Finalizing copter setup after autotune

ArduCopter Copter 4.1
1

Hello,

ive finished harmonic notch and autotune in my copter and i had a couple of questions of finalizing the copter.

  1. i have a payload of 2KG (camera and gimbal) on a 8 kg frame . i did the autotune with out gimbal camera, docs write i should change these :
    ATC_ACCEL_P_MAX x (min_TOW / max_TOW) ATC_ACCEL_R_MAX x (min_TOW / max_TOW) ATC_ACCEL_Y_MAX x (min_TOW / max_TOW)

But ill always have the camera +gimbal on . Should i do the above or try an other autotune with the gimbal on ?

  1. Should i disable MOT_HOVER_LEARN ?

  2. i dont care about ground speed but for endurance are there any settings i could tinker with to “preserve” battery ?

Thank you for your time,
Best!

2

Change the ACCEL params as per above, don’t try to run Autotune with the gimbal attached.

I would leave the hover learn set as per default (learn and save) in case you change anything else, for example battery packs.

Do some long straight flights at different speeds, check logs to see what might be the most efficient comparing speed and current draw) and set that as your WPNAV_SPEED and RTL_SPEED.
You can also set LOIT_SPEED to this, or maybe a bit above to allow for some extra speed when needed.
For maximum or less controlled speeds use AltHold.

3

Hi @xfacta,

Thank you for your reply ,

ill change the ACCEL params as per docs and ill test the different speeds compared to current draw.

I intent to add a second battery (for good) which is 2.6 kg. i was thinking of doing an other autotune then (no gimbal attached), its not a good idea?

Thank you,
Best!

4

We already told you that autotune with a gimbal is not a good idea.

5

Thank you for your reply ,

I think you didnt read correctly or i didnt write it correctly.

Please let me rephrase .

I want to put a second battery for good on the drone which will add an other 2.6 kg . is it a good idea to autotune again ? (with out the gimbal ). i had one battery for testing and now i feel confident to install also the second .

Best wishes !

6
  1. Autotune with the lightest configuration, and write the weight and parameters down.
  2. after that each time you add or remove weight, recalculate the parameters using the new weight and the weight you wrote down.
7

Thank you for the advice !

i save the parameters in a file each time am about to change things .

8

Do yourself a favor, write the

ATC_ACCEL_P_MAX
ATC_ACCEL_R_MAX 
ATC_ACCEL_Y_MAX
min_TOW

parameters in a piece of paper.

This way you can calculate the new values for whatever weight!

1 Like
9

Are there any other tips, for finalizing the setup ?

10

Nope, happy flying.

If you really really want a good tune, my company does consultancy on the subject. You can take a look at our results here: