I’m working on a custom quadcopter in which the payload and flight controller are mounted on a gimbal. Given that the FC Accels/Gyros are no longer in the same inertial frame of the motors, seems like there will be an issue with controlling the vehicle as the flight computer will measure large errors in roll/pitch/yaw. Is there any workaround that could be done to accommodate this hardware config, or is it necessary to mount the FC at the same inertial frame of the motors? Thanks
Is there any particular reason why you want to put FC on a gimbal?
Lua motor mixer probably could be modified to handle dynamic thrust vector direction. You will have bigger problem with attitude control as gimbal movements will induce attitude changes and FC will try to compensate.
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@LupusTheCanine Thanks for the suggestions.
I’m looking into a configuration where the entire copter frame (including battery, payload and FC) is mounted on a gimbal and enclosed by an aero cover. The frame is gimballed so that it is always parallel to the freestream flow during forward flight. The intent is to maintain the most aerodynamic configuration (i.e. lowest frontal area) for a range of pitch angles.
I could probably find a way to mount just the flight controller itself on the motors’ inertial frame, but it would be quite bulky and difficult to package.
I don’t think that will work at all. Payload on a gimbal perhaps but not the flight controller. It has to be fixed to the frame where propulsion is supplied.
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