Traxxas Stampede Documentation #169

marcozorzi · 2017-06-01T17:17:50Z

This documentation improvement was suggested by Nuno in Firmware PRs #7139 and #7175.

This should help developers to replicate results in those PRs.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:43:59Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+To test the algorithms, a simulation was used. This can be ran by running 
+
+ ```sh
+ make posix gazebo-rover


Is this really all you need to do? Perhaps link to gazebo setup docs here ... and also add a section on this frame there?

This comes from #6615. I'll add it in that section in the next commit, thanks!

Great. Please add a link to the gazebo docs here too.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:49:11Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# Traxxas Stampede VXL
+


Great to have a short paragraph here about why this vehicle selected and what the conversion to autopilot required - e.g. I assume because this is a nice big frame at a good price point. From your diagram all you needed to do was create a mount for the autopilot electronics.

Great idea! It was chosen mostly because Traxxas RC cars are very popular (see JetsonHacks, MIT racecar just to name two) but I'll add the reasoning here.

Excellent. I might tidy this a little once you're merged.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:51:20Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+
+## Assembly
+
+The assembly consists of a wooden frame on which all the parts were attached. Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used, especially for the Pixhawk and the Flow module.


"Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used"

Better than what? Better than standard vibration foam that comes with PX4 - (though you might just mean better than direct on wood with cable ties)? How did you sort this out?

Here I meant better than just using cable ties on wood. This comes from an email I got where I was asked what I would improve if I were to improve something and I believe this can be seen here:

http://logs.uaventure.com/view/ZuwDbp3UWHcf2KEVnxEBNb#IMU_Acc_PLOT

This is a log I did on the grass and I noticed that quadrotors generally have raw accelerations one order of magnitude smaller, here I just pulled a log from someone in the community flying a F550 frame for comparison:
http://logs.uaventure.com/view/ZuwDbp3UWHcf2KEVnxEBNb#IMU_Acc_PLOT

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:52:12Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+
+## Assembly
+
+The assembly consists of a wooden frame on which all the parts were attached. Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used, especially for the Pixhawk and the Flow module.


Be a bit more specific than "all the parts" - perhaps "all the autopilot parts" - you don't have your battery here for example.

Sounds good, the battery comes with the rover so I just assumed that, I'll fix it.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:52:41Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+
+The assembly consists of a wooden frame on which all the parts were attached. Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used, especially for the Pixhawk and the Flow module.
+
+![Assembly0](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/stampede_chassis.jpg)


More descriptive title than Assembly0 can be useful for accessibility - not critical.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:53:33Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+
+![Assembly5](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/mounting_detail.jpg)
+
+For this particular mounting it was chosen to use the clip supplied with the rover to attach the upper plane. For this, two supports were 3D printed. The CAD files are provided [here](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/plane_holders.zip).


For this particular mounting it was chosen to use the clip supplied with the rover to attach the upper plane.

Perhaps

For this particular mounting we chose to use the clip supplied with the rover to attach the upper plate.

I.e. is plane the correct term?

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:54:17Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+ from the Firmware folder. 
+
+## Usage
+At the current state, the only supported modes are `MISSION`  and `MANUAL` when a RC remote is connected. To use the mission mode, first upload a new mission to the vehicle with QGC. Then, BEFORE ARMING, select `MISSION` and then arm. 


Do you mean "At the current time, PX4 only supports MISSION and MANUAL modes when a RC remote is connected."?

That sounds better thanks.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T00:56:36Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+## Usage
+At the current state, the only supported modes are `MISSION`  and `MANUAL` when a RC remote is connected. To use the mission mode, first upload a new mission to the vehicle with QGC. Then, BEFORE ARMING, select `MISSION` and then arm. 
+
+> **Warning** It is **_VERY IMPORTANT_** to do a mission composed **_ONLY_** by normal waypoints (i.e. **_NO TAKEOFF WAYPOINTS_**) and it is crucial to **_SET THE WAYPOINT HEIGHT OF EVERY WAYPOINT TO 0_** for a correct execution. Failing to do so will cause the rover to continuously spin around a waypoint.


@DonLakeFlyer Don, should QGC should auto-zero waypoints on ground vehicles or is this something for PX4 to do?

I believe this should be discussed together with @dagar as he wants to discuss the new direction for wheeled robots on PX4 after #7175 is merged

Actually, @marcozorzi I tend to think that this is something your code needs to fix.

That might be a very good point, I'll look into that, thanks!

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T01:00:52Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+
+## Parameters
+
+The current software provides an attitude controller and a position controller. These build on top of the fixed wing framework to move an Ackerman steered vehicle following GPS coordinates (real or fake). In order to this, 2 PIDs were implemented, one for the steering and the other for the speed. 


Perhaps be a bit more declarative - tell users that they need to set these parameters manually, and link to instructions in QGC for setting parameters

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T01:02:46Z

Love the vehicle and this is a great start :-)

In addition to the comments I put inline:

How do I get the firmware? I think you need to link to docs for building that if it isn't in QGC yet.
At some point in the near future ALL airframe docs will be moving to the user guide - can you instead put this here: https://docs.px4.io/en/airframes/
Images should be dropped size below 250kb if at all this can be done without compromising the usability.

marcozorzi · 2017-06-05T19:50:58Z

I added a small section in the latest commit to improve on that but I plan on improve it again once it's finally merged
I'm following Nuno's advice (see #7175), I guess we can do it after it is merged. Anyway for me it's ok anyway, let me know.
I did my best and they are much smaller now, if you know a way to shrink them further without losing resolution let me know

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T23:23:49Z

I did my best and they are much smaller now, if you know a way to shrink them further without losing resolution let me know

What I do is use Gimp on windows. I export as JPG, reducing the quality as needed. It has a great algorithm and I can usually specify 90% quality and get a 1mb file down to about 150kb. All depends of course.
If you want me to do this, put the high res version somewhere I can access and I'll have a go and send back to you.

I'm following Nuno's advice (see #7175), I guess we can do it after it is merged. Anyway for me it's ok anyway, let me know.

OK by me. Just trying to save myself some work. Also to remove the need for this repo to have images in it that won't be needed, but which will be pulled down by editors when they sync with git.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-05T23:25:07Z

@bkueng Anything you want to add to this review before merging? I will probably do some tidy as a post merge process.

marcozorzi · 2017-06-06T06:45:27Z

What I do is use Gimp on windows. I export as JPG, reducing the quality as needed. It has a great algorithm and I can usually specify 90% quality and get a 1mb file down to about 150kb. All depends of course.

Thanks, this worked!

OK by me. Just trying to save myself some work. Also to remove the need for this repo to have images in it that won't be needed, but which will be pulled down by editors when they sync with git.

I can do it, no problem, any particular guidelines before I start? Unfortunately I do not have the Stampede anymore so I can't take new pictures.

bkueng

I added one comment, generally looks really good.
I like both the gazebo & the real rovers :)

We should be able to remove the Software location section shortly, once the PR gets merged.

bkueng · 2017-06-06T09:21:22Z

en/airframes_experimental/traxxas_stampede.md

+The current software provides an attitude controller and a position controller. These build on top of the fixed wing framework to move an Ackerman steered vehicle following GPS coordinates (real or fake). In order to this, 2 PIDs were implemented, one for the steering and the other for the speed. 
+These can be started by setting the following general parameters, which can be set with QGC (instructions [here](https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/en/SetupView/Parameters.html)):
+* SYS_AUTOSTART 50002
+* MAV_TYPE 10


I see that the 'airframe' config already sets the MAV_TYPE and the tuning params. So it's not necessary to add them here. But I think it's useful to describe which params can be tuned & how.

hamishwillee · 2017-06-07T00:34:05Z

Excellent job with images. I'm merging!

marcozorzi added 2 commits June 1, 2017 19:10

added traxxas stampede documentation for PR 7139 and 7175

02c280a

added traxxas stampede documentation for PR 7139 and 7175

6314951

TSC21 mentioned this pull request Jun 3, 2017

Rebased Ackerman vehicle controllers PX4/PX4-Autopilot#7175

Merged

hamishwillee reviewed Jun 5, 2017

View reviewed changes

adressing changes suggested

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shrinked images and added new links

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bkueng reviewed Jun 6, 2017

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removed code source as PR was merged

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hamishwillee merged commit 60f20cb into PX4:master Jun 7, 2017

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Traxxas Stampede Documentation #169

Traxxas Stampede Documentation #169

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hamishwillee commented Jun 7, 2017


		## Assembly

		The assembly consists of a wooden frame on which all the parts were attached. Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used, especially for the Pixhawk and the Flow module.


		The assembly consists of a wooden frame on which all the parts were attached. Tests showed that a better vibration insulation should be used, especially for the Pixhawk and the Flow module.

		![Assembly0](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/stampede_chassis.jpg)


		![Assembly5](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/mounting_detail.jpg)

		For this particular mounting it was chosen to use the clip supplied with the rover to attach the upper plane. For this, two supports were 3D printed. The CAD files are provided [here](../../assets/airframes/experimental/stampede/plane_holders.zip).


		## Parameters

		The current software provides an attitude controller and a position controller. These build on top of the fixed wing framework to move an Ackerman steered vehicle following GPS coordinates (real or fake). In order to this, 2 PIDs were implemented, one for the steering and the other for the speed.

Traxxas Stampede Documentation #169

Traxxas Stampede Documentation #169

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marcozorzi commented Jun 1, 2017

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hamishwillee commented Jun 5, 2017

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