User Manual for DJI F450 Quadcopter - IEEE Aerospace and...

User Manual for DJI F450 Quadcopter

By:

Joshua M. Smith & Alexander J. Baldwin

Missouri University of Science and Technology Version 1 June 2016

Table of Contents Introduction to Quadcopter Flying……………………………………………….……....3

Basic Controls ……………………… …………………………… ………………..…....3

Getting Started with Realflight 7.5……………………………………….……….……...6

Setting Up Hardware for Flight……………………………………………………...……9

Flying your Quadcopter………………………………………….…………....………....10

Using the Dragon Touch Software……………………...……….…………....………....14

Appendix A: Equipment and Setup………………………………….…...……………...16

Appendix B: Multirotor Flight Checklists……………………………………………….23

Appendix C: Flight Records using a Flight Log…………………………………………24

Acknowledgments The production of this manual was supported by the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society.

Introduction to Quadcopter Flying Flying a quadcopter for the first time looks simple, but unless you have had some experience with other RC aircrafts, the first flight can be harder than expected. This user manual is intended to help accelerate the beginner through the first stages of piloting in order to get to the fun as quickly as possible, as well as navigate them through some common issues they might face. The quadcopter used for this manual is a Model F450 by DJI. Preparation for flying is shown using Realflight 7.5, a Radio Controlled (RC) Flight simulator. How to Use This Manual This manual is designed to be used as a step-by-step guide to flying. Topics are addressed in the order the beginner will need them. The basic controls and Realflight sections can be read while working through them, however, one should read through all of the manual (though possibly excluding the appendices) before physically flying.

While learning to fly, it is often easier to learn by simply working with it. To promote clarity and ease of use of this document, some things are noted as such and no further description is given. Basic Controls

The controller for this manual is a Turnigy 9x controller (see Figure 1). It can be programmed to fly RC airplanes, helicopters, and gliders. The amount of buttons and switches might be a little intimidating at first, but most of them are not needed for quadcopter flight. The controls a new user will need to be familiar with are the on/off switch, menu interface controls, and the control levers. On/Off

The on/off switch is the main switch right at the nose of the controller. One thing you can miss, however, is making sure all of the switches are in the ‘up’ position. If they are not so, then an error will occur when the controller is turned on.

Fig. 1: Turnigy 9x controller Menu Controls

The menu controls are the buttons around the screen at the bottom. On the right are the menu and exit buttons. On the left are the menu navigation buttons. By holding down the menu button for a second or two, the screen will display the menu options. From here on out, the menu button is essentially a select button. Use the UP/DN buttons to navigate through the options and the menu button to select which option you would like to access. The exit button is used to go back to the previous screen or to exit the menu entirely. Finally, the +/- buttons are used to change specific settings for which a scale of values are available.

Control Levers The control levers have four functions: throttle, rotation, front/back movement, and side to side movement. Listed below are the controls under normal configuration.

The throttle is adjusted by moving the left control stick up and down. Since the throttle needs to be stable, when you adjust this lever up and down, it does not spring back to its original position like the other levers.

The rotation is controlled by adjusting the left control stick left/right. When moving the control stick left/right, it will spring back to its original position, giving a normal state of no rotation, as opposed to the throttle which stays wherever you put it.

The right control lever adjusts front/back and side/side movement, exactly as is intuitive. Moving the stick up/down tilts the quadcopter so that it travels forward/backward. Moving the stick left/right tilts the quadcopter so that it travels left/right.

Getting Started With REALFLIGHT 7.5 Before a new flyer gets out and flies an expensive quadcopter, it is a good idea to do some practice in a simulation. That is where Realflight 7.5 comes in. Realflight is a highly detailed RC UAV simulator that can be used for planes, gliders, and helicopters. To install the program on a new computer, the disk and activation code with it are needed. For use at S&T, IT is needed to perform the installation. When the software is running, one can immediately get started flying. Just choose a quadcopter to fly and choose an environment and get started. If the software is running on an old and slow computer, reduce the graphics settings to minimum. Select Simulation→ Graphics→ Low from the menu at the top right of the flight screen (Figure 2). Also, be sure that the simulation is running on realistic physics by selecting Simulation→ Physics→ Realistic

Fig. 2: REALFLIGHT flying screen

To fly, you will need to connect the InterLink Elite controller that comes with the RealFlight setup. The control levers should work the same as stated above for the Turnigy 9x. You will find that when the throttle lever is about halfway engaged, the quadcopter will hover; more and it will raise, less and it will drop. One of the first things a beginner needs to learn is how to keep the quadcopter stable, so getting a feel for this is an important first step. Play around with the controls for a little while at this point. It can get a bit frustrating at first, when you have very little control. However, it does not take long to become able to fly stably. After you have played around and gotten used to the controls, there is a good option to test your skills and make improving more fun: Challenge Mode. You might be tempted to try out some of the training modes offered in game, however, none of them are specific to quadcopters. There are some training modules for helicopters, however flying a helicopter is different than a quadcopter. If you select the Challenge option from the menu and select heli, there is a set of 10 challenges called the “Quadcopter Trials”. In these levels, you will be given tasks to fly the Quadcopter X through, ranging from simply flying through a goal, to making multiple goals and landings within a time limit. While passing all of these challenges is not necessary to getting started with a real quadcopter, it is fun. Also, if you can manage to get 700/1000 points, you will unlock the Deadcat Quadcopter (Figure 3). Meeeeeeowwwww!

Fig. 3: Deadcat quadcopter

The default setting is to have no wind, however, you will find out that this aspect of the simulation is a bit more friendly than flying outside in Missouri weather. To get an idea of how to control your quadcopter in the wind, select Environment → Wind and alter the wind direction, speed, and turbulence to your liking. Finally, if you would like a different angle of observation, this can be changed using the F1-F4 keys to get camera angles from the ground, chasing the quadcopter, and for flying from the perspective of a camera mounted on the quadcopter. Learn these skills in REALFLIGHT before physical flying

1. Takeoff 2. Hovering 3. Steady flying 4. Keeping track of camera direction during flight 5. Smooth landing 6. All of the above in windy conditions

If you plan to fly using the camera for surveillance, be sure to practice flying from a camera view in REALFLIGHT as well.

Setting Up for Hardware Flight To get started flying, you will need to attach one of the Zippy 3000 batteries to the bottom of the quadcopter using the velcro straps. When ready to power on, simply connect the yellow plug to its counterpart on the UAV (Figure 4).

Fig. 4: Plugging in the motor battery

If the camera is being used, it should be mounted between the two red arms of the quadcopter with the arrow facing out. This position is naturally defined as the front of the quadcopter. Be sure to plug it in! (See Appendix A for images of camera, transmitter, and related setup.) If you are planning to transmit camera feed to the Black Pearl display, connect the 5.8GHz transmitter on the back of the quadcopter and attach the Turnigy 1.1V battery with the red connection to power it. Make sure the transmitter is on the same channel as the Black Pearl. For instance, if the transmitter is on channel 7, adjust the Black Pearl so that the antenna it is receiving with (whichever antenna port you connected an antenna to) is also operating at channel 7. Adjust the Black Pearl’s receiving channels with the up/down arrows.

To attach the Black Pearl to the controller, screw it onto the mount. Be sure to attach an antenna to the Black Pearl. Also, the Black Pearl needs to be charged. We do not have an AC adapter for it, so just use one of the main quadcopter batteries (Zippy

3000) with the appropriate cord into the DC IN port of the Black Pearl. The red light on the Pearl indicates charging. Flying Your Quadcopter The first thing to note when flying your quadcopter is the weather. Do not attempt to fly in rain or heavy winds. A couple of good places to fly around campus are at the lawn to the northeast of the EE building and at frat row. The first thing you need to do is ensure that you controller is configured properly. To do this, enter the menu and verify the following settings: Menu → System Settings→ ● Type Select - Heli, Heli 2, ● Modevat - PPM ● Stick Setup - Mode 2, Throttle Reverse: No

When choosing the stick setup, after selecting mode 2, an option saying “THRO REVERSE?” will appear. Press the “EXIT” button at this point to allow for normal throttle controls (see Figures 5a - c).

Fig. 5a: Configuring Turnigy stick setup - Menu screen

Fig. 5b: Configuring Turnigy stick setup - Choosing mode 2

Fig. 5c: Configuring Turnigy stick setup - select exit to decline throttle reverse option After you have configured your controller and connected the batteries on the quadcopter, you should be ready to go. Set it down on a flat surface and take a few steps back before takeoff. Be careful about setting it partially on tufts of grass, as on a windy day these will make it more likely that the quadcopter will tip on takeoff.

→ To start the quadcopter, turn the controller on and pull the two control sticks in and down, as shown below. To power down, pull the two control sticks out and down (Figures 6 and 7).

Fig. 6: Powering on the quadcopter with the Turnigy controller

Fig. 7: Powering off the quadcopter with the Turnigy controller

Once the quadcopter is on, you want to keep the left stick in the fully down position (no throttle) and the right stick in its normal position (centered). Then, ease the throttle up to about 50 percent, at which point your propellers will be spinning fast enough to be at or near takeoff. At this point, your RealFlight experience should kick in, so just fly around a bit and get used to dealing with the wind.

A few tips for a good flight ● Take it easy, especially on the first flight. Stability is your main priority,

especially for good camera shots. ● Get some practice landing a few times before going too far off the ground. ● It helps to keep in mind which way the quadcopter is “facing,” i.e. which way is

front/back and side/side. ● The wind currents shift as you go higher in the air. Especially if flying near a

building when you go above the roof. ● Use the Dragonstone Touch to take over and autopilot and land for you, if you get

too nervous.

Using the Dragon Touch Software The quadcopter can be flown autonomously using the Dragonstone Touchscreen Tablet (Figures 8 and 9) that is included with the UAV. To do this, activate the Tower 3DR app from the homepage of the tablet. Once open, the UAV and tablet can be paired up via bluetooth. The tablet and UAV have already been paired up from previous use but in case they are not linked; there is a button (“connect”) at the bottom of the tablet when the app is open that will do this if not synced automatically. If the UAV and tablet are synced up, there will be data about the UAV displayed in the parameters box in the top right. If they are not synced, there will be a “no signal” message displayed in the parameters box. To set up autonomous flight, select “flight editor” from the drop down box located where the flight history tab is in the top left of the screen. Once in flight editor, you can set up a flight mission for the UAV to perform. To do this, first clear any existing missions or waypoints already uploaded to the tablet and UAV. If not cleared the UAV will register the existing waypoints and mission parameters with the new ones that are inputted. Once cleared, you can begin setting up the mission parameters that you want the UAV to achieve. The display on the screen of the tablet will show an aerial google map view of the UAV and surroundings. Click on points on the screen to set up waypoints for the UAV. The waypoints will be listed in sequence, (ex. 1,2,3) and you can select what you want the UAV to do at each waypoint from the drop down box located above the parameters box. The waypoints can serve a variety of purposes such as loiter, hover, flip, takeoff, and land. Waypoint information such as altitude and “delay time before proceeding to the next waypoint” are also able to be set up here. When setting up the mission, be sure to list the first waypoint as take off, if starting from the ground, and the final waypoint should be set to land. Once the mission has been established, upload the mission to the UAV by selecting the dropdown box in the top right corner of the screen. Now, go back to flight history from the flight editor page. Once there, the mission can now be accomplished. First, use the “arm” button at the bottom of the screen to turn the UAV on and prepare to execute the mission. Once armed, use the “execute” button at the bottom of the screen to have the UAV start to fly the designed mission route. During flight at any time if the drone needs to be landed use the land button at the bottom of the screen to have the UAV land immediately. A home button location can also be set up for the drone to return to at any point. This can also override the manual controller for emergency landings.

Fig. 8: Tablet Image Front

Fig. 9: Back of Tablet (with antenna hookup)

Appendix A: Equipment and Setup The Appendix contains additional details and figures for the RunCam, the Setup and Help Videos, and the Hardware. Figure 10 shows the Run Cam Layout. Figure 11-21 show hardware images. RunCam HD

The RunCam is easy to use. To turn on, press the power button of Cam and the Indicator A button will flash blue before turning yellow. Pressing the shutter button will cause the camera to start recording and the Indicator will flash yellow. Pressing it again and the recording will stop. To charge the camera, use a standard Mini 5-Pin USB cable. When charging the Indicator will turn green and once fully charged the Indicator will turn off. Charging takes three hours typically. The MiscroSD will record any footage or images taken.

Fig. 10: RunCam Layout

Setup and Help Videos

DJI F450 User Manual http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/flamewheel/en/F450_User_Manual_v2.1_en.pdf

Turnigy 9X Controller Manual http://www.personal-drones.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Turnigy-9x.pdf

Tower 3DR App https://3dr.com/kb/tower-support/

RunCam HD User Manual http://www.runcam.com/download/RunCam-HD-manual.pdf

Hardware

Fig. 11: DJI F450 Quadcopter equipment

Fig. 12: DJI F450 receiver setup

Fig. 13: Transmitter hookup

Fig. 14: Transmitter on Channel 7

Fig. 15: Transmitter Battery Hookup

Fig. 16: Camera mount on DJI F450

Fig. 17: Camera Hookup

Fig. 18: Mounting the Black Pearl on the controller

Fig. 19: Charging the Black Pearl

Fig. 20: Motor Battery Hookup

Fig. 21: Charging a battery

Appendix B: Multirotor Flight Checklists Recommended checklists are shown below.

Mission planning [ ] Check default altitude [ ] Check distance [ ] Check mission time [ ] Upload mission [ ] Download mission again and check [ ] Set home altitude to relative altitude Preflight [ ] Environmental conditions above minimums [ ] Battery [ ] Payload [ ] Sensors [ ] Motors and props [ ] Turn on transmitter [ ] Turn on GCS [ ] Power UAV [ ] Confirm telemetry link [ ] Confirm video/datalink [ ] 3D GPS fix [ ] HDOP 2.0 or lower [ ] Check Home Location [ ] Confirm altitude set to relative [ ] Check Flight Modes [ ] Confirm payload is connected and powered [ ] Check UAV heading is confirmed by compass

Takeoff [ ] Set flight mode [ ] Arm UAV [ ] Prop rotation�� [ ] Takeoff flight path clear of obstacles Landing [ ] Check Landing Zone is clear [ ] Check wind direction and speed Shutdown�� [ ] Disarm UAV [ ] Record flight data [ ] Power off UAV [ ] Disconnect Telemetry [ ] Power off transmitter

Preflight Checklist, I have this here invisibly (white font) to allow Google Docs to recognize Appendix B as the beginning of a new section in the Outline

Appendix C: Flight Records using a Flight Log Flight logs should be recorded for every flight. Figure 22, 23, and 24 show a blank flight log, flight log instructions, and an example log, respectively.

Fig. 22: Detailed Flight Log (Blank)

Fig. 23: Instructions for the Flight Log

Fig. 24: Example Flight Log

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