• Setting up SBUS with Naze32,Cleanflight, OrangeRx, Turnigy 9XR

    32094-2(1)(2)

    There’s lot of posts and information out there on how to use Naze32 with Sbus but still I found myself having to do a lot of research and guesswork to make it work on my setup. I figured I’d make it easy for the next person with the same gear or at least bring one more puzzle piece to the solution on how to make it work on your setup. In this guide I will go through:

    1. Setting up the 9xr transmitter
    2. How to bind your transmitter and receiver
    3. How to electrically connect receiver and Naze32
    4. How to set up Naze32 in Ceanflight to use the SBUS as rc input

    Here is a list of what gear I use which is used in this guide:

    You will need to invert the logic level of the SBUS signal from the reciever to the Naze32. I made my own inverter which I will explain but you would save some time on just buying a premade inverter such as this one recommended by Cleanflight wiki: ZYX-S S.BUS Connection Cable.

    It should be noted that it probably doesn’t matter what reciever you use as long as it has SBUS support.

    1. Setting up the 9xr transmitter

    1. turn on the 9xr
    2. after the splash screen, press right button
    3. choose which model to use by pressing right
    4. click right button once so it says “2/11″ in the upper right corner

    Change to: ppm, 14ch, 300µSec, 12.5ms

    I noted that some settings will make the DSMX module “angry” and then it wouldn’t send anything. if this happens you need to change back to some settings that works and restart the 9xr. If the module makes a high pitch beep(1/2 a second) and blinks green( three quick blinks every 2nd second ish) when it starts it means it’s working fine.

    2. How to bind your transmitter and receiverbind plug

    This step is pretty straight forward, but I include it for completeness.  You need some +5v and GND to power the receiver. Easiest is to power it from an ESC.

    1. Start with everything powered off.
    2. Disconnect the motor from the ESC and make sure the motor leads isn’t touching anything.
    3. Put a bind plug in the bat/bind port of the receiver.
    4. power up the ESC by connecting it to a battery
    5. Plug in the servo lead from the ESC in the receiver in any port on the receiver to power it up. Usually it will blink orange rapidly.
    6. hold the bind button on the module(the thing in the back of the 9xr) while powering it on. hold until it starts beeping and blinking.
    7. after releasing the bind button on the module, the receiver will normally turn to a steady light wihin seconds which indicates that the binding is complete.
    8. switch off the receiver( disconnect from ESC) and remove the bind plug.
    9. switch off the 9xr.

    3. How to electrically connect receiver and Naze32

    There will be 3 wires connecting the Naze32 and the receiver; GND, +5v and signal. Either you buy the inverter module, in which case you simply connect it in between the Naze32 and the receiver.

    Logic inverter

    It is possible to build a logic inverter with many different transistors, like a N-channel MOSFET for example. Just google “logic inverter npn” or “logic inverter N-channel MOSFET” or similar depending on what you got available and you will find a schematic.

    For the inverter I built,  I used this NPN transistor, a SMD 1k Ohm resistor and a SMD 10k Ohm resistor. I soldered the components according to this scematic:

    Connecting stuff

    The input of the logic inverter comes from the reciever, and the output goes to the pin marked “5” on the backside of the naze32.

    Backside of Naze32 rev5

    The pad marked “5” to the right is the one to connect the inverted SBUS signal.

     

    4. How to set up Naze32 in Cleanflight to use the SBUS as rc input

    1. In the Ports tab, set UART2 to SerialRx
    2. In the Configuration tab, click the RX_SERIAL radiobutton and select SBUS from the “Serial Receiver Provider” list. don’t use Softserial.
    3. Check if it works in the Receiver Tab!

     

  • 3d printed landing gear for 420 gram 250-size quadcopter

    The stock landing gear of my 250 tarot was too large, heavy and would get caught in grass in fast forward flight. The situation demanded upgraded landing gear!

    What I wanted to accomplish was to avoid the landing gear to hook onto things on the ground. it should be cheap, light, flexible, crash proof, aerodynamic and also easy to change!

    I got inspired by this Youtube video but wanted something more slim 

    Here is the 3rd iteration of my design

    Do it yourself! Here is the source file and stl file for use with a 3d-printer.

    The design is 3d-printed with ABS plastic and it only takes a few minutes on our Bukobot-8 to print out a new set. I attach it with some hot glue and a zip-tie to the frame. After a crash it’s very easy to peel off the hot glue from the carbon fiber plate to change it for a new one. If you have problems getting old hotglue off, put it in the freezer for 5 minutes and try again, it will be a lot easier!

    240fps slow-mo drop:

    I found that they will brake a bit too easily when i crash with the current thickness(0.6mm), but I find that I rather have to change the landing gear every now and then than having something heavier on, and if it breaks it means it absorbed some energy!

    After crashing from more than 5 meters altitude onto a football field