Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.

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24 Feb 2014 18:19 - 24 Feb 2014 22:10 #20832 by VTdev
I'm setting up a new flying wing DLG on my 7e, and just thought I'd write about it here, in case it's of interest to anybody. It's a learning process for me, so comments or suggestions welcome.

Protocol is DSM2 mode 2. Receiver is a Lemon RX 6 channel. Deviation version is devo7e-v4.0.1-6a63c8e

The first step was to get elevons working. The following was the basic setup of channels 2 and 3 which worked for that:
[channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
scalar=40
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
scalar=35
muxtype=add

[channel3]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
scalar=35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
scalar=40
muxtype=add
Last edit: 24 Feb 2014 22:10 by VTdev.

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24 Feb 2014 18:24 - 24 Feb 2014 18:26 #20834 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
Pitch was scaled 35% and roll 40%.

This seemed to work well. Next thing I'd like is to add 14% up pitch when HOLD1 is present.

So first question, what is the most economical way to do that?

Do I copy both elevon channel codes twice, once for HOLD0 and once for HOLD1 with an offset for the latter in the appropriate mix pages or is there a cleaner way?
Last edit: 24 Feb 2014 18:26 by VTdev.

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24 Feb 2014 20:04 - 24 Feb 2014 20:11 #20839 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
Okay so this is what I've come up with that is tested to work.

However, it isn't very clean (for instance is it necessary to explicitly specify switch Hold0 ?) Is there anything that could be cut out?

And I'm a little confused by the fact that the 14% offset is applied to the AIL mix pages instead of the ELE mix pages, since pitch is what the switch trims.

Yet it works.

Any clarification would be appreciated, though...
channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD0
scalar=40
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD0
scalar=35
muxtype=add
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=14
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
muxtype=add

[channel3]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD0
scalar=35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD0
scalar=40
muxtype=add
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=-14
muxtype=add
Last edit: 24 Feb 2014 20:11 by VTdev.

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25 Feb 2014 01:07 - 25 Feb 2014 01:10 #20844 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
Testing to see whether removing the explicit Hold0 lines (and setting the first two mix pages switch setting to "None") works...

Answer: It does.

Example:

This:
[channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
scalar=40
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
scalar=35
muxtype=add
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=14
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
muxtype=add

Appears to be equivalent to this:
channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD0      
scalar=40
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD0
scalar=35
muxtype=add
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=14
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
muxtype=add
Last edit: 25 Feb 2014 01:10 by VTdev.

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25 Feb 2014 02:38 - 25 Feb 2014 02:40 #20846 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
The next thing I wanted to do was change the the roll response from a 1-to-1 curve to an expo curve of 15.

And the pitch response from a 1-to-1 curve to an expo curve of 35.

I don't need these rates switched in and out, but I want them present whether HOLD1 is active or not, so I added them to all 8 mix pages.

That ended up looking like this in the model.ini file:
[channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
scalar=40
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
scalar=35
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=14
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=35,35

[channel3]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
scalar=35
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
scalar=40
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
offset=-14
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
Last edit: 25 Feb 2014 02:40 by VTdev.

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25 Feb 2014 03:03 - 25 Feb 2014 03:16 #20848 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
This looks complicated to change in the field. An adjustment of expo rate on one control axis requires navigating to and changing at least 4 separate mix pages, and saving those. An error in any of the above could result in unbalanced elevons.

Maybe there's a simpler way I'm not seeing that someone could suggest?

The requirements are:

Elevons
Pitch scaled to 35%
Roll scaled to 40%
Pitch expo 35
Roll expo 15
A switch that adds 14% up pitch when active.

I have my Spektrum DX6i already set up to provide the same requirements.

By comparison, changing expo, or scale on any control, or offset for the (flap) switch, requires changing only one number in each case, and is active as soon as changed (does not require saving). It is also easier to see at a glance what the current settings are, without navigating to multiple pages to check them.

I should say that the DX6i does have a bug in its elevon mix firmware, so I did have to ignore that pre-set mix, and mix the elevons manually to get what I wanted, as a workaround.

So, question -- is it possible to do a simpler setup with Deviation software, than the one I came up with for these requirements, and one that is easier to change in the field, with less chance of error?

Thanks!
Last edit: 25 Feb 2014 03:16 by VTdev.

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26 Feb 2014 02:25 - 26 Feb 2014 02:28 #20873 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
I made an icon today for the flying wing. Took several trials to find a .bmp format that was acceptable to the Tx. Under Gimp, it was 16 bit R5 G6 B5 advanced format option.

I've attached the icon below.
Attachments:
Last edit: 26 Feb 2014 02:28 by VTdev.

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26 Feb 2014 02:45 - 26 Feb 2014 02:48 #20874 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
After thinking about it today it seemed to me that maybe the Hold1 switch offset of 14% in up pitch I'd programmed as a mix might work the same with either a AIL source or an ELE source since elevons present a tricky to visualize mix situation -- particularly if one servo channel was reversed in software -- which it was.

It seemed ELE should be the source since it was a pitch control. But I wasn't able to get that to work yesterday. So AIL was used as the source -- only because for some reason I couldn't understand it seemed to work when the other didn't.

I think now that was caused by the fact that every time you make a change you have to save it to make it active, and while trying to work it out, I may not have saved once. Also, an ELE and AIL can conflict in an elevon mix, if of opposite sign. Flipping the HOLD1 switch can conceivably tell one of the elevon servo's channels to move in two opposite directions -- netting out to no movement. And so looking like a recent change has no effect.

Anyway, I decided to retry getting the Hold1 to source its offset from ELE rather than AIL, by carefully entering the changes and saving every time I altered a value. And it worked.

So here is the corrected Elevon section of the model.ini. The older version worked, but this one makes better sense.
[channel2]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
scalar=40
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
scalar=35
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=!ELE
dest=Ch2
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
offset=14
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=35,35

[channel3]
template=complex
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
scalar=35
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
scalar=40
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
[mixer]
src=ELE
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=35
offset=-14
curvetype=expo
points=35,35
[mixer]
src=AIL
dest=Ch3
switch=HOLD1
scalar=40
muxtype=add
curvetype=expo
points=15,15
Last edit: 26 Feb 2014 02:48 by VTdev.

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26 Feb 2014 02:57 - 26 Feb 2014 03:04 #20875 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
I have some more questions -- besides those already asked about ways to simplify what I did.

1.) In a model.ini are line breaks significant? Or can I add some blank lines to increase readability?

2.) Are comments allowed -- and if so how are they delimited?

3.) Is there a size limit for the file that I need to be aware of if doing any of the above?
Last edit: 26 Feb 2014 03:04 by VTdev.

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27 Feb 2014 13:52 - 27 Feb 2014 13:53 #20921 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
After testing, comments delimited by a semicolon (as found in the hardware.ini) seem to work. They also seem to work inline.

Line breaks don't seem to interfere with function in a model.ini.

No idea about file size limitations.

Moving this discussion to RCGroups.
Last edit: 27 Feb 2014 13:53 by VTdev.

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27 Feb 2014 16:42 #20927 by FDR
Replied by FDR on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
AFAIK the model.ini file is completely rewritten every time it is saved, and all the formatting and comments will be lost...

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27 Feb 2014 18:28 #20931 by VTdev
Replied by VTdev on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
Thanks FDR. That make sense. What about using it in templates?

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27 Feb 2014 19:13 #20932 by FDR
Replied by FDR on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
It should be OK, they are not saved, however the comments won't go into the model file...

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02 Mar 2014 18:16 #21095 by rbe2012
Replied by rbe2012 on topic Setting up a DLG flying wing on a 7e.
The file size limit is normally 4096 bytes, but when you edit it outside of the tx with a pc a bigger file which is written to the USB drive can be used by deviation. Only if the saved file is bigger than the original file you might get a problem.
So using a commented file as a template allows you to use more than 4096 bytes (characters) - when used for a model the comments are cleaned upo and the file should fit into the 4096-sized modelXX.ini file.

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