Looking for help with the Tower app

[rrmccabe]

@erikgraham I just ran another mission and it flew exactly the way you suggested keeping focus on the ROI.

So still not sure what the deal is with previous mission unless the circle function includes a line to the circle from the last way point. So after I hit that way point its new focus was a line straight to the center of the circle. I had one way point after the circle but it was so close to home it would be hard to tell if it was heading towards the ROI or the way point.

Regardless you were correct. I can see where having it stay on ROI as you moved around objects would be beneficial but really needs to be a method to break ROI when you desire.

On another note, I added about 4 extra way points after launch and inserted my speed in there. Flew slow the entire mission then. So there is a speed bug for sure.

The potential for Tower is very cool. But its a long way from being ready for mainstream.

 

[erikgraham]

Glad it worked out for you.

The circle function actively changes your heading. So it makes sense that will take over yaw from an ROI. Better to drop a path of waypoint crumbs leading to the circle, if you know what I mean.

Tower develops fast so keep an eye out for constant updates. It's changed so much it's kinda amazing.

 

[rrmccabe]

I assume there is no exchange format between MP and tower? And it appears that with MP you need to know actual altitude of location and calculate all your way points off that?

Just looked at it briefly !!

 

[Jubalr]

I assume there is no exchange format between MP and tower? And it appears that with MP you need to know actual altitude of location and calculate all your way points off that?

Just looked at it briefly !!

Hey Rich, One thing that is kind of neat with MP (not sure if it has been added to Tower yet) is the ability to take terrain into alt adjustments. There is a check box at the bottom called 'Verify Height'. What that does is a sort of Terrain Following feature. If you set a mission altitude of 100' and there is a hill/valley along the route it will adjust (based on Google Terrain Data) the altitude of the drone to maintain the set altitude for that route. Kind of a cool option I think.

 

[Raybro]

Hey Rich, One thing that is kind of neat with MP (not sure if it has been added to Tower yet) is the ability to take terrain into alt adjustments. There is a check box at the bottom called 'Verify Height'. What that does is a sort of Terrain Following feature. If you set a mission altitude of 100' and there is a hill/valley along the route it will adjust (based on Google Terrain Data) the altitude of the drone to maintain the set altitude for that route. Kind of a cool option I think.

I don't know if I would want to try that. Maybe if it worked in real time. Some of these maps are old and there may be new obstacles.

 

[Jubalr]

I don't know if I would want to try that. Maybe if it worked in real time. Some of these maps are old and there may be new obstacles.

Agreed! You certainly wouldn't want to use it where the recently put up a 5 story building. But for out in the country it would probably be fine at 75-100'.

 

[Raybro]

I assume there is no exchange format between MP and tower? And it appears that with MP you need to know actual altitude of location and calculate all your way points off that?

Just looked at it briefly !!

Have you done any missions out of radio range yet? Curious if it initiates RTH or not.
I've done 1 mission so far. I'll have some time to play around this weekend.

I had to order an HDMI to HDMI mini cable from Amazon. I want to see if I can get some streaming video over my monitor while on a Tower mission. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow.

 

[erikgraham]

Mission planner is the grand daddy. It's the most full featured, but the UI is dated. Feels very 90s.

APM and DroidPlanner/Tower are less evolved but they give you Mac and Android. Personally, I prefer Tower to Mission Planner. I plan missions on a nice big tablet, then copy the missions to my phone (which I prefer to fly with).

I'd be careful relying on the terrain data. Those features are really more in there for fixed wing drones. I suggest scouting a spot manually and taking down notes on altitudes.

 

[erikgraham]

Have you done any missions out of radio range yet? Curious if it initiates RTH or not.
I've done 1 mission so far. I'll have some time to play around this weekend.

I had to order an HDMI to HDMI mini cable from Amazon. I want to see if I can get some streaming video over my monitor while on a Tower mission. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow.

Well I haven't done it on the Solo yet, but to plan a mission beyond range for my Iris+, I first disable the fence. Don't want an RTH to get triggered. Then you just plan the mission, making sure that the final way point bring it back in range so you can take over for the landing.

With the Fence off, once the mission is loaded on the drone it will run it no matter how far away you send it. I try to limit my missions to 1,000 meters but I've done one for a mile down a river. In that case I jumped in a car and drove to the end point and waited for the drone to arrive.

 

[Raybro]

Well I haven't done it on the Solo yet, but to plan a mission beyond range for my Iris+, I first disable the fence. Don't want an RTH to get triggered. Then you just plan the mission, making sure that the final way point bring it back in range so you can take over for the landing.

With the Fence off, once the mission is loaded on the drone it will run it no matter how far away you send it. I try to limit my missions to 1,000 meters but I've done one for a mile down a river. In that case I jumped in a car and drove to the end point and waited for the drone to arrive.

What is the fence set to I wonder. Also what is the parameter called?

 

[KRVer]

I tested Tower yesterday with loss of radio communication. It did indeed initiate a RTH. Once Solo was back in range, I could take control again and loiter or resume mission.

I believe I recall seeing something in the parameters about the geo-fencing but don't recall exactly what the parameter was. I didn't mess with it.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[rrmccabe]

I have not flown mine more than 400' as I don't trust the missions yet. Was just trying it out. Erik's comment about MP feeling very 90s is spot on !

To be honest I am not going to worry too much about Tower or MP at this point as I am just waiting for the gimbal to come out and see how it stacks up. If the entire GoPro experience doesn't blow me away I will probably be sending it back anyway as I think 3DR is just too far behind on development.

 

[KRVer]

Here's a screen shot of the Parameters (from Tower) that I found on Solo having to do with the fence...

 

[erikgraham]

Here's a screen shot of the Parameters (from Tower) that I found on Solo having to do with the fence...

View attachment 344

With those settings you should be able to fly as far as you want, but get a warning if you fly above 103 meters. Your fence type is altitude only. If you changed your fence type to 3, then you would also have to stay within 3,000 meters from home.

Also, your fence action is set to 0, so that means it will only report back to you through tower that it's breached the fence, it won't do anything. If you set FENCE_ACTION to 1, then it would RTH.

More info here:
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/configuration/arducopter-parameters/#fence_type_fence_type

 

[KRVer]

Hmmm... you're right about only reporting back. I have hit my max altitude and had a RTH, but not while auto flying in Tower, now that I think about it.

The max altitude is correct for what I set in the Solo app -- 335 feet = 103 meters

http://copter.ardupilot.com/?s=FENCE_TYPE&submit=Search

 

[Raybro]

Cool, good to know.