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PHANTOM UAV - Introduction

iNTRODUCTION

This is the story of the installation, set up and testing of an autopilot in a radio controlled plane.

The plane is a Phantom FX-61 flying wing with a wingspan of 1.55m. The transmitter is a Spektrum DX7. The autopilot computer board is a HKPilot Mega V2.5 flight controller. The PC support software is Mission Planner.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone at http://diydrones.com/ and the ardupilot manual at http://plane.ardupilot.com/.

All civil aviation in Australia is administered by CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) and the MAAA is recognosed by CASA as a model aircraft authority. Refer to the MAAA website for information about regulations controlling used of all types of model aircraft including UAVs. The ‘Manuals of Procedure’ section under the heading ‘Documents’ are important to be familiar with, especially ‘MOP067 – Self Guided Model Aircraft’.

The website of the MAAA is here www.maaa.asn.au/.

Spektrum DX7

Transmitter.

Phantom FX-61 Flying Wing.

Orange DSM2 7 channel receiver.

Orange DSM2 satellite receiver.

Mission Planner software on the PC

HKPilot Mega V2.5 Flight Controller

with ArduPlane software and additional hardware.

What Can This Autopilot Do?

Equipped with this autopilot, this plane will have the following features.

• Stabilised flight under manual control. The plane corrects itself when buffeted by turbulence.
• Fly in a training mode which prevents learner pilots from rolling or pitching too steeply. Also, the plane’s height can be limited to prevent crashing into the ground or flying too high. If the plane does fly too high or low, it will fly itself back inside the altitude limits.
• If the plane flies out of range of the transmitter, it will fly itself back and fly in a circle above the take off point until the pilot resumes control.
• If the plane flies outside of a programmable perimeter, it will fly itself back and circle above a preset rally point until the pilot resumes control.
• Transmit telemetry during the flight to a personal computer for display flight data including position, altitude, speed and battery charge.
• Fly programmed flight paths completely automatically by itself including take off and landing while its position and other flight data are monitored at a base station. Flight paths are created on a personal computer and transferred to the plane before flight.
• Fly to positions as required when they are selected on a map on a personal computer screen. It executes ‘Fly here now’ commands.
• Control a camera gimbal to hold a video camera constantly level independently of the attitude of the plane.
• Record flight data (like a ‘black box’ flight recorder) that can be displayed graphically for analysis of aircraft performance after the flight.
• The autopilot can be turned on and off as required from the transmitter. The various modes are also selected from the transmitter. When the autopilot is off, the plane is under normal manual control.

The project begins with setting up manual control of the plane here.

Alternatively, look for any section in the contents below.

PHANTOM UAV Contents

This is a complete list of the sections of this document.

Introduction

What Can This Autopilot Do?

Manual Flying

Plane Modification – Elevons

Plane Modification – Propeller

Plane Modification – Fuselage Sculpture

Plane Modification – Battery

Launching

Flying

Landing

Plane Modification - Undercarriage

Autopilot Set Up

Flight Controller Board Installation

Wiring Diagram

Transmitter Mode Control Set Up

Mission Planner Software Set Up

Download and Install Mission Planner Software on PC

Connect Mission Planner to the APM Board

Install Arduplane Software in the APM Board

Flight Modes

Compass Set Up

Transmitter Calibration

Levelling Calibration

PID Parameter Set Up

Optional Hardware – Power Module

Optional Hardware – 3DR Telemtry Module

Optional Hardware – Airspeed Sensor

Optional Hardware – Stabilised Camera Gimbal

Optional Hardware - Steering Control

Failsafe Set Up

Transmitter Signal Loss – Throttle Failsafe

Loss of Telemetry (GCS)

Loss of GPS

Take Off Set Up

Throwing To Launch

Take Off On Undercarriage

Climb Rate

Throttle Control Parameters

Attitude Control Parameters

TECS Parameters

Ready To Fly

DX7 Transmitter Configuration

Channel Allocation

Controls Summary

DX7 System Set Up

Dx7 Parameter Set Up

Autopilot Flight Preparation

Set Planner Parameters

Flight Plan Page Features

Prefetch Maps

Display the Waypoint List

Home Point

Flight Plan Page Information

Topological Data

Create a Flight Plan

Waypoint Command

Other Command types

Editing a Plan

Elevation Graph

Flight Plan – Transfer to & from APM

Flight Plan – Save & Load

Geofence - Set Up

Set Return Location

Set Boundary Points

Save & Load

Enable & Disable

Action On Geofence Breach

Autopilot Flight Checklist

Flight Preparation

Power Up

Take Off

Flight Monitoring

Landing

Flight Data Review

Autopilot Flight Review

Dataflash Log – Download

‘Flight Data’ Page Log Download

‘Terminal’ Page Log Download

Dataflash Log - Review

Dataflash Log – Display in Google Maps

Telemetry Logs

Telemetry Log – Replay

Telemetry Log – Browser

Telemetry Log – File Structure

Telemetry Log – Graphical Display

Flight Records

Flight 001 Mode Tests : Manual, Stabilise & Training Modes

Flight 002 Complete Autopilot Controlled Flight

Flight 003 Mode Tests : Return To Launch Mode

Flight 004 Geofence Test

Flight 005 Communication Range Tests

Phantom UAV Latest News

28 Apr 2017	Flight 005 – Communication Range Tests
6 Dec 2014	Flight 004 – Geofence Test added
3 October 2014	‘Autopilot Set Up’ page edited –‘ Take Off Set Up’ section.
8 August 2014	DX7 Transmitter Configuration page added.
14 July 2014	‘What Can This Autopilot Do?’ section added.
23 June 2014	Flight 003 added to ‘Flight Records’ page
20 June 2014	‘Autopilot Set Up’ page edited with more detail. ‘Autopilot Flight Preparation’ page edited with more detail
15 June 2014	‘Flight Review’ page edited with more detail. ‘Flight Records’ page – Flights 001 & 002 added
13 June 2014	YouTube video of camera gimbal added to section “Optional Hardware – Stabilised Camera Gimbal”
8 June 2014	Grainy graphics fixed.
1 June 2014	The following sections are published ‘Autopilot Flight Preparation’, Autopilot Flight Checklist’ , Autopilot Flight Review
20 May 2014	The following sections are published ‘Introduction’, ‘Manual Flying’, ‘Autopilot Set Up’

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