Rvosd videos from G1 to G5

[pit3k]

OK, here is a short video when I was testing autopilot recovery from high bank angles and inverted flight. The autopilot did well. And yes, I did fly into "forbidden" zone, and got massive video interference

I'm wondering if there is a special algorithm for inverted flight recovery? It looked like it was trying to flip the plane with rudder and when it didn't work it used elevator - is that the case? Is there any danger that autopilot may not be able to recover from inverted, if the gains are not set to its liking for example?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLF09GwaOYU

[Alex Villa]

OK, here is a short video when I was testing autopilot recovery from high bank angles and inverted flight. The autopilot did well. And yes, I did fly into "forbidden" zone, and got massive video interference

I'm wondering if there is a special algorithm for inverted flight recovery? It looked like it was trying to flip the plane with rudder and when it didn't work it used elevator - is that the case? Is there any danger that autopilot may not be able to recover from inverted, if the gains are not set to its liking for example?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLF09GwaOYU

Well I never though people will make the autopilot work in such extreme attitudes, This system is made to make the plane come back to video range in case you are trying to push the limits of your radio system, not even to fly all the way. Obviously it have better capabilities, but no need to do such a punishment to your plane.

Looking at your video it looks like the system has some problems to recover flying upside down.The natural unstability flying this way made the autopilot to find the solution finally, I ll take a closer look at this part of the code.

I see you flying at 100 mts altitude and around 800 mts LOS, I always do all the autopilot tests over 200 mts altitude, 100 mts dont have to much time for recovery, and you can lose the radio range, so absolutly not recomended to do this with normal RC link. I know you are using Thomas LRS tho.

[pit3k]

This system is made to make the plane come back to video range in case you are trying to push the limits of your radio system, not even to fly all the way.

I am aware of that. I'll be eventually trying tu push my radio range limits, but first I need to have as high confidence in autopilot as possible. So, I'm checking if the autopilot can recover from every possible position. After all, if you are at the limit and tx control becomes intermittent the plane can end up in various odd situations before the autopilot is engaged.

I'm also wondering if for any reason autopilot would end upside down permanently, will it still try to head in the direction of home, or away from it (because controls are reversed when upside down)?

I see you flying at 100 mts altitude and around 800 mts LOS

Yes, that was not very wise. I usually do such tests much higher, but since I got Thomas LRS and your autopilot properly set-up I have very high confidence in my systems already

[motojoe996]

Here ya go:
this morning.

BTW, I've had nothing but success with this video system and OSD. Awesome job RangeVideo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci6ckAzx634

Enjoy,

Joe

[pit3k]

OK, here is my last video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixj8Jkr4nks&fmt=18

I made 3.5km, this is my little record so far. However, it was very dangerous that I did it, because my AHI did not work correctly, so if Autopilot kicked in I don't think it would have managed to return in the direction of HOME. I'm not sure why...

I assumed once a properly store "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" I do not have to calibrate FMA sensor any more before each flight in firmware 2.01. But it doesn't look to be the case. Later in that flight I've reset those neutrals and AHI started to work OK again - see minute 6:50 in that video.

[martinv]

I assumed once a properly store "Set neutral rudder" and "Set neutral elevator" I do not have to calibrate FMA sensor any more before each flight in firmware 2.01. But it doesn't look to be the case. Later in that flight I've reset those neutrals and AHI started to work OK again - see minute 6:50 in that video.

It looks like calibrating the rudder really helped a lot. What gives you the low battery beep on your video?

Heres my last video from last weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4RtWUNbrSU

A few notes:

GPS: 2 days in a row I had great GPS signal before 7pm, and 2 days in a row after 7pm I had no GPS signal. I waited a while on the ground and then just flew anyway.

AHI: I tried to calibrate twice starting at 4:25. I realize I did this wrong now. I needed to calibrate "neutral rudder and neutral elevator"

Battery: Is my battery going bad? it seems my voltage goes lower than I would expect although it lasts as long as it should. It's a 2500mAh 25C, 11.1V lipo. The current sensor doensn't need any calibration does it?

[pit3k]

It looks like calibrating the rudder really helped a lot.

Yes. I've been flying again yesterday and what I found out is that calibration is different on different altitudes. I mean I calibrated the sensors on 100m altitude and AHI worked ok, but when I've gone higher to about 1100m it was pretty bad again, after recalibrating again on 1100m it became better again. The calibration is a bit frustrating to have to go all over this menus.

Alex, I think it would be an improvement, if you added a single menu position to calibrate both elevator and rudder at the same time.

What gives you the low battery beep on your video?

It is on of those "lipo alarms", don't really remember which brand. I've mounted it after an incident I had some 2 weeks ago. I've let my friend fly around in gogoles for a couple of minutes. He didn't noticed the main battery voltage dropped below 9V. He also lost orientation and didn't know where home was. What is worse, at the same time my laptop battery went dead, so I lost preview and recording on my laptop screen. So he did an emergency ladning and we didn't know where the plane was! Fortunately, the video reception was still there and I was able to read the GPS coordinates from the googles and used my car GPS to locate the plane, which was some 800 meters away and unharmed

GPS: 2 days in a row I had great GPS signal before 7pm, and 2 days in a row after 7pm I had no GPS signal.

Here are the things I've done to improve my GPS reception:
* Repaired my GPS by soldering the capacitor that had disappeared
* Re-soldered the metal case for better shielding
* Added extra aluminium plate under the entire GPS unit, connected it to ground and shrink-wrapped; it should provide better ground plane for the GPS antenna and also shield the GPS unit from interference from RVOSD and other electronics under it.
* Moved my GPS unit at the very nose of the plane
* Moved my video transmitter at the very tail of the plane, and also mounted the 900mhz low-pass filter that is specifically designed to have maximum attenuation on GPS frequency
* Added ferrite rings on GPS cable and also on video transmitter cables

If you haven't already tried one of the above, there is a chance it will help

Battery: Is my battery going bad? it seems my voltage goes lower than I would expect although it lasts as long as it should. It's a 2500mAh 25C, 11.1V lipo. The current sensor doensn't need any calibration does it?

It does look like the voltage is a bit low, even at the beginning. What brand of battery is it? You may try connecting a multimeter to the pack and do a test on the ground with full motor power (careful!) if the voltages on RVOSD and multimeter are the same. If this is the case, it just means your LiPo pack is a bit "soft", but as long as your flight time is acceptable and battery voltage doesn't drop much below 9.9V I wouldn't worry about it.

[martinv]

I've been flying again yesterday and what I found out is that calibration is different on different altitudes. I mean I calibrated the sensors on 100m altitude and AHI worked ok, but when I've gone higher to about 1100m it was pretty bad again, after recalibrating again on 1100m it became better again. The calibration is a bit frustrating to have to go all over this menus.

Alex, I think it would be an improvement, if you added a single menu position to calibrate both elevator and rudder at the same time.

If the calibration varies with altitude and is somewhat consistant, perhaps some compensation curve in could be added to RVOSD to reduce the need of recalibrating for varying altitudes.

[elpimous]

http://www.vimeo.com/5298602

one more video on super dimona 2400 bmi.
Bye,

Vince

[Alex Villa]

http://www.vimeo.com/5298602

one more video on super dimona 2400 bmi.
Bye,

Vince

private video