ONDRONE Spider Quad User manual
Introduction
The SPIDER QUAD is based on the open source ArduPilot APM 2.6 hardware
platform and fully compatible with the excellent ARDUCOPTER flight
control software.
Always check the official project websites for latest information.
Their documentation is excellent and there are regular software
updates and feature additions. The community forums on diydrones are
both extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
onDrone Documentation
http://copter.ardupilot.com/
http://www.diydrones.com/
Any questions please get in touch at [email protected]
Safety Precautions
Always:
●Operate within local laws and regulations.
●Take care to not put yourself, anyone else, or their property in
any danger.
●Remember that crashes do happen. Almost always pilot error but
hardware and software failures can happen. Take precautions to
minimise danger. Familiarise yourself with the safety and failsafe
options available.
●Practice flying on cheap, small and light quadcopters like the
Hubsan X4 or simulators.
●Seek further assistance or information if unsure of safe and
proper use of a specific feature or function
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SPIDER QUAD Specifications
Size : 510mm (prop to prop)
Props : 10 x 4.5 carbon re-inforced
Motors : SunnySky X2212-13 980KV
Motor voltage: 2-3S (LiPo)
ESC : QUATTRO 4 X 25A. 2-4S LiPo. XT60
LiPo: 4000mAh 3S. (High Discharge >35C)
Charger: iMAX B6 multi function balance charger
Charge : 1-6S LiPO
Input Voltage: DC 11-18V. 110-240V AC adapter included
Max Charge Power: 50W
Includes storage charge function
AutoPilot : APM 2.6 / ArduFlyer 2.5.2
Ardcopter version: 3.1.4
●Complete open source autopilot. 100% 3DR compatible.
●Advanced flight modes and failsafes
●USB and wireless MAVLINK connection. Choice of ground station
software for mission planning and analysis- Mission Planner, APM
Planner 2, DroidPlanner 2
●3-axis gyro, accelerometer and magnetometer, high-performance
barometer
●Onboard 16Mbit Dataflash chip for automatic datalogging
GPS:
●u-blox UBX-G6010-ST
●5 Hz update rate
●Rechargeable 3V lithium backup battery
●I2C EEPROM for configuration storage
●GPS Power and Fix indicator LED
Magnetometer:
●HMC5883L Magnetometer
●Status LEDs for ARM and GPS
RF
Control link: FrSky ACCST 2.4GHz 8 channel with telemetry (expandable)
Video transmitter: 5.8GHz (optional)
Telemetry link: 433MHz Air and Ground module (included but optional)
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All Up Weight (AUW)
Excluding LiPo batteries: 1114g
Additional payload : 978g maximum. 0-400g ideal.
Motor / Prop Direction
It is important to match the propellor type to the motor direction. Each
motor or arm will be clearly labelled with the motor direction as show below.
The motors or arms will be labelled with the motor
direction
CW = Clockwise
CCW = Counter Clockwise
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LiPo Batteries
●Always fly with the included LiPo alarm attached to battery and
try never fly past 80% of battery power
●LiPo batteries are permanently damaged if they are discharged to
3 volts per cell. Never run them to anywhere near this limit
●If power runs out your aircraft will fall out of the sky!
●Always ensure you use correct charge rate and voltage on balance
charger
●Charger settings:
○Connect both the balance port and charger cable when
charging
○Choose the “LIPO BALANCE” function and
○For best battery life charge at 1C rate
○Example 4.5A for a 4500mAh pack. 2.2A for a 2200mAh pack
○Check for correct cell count 3S , 4S or 5S
○Never leaving charging pack unattended
●If you will not be using the LiPo battery for an extended period
of time use the “Storage” function on the charger to set a safe
storage voltage
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Pre First Flight Checklist
Choose your Ground Station software.
The APM autopilot uses the MAVLINK protocol for communication. This gives you
an ever expanding choice of open and free GroundStation software platforms.
Whilst optional during flight, use these for everything from setting flight
modes and parameters, planning and controlling a mission, viewing logs and
graphs.
Mission Planner - http://planner.ardupilot.com/
APM Planner 2 - http://planner2.ardupilot.com/
DroidPlanner 2 - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.droidplanner
Understand all controls before attempting takeoff
Understand all the controls before attempting your flight. Know the default
Flight Modes (STABILIZE, ALT_HOLD, LOITER, RTL) and their effect on the control
and operation of the craft.
Understand failsafe and safety options
Know the failsafe options available and configure actions appropriate to your
needs.
Your FrSky transmitter failsafe function has been set to “no pulse”. This is to
allow the APM autopilot to correctly sense the loss of control link and take
appropriate action. No failsafe actions have been configured.
Battery monitoring
Connect the provided battery monitor to the LiPo balance port. This provides a
loud alarm and individual cell voltage monitoring and readout.
To enable battery and failsafe monitoring from the APM autopilot you need to
fit a Power Monitor Module.
Charge batteries
Make sure all batteries being used are fully charged
Plan your flight
Think through your flight plan before arrive at the flying site.
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First Flight Checklist
●Check craft - props tight. Screws tight. Wiring good. Nothing loose or
obstructing props.
●Always power on your radio transmitter first and ensure switches are in
default positions (all forward and away from you).
●Throttle at 0% (All the way down). Transmitter will warn if any switches
are not in correct position.
●Securely fasten battery. Ensure drone is on stable and level surface.
Connect battery leads.
●Both flight controller (and gimbal if present) need to be still while
they initialise gyros and sensors. ~10 seconds
●Wait for GPS lock before arming drone - Solid BLUE LED. Ideally wait 5
minutes after power up for GPS lock to settle.
●To arm motors keep THROTTLE at 0% and move RAW 100% RIGHT for 5 seconds.
With AC3.1 when ARMED the motors will slowly spin!
●Gently move throttle stick up until the drone takes off, get it to
between 1-2m high and away from ground effects. Try keep a steady hover.
Do not fly higher than 5-10 metres on your first flight.
●Take it easy. Get a feel for how it flies and reacts to pilot input.
●Give the drone a few minutes of gentle flight in stabilize mode before
testing ALT_HOLD or LOITER flight modes.
●When ready to land gently drop throttle stick down until drone touches
down.
●Disarm by keeping THROTTLE at 0% and moving YAW to LEFT 100%
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Flight Modes
In general when first starting to use Arducopter you should progress through the
flight modes in the order listed below, being sure that you are comfortable
with each before progressing to the next. Click on any of the flight modes
below for more details.
●Stabilize
●Alt Hold
●Loiter (& OF_loiter)
●RTL (Return-to-Launch)
See Control Layout Diagram at end of this document for Flight Mode switch
position and default modes.
Additional flight modes available
●Acro
●Sport
●Drift
●Guided
●Circle
●Position
●Land
●Follow Me
●Simple and Super Simple
To Test Loiter and Altitude Hold:
1. Stabilize mode is at one extreme of
your three-position mode select switch on your
RC transmitter, Alt Hold mode is in the
middle and Loiter mode is in the third
position.
2. First, it´s important that Stabilize
Mode is working OK. Set the Mode switch to
Stabilize, turn on the transmitter and
connect your battery. Wait until the GPS gets
a lock. (Both the Blue GPS LED and the Blue C
LED on the APM should be on and solid before
arming and taking off). (It is even better to
wait a bit longer to allow the GPS acquire
additional satellites.)
3. Hold the throttle down and to the right
for several seconds to “Arm” The motors on
your copter.
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4. Start flying in Stabilize mode. Make sure you can take off, fly
comfortably, and land. If you find it tilting, land and run the “Level”
command in the Mission Planner. Fly through a whole battery like this,
getting a feel for the controls (this will also calibrate your compass).
5. Now change batteries and try the auto modes. First, try Alt Hold at an
altitude of about 10 meters. Your actual current throttle position is
recorded as the “hovering point” when you switch to an altitude holding
mode so it is important that you are not ascending or descending when you
switch to Alt Hold. You should be able to fly around with the copter
maintaining the same altitude, plus or minus a meter or so.
6. If that’s working well, try Loiter. Just fly to a safe spot with lots of
room around it and an altitude of about 10 - 20 meters and switch into
Loiter. It should try to stay in that position.
7. When you have finished flying in Loiter or Alt Hold modes (or if anything
unexpected or undesirable happens) switch back to Stabilize mode and
land.
8. Disarm your copter and record a log by holding the throttle down and to
the left for 5 seconds
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APM Connections
Radio Receiver to APM Inputs:
RECEIVER CHANNEL
FUNCTION
APM INPUT
CHANNEL 1
THROTTLE
3
CHANNEL 2
AILERON
1
CHANNEL 3
ELEVATOR (-100)
2
CHANNEL 4
RUDDER
4
CHANNEL 5
FLIGHT MODE
5
CHANNEL 6
RTL
6
CHANNEL 7
FREE
7
HOBBYWING Quattro ESC to APM Outputs:
ESC signal wire
ESC Motor
APM Output
BROWN
1
1
ORANGE
2
2
WHITE
3
3
RED
4
4
APM Analog Pin Connections:
Mission Planner set LED_MODE to 11
Buzzer
A5 SIGNAL
A5 GROUND
GPS LED
A6 SIGNAL
ARM LED
A7 SIGNAL
GROUND
A7 GROUND
CAPACITOR
A8 VC+
A8 GROUND
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APM LED indicators
The flight controller does some pre-ARM checks and needs to establish a GPS
lock before it will ARM.
The on-board blue status LED (C) shows GPS. Solid blue indicates GPS lock.
The on-board red status LED (A) shows ARM status. Blinking = DISARMED. Solid =
ARMED
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Control Layout
Flight modes have voice prompts enabled
RETURN_TO_LAUNCH (RTL) = switch SH.
Needs to be held for duration you want craft in RTL mode.
Channels and Mixes
CHANNEL 1
THROTTLE
CHANNEL 2
AILERON
CHANNEL 3
ELEVATOR -100
CHANNEL 4
RUDDER
CHANNEL 5
SE (FLIGHT MODE)
CHANNEL 6
FREE TO USE
CONFIGURE IN MISSION PLANNER
CHANNEL 7
RETURN TO LAUNCH (RTL)
Flight Mode Switch = switch SE (3 way)
Forward Position (Away from you) = STABILIZE
Centre Position = ALT_HOLD
Back Position (Toward you) = LOITER
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How to ARM and DISARM
Move LEFT stick down and to right as below picture shows. Hold for 5 sceonds.
You should see LED (A) change from blinking to solid.
Tips
●Vibration can cause screws to work loose. Check for and tighten loose
screws as part of your regular maintenance schedule. A liquid thread lock
is very effective at combating this.
●Never fly with a damaged propellor.
●Get above ground effect. Above about 1metre you will find it much easier
to control.
●Dont be shy to give it enough throttle to get above ground effect. From
then on all very small control stick movements.
●We recommend not starting in Simple mode. Begin your flying in the basic
Stabilize mode.
●Arducopter establishes its home position at the time of arming, so arm
your copter in the location you wish to designate as the home position.
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