Waypoint

[Mikil P]

Hi there,

I tested my Easystar yesterday at the local park, i was using the ardupilot 2.23 (latest) code, with the shield. I added the waypoints using the desktop utility and all seem to work well. The easystar went to the waypoints set. However i decided to go the the RC flying club the following day, again using the same setup, the only difference was that I put in the waypoints that match the flying club. This time round the easystar started flying towards a point that was not added using the desktop utility. There was a bit a wind however it went to a position about 100 meters away from the defined waypoint and then decided to nose down. has anyone else experienced the same problem??? if so, how have they overcome this problem....any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. I set the altitude for about 50m above ground (ref). Again I'm using the latest code (ver 2.23) and the ardushield

[Bryan Cuervo]

Mikil,
I've been test flying versions of Ardupilot for quite a while now and one day the plane flies as expected and the next, she'll do something completely different (without any code changes). The only variable I can think of is the weather. Since the thermopiles react to the temperature gradient and the input mixes with the navigation input for the final output to the control surfaces, maybe a cloudy day with a wet ground vs. a sunny, dry day is making a significant difference.
Have you flown in RTL mode and does she return home? Some of us are having trouble with this and our planes are flying due east.

[Mikil P]

Bryan,
I flicked the switch for the RTL mode, it did seem to want to come home however the wind on the day was dreadful, so i'm going to do some further testing next week (hopefully the weather holds out) and will let you know the results I get. Also another quick question, using the desktop utility, the max altitude shown is 220m even thought the aircraft only appears to fly about 50m above the ground. Is the 220m the altitude above sea level or is it meant to be above ground.

[Bryan Cuervo]

From what I've read the measured altitude is always AGL (above ground level). I'll have to check the utility next time I fly and see what the max alt. and airspeed says. I'm using a pitot-static tube, not the type that Chris and Jordi uses so I'm sure my values will be off.

[Mikil P]

hi bryan,

I finally managed to do some testing yesterday with the weather being good. I flew in RTL mode.........and it seem to go somewhere towards the sunset.....:(

Also another problem I have, is that it always goes to the home position first rather than the first waypoint set using the config tool......

does anyone know why?

[Paul Har]

After loading 2.3.3 I did some ground testing but did not give any reliable results so I set the code for walk around mode, still can be sure its working. Now after setting the .h file back to normal mode the serial monitor prints out as it used to do until the GPS kicks in. the it prints "test 2" then a seriies of minus value numbers like ---35. -26 etc. any thoughts