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Hi, this video will be given in French,
for English speakers please activate the subtitles (obviously already done).
In this video I'll show you the 3DR Y6, a foldable drone, with a pixhawk autopilot (running ardupilot).
Here is the drone, I'll show you all the parts which is made of, I'll show you the computer connexion.
For a more action video, you can click on the link here somewhere
and there I'll fly it and show you the drone in action. Here I'll just talk
of its functionalities, of the things to think of to build it and how to connect it to the computer and plan a mission.
I love to travel and when I do I like to make aerial videos.
To do this I had this DJI Naza with a F550 body,
I choose an hexacopter to carry enough weight but it is quite big.
I had to find a luggage big enough to carry it, there it is.
It is a luggage designed for Brompton bicycles, it is the exact maximum size to use it as a normal luggage when I travel by plane.
But still it is quite difficult tu carry it when one travels, especially if one doesn't have a car.
So for my next travel I bought the 3DR Y6 which is foldable
and fits in a normal luggage way easier to carry than the other drone with the big luggage.
And it is even possible to carry it in a backpack, of course I can't close it
But still it is quite easy to go sightseeing with the drone.
I could have choosen a DJI Phantom 2
But choosing the Phantom would have meant that I would have had to make some concessions I was not ready to make.
So this one seems to be the perfect compromise.
Now I'll unfold it.
The unfloding is not really fast.
You need to unscrew scews (that can be done without screwdriver fortunatelly)
Here is the drone unfolded.
Now we'll look at the different components of the drone.
We have the GPS tracker (as always),
the radio receiver from Graupner,
the telemotry module which allow to see the batteries voltage,
and a thermometer so I'll be able to fly above volcanoes while knowing the temperature around the drone,
the GPS module,
the telemetry module from 3DR,
I use two telemery modules because the 3DR one requires a connection to a PC, a tablet or a smartphone
When travelling, it is easier to get telemetry info on the remote using this module.
They are redudant, the 3DR gives way more informations.
Whe have here the pixhawk
and the speaker which allows the pixhawk to communicate summarily.
On the other side,
we find the video emitter.
There are smaller ones so I'll change it but for now I use this one.
A brushless gimbal for GoPro 3 and GoPro 3+
a Tarot T2-D
Here there is a voltage regulator delivering 5V
I use these small regulators for the first time,
there are quite impressive since they can deliver 1,8A
Before I used a separate battery to power the gimbal, the video emitter, the GPS tracker etc. Now I only use the main batteries and these regulators.
There is another regulator here for the 12V.
I can connect two batteries in parallel like in my previous drone.
And of course we have the six motors
Do not forget that the propellers on the bottom must have their cambered side on the top so they must be mounted bottom side up.
Now I'll open the hood.
This part can be removed.
Here there is the power distribution panel.
The power module that always comes with ardupilot or pixhawk.
And here the connectors for the ESCs (motor controlers).
I'll put the GoPro in the gimbal.
The problem with this gimbal is that you must use scews to fix the GoPro.
It always take some time to put the camera or remove it.
I use a GoPro 3 Black and not a 3+ Black, if you wonder why you can see my comparison video by clicking on the link here.
I connect the GoPro.
Here I have a connector to power the GoPro with the 5V regulator and to ouput the video and giving it to the video transmitter.
I screw the fixation for the GoPro.
I must have my screwdriver always with me if I want to put or remove the GoPro.
If one forgets the screwdriver it is not really convenient.
Beside this inconvenient, this is a really good gimbal, you can see it in the demonstration video.
Here is the GoPro fixed on the drone.
And now I put the power.
The gimbal takes some time to initialize. It is initialized.
With the turning *** I can tilt the camera.
Normally the gimbal receive the input from the pixhawk which gets it from the Graupner receiver,
but there was a bug again with ardupilot so I had to connect the gimbal directly to the Graupner receiver.
You can see that the gimbal performs a fine job.
I touched the camera.
I am very satisfied with the results of this gimbal.
I'll show you the video reception, I have my screen here
to show the real time video. With the dual antennas receiver
that I show you in the demonstration video.
I power and plug the receiver.
I turn on the camera of course.
And here I am on the screen.
You can connect the video to the computer using an easycap device.
This a question people ask me often : "How do I get the video on my computer?"
I use a progam, here manycam, any program that shows your webcam works (ie even skype).
And there you see the video stream on the computer.
I prefer the small screen because it is more bright and designed for outside use
and the "carryable computer" (laptop) is less carryable even though it is a "carryable computer"
Two remarks about this drone.
First the Y6 has two motors/propellers configurations
There is the Y6 A and Y 6B (The propellers and rotation changes)
Make sure you load the correct parameter file correspondig of your configuration.
Or else you won't take off and you'll break your propellers.
I had a small problem because
somebody told me I had a B version but it was smounted as a A configuration.
Always mount a B version because the A version is not stable in the yaw.
That means the drone will turn like this when it is flying. 0:11:15.480,0:11:11:29.560 Then the Graupner receiver is connected to the pixhawk using PPM, that means it uses only one cable. This is the cable connected to the gimbal.
To connect in PPM the receiver Graupner
In the remote control -and it is not obvious that's why I am telling you about it-
You have to go in telemetry.
Settings & data view
you go to RX servo test because you have many pages here
and the last option here you must select sumo 8
if you leave the default value you won't output in PPM and the pixhawk will not get your actions.
I found a small bug in PPM mode.
If you use the failsafe you have the hold mode and position mode.
Hold mode makes the receiver keeping the last position of the stick on the remote before loosing the reception of the remote.
Pos is making the receiver to swith to a default value when the remote connexion is lost.
Pos can be used for example to switch automatically to auto flying mode when loosing the connection with the remote control.
So that the drone stays or switch to autopilot if the remote connection is lost.
There is also a small trick I used on my other drone it is to put a small amount of yaw.
so in pos mose so that when the connection with the remote is lost,
the drone turns on itself and the receiver antenna gets repositionned to have a better signal with the remote.
Using the PPM, pos doesn't work, it is always on hold mode no matter what you put here.
And that also means I have to be in auto mode before loosing the connection with the drone or else it won't follow its mission when it gets disconnected with the remote.
Now I am going to connect the drone to the computer.
And we'll see some of of mission planner functionalities.
The drone is connected through the 3DR telemetry module to mission planner.
Here you can find the real time datas. 0:13:57.640,0:14:14:09.470 The battery voltage, the current etc. you can add any info that you can dream of, it is a very complete program... when there is no bugs.
We have the HUD with the altitude, the tilt, the artificial horizon, the flight mode,
I'll talk about that in a minute; Again the battery voltage, the current,
and the GPS signal quality, here I am inside so it is poor.
I'll talk about the flight plan.
To make a flight plan it is easy, we have here the list of every waypoints. 0:14:52.330,0:14:15:03.420 And you just need to click on the map to give waypoints that'll be followed in the numerical order.
If you want the drone to face another direction than the next waypoint, you click right on the map for exemple I want the drone to face here.
And select set ROI
That creates a new point in the list that you must place between the concerned point, so for exemple.
I can put it between the 1 and the 3, the 3 was the 2 but the ROI took the number 2.
The drone will take off, go to waypoint 1,
face the ROI number 2 while going to waypoint 3
It will turn while it flies to waypoint 3 to always face waypoint 2
then it'll go to the waypoint 4 facing it and then the 5 etc.
Of course you can put multiple ROI if you want the drone to keep facing this point (or something else)
On the waypoint view
there are other king of points than waypoints like loiter unlimited.
this is usefull to ask the drone to stay where it is when it gets to this point, here the number 7.
It is very usefull with a plane to avoid that the plane goes away.
This is the small demo of the fligh plan
You can also give real time commands but that I'll show in the demonstration video (tablet version)
I'll talk about the flight modes
Here the flight modes
You can select six flight modes and usually it is problematic to
make a six position switch.
If you have a Graupner remote
you can go to my video explaining how to set up the radio to make a six position switch using a two position and a three position switch.
The link appears here somewhere.
You can see using thse two switches, this is a two position switch and this one a three position switch.
You can see that I can select any flight mode, here I am in loiter.
here in stabilize
Here in altitude hold, you can see the green color which is the selected flight mode.
If I switch this switch.
I switch to return to launch
Here loiter super simple which is the same as Home lock with GPS in DJI
In this mode the front of the drone is the oposite than the take off point and not the real front of the drone anymore.
we control the drone as if it virtually faces on the oposite side of its taking off point (home).
In the demonstration video I'll talk about this (tablet version).
And auto so the drone will follow its flight plan.
I'll show the Graupner telemetry, I have the altitude,
the battery voltage,
I can't get the current because
the telemetry module can't handle the total current to I can't use it for that.
And here the temperature on sensor 1.
As I said, sometimes it is quite important.
voilĂ
When you buy the 3DR telemetry, you get this cable, it is an USB on the go cable that allows you to connect
the telemetry module to a tablet or a smartphone equipied with USB on the go, so all the smartphones or tablets aren't compatible.
I'll make a demonstration video specific to the tablet connection, the program (droidplanner) is not as complete as mission planner on the computer.
When I made that video, the link will display here.
Thanks for watchin, I hope this video helped you to build your drone or to find a drone that suits your needs.
Again, don't hesitate to watch the demonstration video to see the drone in action.
See you soon.