Flight control Set and Kit

Quick Start Guide

For MultiWii

Version 1.2

2

Thanks for choosing AirStudio flight control electronics. We have created it based on best-in-class software, hardware and our team experience in Multi-rotors. AirStudio Control board (set) feature list:

Stabilized flight modes for different multicopter frames (Tricopter, X4, plus4, Y6, Hexacopter, Octocopter, X8);

GPS for position hold and return to home position;

Magnetometer (Compass) for heading determination;

Very precise barometer for altitude hold;

Mounted camera stabilization and shutter capability;

Wireless telemetry for long distance communication;

Specialized Power board for power distribution and current measuring;

User configurable LED output with possibility to inform about low battery;

Capability to use any R/C receiver;

External signal module (Status board) for visual summary of aircraft condition;

Integrated On Screen Display (OSD) for First Person View (FPV); You can find latest version of this manual from http://air-studio.eu/en/content/23-support

3

Specification Input voltage: 6-18V Current consumption at 12V: Board only: 40mA Board with GPS, IMU, sonar: 80mA Switching voltage regulator for reduced heat dissipation. Operational temperature: 0°C ... +60°C Dimensions: 50mm x 70mm Mounting holes: 3mm diameter, 45mm x 45mm Receiver channel count: 5 to 8 Motor count: up to 8 Camera gimbal outputs: pitch, roll, shutter Output for high current load (LED strips): 8A Firmware Multiwii compatible multicopter hardware. http://code.google.com/p/multiwii/downloads/list DIY OSD compatible OSD hardware with LM1881 video sync separator. http://code.google.com/p/diy-osd-opensource http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1473207

4

Description

Air Studio Control board

Control board is Multiwii compatible hardware with

ATmega2560 and some additional features:

Dedicated output pin for high current load up to 8A (LED strips, and etc.)

Third output (besides Pitch and Roll) for camera gimbal that can be used for camera

Shutter control

Integrated OSD controller with LM1881 sync detector that is compatible with DIY

OSD and other open source OSD software that can use ATmega328P. OSD has serial

connection to main controller for receiving sensor readings

Integrated voltage divider for battery voltage measuring up to 4S LiPo, input for

current and RC receiver RSSI measuring

Air Studio Sense board

Sense board contains ITG-3200 gyroscope, BMA180

accelerometer, HMC5883L magnetometer, MS5611 barometer

and logic level converter.

Sense board can be used with 5v host MCU and has integrated pullup resistors on both logic

level lines.

Air Studio GPS board

This is low cost high performance GPS module with MediaTek

MT3339 GPS chipset.

It has built-in super capacitor for memory retention when power is disconnected. If GPS

module is left without power for time less than 9 hours after power up it will get almost

instant fix.

Connector pin out of this GPS module is identical to many other modules.

Pin No. Function

1 Not connected

2 GND

3 Transmit data

4 Receive data

5 +5V

6 GND

5

Prerequisites

1. Download and install CP210x serial port drivers from

http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/Software/CP210x_VCP_Win_XP_S2K3_

Vista_7.exe

2. Download and install Arduino 1.0.1 from http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

3. Download AirStudio customized copter control firmware and configuration software

from http://air-studio.eu/en/content/23-support

4. Download and extract MultiWii WinGUI multicopter controller software from

http://code.google.com/p/mw-wingui/downloads/detail?name=Mw-WinGUI-2.1.zip

6

Elements of the Set and Kit

Flight Control Set includes following components:

Control board Sense board GPS board Status board Power board Schema:

7

Flight Control Kit includes following components:

Control board Sense board GPS board Schema:

8

Control board

No Description

1 Receiver signal level input (RSSI)

2 Receiver inputs CH1 - CH8 (PPM input configurable on CH1)

3 Jumper for powering board from motor 1 ESC

4 Motor outputs M1 - M8

5 Camera gimbal outputs Pitch, Roll, Shutter

6 Sonar connector

7 Video connector

8 GPS connector

9 Telemetry connector (XBee, APC220, APC230 …)

10 IMU connector

11 LED connector

12 Power connector

13 Status indicator connector

14 Firmware upload target selection jumpers

15 Mini USB connector for firmware upload

16 Command line jumper (CLI)

17 Analog alternative inputs A1-A5

18 Sonar alternative connections

19 GPS alternative connections

20 ISP programming connections (for service use)

21 +5V power LED

22 Status LEDs A, B, C

23 OSD status LED

Sense board (IMU)

9

Power board (Set only)

Status board (Set only)

A (Green) Solid = Armed, motors are live; Blink = Disarmed, motors will not spin with throttle up

B (Yellow) Active when Level mode is ON

C (Red) Solid = Lock, Blink = Waiting for Lock, OFF = No GPS connected or Serial received

GPS board

Features: MediaTek MT3339 66 channel GPS chipset Dimensions: 38mm x 17mm x 8mm High sensitivity: Up to -165dBm tracking Position accuracy: < 3m Maximum update rate: up to 10Hz Time to fix: Hot Start 1 second typical Warm Start 33 seconds typical Cold Start 35 seconds typical

Very low power consumption：25mA acquisition, 20mA tracking

10

Power supply: 3.6 - 16V Built-in supercap for RTC backup power to decrease Time To Fix after power reconnection Built-in patch antenna for reduced size Serial TTL Interface with default baud rate 38400 bps NMEA and Binary protocol Includes cable adapter Weight: 10 g

11

Uploading Controller firmware

1. Select Arduino target with jumpers to CTR

2. Copy folder “MultiWii_2_1_air” from ZIP file to Arduino sketchbook folder.

3. Run Arduino 1.0.1

4. Open "MultiWii_2_1_air"

5. If needed configure parameters in "config.h"

a. Frame type tri, quad, hexa, octa …

b. PPM Sum SERIAL_SUM_PPM

c. …

6. Select correct serial port and board "Arduino Mega 2560"

7. Upload

Uploading OSD firmware

1. Select Arduino target with jumpers to OSD

2. Connect USB (Picture above)

3. Copy folder “DIY_OSD_v0_18_1” from ZIP file to Arduino sketchbook folder.

4. Run Arduino 1.0.1

5. Open "DIY_OSD_v0_18_1"

6. If needed configure parameters in "config.h"

7. Select correct serial port and board "Arduino Nano w/ ATmega328"

8. Upload

12

Configure board

9. Take off all propellers

10. Connect Sense board to IMU connector (10)

11. Decide how to power your board:

From battery (3S; 4S LiPo)

From Motor 1 ESC (connect jumper “ESC POW”)

WARNING!!! Do not use both power sources! Disconnect “ESC POW” jumper if

powered from battery.

12. Connect at least one ESC to M1 connector to power receiver

13. Connect RC receiver

Chanel mapping

R1/PPM Throttle

R2 Roll

R3 Pitch

R4 Yaw

R5 Mode

R6 Cam Pitch

R7 CH7

R8 CH8

14. Connect Sense board (IMU)

15. Run MultiWiiWinGUI, choose serial port and speed 115200

13

16. Click Connect

17. Configure modes on your control channel:

“Level” should be your default mode unless you are experienced and know what you

are doing.

You can also set failsafe on your radio to match “Return To Home”.

18. Connect cables from ESC’s to motor pin headers on board

Motor layout and propeller rotation directions:

19. Balance your propellers! Unbalanced propellers induce vibrations that reduce copters

ability to correctly detect attitude and the copter may lose stability in the air.

20. Calibrate your ESC’s

14

21. To reduce 5v power consumption used from Control board voltage regulator that is

designed for 300mA current and for increased electric noise stability some external

components are powered from motor ESCs:

a. Motor 1 ESC powers Receiver, Telemetry transceiver.

If ESC POW jumper is shorted Motor 1 ESC also powers Control board

b. Motor 2 ESC powers camera gimbal Pitch servo and Status board

c. Motor 3 ESC powers camera gimbal Roll servo and Shutter servo

15

Before flight

22. Connect battery

23. Put your copter on level surface

24. Configure level for sensors by holding RC transmitter throttle stick down-left for

approximately 15 seconds (status LEDs flash) (must be done once, repeat if needed)

25. Hold throttle stick down right (approx. 3s) to arm motors and then take-off

26. After flight hold throttle stick down-left (approx. 3s) to disarm motors

27. PIDs should be tuned for each type of multicopter frame to have best stability.

OSD

Control board has integrated OSD that receives data about sensor values from main

controller and overlays them on video.

No Description

1 Coordinates (decimal degrees with N/S, E/W letters)

2 GPS satellite count used

3 Speed (km/h)

4 Distance and direction home (m)

5 Altitude (m)

6 Armed/Disarmed status

7 Low Battery warning

8 GPS fix warning

9 Controller flight mode

10 Flight timer

11 Orientation heading

12 Receiver signal level (RSSI %)

13 Current consumed from battery

14 Battery voltage

15 Battery mAh consumed

PID tuning

Default PID settings are suitable for the most multicopters, but still some PIDs might require

some fine tuning (like altitude hold or position hold). PID settings depend on many factors

and should be tuned for every multicopter configuration individually. Please see those online

resources for information about PID tuning:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1375728

16

Connecting OSD

Connecting LEDs