MultiWii / NAZE / SP Racing F3 Waypoints?

[Delta Star]

Hi,

I'm sorry for the total newb question, but can anyone tell me the best way to have the ability to set waypoints on a hex I'm building? What's the cheapest controller/GPS/telemetry set-up that will allow me to use Arducopter? I live in Canada, in case shipping comes in to play.

I'd also love to know the best place to start learning about setting it all up.

Thanks for any help!

 

[boosted2000si]

Do you have any experience with multi's or will this be your first? The APM 2.5/2.6 is pretty nice out of the box w/ gps waypoints. Its a little bit of a learning curve for a first timer or coming from a DJI product but its really cool and fun with all the open options.

 

[Delta Star]

Do you have any experience with multi's or will this be your first? The APM 2.5/2.6 is pretty nice out of the box w/ gps waypoints. Its a little bit of a learning curve for a first timer or coming from a DJI product but its really cool and fun with all the open options.

I have some experience with "toys" like the MQX and Spacewalker. Just enough to have learned to fly them. Is there a huge difference from 2.5 to 2.6? And where's the best place for a Canadian to purchase them? Thanks for the reply!

 

[boosted2000si]

The 2.5 to 2.6 difference is they took the compass off the main board which is nice for multi's.

Not sure about canada specific retailers but 3d robotics sells directly off their website and I am sure would ship to Canada. They are based out of California. Just be very careful and learn it well and you will be fine. They are easy to fly but a little learning curve.

WHat frame are you using?

 

[Delta Star]

I have my eye on the Scorpion Y6 from Hobbyking. Looks like 3Dr will set me back a few hundred $ for the controller, GPS and telemetry. I can't tell if it even has a built in barometer. I see many controllers and packages for a lot less that claim to have it all, for instance http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...i_PRO_Flight_Controller_w_MTK_GPS_Module.html

Is there a key reason for the price differential? Can the controller I linked to also run Arducopter?

 

[boosted2000si]

Multi Wii is fairly more involved to setup. Yes the APM had the Barometer.

Not sure on the price difference but they both have a lot of support. I think it would be just a matter of research via google and youtube and decide which way you want to go.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

The best place to buy 3DR stuff in Canada is at CanadaDrones.com. Dany gives excellent service and pricing.

I don't know if you can run Arducopter on Multiwii or not. Maybe using ArduPirate or whatever it's called. I don't mess around with that stuff because I need a very high "It Just Works" factor. My time is much more valuable than $100 for the hours it would take ot figure that out. Not to mention, they're always behind on the latest code.

I have also never flown MultiWii, but from what I've heard from others, there's just no comparison on performance.

 

[RTRyder]

I have a couple APM and several variations of Multiwii. You get a lot more software functionality from the APM than a standard Multiwii, but IMO the APM is a lot harder to tune to get it flying as smoothly as the newer Multiwii "pro" boards. There is a version of code for Multiwii called MegaPirate NG that gives it all the functionality of the APM with Ground station but if you're going to go that route you may as well just go for the real thing and get an APM board.

I can say that the latest Multiwii boards with uBlox GPS and remote compass chip compares quite well to my APM and also to the DJI Naza on all of the advanced functions. Version 2.2 of the Multiwii firmware is extremely stable, altitude hold, GPS position hold, and return to home are all 100% reliable and very solid. I just installed one of these boards in a spare TBS Discovery frame and hopefully this weekend I'll be doing a back to back comparison of the MultiWii Discovery to my other Discovery with the DJI Naza controller.

I've heard that waypoints will be added to the basic MultiWii software in the future but if you need something now your choices are APM, DJI Wookong-M, Mikrokopter, or ZeroUAV flight controllers. Any of the big names will cost 4 to 5 times as much as an APM or more depending on how far and how many waypoints, that should make the decision a little easier...

Ken