4a.5 Flight 1 - terrytaylorbonn/auxdrone GitHub Wiki

Flight 1b first flights outdoors with GPS. They crashed.. the plywood frame needs to be build differently.

• Flight 1b #1 my first (outdoor) flight .. flew but crashed
• Flight 1b #2 24.0523 Crashed into a tree. A real mess.

Flight 1b #1 my first flight .. flew but crashed

Flight 1b was a success! (this was actually 2 flights, both about the same). Did not fly much, and crashed (did not burn), but copter worked. I tried to fly in the field where I run. Should have asked someone to join and help me.

This was the very first time I actually flew a copter outside. It was much more complicated to control the copter than I thought (maybe my crazy plywood design is to blame).

Pre-flight

The copter ready to fly (I added on extra siderails but did not take a photo... see in photo below).

Ready to go to the park with my fancy drone luggage.

Flight

I could not get a pic in flight, because too busy trying to control the copter (I did not setup hover, etc). Tied my drone to a tree. :)

Post flight

Hooked the copter to the PC, looks like all systems are good (except for one motor).

I think i need to get rid of the side rails (red X) ... that weight on the outside maybe made it too difficult to control. In any case, the weight distribution (with the battery) was perfect (I made sure of this).

Cutting grass with my copter.

Hit the ground pretty hard once. Lost the battery (a ziptie broke).

Should have been in middle of field. Crashed into bush. Motor tore off (3 of the screws disappeared).

The camera, GPS, VTX, and RC Tx all worked great (not sure about GPS).

Flight 1b #2 24.0523 Crashed into a tree. A real mess.

I think the modes worked, but the same instability.. copter slowly starts drifting backwards. The wood frame idea was novel, but my implementation probably no good. Its (1) not balanced and (2) too big. The FC flight code (navigator) algorithms were probably NOT designed to control such an ungainly monstrous frame. So I will switch to a standard carbon fiber frame. This section shows pics from my crash.

Red squares = Problem areas (broken wood or connections).

Fixed things up enough for a motor test. See whats still working electronically.

All fixed up and ready to check. (1) GPS light is on, (2) receiver light on, lights on FC look good.

Motor test works!

Smoke test ok. But I think the VTX has been fried.