MGL Autopilot Progress

The autopilot has come quite a ways since the first incarnation. I have been working closely with Rainier and test flying a lot of beta software the past few weeks.

It's very close. We are getting into the "tweaking" stage and I feel it won't be long until it is perfect. And, boy, my machine is finicky when it comes to pitch control (to say the least).

I'll be test flying the latest beta again today or tomorrow and recording the results for analysis.

All in all, it's been quite an experience.

More later, when there is more to tell.

Hey Joe,
Any news on this? I haven't even been able to get my Trio servos to power up. I checked wiring and even sent the servos to Trio. They updated the firmware, but said they were good to go.

I've got a couple of e-mails into Rainier, but no word back yet. I think my Voyagers aren't running the latest code or something. They appear to have bootloader 1.0.0.2 on them (says so on the bootup screen), and I cannot update to the latest version. Not sure why (code problem, I'm guessing).

What bootloader are you running?

Checklist

lostpilot28 said:

Hey Joe,
Any news on this? I haven't even been able to get my Trio servos to power up. I checked wiring and even sent the servos to Trio. They updated the firmware, but said they were good to go.

I've got a couple of e-mails into Rainier, but no word back yet. I think my Voyagers aren't running the latest code or something. They appear to have bootloader 1.0.0.2 on them (says so on the bootup screen), and I cannot update to the latest version. Not sure why (code problem, I'm guessing).

What bootloader are you running?

Click to expand...

Hi. I have flown about a dozen beta releases and we are up to version "M". I am waiting for the latest round of "tweaks". Currently the vertical hold is "pretty good" but "lazy". Climbs and descents are a series of dips and swoops as it chases the desired VSI. Still, it's a world better than when we started. I think it's just a matter of tuning now.

Make sure of the following:

1. You have the latest release code and bootloader. They are available from http://www.mglavionics.co.za
2. You have a comm extender. Silly, I know.
3. You have the servos wired correctly. It's easy to get wrong.
4. You have your autopilot servo setup done in the setup menus. If you do not have the latest code, you probably won't have the autopilot menus.

Best way to reach Rainier is sending a private message on the forums. I have yet to get an email response, but he's quick to respond to private messages. He is very busy at the current time, Oshkosh is just around the corner.

Also, Matt at Sportflying.com is very helpful if you can get him on the line.

N131RV said:

Make sure of the following:

1. You have the latest release code and bootloader. They are available from http://www.mglavionics.co.za
2. You have a comm extender. Silly, I know.
3. You have the servos wired correctly. It's easy to get wrong.
4. You have your autopilot servo setup done in the setup menus. If you do not have the latest code, you probably won't have the autopilot menus.

Click to expand...

Hi Joe,
Yep, I've got everything and done everything with the exception of getting the latest bootloader. For some reason my Voyagers will not accept it. I'm very tech savvy and have followed the directions to the letter. I've also talked to Matt and e-mailed Rainier. Hope they get back to me soon.

lostpilot28 said:

Hi Joe,
Yep, I've got everything and done everything with the exception of getting the latest bootloader. For some reason my Voyagers will not accept it. I'm very tech savvy and have followed the directions to the letter. I've also talked to Matt and e-mailed Rainier. Hope they get back to me soon.

Click to expand...

Your boot loader is fine.
I did receive your e-mail yesterday but have not had a chance to respond to it yet.
From your description it seems everything is just fine with the COM Extender. Your EFIS is seeing it and in diagnostics mode it it transmitting test data on all 4 ports (hence the 4 TXn). I don't think that you are actually joining pins 2 and 3 (RX and TX) to get the system to show that the receive is working.

Rainier

Progress report?

Hey Joe,
Anything to report with the new firmware? I was just getting mine ready to fly and things starting falling into place for a paint job. So I won't be testing the MGL autopilot for the next month or so. Did the latest update smooth things out for you?

Autopilot progress

Still moving forward.

I have just started testing a new release that allows using gps for some vertical nav input and it's looking good.

Climbs/descents are still a bit "swoopy", but it's beginning to track altitude really well. +/- 10 feet usually, and pretty smooth.

I've only done about 1/2 hour of flight test with it. Will get a few more hours in this week and then upload some data for Rainier to work with.

It's getting there. I'll have more to report after a few more hours in flight and further tweaking of the settings.

I'm very optimistic. This version is the best yet.