilot corrections on the Pitch control (meters or feet depending on units setting on main menu).

Pitch limit:
-Limits PID action over and under Cruise altitude. Also, if actual altitude is greater than "Cruise altitude" + "Altitude limit" autopilot will set throttle to "throttle FS" and pitch control will be annulated, leaving it to the "set neutral elevator" to set the pitch of the plane.
Pitch proportional gain:
-This option adjusts the proportional gain on the PITCH PID control. Autopilot outputs its proportional to the altitude error (Plane altitude – cruise altitude), this parameter determines how much this error will deflect the elevator of the plane.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will set the desired pitch angle instead of elevator deflection.

Rate of climb limit:
-This option adjusts the derivative gain on the PITCH PID control. This parameter will act as a damper, making the rate of climb of the plane softer.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will make the same action on the correction of the pitch angles (smoother changes of pitch)

Climb integral gain:
-This option adjusts the gain of the rudder to elevator mix available if you want to compensate pitch down due to rudder action.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter will do the fine correction to the desired pitch angles. On my tests I found this is not needed, but it is here anyways.
Set neutral elevator:
-Sets the neutral trim for the airplane Pitch control. Adjust the airplane to fly straight and then set this parameter.
-If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter also resets the zero pitch angles of the AHI and the autopilot.

Pitch servo direction:
-Corrects the sign of the Autopilot action on the Pitch servo.
- If the FMA sensors are connected, this parameter sets the direction of the correction for the autopilot angles. Change if you notice that the plane pitches away from leveled flight while on autopilot mode.
Set cruise throttle:
-Sets the engine throttle position when the autopilot is trying to correct altitude (less than "Cruise altitude" + "Altitude limit")
Set neutral aileron:
-Sets Roll (Aileron) position when Autopilot is set to ON.
Test in the air rudder:
-Enables Rudder control while Autopilot is set to "Test in the air" mode.
Test in the air elevator:
-Enables elevator control while Autopilot is set to "Test in the air" mode.
Autopilot:
-Changes Autopilot to desired mode. Can’t be changed if adjusting with the RC Tx.

Exit:
-Exits autopilot sub menu. Can’t be changed if adjusting with the RC Tx.

If the FMA sensors are connected you will notice a new submenu page after this. This is where you adjust some of the new possible settings.
Autopilot output:
-This menu is not being used in the version 2.00.
Elevon reverse:
-This menu is not being used in the version 2.00.

CDP4 pitch direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction if you place the XY head with pitch sensors inverted
CDP4 roll direction:
-This option will correct attitude stabilization direction if you place the XY head with roll sensors inverted
CDP4 position:
-This menu is not being used in version 2.00.
CDP4 gain:
-This parameter will set how much the autopilot will deflect the controlled flight surfaces to level the plane.
CDP4 calibrate:
-While giving the Z sensors a clear view of the horizon, set this parameter to adjust the 90° pitch and roll point or the angle at which the autopilot will know the transition from right side up to upside down. This parameter should only be adjusted while not flying.
Max pitch angle:
-Maximum angle the autopilot will allow the plane to pitch while correcting altitude.
Max roll angle:
-Maximum angle the autopilot will allow the plane to roll while correcting altitude.
AHI screen:
-Sets on witch screens the AHI will be displayed.
AHI toggle:
-Sets how the AHI will be displayed, ON = always, Autopilot = on autopilot activation, OFF = toggling down auxiliary channel.

Autopilot adjusments:
Before trying the autopilot you should be able to fly to 1Km ground distance and 200 - 300mts altitude and feel comfortable doing so. This is not a thing you should try being a newbie to FPV. Also, make sure you do a test range and that the RC link lost detection is working properly. Until then, I strongly recommend you fly with the autopilot OFF and the RVOSD fail safes properly set.

RVOSD needs valid servo pulses on the inputs at startup or it will ignore inputs and will never look for RC link lost detection. This was programmed to be able to fly the OSD w/o the annoying RC link lost indicator displayed for those that don’t want to use the control options. Note that servo outputs will take arbitrary values, thus you should never turn RVOSD ON before your Tx-Rx system.
The Auxiliary input is used to control the OSD in flight. It works by measuring the period of the pulse input (servo pulses). On a change from less to more than 1.85mS it cycles screens. On a change from more to less than 1.35mS it cycles autopilot mode while the "Test in the air" option is active and "Autopilot Rudder" and "Autopilot Elevator" are set to ON. This last action is used to ease adjusting of the autopilot by splitting the control adjustments. While Autopilot mode is set to OFF, cycling screens will only allow changes on the normal display. But if autopilot mode is set to ON or to any of the test modes, cycling screens will also allow entering and navigation of the autopilot menu with the RC Tx. This is done by using the elevator and rudder control sticks in the same way the infrared remote control uses the channel and volume keys.
When you enter the Autopilot menu with the RC Tx, RVOSD takes the last pulses the Tx sent and keeps sending those to the outputs. When this occurs, you lose control of the model, so be sure that you only enter the menu while the plane is in straight or in controlled flight or else you will need to go out of the autopilot menu quickly to regain control. This feature was made so you can move the sticks without affecting the control surfaces or Throttle, making possible the storage of bias (trimmed) settings.
RangeVideo OSD has a return home algorithm embedded in it. It is based on the GPS indications of heading, altitude and home direction calculations. GPS information comes at a rate of 5Hz (one each 0.2 Seconds) and each new position reported has a small delay of nearly 1 second. This makes any control of attitude very difficult to achieve and in the best case, sluggish. RVOSD has no sensor to detect plane attitude (Pitch Roll and Yaw), thus it can only fly a plane that it is stable on all axis. However, if your plane is stable and the wind speed is low enough to not be a significant factor on the airplanes behavior, it can return your plane to home in a very accurate way by just making corrections to plane surfaces based on the altitude, position and heading reported by GPS.
The autopilot software uses a PID algorithm to control heading and a proportional-derivative algorithm to control altitude. Some modifications were added to better manage the plane.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We suggest these steps to adjust your autopilot without the FMA sensors:
First you should set the "Autopilot" option in the Autopilot menu to "Test in the ground" and adjust the following options:
-"Autopilot Rudder" (ON)
-"Autopilot Elevator" (ON)
-"Bank limit" to 50
-"Bank proportional gain" to 150
-"Rate of turn limit" to zero
-"Bank integral gain" to zero
-"Cruise altitude" to 200
-"Altitude limit" to 100
-"Pitch proportional gain" to 150
-"Rate of climb limit" to zero
-"Climb integral gain" to zero
The objective of this is to set Autopilot to exaggerate his actions. Now go back to F16 screen and pulse down the auxiliary channel and try to set "Autopilot Rudder". Look at the rudder movement relative to heading change and make sure it moves the correct way. If not, go back to autopilot menu and change "Yaw servo direction".
Go back to the F16 screen and pulse down the auxiliary channel and try to set "Autopilot Elevator". Look at the elevator movement relative to altitude change and make sure it moves the correct way, if not, go back to autopilot menu and change "Pitch servo direction".

Now that you adjusted servo directions, you can set Autopilot to "test in the air" mode. Adjust throttle to zero. In the menu "set throttle failsafe", autopilot will set this value to throttle when the model is at altitude greater than "Cruise altitude" + "Altitude bearing limit". While in the "Set cruise throttle" menu item, autopilot will set this value to throttle when the model is trying to control altitude (model is less than "Cruise altitude" + "Altitude bearing limit)
Now set:
-"Bank proportional gain" to 23
-"Cruise altitude" to desired cruise altitude
-"Altitude limit" to desired control area around cruise altitude (approx. 100)
-"Pitch proportional gain" to 25
Now test that you have full control of all surfaces which pass thru RVOSD and that your control channel is able to do the appropriate action. Do the usual RC range test and you are now ready to adjust the autopilot flying your model.

Flying:
With the auxiliary control set to Autopilot rudder, make all adjusts on the F16 screen.

-With "Rate of turn limit" (Derivative) and "Bank integral gain" (Integral) gains to zero, adjust "Bank proportional gain" (proportional) until you see a small overshoot. We found a value around 15-20 to be optimal while adjusting the Easy-Star. However this value depends on your throttle settings and control surfaces.

-Increase "Rate of turn limit" (derivative) until overshoot disappears (we suggest 10-15), and increase the "Target bearing gain" (proportional) again but never let it overshoot. The objective is to make AP do the correction until direction it’s almost correct but never overshoots. Derivative term is supposed to avoid too sharp turns. This is very important because smoother turns will help to reduce loss of signal of the GPS caused by inclination of the model, which will cause your plane to go in a down spiral.

-Increase "Bank integral gain" (Integral) until AP slowly corrects biasing or inaccuracy caused by a slight miss adjustment on the Yaw bias, and typical behavior of Proportional only controls. We suggest 40-60 but it is highly dependant on your models aerodynamics. Integral action will only be seen when the plane heading is close to alignment with home direction (+- 45 degrees). Remember that integral corrections should work really slow. It will take about 6-10 seconds to complete its action. If it takes more than that, it needs additional gain increase (Integral), but it needs that time to build up.

Cruise altitude is the height you want the aircraft to remain at when on Autopilot. The RVOSD also has a margin outside this altitude which is a limit where the AP will act differently. Say you want the AP to cruise at 150 meters and you set a limit of 50 meters outside this. Now the high constant AP altitude control limit is 200 meters.

If you are flying along at 250 meters and lose link, AP is engaged. In this case all it will adjust the elevator to the trim value you specified in the AP menu. This is called Set neutral elevator but can also be understood as straight flight elevator trim. The motor will go to the failsafe value you have set. This is set outside of the AP menu. Normally this is set to zero throttle. So in this case while you are at 250 meters and the RC link fails, the AP will set the elevator to level trim and turn off the motor. If you have the trim and the aircraft is setup correctly, the plane should enter a nice glide.

As the plane falls below 200 meters (cruise + limit), the AP will set the throttle to your cruise throttle. Normally this is set from half to 3/4 throttle but of course it depends on the airframe. With the throttle set, the AP will then use the elevator to control the height of the aircraft. The rate that the AP does this is based on how far away you are from the cruise altitude and how aggressive you want the elevator to react. The aggressiveness of the elevator is set with the Pitch proportional gain. If your aircraft needs a lot of elevator movement to change pitch this should be set higher. If not, then use a lower gain. Finally, the Rate of Climb limit is used to reduce the control inputs and acts like a dampener.

The Pitch Gain option compensates for the loss of lift that normally occurs while an aircraft turns by adding some up elevator during a turn.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adjusting the autopilot with the FMA sensors:
The best way to start adjusting the FMA sensors is by turning ON the AHI in the "AHI toggle" menu.
First you need to place the XY head in a POD over the EZstar or on the belly of the plane if you have landing gear to protect it. Make sure the Pitch sensor (marked as red "P´s") is parallel to the fuselage and that the Z head is placed perpendicular to the fuselage with the sensors placed so the FMA mark is right side up.
Now with both Z head sensors receiving a clear view of the horizon and the planes pointing nose up, set the "CDP4 calibrate" menu. The value that it is more to the right indicates the actual thermal difference (the first value is irrelevant). I found that a value near to 127 should be appropriate. Maybe on a future patch I can eliminate this step.
With the plane leveled you can now adjust the pitch axis. The pitch sensors need to have clear view of the horizon while doing this. Now use the "set neutral elevator" menu. On this step you set the zero pitch for the AHI/autopilot. This sets the elevator servo value to allow straight flight. It’s recommended you do this adjustment after being sure your plane is trimmed. This step can be also done while flying but you need to be sure the plane is leveled before setting this menu. Now you should see the AHI leveled on the pitch axis and if your camera is centered on the horizon it should match the real horizon movement. If the AHI moves against the horizon then you need to set the menu "CDP4 pitch dir" to reverse.

Next, adjust the Roll Axis. While adjusting the roll axis, the roll sensors need to have a clear view of the horizon. Now use the "set neutral rudder" menu. On this step you will set the zero roll for the AHI/autopilot and also set the rudder servo value to allow straight flight. It is recommended you do this adjustment after being sure your plane is trimmed. This step can be also done while flying, but need to be sure the plane is leveled before set this menu. Now you should see the AHI leveled on the roll axis and if your camera is centered on the horizon it should match the real horizon movement. If the AHI moves against the horizon then you need to set the menu "CDP4 roll dir" to reverse.
Set the "autopilot" to "test in the air", "Test in the air rudder" to "ON" and "Test in the air elevator" to "ON". This way you can see if the plane surface controls are moving in the right direction. By activating "autopilot rudder" with the auxiliary channel of your transmitter you can see if the rudder moves the correct direction while tilting the plane. If necessary, reverse it with the menu item: "Yaw servo direction". Now activate "autopilot elevator" and do the same test to the pitch. If necessary, reverse it using the menu item: "Pitch servo direction". When finished remember to save the configuration.
Now it’s ready to take off and you can adjust your plane while flying. Keep enough altitude while testing to be able to recover from mistakes (~200mts should be enough). Remember that toggling the auxiliary channel down you cycle thru "autopilot rudder", "autopilot elevator" and normal flight. While "autopilot rudder" is activated, you keep control of all surfaces while the autopilot takes control of the rudder. While "autopilot elevator" is activated, you keep control of all surfaces while the autopilot takes control of the elevator. You can change most of the autopilot menu options with the transmitter while flying. Once in the menu your plane will be flying with the last servo settings it had before entering the menu so make sure your plane is leveled and stable before entering the menu with the transmitter. Also, the AHI must be displayed correctly for the autopilot to work.
Try to adjust the following menu options. The values in parenthesis worked on my EZstar:
-Bank proportional gain (23)
-Rate of turn limit (29)
-Cruise altitude (200)
-Altitude limit (100)
-Pitch proportional gain (13)
-Rate of climb limit (50)

Fly with the autopilot ON to make the final adjustments. Remember to save your configurations before remove power to RVOSD after any successful adjust. Flying your plane with the autopilot not adjusted and activated can be very dangerous. Please set the autopilot to OFF and the proper failsafe values if you haven’t adjusted the autopilot yet.

Debug screen:
If the autopilot is set to "test in the air" or "test in the ground" the screen that is usually blank will display some values that can be used to test the servo inputs and thermal sensors inputs.

Pitch thermal = X sensors
Roll thermal = Y sensors
Abs thermal = Z sensor

The value can be from 0 to 255, but inside your house they will stay around 127, by moving your hand near the sensors you should be able to see some changes around this point. If so then all is ok.

The servo values should be around 1.50mS and change when you change the stick positions on the RC transmitter.

Alex Villa

05-19-2009, 03:37 AM

Martin sorry about the grammar mistakes. In case you didnt realized, english is not my native language. All my english knowledge comes from reading technical manuals//datasheets.

martinv

05-19-2009, 04:08 AM

Martin sorry about the grammar mistakes. In case you didnt realized, english is not my native language. All my english knowledge comes from reading technical manuals//datasheets.

No apology needed, I was just trying to help out.:)
You would laugh if you heard me attempt your native language.

pit3k

05-19-2009, 07:24 AM

Great job Martin!
Alex, it would be great if you could find some time, skim through Martin's edits to make sure it is valid meaning-wise and replace the first post :)

I've read the (original) manual couple of times, and I've eventually understood everything I think, but I did have to read some statements several times to understand, because of the funny grammar in places. It is not normally a problem, but at the field when I'm in sort of a hurry, and trying to check something in the manual, it can be funny where I'm like "wtf does that statement mean" :D

PS: English is not my native language either.

pit3k

05-20-2009, 08:46 AM

Is this statement form the instruction manual (first post) still valid in patch 2.01?:

Now with both Z head sensors with clear view of the horizon, and the plane pointing nose up set the “CDP4 calibrate” menu, the value that it is more to the right indicate the actual thermal difference (the first value is irrelevant), I found that a value near to 127 should be appropriate, maybe on a future patch I can eliminate this step.

I finally have my FMA sensors (3 Z-sensors with modified wiring) and made first fly with them on my TwinStar yesterday. The AHI seemed to work ok, but I was having problems with calibration. No matter what, it was constantly 15 degrees off to one side all the time in the roll axis. I was trying to do the calibration in flight during levelled flight, as on the ground there is no good view of horizon. I also have patch 2.01, so I think pointing nose up should not be done.

..... ok I've just re-read the post again and I think I know what my problem was yesterday - I was setting "Set neutral aileron" instead of "Set neutral rudder" :rolleyes:

Alex Villa

05-20-2009, 01:24 PM

Is this statement form the instruction manual (first post) still valid in patch 2.01?:

I finally have my FMA sensors (3 Z-sensors with modified wiring) and made first fly with them on my TwinStar yesterday. The AHI seemed to work ok, but I was having problems with calibration. No matter what, it was constantly 15 degrees off to one side all the time in the roll axis. I was trying to do the calibration in flight during levelled flight, as on the ground there is no good view of horizon. I also have patch 2.01, so I think pointing nose up should not be done.

..... ok I've just re-read the post again and I think I know what my problem was yesterday - I was setting "Set neutral aileron" instead of "Set neutral rudder" :rolleyes:
With patch 2.01, CDP4 calibrate can be ignored. Set neutral rudder//pitch is all you need to have your AHI working.

studiopetros

05-20-2009, 07:44 PM

Is this statement form the instruction manual (first post) still valid in patch 2.01?:

I finally have my FMA sensors (3 Z-sensors with modified wiring) and made first fly with them on my TwinStar yesterday. The AHI seemed to work ok, but I was having problems with calibration. No matter what, it was constantly 15 degrees off to one side all the time in the roll axis. I was trying to do the calibration in flight during levelled flight, as on the ground there is no good view of horizon. I also have patch 2.01, so I think pointing nose up should not be done.

..... ok I've just re-read the post again and I think I know what my problem was yesterday - I was setting "Set neutral aileron" instead of "Set neutral rudder" :rolleyes:

Hi Pit3k
Can you tell me please how you modied the sensor's wire?
And does you changed the resistor of one of them?
THANKS

Alex Villa

05-20-2009, 08:14 PM

No need to change a resistor if you use the same type of sensor. They should be all equal.

studiopetros

05-20-2009, 09:02 PM

No need to change a resistor if you use the same type of sensor. They should be all equal.
Thanks Alex.
Is it the same if I use 3 z sensors?
And how can I make the conection?
Thank you

pit3k

05-21-2009, 08:31 AM

Can you tell me please how you modied the sensor's wire?
It was quite easy. The 4-pin plug that is used on both sensors have the following singals:
* 1 - GND
* 2 - VCC (3.3V)
* 3 - Channel 1
* 4 - Channel 2

The plug is the same in X-Y and Z sensors. X-Y sensor outputs X axis on channel 1 and Y axis on channel 2. On the other hand Z sensor output the same information on both channels. So the wiring between RVOSD plug for XY sensor and my two Z-sensor (one is acting as X-sensor and the other as Y-Sensor) is like this:

RVOSD-1 ----- XSensor-1 ----- YSensor-1
RVOSD-2 ----- XSensor-2 ----- YSensor-2
RVOSD-3 ----- XSensor-3&4
RVOSD-4 --------------------- YSensor-3&4

No need to change a resistor if you use the same type of sensor. They should be all equal.
I was actually planning to replace the resistor on the Z-sensor - the one that is used for the real Z axis. Are you saying that this is no longer necessary, if I also use Z-sensors for my X and Y axis?

chiloschista

05-21-2009, 10:25 AM

Hi Alex,

trying to better understand how rvosd work I create a flow chart (attached).
Please verify if I am on the right way or if it is totally wrong.

I think this would help people who prefer a visual approach than verbal, to better undersand things.

Thanks.

chilo

pit3k

05-21-2009, 01:27 PM

Bank limit:
-When using the autopilot without the FMA sensors, this parameter can be used to limit the maximum servo deflection, allowing more authoritative response of the autopilot while avoiding too much bank angle when the plane it’s going completely away from home (maximum autopilot output)
What does this Bank limit parameter do when used with FMA sensors? Does it limit the maximum rudder servo throw? Or maximum speed of heading change? Or is it not active at all when used with FMA sensors?

Alex Villa

05-21-2009, 03:42 PM

Alex Villa

05-21-2009, 04:01 PM

What does this Bank limit parameter do when used with FMA sensors? Does it limit the maximum rudder servo throw? Or maximum speed of heading change? Or is it not active at all when used with FMA sensors?
"Bank limit" limits the maximum angle the autopilot will request to the stabilization system, but since this is already set on "Max roll angle" It is not that usefull with FMA conected, I would just let it around 64.

The point on modifying the Z sensor is because some times it has different gains than XY sensor. By using all sensors equal you avoid this problem.

The autopilot work in modules, there is an stabilization module on wich the program inputs the desired angle (pitch//roll) and the module adjust the servos untill the plane reach those angles. There is also an autopilot module, that works based on the GPS, it takes the diference between course and home//waypoint direction and outputs the desired roll angle to the stabiization module(roll), the same works for the altitude//pitch.

This way there is a lot of posibilities, for example I can make the plane to work in a mode that takes the servo inputs and instead of pass it directly to servo outputs, translate those inputs to desired angles, so your plane will move like going on rails, because the stabilization system is there all the time correcting any disturbances. This way is like you command the plane, bank X degrees instead of moving the servos to achieve that bank. Releasing the sticks will command leveled flight. But the problem is this will need the users to preconfigure the neutral values precisely, also configuration of maximum throws, and this again scare me, because if you go flight without the configuration done your plane will crash for sure, also if the conditions are not appropriate for correct AHI function.

studiopetros

05-22-2009, 01:17 PM

Hi, Alex and Pit3k
Finaly what you think. Can I buy the 3 Z sensors and modified the wires , or wait to FMA avilable on stock the XY and buy one of each ?
Thanks

pit3k

05-22-2009, 01:34 PM

I've bought Z Sensor only because XY was not available in Stock, and I was very impatioent :D Also the price difference (3xZ vs XY+Z) is very small.

But know that I have them, I can see the following two additional advantages:
* More flexibility in placement. I think it is actually easier to find 3 spots on the plane, which has with perfect visibility in one axis each.
* No need to solder 1k resistor in Z-Sensor to increase accuracy (if I understand Alex correctly).

As for the drawbacks:
* You need to make custom wiring harness

pit3k

05-22-2009, 02:03 PM

"Bank limit" limits the maximum angle the autopilot will request to the stabilization system, but since this is already set on "Max roll angle" It is not that usefull with FMA conected, I would just let it around 64.
OK I understand.

By the way, is the "Pitch limit" parameter the same as "Bank limit" (the output limit from the autopilot GPS module) but in regard to altitude control instead of heading control? Or is this "Pitch limit" special, because it actually controls the maximum difference from the actual altitude above which the engine is turned of.
To me these are two separate functions, and there should be two options:
* Pitch limit
* Altitude limit
But Altitude limit is not present in the menu. So maybe "Pitch limit" actually controls both of these parameters (maximum pitch angle requested and maximum altitude difference in meters)?

The autopilot work in modules, there is an stabilization module on wich the program inputs the desired angle (pitch//roll) and the module adjust the servos untill the plane reach those angles. There is also an autopilot module, that works based on the GPS, it takes the diference between course and home//waypoint direction and outputs the desired roll angle to the stabiization module(roll), the same works for the altitude//pitch.
Thanks, when I think in terms of modules it is much easier to understand. Also the chart created by chiloschista is helpful, you should integrate it with instruction in the first post :)

This way there is a lot of posibilities, for example I can make the plane to work in a mode that takes the servo inputs and instead of pass it directly to servo outputs, translate those inputs to desired angles, so your plane will move like going on rails, because the stabilization system is there all the time correcting any disturbances. This way is like you command the plane, bank X degrees instead of moving the servos to achieve that bank. Releasing the sticks will command leveled flight. But the problem is this will need the users to preconfigure the neutral values precisely, also configuration of maximum throws, and this again scare me, because if you go flight without the configuration done your plane will crash for sure, also if the conditions are not appropriate for correct AHI function.

Cool! This could be a true "Fly-by-wire" system :D
I understand how easy it would be to crash a plane, by one simple mistake in configuration, but it should not prevent you from releasing such great features. Think about releasing it as "experimental beta dangerous" patch, I would love to test such cool & dangerous features :D

Also, you could use AUX channel for quickly turning it on/off. So one could assign a 3-way switch to the AUX channel on the AUX, and for example:
* POS-1: normal flying
* toggle between POS-1 & POS-2: switch F16 screens
* POS-3: fly-by-wire enabled (FMA-stabilization + inputs from tx)

Alex Villa

05-23-2009, 11:44 PM

Using the aux channel to toggle stabilization aid ON//OFF seems to be the way to go, now it is being used for autopilot tests on test mode, and AHI toggle when the AHI is set to OFF, so I guess I can use it when the AHI is set to ON.

Raining every day here so I need better weather to start testing this and elevon support.

funjet2008

05-26-2009, 10:04 PM

my last test with NEW xy & z sensor

dont work good.
What happen ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcq4c2DfTEM

I will post my video on the air flight with autopilot rudder

Alex Villa

05-27-2009, 02:41 AM

my last test with NEW xy & z sensor

dont work good.
What happen ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcq4c2DfTEM

I will post my video on the air flight with autopilot rudder

I told you that the thermopiles needs clear view to the horizon line, this picture should help you to understand: http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Image:Infrared_Stabilisation_Principle_tilted_with _Z.png

Looking at the value on your Z sensor (CDP4 calibrate menu second numbers) it seems like your Z sensor still show a wrong value. The Z sensor should be placed with the sensors looking to the up and down part of the plane, then if your plane is leveled the value read from the sensor should be more than 127(the mid value), when the plane is tilted 90° then the thermopiles are looking to the horizon and the value should be very close to 127. Finally with the plane tilted 180° (plane up side down) value should be less than 127.

The values on your video are all the time at less than 127, so this can be because your Z sensor is deffective or because you have heavy interference coming form the video transmitter. Afecting the inputs of the OSD.

Please stop trying the autopilot with the AHI working like this, save those servos.

funjet2008

05-27-2009, 04:09 AM

all sensors are clear ofview. I made a POD of 12 " for the xy and POD mini-pod z
I bought a new sensor (xy & z) tested before on the PC and the sensor are all good.

my xy is parallel with plane and z (up & down)
:mad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nxQKh1i9Nw

Alex Villa

05-27-2009, 05:38 AM

The values from the FMA sensors are all jumpy, you are sure the FMA sensors are ok. The OSD hardware is working ok for everything else so it is very unlikely that this can be the cause, so this left the cabling or external interference as possible causes.
The first step here is try to get stable readings from the FMA sensors. Remove the transmitter and connect the OSD video output direct to a display, I suggest to remove the voltage selection jumper on the OSD for the transmitter, this to avoid accidental short to the Vcc output on the tramsmitter header.

Remember that the readings from the FMA sensors need to be stable, and you can test it inside your house by looking on the debug screen, all values should go over and under 127 while you move your hand around the sensors, a finger on one sensor pair should take the measure under 127 and in the other, over 127.

Alex Villa

05-27-2009, 05:50 AM

I saw the video again and noticed the voltage from main battery its unstable also! So if removing the transmitter does not solve this, maybe the best is to send back the unit to Vova so he can test.
Battery voltage unstable can be caused by interference or problems with the 3.3V rail inside the OSD. I have to say that after many units sold we never had problems with this Vcc rail. But shit happens.

Rokas

06-09-2009, 11:01 PM

Hey guys,

I've been reading around, but I got stuck... I can see it now supports FMA sensors, but I just cannot find any introductory ir structurized info on that. Sorry if I overlooked something, but here are the questions, I cannot find the answers to:
1. Can RVOSD work with only XY sensor (no Z sensor, nor second XY sensor)?
2. Will those sensors stabilize the plane all the time, or do they work only when OSD is in autopilot mode?
3. Is any calibration necessary with the newest firmware (2.01)?

Today I played around on the ground with it, but couldn't get the AHI display working. It did respond to pitching the plane (it went up and down in respose), but there was almost no response in rolling the plane (sensors were not blocked). When doing the "CDP4 calibration", only first number changed, the second always remaind 0. However, on the debug screen, both (Pitch and Roll) sensors seemed to be working perfectly.

Thanks in advance.

-R.

Alex Villa

06-09-2009, 11:33 PM

Rokas

06-10-2009, 11:52 AM

Thanks a lot, Alex. It is really generous of You to be that much friendly and supportive for the community. Keep the good job goin' :)

Just to confirm, that I got it right: as long as I only have XY sensor, it is useless to RVOSD.

And just wondering: why no thermopile-based stabilisation in manual flight? Just lack of time, or any particular reason?

The autopilot will take control off the rudder, elevator and throttle outputs. Aileron channel will only be set to the Set neutral aileron position all the time.

Intuitively I thought, that in autopilot mode FMA sensors are used for roll stabilization with ailerons, ant pitch stabilization with elevator. Then the autopilot module itself would use rudder to control direction, and would inform stabilization module to add some elevator to hold altitude. I guess I was wrong. So how does it actually use these sensors to stabilize roll? Does it trust the rudder to affect the roll axis (as is it usuall in "V" shaped wings)? And what would happen, if autopilot tried to fly some kind of F3A plane, where the rudder only controls the yaw axis, and has no effect on roll? The ailerons would stay level, and if wind would roll it a little, there would be no way to stabilize it? I hope that's not too much confusing.

Now, consider the following connection scheme:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2517/rvosd.jpg

In MANUAL flight, RVOSD is transparent, I have full stabilization of pitch and roll, and yet have full control of my plane.
In AUTOPILOT mode, RVOSD takes care of throttle, steers the plane with rudder, and keeps it in the right altidude with elevator. Also, the CoPilot still stabilizes the roll, and (when RVOSD does not command altitude chande) pitch. The only drawback I get is that I don't see artificial horizon.

The question is, would that work? :) I am not able to test it yet, so it's just a theorical consideration.

And another one: would it work, if I connected the same FMA sensor head to FMA CoPilot AND RVOSD simultaneously? I'm talking about simple "Y" type adaptor.

Once again, thanks for the help, and thanks in advance.

P.S. Alex: does it make any sense to make a video that You asked, when I don't have Z sensor?

studiopetros

06-11-2009, 08:09 PM

Hi Rokas,
Very ineresting.It will be perfect i think.
Alex what you think?If it will work good?

Alex Villa

06-13-2009, 06:33 PM

Yes this should work, actually I saw some videos of people using it

studiopetros

06-16-2009, 08:14 PM

Alex Villa

06-16-2009, 08:23 PM

Hi Alex
Is the pitch limit and altitude limit the same thing? and why when i has updated my two RVOSD"s
the one said pitch limit and the other altitude limit???

Rate of climb limit:
"... making the rate of climb of the plane softer."
For softer climb I need to increase the value or decrease it?
Thanks
Yes pitch limit and altitude limit is the same, just two diferent graphic software versions.

Increased value make softer rate of climb, however if this value is to big plane will start oscilations.

I sugest you to start with all the gains to zero, increase proportional gains first, then the rates, and finally integrals if you want finer control.

motojoe996

07-07-2009, 02:39 PM

Now, consider the following connection scheme:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2517/rvosd.jpg

The question is, would that work? :) I am not able to test it yet, so it's just a theorical consideration.

And another one: would it work, if I connected the same FMA sensor head to FMA CoPilot AND RVOSD simultaneously? I'm talking about simple "Y" type adaptor.

Once again, thanks for the help, and thanks in advance.

P.S. Alex: does it make any sense to make a video that You asked, when I don't have Z sensor?

Rokas, or anyone esle, have you tried the above scheme yet?

I have it hooked up now, per the diagram and after the Copilot does the servo cycles, I get servo twitching on the aileron and elevator channels.

I haven't "Y"d the setup yet...

Joe

Update: using the same setup previously mentioned, MINUS the "Remote" to Rx connection(FMA module). This eliminated all servo twitches. Calibration works as advertised and surface corrections are properly made (on the ground) so far. I'll have no option to turn the Copilot on/off in flight. Not a big deal at all. And the AHI is a non-issue at this moment as well.

I'll update later.

Joe

tecki

07-09-2009, 10:38 AM

Alex Villa

07-12-2009, 08:58 PM

Hello

It was not possible for me to buy a Z sensor but I bought a second xy sensor
So can anybody explayn me how I have to mount it.
You wrote for the real xy axis "Make sure the sensor Pitch (marked as red “P´s”) is parallel to the fuselage," thats fine but now when I use the second xy sensor as z sensor I beleave only one of the four thermosensor is used but which should point down ore up ? should the red marker “P´s” point in the air ore to the ground?

Thanks
Johann
When you use one XY head instead of the Z head, there is only one pair of sensors active(the sensors works in pairs). to find wich pair of sensors is active, set the autopilot mode to "test in the air" or "test in the ground" This will make the screen that is usually blank to display debug readings. Look at the "Abs thermal" value while you move your hand around the sensors, when the value makes the bigger change this sensor and the opposite is the active. The sensor that gives the bigger value when you place your hand in front of it is the sensor that goes to ground when your plane is flying leveled.

Matrixro

07-30-2009, 08:12 AM

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2517/rvosd.jpg
Somebody has tested this scheme?
What use sensitivity for FMA and setting autopilot for EasyStar?

Alex Villa

08-03-2009, 05:05 PM

studiopetros

08-03-2009, 07:36 PM

This should work, but make sure to not conect the aux channel of the copilot direct to the receiver, because the copilot need all channel pulses to be received sequentially. Set gain fixed and manually.

Hi Alex
Are you meen that I have not conect the aux chanel cable and do the settings only manual?

Alex Villa

08-03-2009, 08:04 PM

Hi Alex
Are you meen that I have not conect the aux chanel cable and do the settings only manual?
Yep the gain settings for the copilot module needs to be set with the potentiometer inside. This only apply if you want to use the copilot module separated from the RVOSD, with RVOSD gen2 the copilot module its not needed.

studiopetros

08-03-2009, 08:50 PM

Yes I know, but I have a free channel on my reciver, why do not conect the aux channel for separate co pilot use. Is there any problem whith it? I talk about the upper scheme.

Alex Villa

08-03-2009, 09:46 PM

The problem is the copilot needs all the servo pulses on inputs to come sequentially. RVOSd has an internal pulse generator that outputs all pulses sequentially, just like the copilots need, but it is not synced with the receiver internal pulse genrator.

Long history short, you need to conect all copilot inputs to RVOSd or to the Rx. Copilot has this same problem with some futaba RXs because they output some channels at the same time stamp. So on this situations you need to buy FMA's "servo buffer". but this will not work with the OSd and Rx because the time generators are not synced.

studiopetros

08-04-2009, 02:06 PM

Thanks
If i conect the elerons & elevator to the co pilot, and ruder & throttle to RVOSD?
Should be working? What you think?
Auxilary to the reciver or not?

Alex Villa

08-04-2009, 03:40 PM

All copilots inputs to the receiver or to the OSD. cant split between them.

Matrixro

08-05-2009, 05:46 AM

Matrixro

08-06-2009, 12:58 PM

Hi Alex
You tested the scheme - Rx --> OSD --> Copilot --> Servo
What used settings for OSD autopilot (EasyStar)? Remember?

smanderville

08-12-2009, 08:04 PM

How do you change the date? I'm stuck on 12/08/09....

I left it sit for 15min which should be long enough for the almanac to refresh.

Alex Villa

08-12-2009, 11:08 PM

How do you change the date? I'm stuck on 12/08/09....

I left it sit for 15min which should be long enough for the almanac to refresh.
lol day12 // month 08 //year 2009, so basically it shows today's date :D

smanderville

08-13-2009, 12:31 AM

Duh!!!!. Darn, I'm used to month day year....

Bx3mE

08-13-2009, 12:18 PM

Im setting up the MPX Cularis for FPV and wonder how to set up ailerons. I use two channels on my rx for aileron and crow (With Flaps). Tx is a Futaba 12FG. Im planning to use Scherrers UHF but use 2,4 GHz Fasst for now.

Should i let the RX Failsafe handle Ailerons or will the auto pilot make use of the Ailerons?

Connecting Ailerons to the OSD will require a "Y" cable... This way i will lose Crow possibility...

Did you use the Cularis or similar?!? In that case how did you configure it?!?

Bx3mE

08-14-2009, 11:55 AM

Alex Villa

08-14-2009, 02:24 PM

Anyone?!?
RVOSD cant handle diferential ailerons. However you can exchange ailerons and rudder channnels to make the autopilot able to control aileron planes. I suggest to do this only if you have the thermopiles instaled.
Do a search of posts with the words "aileron" and "autopilot", and you will find what you are looking for.

Bx3mE

08-14-2009, 06:27 PM

Does this mean that the only thing RVOSD does between aileron IN and Aileron OUT is to set it to a failsafe position when autopilot is engaged (Or failsafe is enabled)?

Alex Villa

08-14-2009, 06:53 PM

Does this mean that the only thing RVOSD does between aileron IN and Aileron OUT is to set it to a failsafe position when autopilot is engaged (Or failsafe is enabled)?
thats correct

Air4ceFlyBoy

09-11-2009, 06:51 AM

Alex Villa

09-11-2009, 03:17 PM

Ok, I posted this problem to rcgroups, and I'm posting it here too in hopes that someone else has seen this problem. Does anyone know why I wouldn't have control of the servos that are routed through the OSD? I've gone through the setup multiple times, carefully reading all the instructions, and still nothing. The screens all display correctly, and I get good GPS fixes, but I can't move the ailerons or elevator, and the throttle only sort of works. The other two channels that drive my camera movement aren't run through the OSD, and they work perfectly. I really want to go fly this thing, but obviously I've got some major bugs to work out to avoid a crash. I know I saw some posts on here from Japan, anyone from Okinawa? I'd love to see a working setup.

Chris
And on RCG I told you to change your "receiver mode" to PPM, then "save configuration" and restart, just like you can read on the first post of this thread.

"-Remove the propeller.
-With the inputs connected (auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected, the others are optional) Make sure RVOSD it´s set to PPM mode in the menu item “Receiver mode”. If not, set it, save configuration and restart the OSD.
-Set your throttle stick to 105% of normal range.
-With the remote control go to the RVOSD menu.
-Save the throttle value in the menu item “Set pcm FS point".
-Change receiver mode to PCM.
-Go to the menu item “Save configuration” and execute (This way the changes on the menu will stay after you cycle power on the OSD). You will see the word “Done” blink on the screen.
-On the receiver, set throttle channel failsafe to 110%.
-Set throttle stick on your transmitter to normal range 0-100% (example: 0.90--1.9mS) "

Air4ceFlyBoy

09-12-2009, 08:17 AM

Alex Villa

09-12-2009, 04:13 PM

Alex, I appreciate the help, but I'm apparently a little slower than the average joe. Can you please tell me what you mean by "auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected"? What is the aux input, and what am I connecting it to? On my transmitter, I only have the option to set failsafe parameters in PCM mode, once I switch to PPM, that item disappears from the menu list. Also, under the failsafe menu on my transmiter (Futaba T9CAPsuper), the max value I can set a channel to is 99%, so I don't know how to get 105% and 110% settings named in the setup instructions. One more question for today, what do the numbers on RVOSD Failsafe menus correspond to (example: 0.90-1.9mS)? Sorry, I have a lot of questions, I just really want to start flying, but I don't know how to make the system work. I've done multiple attempts in PPM and PCM mode with both the OSD and my transmitter. I'm stuck. Please help.
Ok when I say change the menu item "receiver mode" to PPM, I am talking about the OSD menu.
Do you know the OSD have a a menu?
If not you can reach it by using an infrared remote control wich it is provided with the RVOSD package, If you dont have it you can use a ny universal remote control programed for SONY Tvs.

The servos on your model are controlled by train of pulses, the width of those pulses select the desired positions. the pulse its measured in miliseconds(mS). Usually centered position is set when the pulse width is around 1.5mS, if you want it to move to the sides, the pulse width go less or more than that, usually it can travel from 1.0 to 2.0mS but this vary with the diferent servos. your transmitter % refers to how much the servo is moved from centered(1.5mS) position. so 100% use can be 2.0mS and -100%, 1.0mS.

Now you should go to the the first post of the thread, and be able to understand how the configuration of the OSD works. Or at least follow the instructions, :D .

I think your problem is you have the menu item “Set pcm FS point" to a value under your normal throttle position, with the OSD set to PCM, at startup the OSD detects "failsafe" and thats why your servo outputs are disabled. So this is why I sugest the first step(-With the inputs connected (auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected, the others are optional) Make sure RVOSD it´s set to PPM mode in the menu item “Receiver mode”. If not, set it, save configuration and restart the OSD.)

So your OSD starts in PPM, and not disable outputs at startup.

If this is still to much complex for you, then wait for the next gen3 patch. I will release it the next week, and the configuration process is much more easier.

Air4ceFlyBoy

09-13-2009, 05:36 AM

Ok when I say change the menu item "receiver mode" to PPM, I am talking about the OSD menu. Do you know the OSD have a a menu?

Yes, I'm familiar with the OSD menu, and am quite comfortable navigating it with the included remote.

Thanks for that explanation on how the numbers correspond to pules. My question is, should I get a PCM receiver and switch my transmitter to PCM mode to make this all work?

I think your problem is you have the menu item “Set pcm FS point" to a value under your normal throttle position, with the OSD set to PCM, at startup the OSD detects "failsafe" and thats why your servo outputs are disabled...

For some reason I'm unable to change this setting "Set pcm FS point." In fact, most of the failsafe settings on the OSD menu I am only able to change once (using the volume controls on the included remote). After that, the numbers won't change no matter what I do. Does the position of the throttle stick on my transmitter have an affect on this? Also, I have started the OSD in PCM and PPM, and it doesn't make any difference. I have no control over any servo running through the OSD. The other servos just running through the receiver work fine.

(auxiliary and throttle inputs must be connected, the others are optional)

What is the auxiliary input, and what needs to be connected to it? Do you mean the Aux battery input? I'm not understanding this one.:confused:

save configuration and restart the OSD.

ok, so I scroll down to the bottom of the menu, and use the volume arrow on the remote to select this option. The word "Done" flashes on my screen. Is that it, or do I now need to unplug the battery to remove power from the OSD, and plug it back in?

-Set your throttle stick to 105% of normal range.

Ok, is this 105% to be set under the Failsafe menu on my transmitter, or under the servo end point menu, or is this a setting someplace on the OSD menu? A couple lines later you say to set 110% for the throttle. Am I supposed to set this in the same place, or is this under another menu? :eek: On my transmitter, the only place I can set over 100% is in the servo "end point" menu. Is this the place where I'm supposed to be setting the 105%, 110%, and finally 0-100%? The only time I can change a FS setting on my transmitter is when I switch it to PCM mode. Under that FS menu, the max value for any channel is 99%. :confused: I realize I'm probably the lowest common denominator your explaining to here, but can you make these directions any more clear or explicit? I'm just not able to follow them with my level of understanding.

Thanks for all your help and patience,

Chris

Alex Villa

09-14-2009, 02:10 AM

Yes, I'm familiar with the OSD menu, and am quite comfortable navigating it with the included remote.

Thanks for that explanation on how the numbers correspond to pules. My question is, should I get a PCM receiver and switch my transmitter to PCM mode to make this all work?

This will depends on your receiver, if your receiver is PCM you use PCM mode on the RVOSD and of course on your transmitter. The "receiver mode" you set on the OSD is to change how it detect rc link lost, because PCM receivers will output predefined servo pulses, and PPM receivers will output random pulses.

If RVOSD its set to PCM mode it will look at the throttle channel input (to the OSD) and if the pulse width goes over the value set on "Set pcm FS point".

In PPM mode it will look for pulses on the auxiliary channel, if the pulses are missing or out of width normal ranges it will know the Rc link was lost.

For some reason I'm unable to change this setting "Set pcm FS point." In fact, most of the failsafe settings on the OSD menu I am only able to change once (using the volume controls on the included remote). After that, the numbers won't change no matter what I do. Does the position of the throttle stick on my transmitter have an affect on this? Also, I have started the OSD in PCM and PPM, and it doesn't make any difference. I have no control over any servo running through the OSD. The other servos just running through the receiver work fine.

If you start the OSD in PPM mode and with the auxiliary input disconected then the OSd will think there is no radio signal, as explained above. After 7 seconds it will just disable rc link lost detection. I am telling this one more time, conect the auxiliary channel, start your OSD in PPM mode and follow the directions on the first post.

What is the auxiliary input, and what needs to be connected to it? Do you mean the Aux battery input? I'm not understanding this one.

http://rvosd.rangevideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/rvosd_pins.jpg

from the manual:

The auxiliary channel can be used to cycle screens, to turn OFF and ON some items and to navigate and modify the autopilot menu. To do this you need a three position switch assigned to this channel, each time you toggle up you will cycle one screen and each time you toggle down it will turn ON and OFF some of the OSD options, this action will depend on some the menu settings. If the “autopilot” menu item its set to anything else than OFF, then you can navigate and change items on this submenu, by using the elevator and Rudder sticks. In order to allow these actions the servo outputs will stay at the values they had just before entering the submenu. So you can’t control the plane while navigating the submenu, to regain control just cycle screens again. If while you are navigating the submenu the RC link it’s lost the OSD will automatically go out of the submenu to allow faster retake of control.

ok, so I scroll down to the bottom of the menu, and use the volume arrow on the remote to select this option. The word "Done" flashes on my screen. Is that it, or do I now need to unplug the battery to remove power from the OSD, and plug it back in?

When I say " save and restart" this is exactly what it means after save... remove power from the OSD and plug it back.

Ok, is this 105% to be set under the Failsafe menu on my transmitter, or under the servo end point menu, or is this a setting someplace on the OSD menu? A couple lines later you say to set 110% for the throttle. Am I supposed to set this in the same place, or is this under another menu? On my transmitter, the only place I can set over 100% is in the servo "end point" menu. Is this the place where I'm supposed to be setting the 105%, 110%, and finally 0-100%? The only time I can change a FS setting on my transmitter is when I switch it to PCM mode. Under that FS menu, the max value for any channel is 99%. I realize I'm probably the lowest common denominator your explaining to here, but can you make these directions any more clear or explicit? I'm just not able to follow them with my level of understanding.

Each one of the channels of your receiver are controlled from the transmitter, and should be able to travel from 1 to 2mS as I explained before. The rc link detection of the OSD in PCM mode works by detecting any pulse of width greather than the value stored on “Set pcm FS point" since you dont want the OSd to detect Rc link lost in your normal throttle stick travel, you set this value to more than your top stick travel, and the failsafe setting for this channel at a vale over “Set pcm FS point".

Saying this in percent values it can be like this:
-throttle channel, full span from 0-90%
-“Set pcm FS point" at 95%
-failsafe setting at 100% (failsafe on your RX-Tx system)

Any combination of this will work as long as you keep the order.