Kronos Flyer Series

BoWingo
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by BoWingo »

Gotcha. That makes sense.
Thanks for the advice, and Merry Christmas.
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

Flew the KronosFlyer and the APM (ArduPilotMega) outside today.

Was pretty stable. Almost as smooth as the NAZA. The down side is that the Altitude was still in manual mode which meant that I had to constantly raise and lower the throttle as I made maneuvers.

On the first flight I just hovered around in stability mode. Didn’t go much higher than about 10 feet. This was a good thing as at one point the controller just killed the power to the motors for some reason and down it went. Hard bump, but no damage thanks to the plastic landing gear.

On the next flight I was able to put the craft into loiter mode. While this worked, there was quite a bit of drift. I’m using the more advanced GPS, so I would have thought it would perform better. While its more sensitive the craft does drift a lot. This leads me to believe the firmware in the APM is the culprit.

Now for the clincher. When I took the craft out of loiter mode, she dove strait to the ground. The problem is how it shifts from mode to mode. This needs to be worked out.
BoWingo
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by BoWingo »

Thanks for the update on the KronosFlyer with the APM. It's good to hear that you're getting it worked out. Keep us posted as you get it stabilized.

I've got my KF built up through part 3 of the series and am anxiously awaiting part 4. I'm not really sure how much longer I can wait before seeing this thing fly!
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

I have shelved the ArduPilotMega for now. Just too unreliable. Crashed today for no reason. It just fell out of the sky. I know its not the frame, motors or ESC, as they fly perfectly with the NAZA.

I have two NAZAs and they fly like a dream. As far as I am concerened all other controllers have a ways to go to catchup.

I posted this Kronos Flyer assembly video today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0w3mIY ... e=youtu.be
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

I tried getting the minmosd board to work with the ArdruPilotMega (APM) and it just wont work. It just seems like its not compatible with the mavlink protocol anymore. In reading the RC forums, several others have had issues as well. If some of you folks are going to use the APM, dont use the osd card. You are better off using a laptop and radio to get the tememitry data back.
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

Just a quick reminder

Balance your props, Balance your props, Balance your props. :)
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

The APM 2.5 has a new release, 2.9

This release promises to fix some issues. I will be giving it a try soon. I will let you know how it works.
BoWingo
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by BoWingo »

msimpson wrote:Just a quick reminder

Balance your props, Balance your props, Balance your props. :)
Care to share what brought this to your attention? :grin:
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

I was just balancing a set of 3 blade props. Took me over two hours to get them perfect. I just started thinking to myself, "This is the worst part of this hobby".

It has to be done, even if you purchase $50 props, they have to be balanced. when I'm experimenting with a new craft, I don't use any locktite because I know I am going to be taking it apart again, and again. I just need to get one or two flights before the screws vibrate loose. With a well balanced set of props this is no problem.

Now I know you were thinking that I had a horrific crash, I did, but it was not because of the props. I was playing with my new isolation platform. I had two cameras on the platform and was up at about 400 feet. I did not wire the microphone, so I did not hear the craft complaining about the battery. So I had to make an emergency dive to the ground. Problem is the battery did not have enough juice to recover so it slammed into the ground feet first. The NAZA is great though, it bounced back into the air and the NAZA was able to recover so there was no damage. I will be posting a video with a shot from the onboard camera and an external camera I was wearing on my head.
BoWingo
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by BoWingo »

msimpson wrote:I was just balancing a set of 3 blade props. Took me over two hours to get them perfect. I just started thinking to myself, "This is the worst part of this hobby".
I agree. Balancing props is the least interesting part of this.

Glad to hear that your aircraft survived. Sounds like a pretty intense hit.
MarkKellogg
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by MarkKellogg »

Nice looking cover illustration of the Kronos flyer on the latest Servo!

I've got everything ready for the build but just finishing up a built-in project in the house...a medium size electronic/drone-building workbench which closes up. Not the biggest, but at least I'm up in the warm house instead of the big drafty wood working shop.

I'm interested in the APM 2.9 version results when you get to it.

Couple of questions:

Do you think the Universal NAZA Mount, in one of its configurations, could be made to work with APM and the Futaba receiver?

I haven't noticed the in-flight battery monitor in the latest articles, seems to be easy enough to wire in, but is there some reason you're not using it?
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

Im building a APM version of the Kronos flyer now that uses a UNM or at least a variation (couple more platforms). I will be running some tests on th version 2.9 of the APM. However the APM has a way to go before it even comes close to the NAZA for stability and ease of use.

When I use the NAZA I have the voltage set to warn and Auto land. I also use a battery alarm that plugs into the balance jack of the battery.
BoWingo
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by BoWingo »

Just received my February issue of Servo. Congratulations for making the cover. The KronosFlyer looks good there.
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

As promised here are the setup screens for the NAZA.
http://www.kronosrobotics.com/multiroto ... ndex.shtml
msimpson
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Re: Kronos Flyer Series

Post by msimpson »

I just finished the final article in the series for the March issue. Due to popular demand I will be doing a bonus article in April where we attach an APM 2.5 to our Kronos Flyer. I had some failures in the past with the APM but it looks like they have released a new firmware set.
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