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A Really, Really Affordable AutoPilot for your Homebuilt
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- čas přidán 23. 04. 2020
- While autopilot control is often desired in our homebuilt, experimental aircraft, many systems are complicated and expensive. One system, Xflight, has borrowed open source technology from the drone world to create an affordable system for small homebuilt aircraft. Watch as Steve, the designer, has installed this system on a Hummel H5 aircraft and explains its operation.
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Absolutely phenomenal! I've been thinking about using RC servo motors for trim tabs for years. Operated by a car electric mirror control mounted atop of the control column. This is essentially that, with an extra dimension.
This is the best news I have had in a long time. Well done. Love it
I like this. I especially like that it works by trimming the plane. Many autopilots will allow a plane to get way out of trim and then when they disengage the plane is uncontrolable in some cases (more than a few crashes have included autopilot disengagement while out of trim). Because it is open source you can extend it. Add throttle control, rudder control, or full flight surface controls, gear control, landing light control, you name it, you can code it and build actuators for it. (I like the idea of having both the trim and full flight control, but with some pins you can pull using a wire rope to mechanically disconnect the main flight controls from the autopilot's actuators. You could add autoland, emergency autoland (perhaps triggered by medical data or a vigilance detector), automated terrain avoidance, nearest airfield finder, automatic unusual attitude recovery, or even inadvertent IMC escape.
I love your idea man, I would love to team up let’s build this autopilot as I have a good knowledge background in arduinos and raspberry pi
Your plane looks GREAT and I love the simplicity of your autopilot . Also when in doubt and maybe foggy weather being able to just press home and retrace your flight home or even a new rout home is a great assistance.
Looking forward to see in-flight Ops-Demo videos of this system in use !
Dude goes, “but what if I’m inside the drone?” Solid job and showed what many wondered if it was possible. I’d definitely look into some ASTM standards though and modify it a little before putting it in mine.
Wow, he’s going to see a surge of orders after this video!
except, he is not selling anything. it is DIY, open source (ie free software)
@@planesandbikes7353 There is nothing to prevent people from building and selling equipment running General Public License open source software, provided they publish the source code of their modifications to it.
So merge a raspberry pi and an rc autopilot. Seems legit.
When you want to fly RC at full scale.
Just cutting the transmitter and receiver outta the loop.
Amazing... If you think that the difference in price between an ultralight without AP and the same aircraft with AP can be also 15.000 bucks, this solution is the best!
Liked and subbed.
That all an autopilot system ever needed to be. I wondered why nobody ever did this
Yes.. sometimes the most obvious gets missed...
Awesome work!
Should call it the servoPilot or AutoTrim. Great idea.
Great video !! I just purchased the plans for the H5. It would be awesome to do a build video on one of these, maybe from scratch too? I believe it is a hot upcoming popular kit for the price. And if had folding wings ? WOW !!
Neat package. Looking forward to reviews.
What a great idea! Beyond cool!
Wow, this is brilliant. Kudos
I thought this would come up at some point. Now, ArduPilot is open source, organised a bit like Linux, and therefore it can in principle be fully examined for quality and bugs. The whole issue of certification of systems for human flight needs to be examined, given that the existing system of closed, proprietary software has proven itself to be fatally flawed in the case of the B737 MAX and assorted Airbus bugs, whereas the open source Linux system essentially runs the Internet over the entire world. A model plane running ArduPilot with low-cost hardware would easily have completed the Kobe Bryant flight plan, yet an expensive helicopter and trained pilot could not, also with tragically fatal results.
It is perhaps time that the old expensive approach to avionics and aircraft control in general be revised to allow for new low-cost technology and open source software, just as commodity personal computers and open source opened up computing and communications. After all, look at how airline pilots depend on their iPads for so much operational assistance in addition to what their cockpit instruments and computers do.
PS: The ISS switched to Linux a number of years ago.
You make some terrific points, except that the entire iPad iOS is a closed, proprietary ecosystem closely guarded by Apple. The points you bring up about the vulnerability of proprietary HW/SW applies to iPads as well. Perhaps moreso, in light of the recent Mail app issue.
@@SooperToober It's more a question of whether the apps used by pilots are open or closed. iOS is built on an open source version of UNIX which is not GPLed, but the ecosystem is indeed closed and proprietary. I was looking at the iPad and the apps as being non-certified elements brought into the cockpit.
Awesome! You're the men.
I used a Raspberry Pi 4 to interface my physical G1000 instrument panel to my desktop Xplane C172. I programmed all the code in Python. I'm curious if you used Python in your Raspberry Pi to code your screen and AP functions?
I have seen certified planes with an autopilot disengage switch right on the top of the stick that is hardwired and independent of the autopilot software and electronics.
I'd love to see a video of what app they use to control the navigation, really interested in this!
Not related to the video. But do you ever do composite homebuilt (cozy mk IV in particular)?
'Go Home' might take you through a mountain.
In case the pilot is unconcious?
Wow, I see this in my future.
As of May 12, 2024, the website shown in the video is no longer operational (domain is for sale), but I was able to find the new website with a simple Google search. I can't link to it here, because CZcams doesn't allow external links in comments.
Thank you for your work always so helpful and interesting
:O ... I am building the same thing with the same parts.... but I am only half way done with mine :O
I’d buy this in a heartbeat
That servo is a Turnigy from fricking Hobby King! I'm surprised he didn't just use an Eagle Tree stabilizer in it. 😄
A few R/C servs and a raspberry? Wow! You need to be brave to connect that in the sky
The design can improve a lot with minimal increases in cost. Typical aerospace practices like redundancy, manual override, external monitoring (watchdogs), ... are very cheap to implement with this kind of tech. The main functions are done by a "rugged" microcontroller in this product (Ardupilot).
I wonder how the control surfaces could be managed by both the pilot and the autopilot concurrently and directly (which sounds safer than the current parallel system). Something like taking over the usual manual controls during flight then unlinking the autopilot as soon as the pilot touches them.
This can even evolve into a system to assist in preventing and recovering from possible accidents.
you will also need an ardupilot module (mine was $30.00 - amazon) and get the gps unit that goes with it (another $20 - amazon).. Either the PixHawk or ardupilot pilot module is what gives you all the accelerometers and the gyro and the gps and the servo connections and the auto piloting, the pi is the user interface for the pilot module - search your app store for ardupilot gcs, there should at least 5 to choose from and that is where you will input your flight missions on your smart phone or tablet or.... The most common connection from the pi to the pilot board is a serial connection as it uses a basic ASCII text protocol to program the board - that being said, all the servos and boards and cabling and debugging done for you for what, $300,? hell even $500?.... it is soooo worth it to buys his!!! Unless you are a software developer and/or hardware developer (a.k.a. masochist - I am developer, you have to be a masochist to do this job!) - the modules are very sophisticated and very reliable but I would still build in independent alarms for double checking the auto pilot. OH and use the PI 4 - it has the wi-fi built directly into the board and no need to buy a separate wi-fi module like what is seen in the video. have fun, good luck and stay safe!
@@deanyoung8812 It still works as a proof of concept of open source technology into experimental aviation. People will see the video, the product and know the possibilities are vast.
I think the interface can be done with a bigger Arduino (AVR) or ARM Cortex board with some external LCD display if you can use Bluetooth/NFC instead of WiFi to communicate with smartphones. It would be enough and much more robust than a full Linux device.
@jet guy I would expect, pulling the plug or writing a release routine because I do not know if one is written in the GCS software. BUT BUT BUT We have an actual ArduPilot programmer on the feed and I am sure that he knows far more than I do about it.
@@vitordelima it has / had real potential, like I said, I was building one almost exactly like the process shown in the video, but the XFlight creators use servos would actually be easier and make more sense, where I would have been applying stepper motors. We do have the ArduPilot expert on the thread.
I click to hear about the autopilot and ended up watching a video mostly about a home built I've never heard of. Nice plane though.
Why are you using RadioLink hardware? Last I read from the Ardupilot site: "This autopilot is not recommended because the board is not compatible with the official ArduPilot software despite multiple efforts to work with the manufacturer to make it compatible. The manufacturer is also apparently not abiding by the GPLv3 license which requires releasing the modified source code to its customers." I would opt for something better.
Appreciate this video, I have been looking for an autopilot system that would work on a Cessna 140, this may be the answer.
A return to home feature like a Quad Copter. That is interesting.
so I assume if you don't have them you would have to install trim tabs for this to tie into. but how does the autopilot interact with an electric trim system? does it come with the ability to be a manual trim system with the AP off and then just overused the trim when you engage the AP?
I ask because i am building a part 103 ultralight that dose not normally have trim capabilities but would love to give it that ability and an autopilot in the future. would this work to fill both of those roles?
This is the same type of system that TruTrak developed..they never went ahead with it because for certified aircraft it was a nightmare to get the approvals for GA aircraft. I was looking very hard at it when it was being developed and was disappointed when it just died..this is almost exactly the same...I like it and will look further into it. By the way electronics is what I do for a living so its not voodoo stuff to me.
How could we use this on the Sav with no aileron trim tabs? Surely direct servos could be used somehow. And seeing as we already have electric trim on the tail, we are half way there. I might have found my winter project.......along with my already long list lol....
Most planes don't have secondary ailerons, so for anyone retrofitting this, how would they set it up to control roll?
Obviously a trim tab would have to be fitted.
How do others do it?
Does anyone know if this AutoPilot is for experimental aircraft only?
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that it isn't certified. 😉
Seems a bit goofy to me, to have the fuel tanks, so far out on the wings. I remember the Piper Lance with the 4 tanks, and how fast it would get out of trim when burning the tip tanks. Also, using the "flaps," for trim, does not have as much leverage, as tabs farther out on the wings. I would prefer to keep the flaps, and actually install the servo and tab, farther out on the wing.
It is a small, light aircraft. Further out on the wing would result in smaller control surfaces for the same level of control.
So, for the H5 specifically, is it worth that? I think "No".
brilliant.
so whats the name of this system?
I think that the Hummel H5 can go faster if the wing size get some modifications. Its too big and wide.. if the wing become slimmer and few inches less in width .. besides it needs begger prop. it will fly easier and faster with the 85 hp engine
Hi I'm flying a H5 and I interested in your auto pilot. Is there a way to get more information? Thank you
Hi Dennis - please see more details at XflightTech.com.
Did you try the site that was mentioned? www.xflighttech.com/
Maybe it's just me but I can't find any links to this
Can you give us the name of the auto pilot
i am beginner to aircraft. i want to known Length width height of wings and body. and more details
flyhummel.com/h5/
Autopilot using the trim tab??
GENIUS!!!
Why didn’t I think of that? Oh yeah, I’m no genius.
It doesn’t count if we don’t see it fly. Just more vapor ware.
2 times speed is👌
I am sorry but in today’s iPad world one does not need a home button.
I too WOW
So no aileron trim tab on a CH 750 STOL. Hmmmmmm.
No aileron trim tab on anything I ever flew, can be fixed though.
From the ArduPilot developers:
****Never use the software or hardware for manned vehicles. The software and hardware we provide is only for use in unmanned vehicles.****
firmware.ardupilot.org/
Operate within all local laws and regulations. For example, in the United States, current regulations require you to operate most UAVs under 400 foot above ground level, within line of site, and away from obstructions and populated areas.
Since these regulations vary from place to place, even within the same country, ensure that you understand what you need to do to stay compliant.
Never operate the vehicle or software in a way that could be dangerous to you, other people, or property.
Always keep in mind that software and hardware failures happen.
Although we design our products to minimize such issues, you should always operate with the understanding that a failure could occur at any point of time and without warning. As such, you should take the appropriate precautions to minimize danger in case of failure.
***Never use the software or hardware for manned vehicles. The software and hardware we provide is only for use in unmanned vehicles.*****
And?
The same statement is on most fuel pumps used in experimental aircraft. It''s just to protect them from the liability.
Very interesting but I'd be more concerned with trim than if it steered directly, just with soft actuation you can easily overpower. Do you have to lock the stick for trim to be enough to fly the plane?
Since screens are so inexpensive, I'd highly recommend you use a much bigger screen. That's a great way to stand out and get a much better user experience. If you could add synthetic vision it's suddenly full avionics that can appropriately shame other products. If possible it would be very cool to add throttle control and include maps of airports so it can land on its own. Or take off. Do the full flight. And I don't mean 10" screen or 12. Much bigger.
Could never land or take off on its own ... you need full control servos that move main surfaces for that... not trim tab servos .. Have you ever flown a plane ? you should know this .. Auto throttle also not a good idea .. completely dangerous without expensive override that would cost more than five of these .. Also your aware you can have everything else you mentioned for free on your I pad which should remain separate .
Some people are never happy. Take an honest piece of inexpensive simplicity designed for inexpensive simple airplanes and immediately starts to nickle and dime it with Bells and Whistles.
@@garyreed2206 He doesn’t understand trim tabs can’t take off and land safely and that auto throttle to be safe is easily 10 grand worth of parts ... And it would be outrageously foolish to trust an inexpensive rig to do those tasks ... requires about a decade of testing and proof it is safe .... but ... a simple trim guidance system while in the air at some altitude is completely safe and easily overridden ... in fact it’s safer than without itbecause it could save you if IFR conditions came upon you ... I don’t think he has ever flown an airplane ... doesn’t understand that Garmin and others spent years and millions to just last year arrive at auto landings and takeoffs for small piston singles and do it safely
@@garyreed2206 I honestly think he has zero understanding of autopilots in general and the astounding R&D and money required for safe auto land which has
just use an iPad with Foreflight for synthetic vision - a separate display
👍🏻👉🏻🌹💐❤️🌹🌹🌹
Sitting behind a running engine without eye protection is just plain stupid.
what?
At this point it is just a rc plane that a man can sit in
I don't think you should allow comments on your videos. I'm concerned about the intellectual level of the general public. I'm wondering how they find their way home at night.
and steve died in this plane
"Really, really affordable" and "autopilot" doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Extremly unsafe !
Expermental aircraft can be this way, they are not for everybody ;)
Unsafe? If it fails the pilot will be flying a little out of trim. What's so unsafe about that? I would bet many pilots are flying out of trim anyway. And, it's installed in an experimental sport aircraft that's built by the builder of the aircraft. Pretty good, I think.