LibrePilot Forum

Users => Vehicles - Helicopters => Topic started by: daveapplemotors on March 17, 2016, 02:25:05 pm

Title: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 17, 2016, 02:25:05 pm
I got mini OPlinks from Bangood. Using a Bangood Revolution Mini on the helicopter and a DX7s for control.

Mini Ground: The coordinator attached to the laptop sets up OK.

Mini Air: I put in the matching coordinator number from the Mini Ground and I have tried 38400 and 57600 for connection speed. BUT when I put in any value for the signal strength except 0 my flight controller locks up. It won't respond to controls with flight battery connected nor will it connect to LP's GUI. I have used "Upgrade and Erase" many times now.

I am not sure where to plug the Mini Air connector into my BG Nano Revolution because there are two possibilities-- one near the usb connector and one by itself on the end. Nor am I sure how to configure / call those two ports. I think I have tried all options...   

I perused all the threads and the wiki but found no help. Is there a good write up anywhere? Anything specific to the Mini Ground and Mini Air units that I have here? Should I ask the multirotor people?

thanks,
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 17, 2016, 02:56:26 pm
Is this the one you have?  If it is hook the oplink air up like this and the pair should act like a normal revo.

Be careful with this diagram, the inset picture at the bottom is rotated from the main picture.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 17, 2016, 03:24:16 pm
Thanks, that got it.
That is really cool. I can calibrate the magnetometer without a wire or computer nearby.

Edit :
Thinking further I realize that to change any parameter and save would require dis-arming, right?
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 22, 2016, 10:34:45 pm
Hey good people,

Which way is default / normal / ordinary way to mount the board?

I am trying get orientation of the board right and learn which values to change in Configuration / Attitude / Settings / virtual attitude relative to board. My heli has the board set up in it with the nose pointed to the right (oriented like the board in the jpg drawing.) and USB to the right.

If I calibrate properly then I can switch to Attitude or Rattitude without the heli wanting to tip over immediately.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 22, 2016, 11:01:26 pm
Adjust virtual rotation in Attitude tab to match the right behavior in PFD (pitch/roll).

There is a table here, check arrow position on case:
https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/display/LPDOC/Revo+Attitude+Configuration#RevoAttitudeConfiguration-VirtualAttituderotation
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 22, 2016, 11:30:52 pm
The best I can tell looking at pictures of the board is that the oplink-air connector should point to the front. Also the mag sensor and gyro seem to be mounted on the bottom of the board so it would probably need to be virtually rolled 180 degrees.

Best would probably to just pick up the copter, bank it, and see what the PDF display ball does.

Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 12:15:49 am
Thanks guys,

I can't use Rattitude or Attitude until I get this sorted out. I have been avoiding the problem for months happily tuning in Rate.

I have been using the graphics in Firmware or Flight Data to see if it is upright and the horizon does the right stuff when I bank or dive. When the graphic wasn't right I changed directions in System / Accelgyrosettings / Accel_scale and Gyro_scale to get the swash to react correctly and I could fly.

I went to the soccer field today, home position for my GPS, and got the Magnetometer Calibrated with my laptop 10 feet away from my heli, thanks to OPlink. I do not need to repeat Mag Calibration ever, right? Just like sensor delta temp no need to re-calibrate them, right?

I can change Acclerometer, Gyrometer and Board Level without affecting the Magnetometer parameters, correct?   

It was too windy to fly anything today anyway.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 12:48:34 am
Putting your fingers manually into Accel_scale / Gyro_Scale is not a good idea.

Use Config tab > Attitude > Virtual rotation instead and all sensors are rotated right.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 12:41:30 pm
To be clear:

I will not need to repeat Mag calibration no matter how my board orientation ends up, right?
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 02:02:31 pm
Mag calibration is a 2 minutes procedure, whats the problem ?
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 02:31:48 pm
It is 10 miles away to home position. There is no problem. I want to understand.

I can do all other calibrations (except thermal)  at home on kitchen table during this snowstorm, right?
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 04:24:16 pm
10 miles is not a issue.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 06:16:31 pm
Thanks Laurent,

The problem is that I do not want to do Mag calibration at my home because there are electrical wires and lots of iron nearby. Is that reasonable?

Would a Mag calibration done at my house be inferior to a calibration done at its home position? I set up the OPlink radio so that my heli will be away from interference. My home position is the center of the soccer pitch to be clear of electrical and physical interference.   

The other calibrations are independent , right?
 
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 06:41:58 pm
You can keep your Mag calibration but seriously no need to go to soccer center for that.

You should got more interference from your Heli himself.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 06:57:30 pm
thanks

OK just being as careful as possible. That is the only reason why I got the OPlink.

How do I reverse my servo reactions? Roll and Yaw are backasswards.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 23, 2016, 07:10:43 pm
I may have mis-read it but did you say in the other thread that Accel and Gyro Scale were still set to -1 and you put in the virtual rotates?   The intent was for you to set Accel and Gyro Scale back to 1 when you did the rotates.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 07:27:31 pm
You can reverse servo in Output tab
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 07:37:19 pm
Yes but then it will yaw left when I use my rudder stick to yaw right. I will have to teach myself a new trick.
It will roll left when my stick says roll right, too, que no? It will react correctly but it might be pretty hard to fly.

Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 07:41:23 pm
Double check the stick behavior using the Radio panel in PFD maybe.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 23, 2016, 08:47:44 pm

I set Accel and Gyro scales to +1 , saved, and rebooted.

I then recalibrated all sensors with accelerometer mounted in the aircraft. And two of the axes were backwards. When I pitch the aircraft forward I see more sky in the graphic. The display is backwards for pitch only.

And I checked again to start with scales at +1, rebooted rcalibrated again but I used board direction to calibrate Accelerometer (not aircraft direction ) .  Now all three axes react backwards. The pitch alone is backwards on the display still.

Tried board direction (not aircraft) for magnetometer, too. The compass points to the right direction now. All three axes react backwards.

HEADACHE!  Thanks guys. I have to take a break. Yes, Laurent, the sticks control the aircraft properly. But the accel/gyro control is backwards. How do I change reaction? 

It was such a simple fix in OP to just reverse the scales and fly...
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 09:17:08 pm
I don't follow what you are doing...

How react PFD finally ?
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 23, 2016, 09:23:41 pm
Post your config file.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 24, 2016, 01:35:33 am
Hello Laurent,

No one has answered me. I had a Beastx. When an axis reacted wrongly I could reverse it. How do I reset two of my axes that are working incorrectly?

What is a PFD? I saw the little graphic in your previous post but I am unfamiliar with it. Is it from TX set up wizard? Or vehicle wizard?

I have attached my latest uav.
thanks,
Dave

Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 24, 2016, 05:24:31 am
Good Evening Dave,

The PFD is the Primary Flight Display, the instrument sometimes called the Artificial Horizon. There are way too many abbreviations.

It took me a couple of minutes to remember where the display Laurent showed was hidden.  In the PFD lower left edge there are four icons, a gear, antenna, battery, and a tiny picture of a RC transmitter.  He was talking about the RC transmitter one. If you click it the display he showed slides out.

I've been looking back through the two threads, particularly the two pictures.  The revo-mini is mounted upside down with the arrow facing the tail?  I don't have a revo-mini (I ordered one a couple of days ago to examine but it hasn't arrived yet) but from pictures on the web it looks like it's sensors are mounted on the bottom of the board. If they are then you mounting the revo-mini upside down would put them back where they belong, on top.

I hate to ask but if it is mounted upside down, arrow pointing to tail would you try roll=0, pitch=0, and yaw=180?  Until my revo-mini arrives next week that would be my best guess based on the pictures of the revo-mini I've seen.

-Hank
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: jbarchuk on March 24, 2016, 06:36:48 am
I hate to ask but if it is mounted upside down, arrow pointing to tail would you try roll=0, pitch=0, and yaw=180?  Until my revo-mini arrives next week that would be my best guess based on the pictures of the revo-mini I've seen.

Upside down and backwards, I think you need to also add roll = 180. Yaw = 180 rotates on the vertical axis, but upside down needs rotate on the longitudinal axis. https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/display/LPDOC/CC+Attitude+Configuration
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 24, 2016, 07:29:28 am
Board rotation is ok

But looks like you set the level before you set BoardRotation.
Currently you have             
Code: [Select]
<field name="BoardRotation" values="180,0,180"/>
<field name="BoardLevelTrim" values="183.336,183.729"/>

The BoardLevelTrim need to be close to 0.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 24, 2016, 12:47:43 pm
No Laurent, I set board rotation first. And thanks for looking at my uav.

I first set board rotation: 180 pitch and 180 yaw. Then I did all calibrations in order. Note: accelerometer calibration orientation was per board. After all calibrations the horizon is wrong. When I pitch forward I see sky. Yaw and roll are reacting backwards. (1624Board.uav)

I redid the Accelerometer calibration with the helicopter as reference instead of the board. All three axes react backwards. And when I pitch forward I see sky in the graphic. (1624heli.uav)

I also edited the board rotation in Configuration to 0,180,0. saved. And then looked at the board rotation in System / Attitude : it showed 0,90,0 .GO FIGURE!  After I changed it to 180 pitch rotation LP decides to rotate pitch 90 degrees.

LP will not accept board roation Pitch of 180 degrees. Rotating Roll and Yaw 180 should be the same as rotating pitch 180, right ? 
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 24, 2016, 02:23:24 pm
OK I remounted the board and now the arrow is up and pointing forward.

Board rotation 0,0,0, save
Calibration complete, save
Swash reacts and moves correctly--yay

PFD is backwards for roll and yaw. ???? --Boohoohoo. Pitch is now OK> when I pitch forward I see earth.




Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 24, 2016, 02:30:33 pm
That board has the sensors on the bottom.  Now that you've remounted it "normally" instead of the yaw=180 I recommended when you had it upside down and backward you need roll=180 and the other two 0. see a couple of messages down.

edit:
The post office tracking shows my revo-mini is out for delivery so I should be able to run actual tests in about two or three hours.  The world must be ending, they're actually going to deliver early instead of late. :)
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 24, 2016, 03:12:58 pm
thanks hwh,

I must go work. Later I will try board "normal" and board rotation roll 180.

thanks again Laurent
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 24, 2016, 06:09:35 pm
I now have the "Revolution Mini" and oplink-air.  The sensors are on the bottom of the board (side the connectors are not on) but the board is in the case flipped so the sensors are on top.  It's normal board rotation when mounted upright and with the arrow pointing forward is roll=0, pitch=0, yaw=0.  An interesting note: if the config loaded in the board has the oplink configured it won't boot without it connected.

I loaded your 1624board.uav file and saved it to my board.  As you say, the PFD is really out of whack.

I then changed to roll=0, pitch=0, yaw=0.   This was better but there were still problems.  As Laurent mentioned a few messages back the BoardLevelTrim settings were wrong.  I reset both to zero, did a save, watched as the PFD went into a continuous spin, unplugged the board, plugged it back in, and the PFD works normally.

I've attached a corrected copy of your 1624board.uav file named forDave201603241233.uav.  Try loading it to the board and power cycling it.  I have no way of testing what it does to the heli but the PFD works normally. It assumes the board is mounted as you said it was last, top up and arrow pointing forward.
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: f5soh on March 24, 2016, 06:19:15 pm
Quote
watched as the PFD went into a continuous spin

This occurs sometimes when you move the board while Gyro init, related to complementary fusion algorithm
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 25, 2016, 12:01:04 am
Thanks hwh and Laurent,

forDave*.uav file behaves so: The sticks work, roll and yaw reactions are backwards pitch reaction is the right direction, PFD roll in backwards

Are we sure that there is no way to reverse a reaction as in Beastx. Even the Germans are not arrogant enough to think you would not need to make an adjustment.

PS I am not sure of nomenclature. I am using -- Reaction = swash compensation to outside forces
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 25, 2016, 12:13:55 am
Dave,

I sent you a message (top of screen, My Messages).

-Hank
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 25, 2016, 01:01:27 pm
Muchas Gracias hwh,

I was wrong about the PFD in regards to roll. Thank you for educating me. I thought the horizon should tilt the same way as my aircraft when banking. But no, when you are in the aircraft the horizon tilts away from your turn. Thanks, hwh.

I had to reverse the rudder in my TX AND the endpoints in Config  / Output . That left the stick output unchanged but corrected the tail servo reaction.

As soon as a foot of snow melts I get to fly. Yippee!

P.S.the PFD is the graphic in Config / Fight Data that shows sky and earth, bank angles, and in the left side some small icons that I had never noticed before: battery voltage, OPlink status, Input, computer state

Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: hwh on March 25, 2016, 02:00:00 pm
I'm glad I could help and that it's working now.

Once you've flown and tweaked it please post your uav file so I'll have an example of a heli that works to look at.

-Hank
Title: Re: OPlink set up--Help
Post by: daveapplemotors on March 25, 2016, 03:00:11 pm
Will do. And thanks again, Hank.
And now onward towards the bluetooth for the two Atom boards.