> Has anyone here given thought on this thread that controls stick position > at the transmiter doesn't really tell you anything at all about actual > control throws at the surface of the model? Linkage, horn length, slop, > flex, servo type and other variations wilklhave an effect on actual throw. > If you want to do this, rig something to actually measure throw in angular > units verses transmitter movement in angular units. ATV in numeric units
??? thats exactly what i proposed to do at #2: to pick up the actual input signal vs control surface deflection graph using computer. all the graphs that are drawn later, when you are creating a setup for TX (at #4) show actual control surface deflections. > or percentages don't tell a lot, and variations in models and > installations will present different throws for the same transmitter > inputs. > > I think the idea is neat, but I don't think it will really make it as it's > gonna be too costly and complicated to be available to the limited user > base, and results won't be guaranteed. one thing i forgot to mention: the market for this kind of system is really small. if this is done commercially it will die sooner or later. i believe that open source project of some kind would be much more successful and useful for everyone. arne > > 1) it is possible to build a very cheap computer controlled multichannel > > servo signal coder/decoder using some microcontroller chip. RS-232 would > > be a cheapest way to connect it to PC. > > > > 2) you hook your plane to this device and measure the control throws of > > all control surfaces. perhaps not just min, center max but at more points, > > to get more exact response of the control surface to input signal. > > computer will drive the servo and you manually measure the deflections (i > > think that automatic measurement would be too expensive to implement). > > this is one time job. > > > > 3) a software model is created for every TX. the model captures the > > programming model of TX and all it's capabilities. creating a model is big > > work and must be done by someone who throughly knows the TX. of course: if > > the manufacturer is cooperating, it's much easier. (the model captures > > only behaviour of the TX, the user interface, programming and > > communication is dealt later). > > > > the abovementioned device can be used to measure the exact charcteristics > > of the TX: you hook this device do your receiver, move the stick to some > > particular position and let the calibarating program to measure the servo > > signal. you can pick-up exact characteristics for differential or whatever > > you need. > > > > 4) the model of the particular TX is realized as a plugin for a bigger > > programm that can be used to program your TX. the programm provides > > unified user interface for all TXs: with sliders, knobs, switches, sticks, > > whatever. you can select TX model and create various setups for it, > > compare setups (graphically), store them to file on PC and so on. this > > programm can drive the servo signal encoder described above, so you can > > test the setups on your plane. if you want to transfer your setup from > > one TX to another you can compare the output graphs of setups from > > different TXs and alter the parameters of the destination TX until you > > achieve a similar output graphs. > > > > since you have measured your plane (on step one) you can observe the real > > behaviour of the control surfaces. > > > > 5) the programming instructions can be added to the TX model. so if you > > are satisfied with your setup, you can print out detailed programming > > instructions for your TX. or you can re-create the model in your computer > > by following the programming instructions. this can be done for every > > computer radio. > > > > advanced options: > > > > 1) if the TX has a PC interface and if the format of the programming data > > is known, one can create additional (different) plugin for this TX that > > handles the communication and uploads/downloads the configuration to/from > > TX. this plugin cannot be created for all types of TXs, it's not that > > universal, it might even be platform-dependent. > > > > 2) add some automatic conversion function that will try to convert setup > > of the one TX to another (using neural network or something like that). > > > > arne > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and >"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and >unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
