Hello friends,
After making my first MWC successfully, i had this idea of making a controller here in Bangalore. pl see by earlier build thread.
http://www.rcindia.org/self-designed-diy-and-college-projects/quad-using-arduino-and-wii-mp-and-nunchuck/

This idea was mainly to offer a stable Multi rotor controller using genuine Gyros, Accelerometers, Barometer and the Magnetometer.

This is not my original design.
I made this design after going thru several threads on Multi Wii controllers in RCGroups.com. I have spent not less than 150 hours, reading various posts and also have made 2 prototypes before making this design.
My objective here is to make a simple plug and play controller, at minimal cost, implementing all the knowhow's and the learning curve that many people have gone through in making this.
Since I am associated with Peninsula Electronics, I was able to turn around this design using the in-house facility. Now I am ready with the PCB design and  want to go ahead and order the components for a Min lot.

This is a very very small qty to make a business proposal to Peninsula. So i am getting this done thru Peninsula, using my personal influence at a cost + small margin model.


I want to fix the minimum lot by finding the response to this from you guys. So pl share with me if you will be interested to buy this and also the qty.

The proposed pricing will be amound,
1. Basic Gyro only version: 3300.00
2. Basic Gyro+ Accelerometer:3700.00
3. Full version with Gyro, accelerometer, Barometer and Magnetometer: TBD


I am aware of the KK Copter pricing from Hobbyking. But This has additional accelerometer, Barometer and the Magnetometer. And more than any thing else it has the open source advantage. This board has few i/o pins brought out thru the FET and you can write whatever code and control these lines, for ex LED blinking, Servos etc.

And finally, this attempt is not to make  money. There is'nt any in such low volumes. My attempt is to make  an excellent controller available at a reasonable cost to this community.


Here is the link to the preliminary manul. pl go thru and comment
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7CHSuX5N-_kNzA5MDM1NzgtZTlmMi00MTk5LWJkNGItYmIxNDIxNjUzNTRh&hl=en_US&authkey=CIrMqrUG

best regards
ashta

come on guys!.
no body interested!!!
In that case i have to think twice....

Ashta Sir,

I am interested for the one with all Gyros, accelerometer, Barometer and Magnetometer. If all are available in one COB it is really amazing I must say.

surely sundaramvelar.
i think that people have not understood what this board is.
Did you read the intitial specs of the board in the link.

Request all who are interesed, to read this and comment.


best regards
ashta

Ashta Sir, count me in for one unit. You are the best judge to decide what will suit a beginner. Sending you a PM on this.

Welcome back after a long hiatus.

Warm regards.

Yes Ashta sir I have read the initial specs from the google.docs link. It is a very good effort to bring all the features on one PCB. The user friendlessness of the design is the most appreciated.

From what I see you have tried to incorporate many cool features to plug all hitches and probs faced by You during your Quad based on Nunchuk and Wii controller. additional features like LED drivers for beautification of the Model and USB interface for ease of programing is all Very Nice.

I'm quite surprised at the lack of response too. Seems like a good deal considering the quality of the components used. Though I already have a different setup I'm yet to put to use, I'd be interested in one too.

Very nice effort by Ashta sir. I think it would generate a lot more response if you post a video of your board flying a quad. All the best!

-Ismail

I have already communicated my interest on more than one unit, as there are couple of people interested in building quads/tris here.

great effort

Astha Sir,
Really A Great Thing. I will definately like to try the "Full version with Gyro, accelerometer, Barometer and Magnetometer" .
Please let me know the price.

BWST WISHES,
Vivek

Quote from: RotorZone on June 07, 2011, 01:08:27 PM
I'm quite surprised at the lack of response too. Seems like a good deal considering the quality of the components used. Though I already have a different setup I'm yet to put to use, I'd be interested in one too.

thanks rajesh.
pl go thru the manual criticaly and give me some suggestions. I will be releasing the PCB fab this week. i can try and incorporate.

Quote from: izmile on June 07, 2011, 01:41:19 PM
Very nice effort by Ashta sir. I think it would generate a lot more response if you post a video of your board flying a quad. All the best!

thanks. video is there in my proto build. It is with the same but proto board. Only Gyro. here is the video

Quote from: vivek.sharma on June 07, 2011, 02:07:55 PM
Really A Great Thing. I will definately like to try the "Full version with Gyro, accelerometer, Barometer and Magnetometer" .
Please let me know the price.

dear vivek,
the full version is not tested yet. so i will price it only after i do that. That is why i have put as TBD, to be decided. The basic PCB will support. The gyro version in  itself vey stable as u can see in the video.
best regards
ashta

I'm in love with it already..............

Astha sir,

I am sure that the requirement of your board surely increased in near future from the various engineering projects and students as per my small knowledge. So, dont get upset.

As a beginner, I am presently concentrating my reflex in simulator, but surely later I need this, though I am not confirming at present.

Thanks.

One idea which I have had for a while after seeing someone start RC flying (first ever attempt) with a Gaui 330XS was to tweak the code to provide somewhat of a fully stabilized mode. Basically, something like a FlyMentor, where the beginner lets go of the sticks, and the quad stabilizes into a hover. 

Put in other ways, instead of getting a 450 size heli as a learning platform, get a quad that is less dangerous. And if done right with some kind of "cage" design (or even prop savers), so that damage is minimal.

Correct me if I misunderstood your requirement, but the accelerometer version should do this already.

Well, I can't say without testing again on one with an accelerometer... for example, if I had it moving forward i.e, applied forward elevator, then let the sticks go, would it stop in its tracks and come to a completely stable hover, or would it continue to move forward ?

Secondly, the code, if possible, has to prevent the quad from tilting the quad beyond a certain angle, regardless of the continuous application of stick input.  So a beginner cannot make it go 90 degrees or inverted. Not sure if this is possible without some kind of visual/video input of the horizon.

Anwar bhai, from whatever limited knowledge I have, your idea can be implemented through the GAIN...

Nope... not from what I know.  Gain is something completely different.

It will level if you let go of sticks. But if you want position hold, you need GPS or a camera (like in flymentor).

Limiting the angle is definitely possible. But I'm not familiar with the multiwii software to know if it is implemented. 

Quote from: RotorZone on June 08, 2011, 09:33:24 AM
Limiting the angle is definitely possible. But I'm not familiar with the multiwii software to know if it is implemented. 

That was my thought too... it will take something like continuously keeping track of the values (like integration in maths) over time to figure out how much tilted it is, not sure how accurate this will be.

You have to depend on integration if you had gyros alone. The drift in gyros and quantization would cause error to creep in. With accelerometer you have a reference vector for gravity and thus can determine absolute angle. You have to correct errors in accelerometer too with gyro data, I believe you yourself have posted some material on this.

Yes, how well this works in practice is the issue, as either gyros and accelerometers alone will not be sufficient, and then remains the weightage for each.  Even with both, yaw drift may still be an issue.

In a nutshell... testing, documenting and  incorporating such features into the default code shipped would further enhance the marketability of this board.