Solo speed settings etc.

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

So not to hijack my other thread, i thought id start a new one.

I like some others (rich mccabe) feel the hole shot (or initial acceleration) of the solo to be sorely lacking.
with Rich's help (not the above rich) i found the params that seem to alter this behavior.
So i thought i would start a discussion with people smarter than me

Loiter Mode

page. The maximum horizontal speed of the copter during loiter mode can be adjusted with the Loiter Speed (aka WPNAV_LOIT_SPEED) parameter on the Config/Tuning >> Copter Pids screen. The value is expressed in cm/s so 500 = 5m/s. The maximum acceleration during Loiter mode is always 1/2 of the Loiter speed. The Loiter PID's P value

Now... in rabbit mode, this value is set to 1500, i can only change it to a max of 2000, which should give me a little better hole shot, but not nearly what im hoping for.

INteresting enough the other values.

Turtle Mode Rabbit

Speed 500 1500
Radius 200 200
Speed up 200 400
Speed dn 150 300
Loiter Speed 500 1500

So the rabbit turtle setting is directly affecting these values.

Im trying to figure out the max for each... It appears, like Rich said, the loiter speed controls hole shot, while the speed up and down is unknown to me at this point..
The speed value on its own at the top may just be how responsive it is to commands left right, etc.
I may try these all out later.

thoughts? any ability to override the max values it lets me in the app?

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

Just did a bit more searching and found this

WPNAV_ Parameters
Waypoint Horizontal Speed Target (WPNAV_SPEED)
Defines the speed in cm/s which the aircraft will attempt to maintain horizontally during a WP mission

Range: 0 2000
Increment: 50
Units: cm/s

Waypoint Radius (WPNAV_RADIUS)
Defines the distance from a waypoint, that when crossed indicates the wp has been hit.

Range: 100 1000
Increment: 1
Units: cm

Waypoint Climb Speed Target (WPNAV_SPEED_UP)
Defines the speed in cm/s which the aircraft will attempt to maintain while climbing during a WP mission

Range: 0 1000
Increment: 50
Units: cm/s

Waypoint Descent Speed Target (WPNAV_SPEED_DN)
Defines the speed in cm/s which the aircraft will attempt to maintain while descending during a WP mission

Range: 0 500
Increment: 10
Units: cm/s

Loiter Horizontal Maximum Speed (WPNAV_LOIT_SPEED)
Defines the maximum speed in cm/s which the aircraft will travel horizontally while in loiter mode

Range: 0 2000
Increment: 50
Units: cm/s

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

So what im gathering from the Speed up and Speed dn is they are the speed at which the aircraft moves to autocorrect a height change during a mission. So if we go from 200 ft to 100 ft , how fast it gets itself down to 100 ft. So i dont think either of those have anything to do with the hole shot.

So i just tested the loiter value at 2000. It may be a bit snappier, but not nearly what the P3P is..
There has to be a separate setting that will control that better.

Perhaps one of these settings.

Velocity (vertical) P gain (ArduCopter:VEL_Z_P)
Velocity (vertical) P gain. Converts the difference between desired vertical speed and actual speed into a desired acceleration that is passed to the throttle acceleration controller

Range: 1.000 8.000

Throttle acceleration controller P gain (ArduCopter:ACCEL_Z_P)
Throttle acceleration controller P gain. Converts the difference between desired vertical acceleration and actual acceleration into a motor output

Range: 0.500 1.500

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

So ive tried a few more settings and im STILL not sure its any better... although one of the settings helped its top speed

while in GPS mode

Jubalr · Jul 17, 2015

Dunginhawk said:
So ive tried a few more settings and im STILL not sure its any better... although one of the settings helped its top speed while in GPS mode

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Hey Ryan,
This isn't a dig; I have seen your videos and you obviously know how to fly well (Sunset flight to your brother's was nice). But I was just curious why you are trying to get max performance while in a GPS mode? With your flying ability it seems you would enjoy manual, stabilize or acro modes more and have incredible performance across the board. The way you are currently flying and testing performance, GPS is not doing anything anyway.
Thanks..
Jubal

rrmccabe · Jul 17, 2015

I will take a guess at his answer.

Because a lot of us thought the quad would fly 55 mph (per Colins videos) in normal mode. They never added the "in manual mode" as a disclaimer.

It would be nice to fly out 10,000' and then book home. Right now you really cant do that without flying it into the ground if you are not constantly paying attention.]

That and he is spoiled how the P3 takes off !

Thats my guess anyway

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

You are right on rich... I love the speed, but i hate the feeling of no control.
In gps i know that if i just let go, all will be well.
I like having direction, altitude etc all taken care of.
Im actually not a very good pilot, i just feel like i can take more risks in GPS mode because its a bail out.
If i were to start having issues in manual mode, id freak out and crash it... I dont have the head on my shoulders to navigate my way out of a bad situation.
I have all the settings worked out for speed etc like manual or acro , except acceleration.
ill try acro mode acceleration later.

my thought it, ill save the profile from acro mode, and save it from GPS mode and compare the differences.

erikgraham · Jul 17, 2015

Dunginhawk said:
You are right on rich... I love the speed, but i hate the feeling of no control.
In gps i know that if i just let go, all will be well.
I like having direction, altitude etc all taken care of.
Im actually not a very good pilot, i just feel like i can take more risks in GPS mode because its a bail out.
If i were to start having issues in manual mode, id freak out and crash it... I dont have the head on my shoulders to navigate my way out of a bad situation.
I have all the settings worked out for speed etc like manual or acro , except acceleration.
ill try acro mode acceleration later.

my thought it, ill save the profile from acro mode, and save it from GPS mode and compare the differences.

You could just train yourself to hit the Fly button when you freak out. That will set it to GPS

Jubalr · Jul 17, 2015

erikgraham said:
You could just train yourself to hit the Fly button when you freak out. That will set it to GPS

Well that was my thought as well. And 'GPS' isn't what keeps it stable, the IMU does. Letting go of the sticks in manual mode it will level it's self and drift what the wind, but not 'crash it'. And you can always hit the 'Pause' or 'Fly button. But that's fine, to each their own. I was just commenting on his video and the way he was flying it. As long as there are any inputs with the sticks, GPS isn't helping.

As far as the 55 speed, I remember seeing that in the specs and specs generally list extremes and max/min for various items. I guess they could have listed each possible mode and separate specs for each.

Keep playing with the speed settings Ryan, you will probably get what you are looking for, you just need the right combination.

Rich, not sure I understood your comment about booking it home without flying it into the ground. I know you have done enough FPV to fly it home as fast as it can go. And if you want it to fly faster in RTH, that speed is regulated by the WP Nav Speed setting.

rrmccabe · Jul 17, 2015

Well for me when I book home in gps mode right stick forward all the way and it will fly straight as an arrow and maintain altitude. Even with wind once you point it for home it heads that way. In manual of course you have to constantly correct for wind and with to solo it drops on altitude which probably comes from extra speed.

Dunginhawk · Jul 17, 2015

Yeah, i suppose you are right.. i need to explore the other modes more... Ill definitely do that soon.
So what would you say the best mode is for a flyer like me? that likes to tool around but still feel very much in control?

Ill just need to research the modes a bit more

Jubalr · Jul 18, 2015

Dunginhawk said:
Yeah, i suppose you are right.. i need to explore the other modes more... Ill definitely do that soon.
So what would you say the best mode is for a flyer like me? that likes to tool around but still feel very much in control?

Ill just need to research the modes a bit more

Definitely try manual mode which is actually called Alt Hold in other birds. You get the responsiveness you are looking for but it will still try to maintain altitude for you. You can let go of the sticks and it will level it's self.

rrmccabe · Jul 18, 2015

Jubalr said:
Definitely try manual mode which is actually called Alt Hold in other birds. You get the responsiveness you are looking for but it will still try to maintain altitude for you. You can let go of the sticks and it will level it's self.

Unfortunately in manual at speed it doesn't try very hard to maintain altitude. If it did I would fly manual mode often. You really have to watch your altitude reading on your app as its descending all the time. 3DR really did not do a very good job on their app as its not the easiest thing to watch.

rcflyingaddict · Sep 23, 2017

Did anyone ever net this out? What are the settings to get max speed in normal mode? Is 55 MPH achievable in normal mode?

PaulyDude · Oct 25, 2017

My buddy at work hit 58.5 mph in Fly:Manual, although we both suspect a tail wind was helping a bit.

PaulyDude · Oct 25, 2017

Has anyone found the parameter(s) to get max mph in Fly mode (Gps lock)?

Pedals2Paddles · Oct 25, 2017

There is no such thing as "normal mode".

In fly mode (ArduCopter loiter mode), the maximum speed is set by the turtle/rabbit slider. Turtle maxes out at 11mph. Rabbit maxes out at 33mph. The stick gets you a proportional speed of that max. For example, with the slider at full rabbit, putting the stick fully forward will get you 33mph. Putting the stick halfway forward will get you about 16mph. This is ground speed measured by GPS. If you're flying into a headwind, that will require more power than a tailwind for example.

In Manual mode (arducopter alt hold mode), it doesn't have a target speed. Instead it is lean angle. At turtle, the maximum lean angle is 20 degrees. At rabbit, the maximum lean angle is 35 degrees. The stick is controlling a proportional lean angle of that maximum. So there is no speed limit. You can go as fast as physics allow. Which depends greatly on the wind direction, and whether or not you want to sacrifice altitude for speed.

In both of the above modes, altitude will be maintained as long as it can. However there eventually comes a point where thrust is maxed out and it can't hold altitude anymore. It will not limit its speed to prevent the loss of altitude. The altitude will begin to decay once you exceed about 30-35mph. The wind will add or subtract to this.

If you want to go 50+ MPH, you will need to be in full rabbit and push the stick fully forward. Wind conditions dependent, you may get there. But you will be in a very rapid descent while doing it. You will not be doing 50+ MPH in level flight, unless you happen to have a 25mph tailwind pushing you.