Need to know a budget flight controller for my Tundra V2 which I am upgrading to use Ardupilot.
Required Functions:
Connects to an ELRS reciever!
Connection to an airspeed sensor (idk which one, but I will want to get an airspeed sensor eventually)
Connection to a GPS (likely Neo 8m, seems to have a built-in compass)
VTX OSD connection - getting altitude, etc, on my VTX is essential for manual flights - wanted to do this since forever
Barometer (haven’t decided on one)
Radar altimeter (haven’t chosen which one, might get it later as an upgrade)
The battery measuring things, or anything else that is glaringly essential and I missed.
Should also be future proof as I might add new sensors and components to my plane over time.
I was looking around, saw the Pixhawk autopilot, the price shocked me just a bit. Anything cheaper?
The entire ardupilot system is a bit more complex than I imagined and I need a bit of help to get my project of making my plane fly automnously off the ground, and into the air
Can’t really figure out the differences between the two
Minus that the wlite version has an internal barometer, probably helpfull (flight computer place in the Tundra would be out of direct airflow, but is still ventilated)
Of course, the wlite can also be powered by a 2S, which may prove to be usefull if I end up putting it in a smaller plane
Other noticed differences is that the WLITE cannot make switchable 5V outputs. Is that an issue in the plane world? How these things get wired up and where ur servos end up connected is slightly beyond me right now, ill have to do some studying of where I wire stuff up.
I also found this deal on aliexpress, is it the “real” thing or a clone?
Noticed that.
Also. Confused. All controllers or battery monitors I seem to find point me towards current monitors, etc.
So how do you monitor the battery cells??
Not necessarily individual cell monitoring, but how does the flight controller know the voltage of the battery? Does it have a sensor that I didn’t read about, embedded somewhere next to the power supply?
Its a bit confusing what all the different model numbers and letters mean, there is a comparison chart that you might have seen. The choices of fc come down to basically a few different common categories, the cube type ones with plug in everything and no built in power module ( they are at the most expensive end), the quad type ones that are often the cheapest and are layed out to drive four or more motors often via a 4in1 esc or a 4 port power module designed to go in the middle of a copter frame, these are usually a solder everything in job, then there is a small number of controllers that kinda suit planes, these often have built in power module for one or two esc. I have planes with pixhawk 4 (pretty big controller and the included power module is designed for copters up to octa), matek 4 series and 7 series, they come with .1" pin headers that you solder in then you can try to crimp pin sockets (servo plugs basically) to all your peripherals or you can solder wires in directly. The 743wlite is the latest i’ve got and it seems ok. They often have the same processor and will look the same when using them in mp but they just come with different options and layouts to suit different applications that the manufacturers think will be popular enough to mke em some money, (almost all of them are designed for fpv quads)
Sticking with the Matek H743-WLITE it senses both voltage and current on the board. Almost all sense Voltage and some have Current shunts like this one does. Chances are if it has big solder pads for a battery connection it will have current measuring capability.
And, I don’t think there are any clones of these Matek boards.
My last and pretty big question is how will I mount everything to my plane?
Thankfully, I think I have the solution of a 3D printer and hot glue gun if there isn’t another option.
FC, telem radios (plane > ground station), GPS + compass, etc should get to me in a week or two
Well you have to keep it solid with the airframe, if it comes loose you will crash, quad guys will screw it to the mainframes and the hole centres are of standard dimensions for frames etc. In a foamy you could screw it to a base plate and then glue the baseplate in.
Here’s how I’m mounting one in a boat but its not normally done this way.
But I mean like I doubt u should hot glue it directly into a plane, how would u fix it or rewire it?
More like plastic bit hotglued to plane, and FC screwed onto plastic bit
I have used double-sided foam tape to mount a Matek “wing” board to the inside of the fuselage. That said, if I ever have to pull it out it’s probably going to be messy. Will have to look for a solvent to weaken the adhesive bond.
For what it’s worth, most hot glues come off pretty easily if you dribble some isopropyl alcohol right on the join and let it work its way under the glue, then peel it slowly back.
My flight controller and GPS came a few mins ago.
Ill be mounting them to the Tundra.
Pity its not flyable due to broken prop adapter (and replacement one is apparently stuck in Singapore)
Hopefully tomorrow ill be installing the components (or today? depends how much time ill have left) and seeing how the servos move around even if the plane cannot fly.
Also the components are 5-10x smaller than I expected. I could even mount them to a black wing plane I have, but it would be very complicated. Ill wait for the Tundra prop adapter, as the tundra will easily house that flight comuter.
