Two Rotors Aircraft Project With Arduino Board Mega 2560

Hi,

Greetings to all I am going to start a simple two rotors aircraft project using Arduino Board 2560 Mega. I will post here everything related to this project; i.e. progress, details of parts, questions, bugs, etc. to be as reference for anybody interested to learn this technology.

After finishing this aircraft, I will be highly interested to improve this work and to add more functions and technologies like GPS controlling, more rotors, camera, landing sensors, remote controlling, etc.

Initially, this aircraft is going to be controlled by wires.

I have attached photos for the below components I have for this project:

1. Brushless Motors P2001 x2
KV:1000RPM/V

2. Gyroscope G410B x1
Operating voltage: 4.8V- 6V
Operating current: 80mA

3. ESC x2
10A

4. Arduino MEGA 2560 Board x1

5. Blades 4.5x10

6. Wires

7. Survo Motor x1 (might not be used)










I would appreciate your inputs to start this project. I need to organize this thread to make it easy and clear for everyone interested in such work.

From where shall we start? Programming motors? Building the body? etc.

Thank you very much

 

I'd like to read your explanation on why you think this project is "simple".

Maybe you are so intelligent that such a project is simple to you. If that was the case then you would not need help from anyone. Or you could be showing your ignorance. This is not a "simple" project. It is probably one of the most complex projects a hobbyist would ever undertake.

I certainly hope you got all of these components for free or at a very good price because purchasing them at full price without a plan very well could be a waste of money.

I would begin at the beginning. If you do not have a in depth knowledge of your selected mcu then learn its capabilities and how to program it.

I would then move on to learning how to control the motors. Then move on to learning to talk to the various sensors. Finally piecing it all together.

 

Simple does mean that this is the simplest flying model to be done and does not mean it is easy

 

Ok that makes sense.

As I said start at the beginning and first learn to program the mcu. Then start controlling those motors.

 

I already controlled the servo, but still having problem with the brushless motors; got them connected to the board but they run at a fixed speed and was unable to control their speed (increase, decrease).

Next time, I will post this here so members can look at the circuit connections and the program executed at the chip to advise a solution.

Thank you

 

Then I would break my project / questions down into small pieces. Post specific questions on specific problems. No need to go into your overall project just enough for your current problem.

 

I started this thread to cover the overall project, visitors can go through pages and learn what they want. Are you familiar with this work or you are beginner? If the moderators for this forum do not like it, then I will remove it and leave the forum.

Thank you.

 

The pitch and diameter of the props seems a bit on the large side. Is that the size recommended by the motor manufacturer?

The speed controllers should respond the same as a servo for controlling the motors. The motors are brushless DC motors, the ESC forms the the 3 phase pulses to the wires so they turn.

Is there a servo output to the ESC? Is there motor power (often separate batteries from those controlling flight).

 

If you overwhelm people with one huge project where you have no idea how to get started you stand little chance that anyone will help you. Few here have the time to provide such help.

You will do much better if you break the project up into separate smaller questions. You can include a link to this larger overview for those that want a little more background.

 

Actually the parts are compatible as they were assembling an aircraft. The servo does not need ESC.

Hmmm, shall I suspend/close this thread and start threads for unit work? Honestly speaking, I started the whole project in a thread to stimulate visitors to see it as it is very interesting topic and hard find such projects online to be done step by step, so will add great value to the forum, and I loved to share the knowledge between all of us. Anyhow I will break up the project into phases in the forum. For example:

1. How to program ESCs
2. How to program the Gyroscop
3. etc.

Thanks.

 

Like spinnaker said, not splitting it up would mean losing a lot of possible help, I almost past it up myself.

I think what thatoneguy was referring to is that the ESC is controlled the same way a servo is controlled, a 20ms period with 1-2ms pulse width, in order to control the motor speed. This would be for the Brushless DC motors you are running.

You needn't close this thread, in fact, it might be nice to update this one on your progress and link the specific questions you have to this thread. That way, an overall project is maintained(this thread) and problems are documented in the links to other threads...

 

What tschuck stated. The Brushless motors are controlled by the ESC, which in turn, uses a standard R/C Servo pulse width train to determine speed.

 

Most ready to fly multi-rotor helicopters use 4 rotors for directionality and stability.

With only 2 rotors then how will it turn? With complicated variable-pitch rotors?
But with 4 rotors then you simply increase the speed of the rotors on one side and/or decrease the speed of the rotors on the other side then it turns.

I think they use torque differential to rotate direction.

 

I believe he will be using a guide to keep the rotors on a path, and only vary up and down. Once he has that figured out, he'll add the other ducted fans. Markd77 posted a diagram in other thread that spawned this one, showing a rod that the system will follow on the vertical axis.

 

Some ready-to-fly model helicopters can do aerobatics and even fly upside down!
They use radio control, and are not tethered.

 

Of course, but helicopters are a very different beast to quadcopters, these proper ones have both cyclic and collective control of the blades angle (plus speed of main and tail rotor) which you can´t simply make wihtout either having a machine shop or buying some rotor kit. The mechanics of this assembly is just too complex for a hobbyist to make on his own.
I have a three channel helicopter with gyro, and even that is not very easy to control.

 

Thanks all for your comments - greatly appreciated.

I will start new threads for the work phases and I will keep updating this thread.

 

Sorry I haven't been to this thread recently. I don't think that giro is ideal for the final model, really a three axis giro is better.
I found this on ebay, it seems almost too good to be true - 3 axis giro and 3 axis accelerometer for £3.40 delivered:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-6DOF-...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item20ceb0cbc9
If you search for the chip number it seems there is code available for the Arduino.

 

My latest RC model airplane has 3 gyro stability control. The gyros are for ailerons, elevator and rudder. It eliminates stability problems caused by wind gusts.

It controls stability and is not direction control. I am the pilot so I control the direction.

Some model airplanes and helicopters control direction. At least one of them remembers its path and can do it again over and over.

 

Thank you guys for your assistance! Appreciate! Will look into this.