Review - FMA's new Co-Pilot II

[nightflyr]

There are always possibilities..

[Adventurer]

Originally Posted by jperkosk

Don't believe it can be safely done with GPS only. GPS signal has typically a few meters worth of drift, sometimes more, depending on reception and on how many satellites the unit is seeing.

They could do it with infra-red, I guess, they certainly know how to use IR. But it would have the same problems as Flymentor, lack of resolution at altitude.

Originally Posted by jperkosk

Return-to-home is the name of the game, methinks. And no, it's not that tricky at all, but you need the right Rx, not every Rx out there lets you customize all channels on failsafe. I did some tests on AR7000 and it wouldn't let me set the collective pitch in failsafe mode, it insists on keeping the last value (image of a signal loss in mid-turn comes to mind ).

The issue would be the selection of the correct receiver, my Ar6200 holds all channels except throttle at the last known position till the cows come home. Signal loss in a turn with this receiver will pretty much guarantee maximum damage to the heli, and whatever or whomever it hits on the ground. I'd like to meet the rokect scientist that came-up with this one. I can see FMA support people being inundadted with calls from crashed heli owners complaining that it didn't save their heli, but they're running the wrong RX or just the wrong fail-safes.

Originally Posted by jperkosk

Throttle servo to idle-up RPM (CP2 doesn't manage the throttle channel at all so we can't kill the throttle if we want the heli to return)

I can't see the safety police accepting this. Even-though it will make things safer because the heli won't come down.

Originally Posted by jperkosk

The problem with return-to-home that I can see is that CP2 would have to do a bit of collective management to maintain he altitude, wouldn't it? Vertical position drift of a GPS signal is much bigger than the horizontal one, but maybe it would be stable enough for 30s or so that are required to bring your baby back?

The vertical issue less of a problem, I think. Just set the altitude hold high enough to keep the heli above roof height (user setable) allowing for worst-case drift. So if the vertical drift is +-10ft, then set the height above roof-height +10. The fun comes if you can't regain control of the heli, and it's just sitting there till it runs out of juice. You could probably go put a matrass under it

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by Adventurer

The vertical issue less of a problem, I think. Just set the altitude hold high enough to keep the heli above roof height (user setable) allowing for worst-case drift. So if the vertical drift is +-10ft, then set the height above roof-height +10. The fun comes if you can't regain control of the heli, and it's just sitting there till it runs out of juice. You could probably go put a matrass under it

I did some tests a few years back and under some unfavorable conditions (I live on 6000' altitude, high plains surrounded by some relatively distant mountains, but generally excellent view of the sky) I measured over a hundred of meters (300 feet) vertical drift within the period of 3-4 minutes .

It's not that apparent in most applications because normally we care about a horizontal fix only.

Originally Posted by nightflyr

There are always possibilities..

Night, stop being so enigmatic, you'll drive me insane!!! An auxiliary vertical gyro-based altitude tracking sensing? IR distance-measuring laser system incorporated into the vertical sensor? Naah, they get insanely expensive over a few meters of the range... Ultrasonic? Cheap, but not very reliable, cost and power go quickly up with the distance....

[nightflyr]

jperkosk I did some tests a few years back and under some unfavorable conditions (I live on 6000' altitude, high plains surrounded by some relatively distant mountains, but generally excellent view of the sky) I measured over a hundred of meters (300 feet) vertical drift within the period of 3-4 minutes .

It's not that apparent in most applications because normally we care about a horizontal fix only.

This would indicate flight angles need a little tweaking in your application


Night, stop being so enigmatic, you'll drive me insane!!! An auxiliary vertical gyro-based altitude tracking sensing? IR distance-measuring laser system incorporated into the vertical sensor? Naah, they get insanely expensive over a few meters of the range... Ultrasonic? Cheap, but not very reliable, cost and power go quickly up with the distance....

All I can say is be patient my friend... there are things in R&D that may well surprise you in the not so distant future.

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

jperkosk I did some tests a few years back and under some unfavorable conditions (I live on 6000' altitude, high plains surrounded by some relatively distant mountains, but generally excellent view of the sky) I measured over a hundred of meters (300 feet) vertical drift within the period of 3-4 minutes .

It's not that apparent in most applications because normally we care about a horizontal fix only.

This would indicate flight angles need a little tweaking in your application

Here I go again not making myself clear . This was before my heli addiction, it was a GPS signal vertical drift, I did it with a Garmin Trex (lol) hiking GPS to find out how the accuracy of GPS has improved after they stopped degrading the civilian signal with Selective Availability.

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Night, stop being so enigmatic, you'll drive me insane!!! An auxiliary vertical gyro-based altitude tracking sensing? IR distance-measuring laser system incorporated into the vertical sensor? Naah, they get insanely expensive over a few meters of the range... Ultrasonic? Cheap, but not very reliable, cost and power go quickly up with the distance....

All I can say is be patient my friend... there are things in R&D that may well surprise you in the not so distant future.

I know, I know...

[Sabre22]

Hi just want to know if the CP2 will work with the T-rex 500 EFL pro with the micro beast installed?

Thanks
Will

[n6nev]

YUP, does just fine... take off first then activate the CP2......

[Sabre22]

Originally Posted by n6nev

YUP, does just fine... take off first then activate the CP2......

n6nev, thanks for the reply how would hook up the connections? Can you some pictures of your setup?

Thanks

[n6nev]

A photo will not help that much, but I will talk you thru it.....Larry

[u2builder]

Hi, I ordered a Co-pilot 2 for my Trex 500 electric, but after doing more reading I am wondering if it will work in the field in front of my house. The space is about 600 feet long and 200 feet wide, but is surrounded by trees that are about 75 feet tall on the sides of the field, and hills that are about 500 feet high further out.

The "angle" to see clear sky is about 45 degrees to the east and west and about 25 degrees to the south assuming I am somewhere in the middle. The angle would get even steeper if I flew near the "sides" of the field.

[SKYQUEST]

Originally Posted by u2builder

Hi, I ordered a Co-pilot 2 for my Trex 500 electric, but after doing more reading I am wondering if it will work in the field in front of my house. The space is about 600 feet long and 200 feet wide, but is surrounded by trees that are about 75 feet tall on the sides of the field, and hills that are about 500 feet high further out.

The "angle" to see clear sky is about 45 degrees to the east and west and about 25 degrees to the south assuming I am somewhere in the middle. The angle would get even steeper if I flew near the "sides" of the field.

You will be totally fine unless you get REAL close to those trees. (Or if the sky vs ground temp is not above a 10 degree difference...but that's every CPII) Make sure you set it up as per nightflyr's build sticky and youll love it!

[SKYQUEST]

Man, this thread has SO many posts! The title should be changed from FMAs "new" co pilot II to just 'co pilot II review.' But, after 20 days, editing is no longer available (dont get that one...every other rc site can be edited indefinetly.)

Thats the problem w/ threads that have too many posts to read through. One can't find the answer they're seeking if they have a question / issue.
But, thats where a new post comes in I guess...

I cant believe there's 88K views on this single thread! WOW!

[u2builder]

Thank's Skyquest. I was beginning to worry. I will just practice near the middle of the field and go to the club field when I develop more skill. I am at the point where I can hover sort of OK on a buddy box, but will occassionally "lose it" and need my instructor to take over. I'll have him check it all out and preflight it once I get it installed and practice at the club field. Then maybe I will be able to practice alone from my home field, which will give me much more chance to practice.

[u2builder]

Thanks Skyquest. I was a little worried when I read more about it.

I have been on the buddy box and can hover sort of OK, but I let my instructor take it once in a while. I will have him check it out after I do the install at our club field.

But I am hoping I can practice at my home field because I don't get in much practice at the club field with everyone else taking turns. I had not dared to do this on my own because there is no doubt that I would crash, but I am hoping with a little more instruction and CP-2 I can get in more practice at home. I can stay in the middle of the field at its widest point and take it to the club field when I want to fly greater distances or fly a bit higher to get more out of the tree shadow once I get the hang of it.

[Emagdnim]

Nightflyr where did you get those skids on your Heli?

[nightflyr]

What skids on which heli??????

[Emagdnim]

Sorry....many pages ago in this thread you had pictures of a yellow trex 500 that looked like it could not only float but also had springs in the middle to absorb hard landings? I like them but have never seen them before...

[nightflyr]

Is this the one your asking about???



If so,
I do believe I gave this one to Tim @ FMA

[Emagdnim]

Yes

[nightflyr]

Those are spider landing gear.