Control quad with Arduino or ESP8266 and TX Module

hi,

i have read a lot of post about the different TX module on this website and other. They can work with arduino and i can hack protocole in order to control quad without remote.
hackaday.com/2013/11/19/hacking-a-cheap-...o-work-with-arduino/
www.cloud-rocket.com/2014/07/flysky-ardu...v949v959-quadrotors/
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1...reader-and-generator
github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module

For educational purpose i want to control a Quad (cheaper and stable chinese quad) and later other vehicule with an Arduino or ESP8266 (better) and SCRATCH Program or similar (like this video).


github.com/campk12/ScratchForARDrone

- i have bought XLa7105, NRF24L01, XN297 and NRF24L01+, and i have UDIRC 817A quad.
- What quadricopter cheap, stable and with an easy protocol to hack i have to buy ?
- what firmware and ino program i have to use ?
- How i know the command to control quad (left, right....) in order to integrate with scratch ?

thank you

Check out goebish's nrf24_multipro code, most of the work's already been done.

example implementation

thank you for the link. I will read this post and try to understand the ino for each.
i hope i will understand how to send signal to control direction and motor.

As for cheap stable hackable quad, check out silverxxx 's eachine H8 (and other) firmware, the H8 can sometimes be had for as little as US$10 shipped, and can be used as the basis for larger quads as you progress, eg. convert it to a Syma X5 for about $10.

Goebish's module (arduino + nrf24l) takes standard trainer-port PPM signals, can be as little as 4 controls (throttle, yaw, pitch, roll), you'd probably want to change the code so it uses PWM input instead to make it easier to interface with a computer?

hi,

thank you for your help.

On your advice, I bought the H8 mini.

I'm a beginner with arduino and the 2.4 frequency. i know how to control servo or motor but i don't know how to send a signal with NRF24. i think is PWM. I need to find a very simple tuto to understand the principle.

The NRF24L01 (and most other such chips) is controlled via an SPI bus. If you've got a breakout PCB, it should have the SPI pins labelled. If not, you'll need to check the data sheet to see which pins to use. You'll want to check the data sheet in any case to find out how to configure the chip and send it data.

You might want to look at the DIY multimodule sources (it's on github) for example arduino code. Not sure if they're using the Arduino HAL or not, though. If you're going to ask for help here, you might be better off using the deviation sources (definitely not using the Arduino HAL) but the two projects exchange protocol sources. Actually, the best forum I know of to ask would be rcgroups.com. You may even find someone who's already done this there.

thanks for your answer.

i have bought
www.banggood.com/3Pcs-NRF24L01-SI24R1-2_...ail-left-viewhistory
www.banggood.com/2Pcs-Socket-Adapter-Pla...60.html?rmmds=search

i have read forum rcgroup and send question for arduino.

- i was advice by rcgroup to "on the Deviation TX side you can also see how to use a logic analyzer to understand the protocol (and as a starting point for your code) ". ?
- Then I use the DEVIATION codes directly ? Or should I modify them to work with an arduino ?
- Are there examples of codes commented and step by step so that I understand the approach?

thanks

What they're pointing you to here are instructions for connecting a logic analyzer to a transmitter to capture the communications between the RF module and the µcu. That will probably work on the receiver as well, should you need it.

Deviation uses libopencm3, not arduino, as a HAL. You can't use it in the Arduino IDE or on most Arduino-compatible boards.

The DIY multiprotocol module I pointed to are the best source I know of that are RC specific. There are some arduino tutorials for the NRF24L01 for robot control and the like that might have more details.

ok. i begin to understand. i was not aware of libopencm3

I will gather all the tutorials talking about the arduino and the NRF24L01 at first. Comparing them will help me understand the basics.

thank you