Hi vyoufinder, The current recommendation is to enter AutoTune from Loiter or PosHold so that it will (weakly) hold position during the tune. AutoTune can be setup on the main flight mode switch, and auxiliary channel or you can switch into it from a ground station.

Thanks, happy that it was useful. In this video I'm using an older 3DR quad copter kit frame. This is a pre-IRIS frame so it's quite old and I'm afraid 3DR isn't selling them anymore. It was a good frame for development but the top was a bit fragile meaning that a crash often meant a couple of hours of rework to sort it out. These days I normally test with a 3DR IRIS (which are also becoming rare) or a large frame from EnRoute (which is my new main sponsor).

Yes, if you connect your receiver's ch6 to the APM's input ch7 then it should be possible to get it working. If you're using a ppmsum receiver which only has one cable connecting it to the APM then it's not possible i think.

Ah, so you mean you want to be able to arm with just one stick instead of two? I'm pretty accustomed to arming with two sticks. I guess it's possible to change the code so it allows arming with just one stick but I've already got a very long to-do list so I think I'll leave it for someone else to tackle.

Haha thanks:) I keep having problems arming with two; and the only way I've found is to disable the arming sequence (but I like arming!) I guess I'll look into it some more haha

Houss, I can't help with the Spektrum transmitter but we have a very old parameter file for ArduPilot for the 3DR Y6B here: github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/blob/ArduCopter-3.2/Tools/Frame_params/3DR_Y6B_RTF.param. This is really old though so many of the parameter names have changed in our latest versions (3.6 and 4.0). The way to use this file would be to load Copter-3.2 on the vehicle, then load this parameter file, then upgrade to a more recent version of ArduPilot. Of course, if it's an APM2 flight controller on there then it's stuck at version 3.2.1.

yes, it'll work. the input warning is a mission planner thing. I think it's a side-effect of checking that crazy values aren't input. I think MichaelO will remove that warning though on the ch7/ch8 drop-down.

Thanks. I didn't want to use any of the extras until i knew.

Oh nevermind, it's written there below :)

Hi TurkceRap, for quadplanes it is probably best to report this in the Plane forums discuss.ardupilot.org/c/arduplane/plane-4-3/166

@javierymirna, that's very strange. my guess is it's a mission planner bug. maybe if you have some tlogs of when it happens that would help. perhaps raising an issue in the mission planner issues list would be a good idea..

you can autotune by axes, one day pitch , other day yaw, other day roll, you have to config it in parameters of missiion planner.

Hi Aadil, the only suggestions I have are here on the wiki ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-choosing-a-ground-station.html . Hope that helps.

no, sorry!

Thanks !

Randy Mackay Would it be possible to add in text " make sure to click on the parameter refresh button for the new PID values to download to the Mission Planner so they can be seen". I am a newbie and wasn't close to the laptop to hear or see " autotune complete so I thought autotune had failed the 3 or 4 times I tried it before I saw the button. Perhaps apparent to most, but not to me. Barney Liftoff

Marcio Cardenas you should tune the copter with the same payload/mass distribution as you have when flying. So to answer the question. Gimbal and camera should be attached and powered on for best results.

It can only be engaged from stabilize or althold flight modes so perhaps that's the issue? The other possibility is that the TX's roll and pitch sticks aren't right in the middle so it always thinks the pilot is overriding the controls (i.e. repositioning). Hard to know without seeing a log really.

That's my other issue. No matter what I do I can't get atun logs enabled. Even enable all doesn't give me atun info. In any case, my taranis says trims are centered and telemetry says I'm in althold. Spent the afternoon today manually dialing in PID's and it's solid but still concerns me that I can't get autotune to engage.

Matthew Bradley I have a Taranis and couldn't get AT to work either. I think it may be because ch 7 was for RTL and acted as an override switch. Rather than reprogram, I used my 9XR with no fancy programming and it worked fine.

Hi Anthony, I guess you're referring to the "Tune " drop-down on Mission Planner's Config, Extended Tuning screen? I think this "Tune" drop-down should be left set to "None" (or at least not "Stab Roll/Pitch kP", etc or it could interfere with Autotune which also updates those tuning values.

@@rmackay9 thanks, yes I was unsure if none stood for NO autotune capabilities being run. I'm at the tuning phase now which looks like the most complex part. I'm trying this process with a smaller quad with all the same running gear ahead of configuring a larger Hexa vehicle just to get the processes straight in my mind. The little guy is flying which is excellent but it's like driving on ice. It lacks responsiveness although I can snake it back to me under Stabilize.

@@antznixon I think the VTOL-Quicktune lua script could be a good option as well if the vehicle has a significantly powerful autopilot on it (e.g. one with an H7 processor like the CubeOrange, Durandal, etc). kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gcWEbMycqrfRnJc.html

@@rmackay9 I'll jump over to that video. Learning how to decipher logs to see if I can learn more. Looks like the drop-down for default = IMU is now IMU RAW again?

Hi @@antznixon I'm not totally sure which drop-down you're referring to actually.. but maybe you're correct..

Hi MarkG, The greyed out fields on MP are probably because the MP needs to be updated (check it's Help screen for an Update button). This video is a bit out-of-date but the info on the AutoTune wiki page should be correct: ardupilot.org/copter/docs/autotune.html. By the way, if possible the best place to ask question is on the support forums: discuss.ardupilot.org/c/arducopter/copter-40/155.

+David Garrett No, I'm afraid not. It's on the to-do list to make the vehicle reposition itself after each twitch but I can't promise when that will be done. My guess is it won't be in Copter-3.4 but it's hard to say.

+Randy Mackay , cheers for the reply.... much appreciated.. :-) and thanks for recording the vids, they have helped me out numerous times.... :-) :-)

Thanks so much Randy. Very appreciative for the reply. Looks like I may have to temporarily wire an aux dial into CH7 to activate AutoTune, unless you know of the param to change so I can use the CH5 (5 position created by 2 switches, SWB 0/1 and SWA 0/1/2) switch to activate on a certain flight mode. (Stock CX-20 Controller),

TheZionPhil Ah, no access to Ch7 or Ch8? That's the only way to trigger AutoTune I'm afraid and there's no way within arducopter to map another channel to channel 7. All I can suggest is some kind of hardware modification to get a signal into channel 7.

Randy Mackay Thanks again Randy.

+Ansari Flight Plan No, the two are pretty separate so it's fine to do autotune without doing auto trim.

Yes it worked.

Hi Sleeperknot, it depends upon how AutoTune is started. If it is started from AltHold mode then it drifts with the wind which is actually better for getting a good tune. If it is started from Loiter or PosHold mode then it will hold position. Some of this is documented on the AutoTune wiki page here ardupilot.org/copter/docs/autotune.html#invoke-autotune-with-position-hold

@@rmackay9 thank you. I just managed to get one apm2.8 based quad on air. Still have to do auto tune.

Hi @@Sleeperknot, OK, although we stopped supporting the APM2.x boards many years ago. There are many other options that are the same cost and perform much better ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-autopilots.html . I really wish manufacturers would stop making the APM2.x boards.