Review - FMA's new Co-Pilot II

[Tim Marks]

Originally Posted by rjess

Does the copilot 2 work with pcm?

Hi:

The CPII is not an RF device. It does not care what type of radio you use. It can work with standard FM, PCM, or 2.4 GHz. It goes between the output of the receiver you have and the servos you use. In quick setup, it does ask what type of radio you have. This is because if you are using standard FM, it will improve the performance by adding additional filtering to the receiver outputs.

Tim Marks

[CJHusband]

This may be a stupid question, but I can't figure it out. Ive got the co pilot 2 set up, havent tested it yet, but will do so when the wind kicks down. Anyway, how do you turn the irnet programmer off? I've searched, I've held down buttons, but alas, it just sits there, using the greatly appreciated provided batteries.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris.

[pril250]

It turns itself off once it is out of range.

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by CJHusband

This may be a stupid question, but I can't figure it out. Ive got the co pilot 2 set up, havent tested it yet, but will do so when the wind kicks down. Anyway, how do you turn the irnet programmer off? I've searched, I've held down buttons, but alas, it just sits there, using the greatly appreciated provided batteries.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris.

The Hand held programmer will turn itself off after a time of inactivity, Onced programmed and trimmed up you can also remove the IR net sensor if you like

[CJHusband]

Thanks for the reply. I figured thats how it should work, but it's been on for the last 6 hours... Something must be wonky with it.

[heresdaveagain2]

Hey guys......does Co-Pilot 2 work on UNLEVEL ground as well, or does the ground need to be relatively level? I'm asking because I have a hill behind my house, and my Co-Pilot never recovers straight.....it always puts the heli into a banking turn.....

[nightflyr]

Do you have your flight angles setup correctly?

How close are you flying near the hill?

How BIG is this hill??

[heresdaveagain2]

Like I was saying......completely new to flight stabilization! lol I don't see an option to set up flight angles, only 100% level. And I'm only about 5 or so feet off the ground, and the hill is just a gradual slope. Maybe 10 degrees at its steepest point.

[Stumblebee]

Originally Posted by heresdaveagain2

Hey guys......does Co-Pilot 2 work on UNLEVEL ground as well, or does the ground need to be relatively level? I'm asking because I have a hill behind my house, and my Co-Pilot never recovers straight.....it always puts the heli into a banking turn.....

I fly my bird over a sloping asphalt driveway that has potholes. I have a townhouse behind me and a six foot cedar hedge along one side of the driveway. Across the street, there is another row of eight foot cedar hedges.I tend to take off from the most level part of the driveway. Once the bird is in the air, there is not a lot of problem. I understand that a bit of height helps over unlevel ground. I like to keep my bird no less than five feet in the air.

[pinguin]

How do you reset CP II to its default setting?

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by pinguin

How do you reset CP II to its default setting?

Do a quick setup that will erase your settings

[aramsdell]

I have a CP II available. In great shape. Used on my Heli-cam and never crashed.

.
Co-Pilot II System Combo 2
Combo Contents: 1 CPII Computer Module, 1 Main Sensor, 1 Vertical Sensor, 1 IRNet Programmer, 1 IRNet Router, 1 Mounting Accessory Kit (not pictured)
Was: $199.95
Price: $164.95 (Excl. GST)

No mounting kit. A $3.25 value of tye-wraps and a little double sided tape.

$ 135.00 shipped to lower 48.

[cannondale1974]

What is the difference in Copilot and Copilot II? I have the original copilot system new in the box and am wondering if it's worth installing?

[Howard Matos]

Originally Posted by cannondale1974

What is the difference in Copilot and Copilot II? I have the original copilot system new in the box and am wondering if it's worth installing?

Hi,

The original Co-Pilot (CPD4) used 2 inputs for flight stabilization, one for pitch and one for roll. It was not compatible with CCPM mixing or digital servos.

The FS8 Co-Pilot was our 2nd generation of flight stabilization where we built the Co-Pilot system into an 8 channel FM receiver. This system was compatible with digital servos and CCPM mixing. It also incorporated the vertical sensor which would continually calibrate the Co-Pilot as it flew to optimize it's performance.

The CPII is out latest version of our Co-Pilot system, a stand alone system like the CPD4 but can use up to 4 inputs for stabilization, and is compatible with CCPM mixing and digital servos. This system also has an optional vertical sensor that calibrates the system as you fly and is also used in the 3D stunt modes. We have decreased the size of the main and vertical sensors, the signal between the sensors and computer module is now digital so a standard 3 wire extension can be used to extend the sensors out.

Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks.

[shibby75]

In a heli, the 4ch is not used,. I assume its for plane function, what would that be?

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by shibby75

In a heli, the 4ch is not used,. I assume its for plane function, what would that be?

Not 100% correct. there are some cyclic that use 4 servos.. not that widely used though

[Howard Matos]

Originally Posted by shibby75

In a heli, the 4ch is not used,. I assume its for plane function, what would that be?

The CPII is out latest version of our Co-Pilot system, a stand alone system like the CPD4 but can use up to 4 inputs for stabilization, and is compatible with CCPM mixing and digital servos. This system also has an optional vertical sensor that calibrates the system as you fly and is also used in the 3D stunt modes. We have decreased the size of the main and vertical sensors, the signal between the sensors and computer module is now digital so a standard 3 wire extension can be used to extend the sensors out.

[jflow78]

Any idea when the GPS units will be out for the Co-pilot II if at all.

[Adventurer]

Originally Posted by jflow78

Any idea when the GPS units will be out for the Co-pilot II if at all.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I don't think I would have that much use for it. Well maybe a soft-deck, but certainly not a "park you heli here" kind of a thing. I guess the noobs would like it.

The only other use that I could think of would be a return-to-home function for FPV. Also, what I would like is a return-to-home function in the event of signal loss, but would be quite tricky to get working with the RX fail-safe functions.

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by Adventurer

Well maybe a soft-deck, but certainly not a "park you heli here" kind of a thing. I guess the noobs would like it.

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.

Originally Posted by Adventurer

The only other use that I could think of would be a return-to-home function for FPV. Also, what I would like is a return-to-home function in the event of signal loss, but would be quite tricky to get working with the RX fail-safe functions.

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 ). Now both my 600Ns have AR8000 and the failsafes are set as follows:

• CP2 on to normal flight mode
• Throttle servo to idle RPM (don't want to shut off the engine completely in case the signal reconnects). Throttle channel to 0 if your heli is electric.
• Collective pitch to -2°

This hopefully will give me a semi-controlled auto on the signal loss (with reduced damage on landing), it's statically field tested on the ground, and no, I'm not about to do an in-flight-test

For return-to-home we would need something like this:

• CP2 on to return-to-home mode
• 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)
• Collective pitch under CP2's management, which presumably would be part of return-to-home mode, meaning Rx fail-safes on collective would be ignored by CP2 anyway.

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?