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Remote Controller Configuration - Contents

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Remote Controller Configuration - Contents

Owned by Abbas Chamseddine
Last updated: Jan 17, 2018

Remote Controller Configuration


Required Parts

  1. S.Bus Compatible Receiver 
  2. 3-pin, female-female cable

  3. Remote Controller paired with its receiver, supporting:
    1. 6 channels or more
    2. Two analogue sticks
    3. 2 switches, one of which must be a 3-position switch
  4. USB cable
  5. Autopilot with a valid motor configuration
  6. PC running SkyControl

Setup

To setup the Remote Controller follow these instructions:

Make sure that the battery is not connected to the system, as an unconfigured remote controller could unintentionally arm the motors.

  1. Connect and configure your Remote Controller
    1. Connect the Receiver to the Autopilot using the 3-pin, female-female cable
    2. Connect the Autopilot to the PC using the provided USB cable
    3. Validate that the Remote Controller is correctly paired to its receiver, which should be indicated by LED of the receiver itself

    4. Configure the Remote Controller channels using the table below

  2. Map the autopilot's function to your Remote Controller 
    1. In SkyControl, be sure that you are in the tab RC of the UAS configuration page.
    2. For each function channel select the channel number you configured on the Remote Controller.
  3. Calibrate your receiver channels
    1. Press the "Reset Limits" button
    2. Move each stick and switch from their minimum to their maximum values three times

    3. Press the "Done" button

  4. Your remote controller should be set up correctly.

The RC has to be re-calibrated every time the user uses a different RC even if it is the same model.

Make sure that you set up your Remote Controller properly before flying your UAS.

6 Control Functions must be mapped: Roll, Pitch, Yaw, Thrust, Mode, Kill.

If a channel is unused, assign it to None.

The mode switch must be a 3 state switch.


Kill and Mode Switches

It is recommended to have each of the Kill and Mode Switches on different sides of the Remote Controller to avoid confusion during flight.

Your stick positions are displayed on the bottom of the screen. Make sure that stick movement in the display is coherent with the stick movement on your Remote Controller. If a stick movement on your RC results in an opposite movement in the telemetry, for example if a stick moved up shows the stick moving down on SkyControl or a stick moved left shows the stick moving right on SkyControl, then the channel must be inverted on your Remote Controller as this is not supported in SkyControl. In the other inconsistency cases, you need to correctly map your channels either on your Remote Controller or on SkyControl.

SKYMATE Remote Controller Stick Mapping

Channel mapping helps to correctly map the Remote Controller inputs to SKYMATE. Also it allows users to easily switch from Mode 1 to Mode 2 and vice-versa. The difference between Mode 1 and Mode 2 is that the position of Thrust and Pitch are swapped as shown in the tables below.

Mode 1

Although it is possible to map your RC on SkyControl to pass from Mode 2 to Mode 1, the display, however, does not support Mode 1. This will be supported in future releases.

FunctionMode 1 Input (Europe)Mode 2 Input (North America)LowMidHighDefault Channel
Roll / AileronRight Stick, HorizontalLeft
Right1
Pitch / ElevatorLeft Stick, VerticalRight Stick, VerticalTop
Bottom2
Thrust / ThrottleRight Stick, VerticalLeft Stick, VerticalBottom
Top3
Yaw / RudderLeft Stick, HorizontalLeft
Right4
Return to LaunchMomentary SwitchAway
Close (RTL)5
Mode3-positions SwitchAway (Mission Mode)Position ModeClose (Manual Mode)6
Kill #1Toggle SwitchAway
Close (Kill)

7

Kill #2Toggle SwitchAway
Close (Kill)Unassigned

SKYMATE Killswitch Mechanism

SKYMATE autopilot has three kill switch modes that the operator can activate by assigning Kill #1 and/or Kill #2 on the RC. These configurations and how to set them are shown in the table below.

ModeKill #1Kill #2Behaviour
No Kill SwitchUnassignedNot able to kill the UAS during flight with the switches
1 Kill SwitchAssign Kill #1 or Kill #2

When the assigned switch is activated, the UAS will be killed 

2 Kill Switches AssignedAssignedBoth kill switches need to be activated to kill the UAS


UAS Disarming

Whatever the chosen killswitch strategy, the operator can always kill the UAS with the same mechanism to arm it.


© ARA Robotique Inc - 2018