Hi,
I built a multiwii quadcopter using Bob's super simple shield - http://bobsquads.com/shieldsmultiwii/supersimpleshield.html
I now want to track the accelerometer/gyro/magnetometer/GPS location(GOOGLE EARTH) though the visual basic software, can anyone help me please?
This project will be interesting and i really want to learn everything, not just for FUN 
$)
Example image-
-Rahul
hi
that looks like a nice piece of software, hows your multiwii copter flying ?
I was making one, but I had a dodgy accelerometer from my nunchuck that caused a lot of crashes , so i ended up getting rid of multiwii and putting a diydrones board in it which i had lying around at work.
The ground station for that coudlnt be simpler, it is made to just hook up the xbees and work off the bat. I dont know enough to help you create your own telemetry system, but I do know a bit about cuads, and I have gone through the basics of flying the APM board, Im just starting on GPS flight and woudl be happy to offer any help i can
good luck
My next quadcopter gonna be the APM -like what you used..how costly is it? And Are you using GPS?
Is it practical, like you can see it's lovation live using the software?( READY MADE)??
-Rahul
i bought the apm board and gps seperately, i have the turnigy talon airframe, its not too bad once you tweak it a bit,
and some cheap turnigy flat core motors with the turnigy 9x rc system ,
i selected all the components myself and put it all together, it flies ok, but if i were to do it again i would spend a bit extra on motors that can use better props,
We're all in this together! I've been flying mine for hours, but somehow the magnets go demagnetized in the motors, so I have to wait. I ordered a bigger one! GPS is the next step for me too.
sbright33:
but somehow the magnets go demagnetized in the motors
Probably overheating...?
do the motors recover?
From what I understand , in order to magnetise the metal when making the magnet they use a lot of heat. so it sounds possible,
but if they are getting that hot during flight i would assume that they are too small for the task
Anyway, What's the cheapest arducopter ever built? Like chinese frames & custom designed shield...
& have you heard about www.goodluckbuy.com? I AM PLANNING TO BUY FROM THERE, BUT AFTER READING REVIEWS I FEAR. ????
PLEASE HELP.. whats the cheapset and the best website to buy online components like arduino,rc motors,controller boards,etc??
-Rahul
theoretically, if you can blag the sensors out of a wii controller, and a arduino pro mini copy, you have a very cheap IMU to start working with,
google multiwii,
but in practice its going to get pricey quickly, you can buy a cheapo walkera cuad for about 50 euros, or you can even look up how to take the motor out of a cd drive and use those for cuads, since the motors and ESC´s are the most pricey part of a cheap cuad that might be a good option
Yes now 2 of them overheat. But which came first? Overheating to demagnetizing? Other then being demagnetized, they have no reason to overheat, and they were not. They ran completely cold. I think they were defective, the motors are tiny and only $6ea. The problem is the shipping cost from China. They have not recovered yet, and it's been days. I read that it's nearly impossible to remagnetize rare earth magnets. They are tiny. 10+ around the bell housing.
It's less than $100 from Hobbyking. Again the problem is the shipping. Took many months for backorder, and $20 per order.
But I am asking about the shop Goodlukbuy.com ..they say shipping is freem and they are not responsible if something happens during shipping. They charge 1.67$ USD for getting the tracking code for their shipping..
And I wanted to build the complete quad myself,including circuit..what should I do?
-Rahul
that website seems pricey, some things are a good price, some are not,
do yourself a favour, if you buy cheap motors, buy twice the needed amount to allow for factory dead ones and the first few crashes,
Yes, buying more cheap motors is a good idea, as you can see from my post. The website looks expensive, and very risky. Please try Hobbyking. The only risk is the shipping times, which may be ridiculous. They will not rip you off. If you buy all the parts from Hobbyking, starting with their cheap frame, it will cost <$100. There is plenty of work to do putting it all together, it is like you are building it yourself. After that you can make improvements and enhancements like GPS and other sensors. Cameras and autonomous navigation. You will spend much time fixing the broken frame. You might as well start with something that works the first time without debugging and testing unknown components. I have glued my frame now 10x from crashing. It is not a strong frame, but it is easy to repair. I think I prefer this wooden frame over aluminum which would not be so easy to bend back without breaking. The frame at Hobbyking is only $30 with 4 motors. I'm going bigger next!
Only a fool would take a chance after reading so many warnings...
my talon air frame hasnt broken yet, and i hope it doenst now, since i am having good flights ,
A good trick i found is to move the motors in about 7cm from the end so that if it crashed down the frame hits the ground and not the motor, it also helps protect the props a bit too,
I haven't had any problems breaking props or motor shafts, just the frame, because mine is weaker than yours.
The impact of hitting a hard rock could have demagnetized my motors, except I didn't.
I have only hit soft dirt...
how do you know they are demagnetized?
has the problem happened to all four motors? if not, you could take off the motor bell and put it onto another motor to see if the problem follows the bell or the windings,
I tested each individual tiny magnet with a screwdriver. The problem definitely follows the bell.
I know this is off topic but how did you interface your project (software) with Google maps?
That's what I wanna know. I think Arduino GPS does support google earth API?
