Tandom Bicopter

Antonyg · August 23, 2020, 8:33pm

Hi

I am experimenting with A F405-Wing flight controller.

I would like to use Ardupilot.

I have seen Videos of Tom Stanton Bicopter flying.

I’ve just had a week of research on Google for more information. But it’s very confusing and little or no details.

A Chinook type helicopter is a tandem rotor helicopter

I will be using tilting motors. From the front view the motors move sideways.

Do I use Arduplane or Arduchopter ? is the first Question.

For clarity :- Front motor. Rear motor. Front tilt. Rear tilt. Are the movement required. So two motors and two tilt servos.

Basic Functions:-

Throttle is lift. IE up and down. Both Front and rear motors the same amount of movement is used.

Pitch is the movement forwards and backwards. Increasing one motor and decreasing the other motor.

Should I use a mix of some kind here.

Aileron is sideways movement. Both Tilt servos move in same direction the same amount.

Yaw is rotation to a heading. Tilt servos move in the opposite direction the same amounts.

Should I use a Mix of some kind here ?

Any advice or help would be appreciated and helpful.

Regards Antony (Devon, UK).

iampete · August 23, 2020, 9:53pm

Such a setup is not currently supported, we can do ‘left right’ ‘osprey’ type bicopters but not ‘front back’

Antonyg · August 24, 2020, 8:02am

Hi and thanks for the quick reply.
Would it not be possible for me to rotate the Flight controller 90 degrees and adjust the controls to match ?.
Well this is what I was lines I was thinking. And yes it will take time to develop but its something I have.
Looking at all the videos out there it looks possible.
So the only question is Do I use Arduplane or Arduchopter ?

Many thanks Antony.

iampete · August 24, 2020, 11:04am

no, you would need to edit the mixer.

github.com

ArduPilot/ardupilot/blob/master/libraries/AP_Motors/AP_MotorsTailsitter.cpp

/*
   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
   (at your option) any later version.

   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
   GNU General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */

/*
 *       AP_MotorsTailsitter.cpp - ArduCopter motors library for tailsitters and bicopters
 *
 */

This file has been truncated. show original

Antonyg · August 24, 2020, 5:56pm

Thanks for your help Peter.

Looks like a standard Bicopter it is then.
Does anyone out there have a configuration file that will run on a Matek F405 Wing ??
I have a test rig built for getting the controls correct.

Regards Antony.

Peter_Stone · August 8, 2021, 5:55am

Hi Antonyg, I’m trying to do the same on pixhawk!
I wonder did you made it?
Any param you can share?

Thanks

Peter_Stone · August 15, 2021, 8:15am

Hi @iampete, I’m currently working on this. I figure out the “AP_motors” file has changed a lot.
Should I adjust the new file or adjust the old file is fine?

iampete · August 15, 2021, 12:18pm

Just the new one, or make a new class based on it.