How to set the middle of a circle in "CIRCLE MODE"

ArduCopter Copter 3.5
1

I dont know how to set the middle of the circle in “CIRCLE MODE”

In the wiki it says: set POI (point of interest), but how do I set this point.

e.g. If I want my copter to go around a church tower, so I have to set the position of the tower, in the MP I guess.

very much appreciate your help.

using pixhawk 3.5
regards

2

This mode is used in Missions where you have a command that sets the Region of Interest and using the Loiter turns command will cause it to circle that Lon,Lat and altitude area. So your camera will face the object throughout the circle or Loiter turn.

You can also use the Region of Interest to do fly byes to keep the camera on a target as it goes by.

The radius is controlled by a parameter set before you take flight and is not controlled by a command.

In Mission Planner on the planning tab it will show what the radius is set to and allow you to program a mission that can be loaded onto the copter.

Mike

3

Dear Mike

thanks very much for your answer, but I did not quite get it.
So I have to start some sort of mission in the MP and than I can determine by some command the centzer of the circle, is that correct?
Guess I have to do some readings regarding missions.

regards

4

There is a tab in Mission Planner that will allow you to plan a mission.

Mike

5

Thanks Mike

rergards

6

Let me know if you need any thing else. Some of the documentation can be cryptic at times and there is a lot things you have to know.

Some things are hidden or tucked away. This can be a great journey which is half the fun.

Mike

7

Thank you very much Mike

8

To be clear, there’s a CIRCLE flight mode and a LOITER_TURNS mission command. Both use the same underlying code but the way that the center is set differs.

In the Circle flight mode circles a point that is CIRCLE_RADIUS ahead of the vehicle. http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/circle-mode.html#circle-mode

The LOITER_TURNS mission command uses the lat/lon/alt provided in the mission command and the radius of the circle ill be CIRCLE_RADIUS (in cm). http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/mission-command-list.html#loiter-turns

My guess is that Jurgen is using the circle flight mode.

9

So to use this to take a video of a church that is standing in front of you, you would need to measure how far in front of you the center of the church is from you and then set that as your circle radius. Then take off to the desired altitude and set CIRCLE Mode on your radio or GCS.

The parameter CIRCLE_RADIUS which is in centimeters but only can be set in 100 centimeter blocks so really the setting is in meters. So if the center of the church is 50 meters to the center in front of you, you would set it to 5000. Based on the parameter then the biggest circle you can set then is 100 meters or a circle of 200 meters across.

http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/parameters.html#circle-radius-circle-radius

I can see this as being a little challenging to setup.

Mike

10

iseries,

Yes, that sounds about right except that if I was going to do that I would probably set it up as a mission. That would still require knowing the correct circle-radius to use and setting the parameter.

By the way, the CIRCLE_RADIUS is in cm which is far more granularity than most people need - although the recommended “increment” is 100cm it can be set to anything from the full parameter list or full parameter tree screens (if using MP, if using another GCS the parameter list screen is likely called something else). We have a plan to change to use meters for everything but there are just so many things on the to-do list I can’t make a promise on when we will get to that.

11

rmackay9

thank you very much for clarification

regards

juergen