Hi there!
Today i finished the construction of my “third” MikroKopter. In the moment the Mikrokopter is a “patchwork” of the other two that i buildt before.
I have made a lot of pictures to illustrate the construction of my very simple MikroKopter. I believe that it is possible to build it up in one day.
Another very cool thing is the new NaviCtrl, which is currently in testing-phase by the MK-Betatesters and will be available for the community in some weeks. It’s a board with an ARM9 32 Bit Mikrocontroller on it (STR911FA). There are also a lot of connections free to have a lot of fun. For example: GPS, MK3Mag, USB, I²C, SPI, UART, … That means that the MikroKopter community has a new “playground” for the next months.
Of course the new NaviCtrl works best together with the MKGPS1 (a GPS board with an ublox LEA-4H chip) and MK3Mag (a three-dimensional magnetic sensor – which is used as a compass). With the actual releases for the Betatesters of the Mikrokopter community i can say that the MikroKopter stays in the air in a way that you would NEVER expect.
I have also filmed the autonomous position hold. I will try to put the video online in the next days.
Ok, enough written – here are some pictures:
So the MikroKopter gets more stable and now it’s time to test the FPV CCD camera from Sony together with the EPI-OSD (on screen display) and my video goggles.
More later…
Speedy
Hallo Speedy!
Ich verfolge nun Deine Entwicklungen schon einige Wochen – Hut ab! Da mich nun selbst das MK-Fieber erwischt hat und ich gerade am löten der BL-Ctrl´s bin, stellte sich die Frage der Verkabelung. Deine Variante mit der Spinne finde ich Spitze. Meine Frage dazu – 4x direkt zu den BL, 1x zum Akku, 1x zur FlghtCtrl (d.h. sobald ich den Akku anstecke haben die BL´s Strom, die Flight Ctrl erst nach einschalten des Kippschalters – oder???) Bitte um kurze Hilfe bin noch ganz grün hinter meinen MK-Ohren. DANKE!
Hi Bernhard,
Ja, du hast das richtig gesehen, ich verwende die “Spinne” so, dass sie im Kreuzungspunkt 6 Kabel hat. 4 zu den BLs, 1 zum Akku und 1 zur FC. Ich habe inzwischen auf den Schalter an der FC verzichtet und schalte den Kopter dadurch ein, dass ich den LiPo anstecke.
Da mir schon 2 Schalter aufgrund des hohen Stromes kaputt gegangen sind. (Damals hatte ich noch nicht die “Spinnenmethode” und darum ist der ganze Strom über den Schalter geflossen).
Eigentlich spricht auch nix dagegen, trotzdem den Schalter auf der FC zu lassen – Ist aber nicht unbedingt nötig. – Geschmackssache.
Gruß,
Speedy
Hi, please can you tell me where can i find more information about the MKGPS1 board ?
Hi Olivier,
The MKGPS1 board is a prototype, which is currently tested by the Mikrokopter – Betatesters. It is a board with an UBLOX chip (LEAH4). It will be available in the MK-Shop in the next month(s).
Details of the Ublox-Chip and GPS in general you can find here: http://www.u-blox.com/
The board is nearly the same as the GPS-mouse described in this article: http://speedyweb.at/start/2007/08/13/gps-mikrokopter-i/
Greeings,
Speedy
Hello Speedy,
Do you know if the NaviCTRL will work with the FltCTRL v1.0 ?
Thanks,
Serge
Hi Serge,
Yes, that’s no problem. The communication of the FC and the NaviCtrl is based on SPI, so the second UART (which isn’t present on the FC 1.0) is not really necessary.
Hello again,
When NaviCTRL is connected to FC, where to connect sercon for deugging with KopterTool? Do I have to disconnect NaviCTRL?
Thanks,
Serge
Hi Serge,
It is possible to connect only the SPI interface of the FC to the NaviCtrl and the serial interface to the SerCon. If you want to debug the NaviCtrl values, you can connect the SerCon to the debugging connection on the NaviCtrl. The MK-Tool will detect the NaviCtrl and display the debug values of the NaviCtrl.
Hope that this was useful for you,
Greetings – Speedy
Hi Speedy,
Yes but SV1 is I2C interface and not SPI. If I disconnect SV1 and just leave SV5 (SPI) it does not work. So maybe I leave SV1 but cut the Tx and Rx pins and use those for connection to sercon?
It seems both SPI and I2C interfaces are used between FlightCTRL and NaviCTRL?
Thanks,
Serge
Hi Serge,
Oh – Sorry my fault – You should connect the SerCon additionally to the connection of FC and FlightCtrl (I’ve thought of something different, when I explained that before).
So you should use a cable that connects all three components: FlightCtrl, NaviCtrl and Sercon.
Greetings,
Speedy
Hi Speedy. Could you please explain how did you connect two bright LEDs on Flightctrl board? I? I understand right, they works in parallel with original green and red leds on the FC?
On board layout connector named as “SERVO and LED”, but there is viltage on pins.
Thanks
Hi Dimtri,
Which Version of the FlighCtrl do you have? I think 1.3 (Here is a 1.2 used)
I connected the LEDs to J16 and J17 of the FlightCtrl.
In your case you have to connect the LED from +5V (Servo) to Pin 1 or/and Pin 5 of the “Servo and LED” Port. So you can control the LEDs by the MK-Tool. (Ports PC2 and PC3). The direction of the LED has to be from +5V to the Pins.
A 100Ohm Resistor to limit the current is already integrated to the design.
Hope that is what you wanted/expected.
(For details see schematic of FlightCtrl 1.3 in the Wiki http://www.mikrokopter.de/files/Flight-Ctrl_1_3_doku.pdf)
Greetings, Speedy
Hi Speedy, thanks for explanations. Maybe I have spoofed you a bit, I just thought that you somehow “doubled” two small red and green leds on FC as they are almost invisible at daylight.