I've been thinking for long to get a flight control board with GPS, in order of improving safety when flying, and another nice features.
There are several boards available, but I've decided to buy the DJI NAZA M Lite with GPS. It's not the most advanced model, but it has the features I want and it's affordable.
For entry-level enthusiasts, DJI now brings out the most cost-effective
solution, the NAZA-M Lite flight control system. As the simplified
version of NAZA-M, it inherits the high reliability and stability of
NAZA-M. The innovative All-in-one design simplifies installation and
saves space and weight. It contains inner damping, controllers, 3-axis
gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer and barometer in its light and small
Main Controller. It can measure flying altitude, attitude and therefore
can be used for autopilot/automatic control.
It offers three types of control modes:
GPS Atti. Mode (with GPS module): when you release the sticks, it locks the current position.
Atti. Mode: when you release the sticks, the attitude is stabilized.
Manual Mode.
Then, there are three options for the Intelligence Orientation Control (IOC)
Course Lock: the forward direction is the same as a recorded nose direction (the nose direction is recorded when the battery is connected)
Home Lock: the forward direction is the same as the direction from home point to the multi-rotor.
Deactivated
Another useful features are
Failsafe mode: when the communication between the main controller and the transmitter is disconnected and the GPS module is used, you can set Return To Home (RTH) so the multi-rotor will come back to the taking off position and land by itself. You can also set the failsafe for landing wherever the multi-rotor is at that moment.
Low voltage protection: in order to prevent your multi-rotor from crashing or other harmful consequences caused by low battery voltage, the multi-rotor will descend and land if you are using GPS atti mode or atti mode.
Gimbal stabilization: the system will adjust the gimbal and camera according to the attitude
of the multi-rotor after setting the parameters the first time.
Physical set up
Versatile Unit, directly welded to the frame.
Front
Front connections
Left
Right
Top
Back
Configuring the Futaba S8FG. I use the SBUS for connecting the the Naza main controller (MC) with the Futaba R6208SB receiver. Just one cable :). I´ve created a new model and selected the following channels:
ch5: Remote gain control
ch6: IOC: three positions: off, course lock, home lock
ch7: Flight mode: three positions: manual, atti, atti GPS
ch8 Tarot T-2D gimbal pitch control. I preffer to connect the gimbal pitch cable directly to the receiver at this point, and being able to control its orientation using the right slider of the transmitter. If you connect it to the F2 port of the Naza MC, the gimbal will automatically be orientated depending on the multi-rotor attitude, and as far as I know, you won´t be able to control the pitch...
Model type
Channel selection
Channel selection
The next step is reversing the channels, if needed. In my case I had to reverse the rudder and the right slider for the gimbal.
Channel reverse
I guess the settings for activating the fail safe depends on your transmitter. In my case I used the Throttle and the ch7 for activating it. I´ve tried two ways of doing it:
When the signal is lost (either the multi-rotor is out of range or you switch the transmitter off) the fail safe is activated.
Sacrificing the manual flight mode position and configure it for activating the fail safe manually. If you do this, then you won´t be able to calibrate the compass from now on until you configure the manual position again. For this reason I prefer the option 1, and be able to have manual flight mode and calibrating whenever I want.
Fail safe
Fail safe
Relating the end point configuration, I have the first 4 channels and the IOC with the default values, and I have only modified the remote gain control, the flight mode to be more precise with the selection, and the gimbal pitch control.
When the signal is lost (either the multi-rotor is out of range or you switch the transmitter off) the fail safe is activated.
Sacrificing the manual flight mode position and configure it for activating the fail safe manually. If you do this, then you won´t be able to calibrate the compass from now on until you configure the manual position again. For this reason I prefer the option 1, and be able to have manual flight mode and calibrating it whenever I want.
End point
End point
The following videos have been really useful to me in order of having the quad working with the Naza. Well, I could not configure the home lock, for some reason the VU shows the red light, but I´m into it.
From this page of DJI, you´ll need to download the Assistant Software and the Driver installer. Follow the previous video and you won´t have any problem at all :).
And now let´s wait until it stops raining and get this thing into the air to check the behavior!!
I´ve been doing some FPV getting the video directly from the GoPro, which is really nice because you have directly on screen the battery duration and the timer of the video, so you know aprox you flight time in case you need to come back and land for not damaging your battery. And also you can see the area with fantastic image quality.
The weird thing is to fly while the camera is being stabilized with the Tarot T-2D brushless gimbal, because it is difficult to know the position your quad is. If you are close to land or to an object, the position of the quad can be controlled easily. But when you fly high you don´t realize exactly about how fast the quad is moving, you don´t have too many references. This does not happen when you get the video from the normal FPV camera, because you realize all the time what is the quad position.
So I have acquired the G.T Power FPV camera switcher. This small electronic piece allows you to connect up to three cameras, and select from the receiver from which of them you want to get the live video from. This will allow me to fly with the normal FPV camera until I really want to record the scene, that´s when I´ll switch to the GoPro camera and film.
As you can see, you have five connectors:
To the receiver: just connect it to a free channel of the Futaba receiver R6208SB
Video out: connect it to the video transmitter, in my case to the ImmersionRC 600mw.
Camera 1 - for my normal FPV camera
Camera 2 - for the GoPro
Camera 3 - free so far...
However I need to create some wires, the two custom below. The first one goes from the normal FPV camera to the video switcher, and the second one goes from the video switcher video output to the video transmitter. I´ll see if it works!
I´ve successfully connected the pitch of the Tarot T-2D brushless gimbal to the Futaba 8FG, so I´m able to control that movement with the right slider. It is really easy to configure it with the Futaba.
I´ll probably control it with another position of the radio, because using the slider with the same hand that controls the forward-backward movement is a bit tricky if you want to obtain smooth movements. The slider is great though, because it allows you to choose the perfect position for your shots.
The gimbal already comes with the wire that connects the gimbal board with an empty channel in the receiver. To control the pitch you only need the white and black ones, connected as in the picture below.
Here is the gimbal attached to these tubes, so I can place it under the quad easily and quick, as you can see in a previous post about the Tarot T-2D brushless gimbal.
This is the video I've followed to have it working, I hope it can be useful to you too:
December 2013. The display of my Turnigy 9XR suddenly stopped working one or two months ago, meaning I was not able to do any additional configuration, or able to move the pitch of the Tarot T-2D brushless gimbal.
I complained to HK about this faulty display, and they sent me back another 9XR for free. However I had to pay tolls, bad luck! Anyway, I´ll keep this new radio for future video purposes.
I´ve purchased a Futaba 8FG Super. Why? Well, I can´t say for sure that I suffered a quad signal lost because of the GoPro Hero 3 WiFi. But as you are adding electronics to the multicopter you prefer to control it with a more reliable transmitter. As there´s a lot of discussions about this, at the end you choose what works for you...
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.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
.jpg "Futaba 8FG transmitter Naza M Lite GPS setup")
