We started the tuning over again, I(Sharun) flew the quadcopter today. Things went smooth we found the sweet spot for kP for the rate of roll and pitch. Then we moved on adjusting angle coefficients, much better performance today with angle coefficients. We also tried adding fourth order filter to the reciever values. The five point average for gyro values was also applied. Both these modifications led to delayed response, so they had to be rejected. After tuning for a while now, the graphs of setpoint and the gyro value seemed quite satifactory.

We started the tuning over again, I(Sharun) flew the quadcopter today. Things went smooth we found the sweet spot for kP for the rate of roll and pitch. Then ...

We figured out the problem with our tuning. One senior,Nikhil, adviced us on the same our rate PID tuning wasn't done the right way, also we were completely wrong about the kI coefficient. So, we were a bit demotivated to not meet a major goal like angle PID, forget about altitude holding and gps. We left and decided to start work in the morning itself the next day.

We figured out the problem with our tuning. One senior,Nikhil, adviced us on the same our rate PID tuning wasn't done the right way, also we were completely ...

Unsuccesful tuning, not much work

Unsuccesful tuning, not much work

I had completed making the board, I took it to my room yesterday and completed there. This one is much better than the previous ones. So, we assembled the quad again, and started tuning. But the vibrations are too much and the graphs on qgroundcontrol dont give any leads to the problem. We tried the other angle algorithm, the DCM, but either it was too slow to respond or it was too noisy. So, overall it wasn't as good as the quaternion algorithm which we have been using.

I had completed making the board, I took it to my room yesterday and completed there. This one is much better than the previous ones. So, we assembled the quad ...

I(Sharun) started making a new board, Satya and Animesh had bought a new PCB with more hardness and better quality. Satya worked on debugging the code for a while.

I(Sharun) started making a new board, Satya and Animesh had bought a new PCB with more hardness and better quality. Satya worked on debugging the code for a while.

Today, starting was just a waste of time, we could only wait for the batteries to get charged. Then, after 1 or 2 flights some error cropped in, the quadcopter flipped and crashed mid-flight. We debugged and found out that the MPU was giving wrong and random values. But when we removed the circuit board and connected the MPU directly it gave right values, so the circuit board was creating problems.

We decided to make a new one.

Today, starting was just a waste of time, we could only wait for the batteries to get charged. Then, after 1 or 2 flights some error cropped in, the quadcopter ...

Well, the angles were measured again and by changing the beta coefficients in the angle code the update rate was improved and hoping to get better results we began tuning again. After a lot of attempts the kp for angles was finalised very low(0.02 to 0.05) and then we added a little kd term too. But the quad didn't perform that better, still the code without the angle PID was performing better. Then we tried adding a bit of kI term and it stabilized a bit. So after a lot of tuning attempts we left, deciding to look more into tuning better and choosing the beta coefficient in angles code.

Well, the angles were measured again and by changing the beta coefficients in the angle code the update rate was improved and hoping to get better results we began tuning ...

We tried the different algorithms, but they didn't work as fine as the quaternian algo that we have been using. The pressure sensor code didn't seem to work too. No tuning could be done today.

We tried the different algorithms, but they didn't work as fine as the quaternian algo that we have been using. The pressure sensor code didn't seem to work ...

The tuning of coefficients continues. The vibrations are reduced a little by tuning the P and D terms but we cannot get rid of them. May be the angles were too noisy. We planned on using other algorithms for improving angle estimation. I(Sharun) decided to look into DCM and Satya decided to find angles using DMP. Animesh was working miscellaneously on the sonar sensor. Rachit was writing the pressure sensor code.

The tuning of coefficients continues. The vibrations are reduced a little by tuning the P and D terms but we cannot get rid of them. May be the angles were ...

Wee moved on to testing the quad and tuning the PID coefficients for angles. The vibrations seemed difficult to be removed.

Wee moved on to testing the quad and tuning the PID coefficients for angles. The vibrations seemed difficult to be removed.

//Beehive Removal

//Beehive Removal

Today we calibrated the magnetometer by storing the data in txt format and when that was input to a software it gave all the necessary coefficients. This code was tested, and after a few trials of calibration we got it done. Then the calibrated values were employed for my(sharun's) angle estimation code and we were able to obtain better angles. But still sometimes the angles behave wierdly, they all start to change simultaneously, and rest of the times they work fine. We guess its a connection problem.

Today we calibrated the magnetometer by storing the data in txt format and when that was input to a software it gave all the necessary coefficients. This code was tested ...

I(Satya) got the quad to store parameters in EEPROM. Sharun and animesh soldered pins onto our MS-5611 sensor. We stored magnetometer data so that we can calibrate our magnetometer using ellipsoid fitting method in order to use our magnetometer in our angle estimation methods, making it possible for us to getter more accurate yaw angles. Animesh carried on working on his implementation of a Kalman filter.

I(Satya) got the quad to store parameters in EEPROM. Sharun and animesh soldered pins onto our MS-5611 sensor. We stored magnetometer data so that we can calibrate our magnetometer ...

Sharun implemented an angle estimation code which uses gradient-descent method and quaternions, and then tuned the parameters associated with it. Rachit started coding for the MS-5611 barometer. I(Satya) wrote code which made live changing of PID gains possible(i.e while the quad is on and disarmed).

Sharun implemented an angle estimation code which uses gradient-descent method and quaternions, and then tuned the parameters associated with it. Rachit started coding for the MS-5611 barometer. I(Satya) wrote ...

We tuned our quadroter's PID gains further and redistributed among ourselves.

We tuned our quadroter's PID gains further and redistributed among ourselves.

We had trouble uploading code onto our Arduino Mega, leading to complications. Later, we ended up busy cleaning our Aeromodelling club HQ, which was in a state of chaos before.

We had trouble uploading code onto our Arduino Mega, leading to complications. Later, we ended up busy cleaning our Aeromodelling club HQ, which was in a state of chaos before.

I(Satya) figured out build custom MAVLink messages and how to build a custom qgroundcontrol to use them. I got the quad to use Animesh's angle estimation code and modified our code to use dual PIDs for roll and pitch. We also decided against using BMP085 and instead opted MS-5611 instead due to concerns over reading delays and precision.

I(Satya) figured out build custom MAVLink messages and how to build a custom qgroundcontrol to use them. I got the quad to use Animesh's angle estimation code and ...

We tuned our quadrotor's rate PID gains. Animesh continued to code his version of an angle estimation algorithm which uses explicit complementary filter and quaternions. Rachit was working on BMP085 code. Sharun was working on the implementation of roll,pitch and yaw angles estimation using DCM.

We tuned our quadrotor's rate PID gains. Animesh continued to code his version of an angle estimation algorithm which uses explicit complementary filter and quaternions. Rachit was working on ...

Finally the telemetry worked, the problem was- baud rate. We found out that there is a fixed baud rate at which telemtry works and it was 57600. Now we were able to run mavlink and collect data through qgroundcontrol software.

Finally the telemetry worked, the problem was- baud rate. We found out that there is a fixed baud rate at which telemtry works and it was 57600. Now we were ...

I(Sharun) soldered the pins for magnetometer on our circuit board. After that we tried running telemetry once again, but it didn't help. So we started on with manual tuning.

I(Sharun) soldered the pins for magnetometer on our circuit board. After that we tried running telemetry once again, but it didn't help. So we started on with manual ...

Satya and me(Sharun) tried serial communicationo by another telemetry assuming that something was wrong with the one that we used yesterday. But it turned out that this one was behaving the same, giving garbage on the console. We adjusted gains of the sensors through manual testing.
Animesh ran quaternian code, but it didn't give desired results today. I wrote the code for DCM, but there was some problem with my arduino software and couldn't test it.

Satya and me(Sharun) tried serial communicationo by another telemetry assuming that something was wrong with the one that we used yesterday. But it turned out that this one was ...

The testing couldn't be repeated today due to lack of motors, which were employed in other projects of the club. I started writing the code for DCM. Animesh was done writing the quaternian code, but it needed debugging. Rachit tested the barometer code and started studying about the gps. Me and Satya tried running qgroundcontrol software by connecting the arduino through usb, and it ran fine, it was really cool to see the graphs being plotted on real time data. We then tried the same using telemetry, but it didn't work. We tried to troubleshoot this a lot but it didn't work. May be there was a problem with the telemetry, so we thought of trying the same on a different telemetry tomorrow.

The testing couldn't be repeated today due to lack of motors, which were employed in other projects of the club. I started writing the code for DCM. Animesh was ...

I(Sharun) studied about DCM, because the next obvious step for stabilizing the quadcopter was the angle estimation, starlino guide proved to be useful. Satya tried mavlink by connecting through usb, on the qgroundcontrol software. Animesh continued to work on quaternian(which also is used for angle estimation, its just that we wanted to try both the methods). Rachit wrote the code for collecting raw data for barometer, because it was the next sensor to come up on our board.

Other than that, the testing of the same quad was done once more, it didn't work out as good as last time. I also tried to repair a not working solder wire, created an all new connection, but it still didn't work, the cord was not working. We also made the connection for connecting telemetry to the arduino.

I(Sharun) studied about DCM, because the next obvious step for stabilizing the quadcopter was the angle estimation, starlino guide proved to be useful. Satya tried mavlink by connecting through ...

Today the team started work in the noon itself. Till the evening we completed soldering the new circuit board. Satya tested the magnetometer code and printed its data. Animesh and Rachit worked on the quaternian.
In the night time we tested the quad which was getting stabilized only on the gyroscope values for now and with only low pass filter of the IMU. Despite the not-so-advanced code which was done till now, the quad was more stable than expected, though it was still far from what we want to achieve.

Today the team started work in the noon itself. Till the evening we completed soldering the new circuit board. Satya tested the magnetometer code and printed its data. Animesh and ...

We added wires to the circuit board. But later the board was ruined when a couple of pins got shorted with each other and also the pins were soldered poorly so we decided to make a new one. I(Sharun) started practicing flying of a helicopter on the simulator. Me and Animesh completed SD card data logging. Rachit continued his work on quaternian. Satya completed implementing mavlink.

We added wires to the circuit board. But later the board was ruined when a couple of pins got shorted with each other and also the pins were soldered poorly ...

I(sharun) started soldering the circuit board that fitted both arduino due and mega. All pins were soldered but the wires were left. We assembled our quadcopter for the first time, caliberated the esc's and checked the connections and motors. Satya also printed the response in motor PWM's to the change in orientation of the quad.

I(sharun) started soldering the circuit board that fitted both arduino due and mega. All pins were soldered but the wires were left. We assembled our quadcopter for the first ...

Today we started assembling our quad. Satya and Rachit completed the code with the all the miniature finishings. Rest of the time there was evaluation.

Today we started assembling our quad. Satya and Rachit completed the code with the all the miniature finishings. Rest of the time there was evaluation.

lost

lost

Today we didn't do much work. Moreover, there were nocoordinators and few of the other teams up for work. So we studied on our own today.

Today we didn't do much work. Moreover, there were nocoordinators and few of the other teams up for work. So we studied on our own today.

lost

lost

lost

lost

Circuit board soldering couldn't be started today due to lack of equipments. We wrote PID codes today. Rachit and Animesh wrote a PID code and then tuned it. Me(Sharun) and Satya wrote a different PID code and then using it, we tried stabilising the servo at a certain angle which otherwise is rotating proportional to the gyroscope value along one axis. Circuit board soldering was postponed for tomorrow.

Circuit board soldering couldn't be started today due to lack of equipments. We wrote PID codes today. Rachit and Animesh wrote a PID code and then tuned it. Me ...

We wrote the code for reciever using pin change interrupt. It was decided that circuit designing would mainly be mine(Sharun's) job, so i tried practicing soldering on spare boards and we decided to start making the circuit boards tomorrow. The other members wrote the PID code and we discussed about it.

We wrote the code for reciever using pin change interrupt. It was decided that circuit designing would mainly be mine(Sharun's) job, so i tried practicing soldering on spare ...

We all tried our first hands on soldering circuit boards today. We also wrote the code for reciever and monitored the raw data initially from 1 channels and then moved on to 4 channels. We read further about PID.

We all tried our first hands on soldering circuit boards today. We also wrote the code for reciever and monitored the raw data initially from 1 channels and then moved ...

We studied further about concepts in coding an arduino, a few more libraries. We discussed and arrived at our circuit for the quad copter which mainly comprised of MPU6050, BMP085 and arduino mega2560. We also succeeded in controlling the speed of a brushless motor using arduino. Having studied how to extract raw data from an MPU sensor we implemented it and studied the MPUs data at different baud rates. After that we turned on the low pass filter in the MPU.

We studied further about concepts in coding an arduino, a few more libraries. We discussed and arrived at our circuit for the quad copter which mainly comprised of MPU6050, BMP085 ...

We got familiar with the basic codes for blinking led's and also the servo libraries, and studied about PWM. We tried them practically on arduino mega2560. We were able to control the angle to which the servo rotated. We also tried controlling the speed of a motor but couldn't do it today. We almost finished our styro plane workshop too. The slits for aileron servos and tail servos were made.

We got familiar with the basic codes for blinking led's and also the servo libraries, and studied about PWM. We tried them practically on arduino mega2560. We were able ...

We now have a clear idea about the various communication protocols(uart,i2c,sli). We also studied about arduino from the official website, got to know about the various basic tasks with led's and servos that you could do using arduino. We also moved on with the styro plane workshop, today we sanded them further and started taping the components.

We now have a clear idea about the various communication protocols(uart,i2c,sli). We also studied about arduino from the official website, got to know about the various basic ...

We team members met today, started the background study about arduino and communication protocols. We also started the styro-plane workshop. We cut out the fuselage, wings and tails out of styro sheet and sanded them.

We team members met today, started the background study about arduino and communication protocols. We also started the styro-plane workshop. We cut out the fuselage, wings and tails out of ...