This is, by the way, how my board looks like from below. Beautiful chaos... but still functional. I am planning to make a PCB soon...
Finished I²C to PWM converter and TriGUIDE mini
The last nights were a bit shorter for me, since the PCBs I ordered at bilex-lp.com arrived. They look really good and seem to be of high quality (I ordered a different "solder resist" colour, well, I like bright colors, but anyway... ). So I had the opportunity to do my very first SMD solderings. This really seems to be comfortable... I will completely switch to SMD I think. The I²C to PWM converters work! Here are the features: Weight under 1 g Works with (most likely many) standard ESCs (currently tested: HK SS 18-20A, ...) I²C address selectable via solder jumpers (4 standard mikrokopter addresses dec 82, 84, 86, 88) Refresh rate selectable via solder jumpers (417 Hz, 292 Hz, 155 Hz, 49 Hz) Pulse width (I²C 0-255): 990µS - 2010µS Pulse width at startup (3 s): 920µS Motor off when no I²C connection longer than 256ms Motor off when microcontroller crashes (veeeery unlikely) Powered by the BEC of the ESC, or by an external 5V source (prepared as well) Very eas...
Hi William, this is simply awesome work that you have done here. I like your tricopter multi-layered chassis very much.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I am wondering is why do you need to use your TriGuide program? If you use three rate mode gyros for the arms and one head lock mode gyro for tail server, wont that be sufficient to have the tricopter run stable? If I understand correctly, you are using the triGlider basically to make your aircraft more stable? Forgive my ignorance if I missed reading something in your post.
Hi Sid,
ReplyDeleteyes, I think my custom software makes the copter more stable than standard RC-gyros can. Additionally, I have an accelerometer on board, so the copter can hover on it's own. This in the future I can also add features like GPS etc., that won't be possible on a copter without custom electronics..