aircraft flight information.
This telemetry may be sent to the ground station by two different systems to be chosen from the
OSD setup menu. Normally, "Ikarus OSD" embeds the telemetry information in the form of a bar code
located on the left side of the image. The flight console will periodically capture the image being
displayed to decode this information and update the flight instruments.
Alternatively, you can use a radio modem to send such information. In this case, you must
indicate to the console, the serial port to which the modem is connected to. On the plane, connect the
modem RX pin to the serial port TX pin in "Ikarus OSD”. This serial port is used also by the GPS (RX
pin), so modem speed needs to match the speed of the GPS used.
All telemetry information decoded in the PC is stored in a log file in the folder specified for
that purpose.
Uplink (still in development)
Allow you to upload some information to aircraft during the flight. To do so, insert the uplink
module between the transmitter and transmission module. This module will also enable the PC to
replace the transmitter, this way allowing the use of a joystick connected to your PC to fly the plane.
Recommendations
It’s recommended that you start getting familiarized with "Ikarus OSD" and its functions step
by step. Start using "Ikarus OSD" as an OSD. Once you are familiarized with it you can start setting
the autopilot. To use all the features of the autopilot, “Ikarus OSD” need a receiver that output a
complete PPM signal. If your receiver doesn’t output a PPM signal, you can use "Ikarus OSD"
autopilot with the help of any other Flight stabilizing system, leaving "Ikarus OSD" autopilot control
only the plane’s tail and throttle.
A bad configuration of some options, especially regarding the operation of the autopilot
can cause the plane to behave inappropriately and may end with the plane crashing with the
ground. Make sure you have totally understood the OSD operation. Before first flight, make a
rigorous preflight check, verifying that you can activate and deactivate the autopilot intuitively.
Check that while operating on autopilot, the response in each control surfaces is adequate and
that any of the channels it’s inverted. During the settings of the various PID controllers’ gains,
make sure that the plane it’s high enough to recover safely by manual control if plane doesn’t
behave as expected. Please respect the recommended safety measures for model aircraft
practice and don’t fly near people or populated areas.
Pay special attention not to make short circuits between power and ground lines. In the
particular case of the power signals from the cameras and video transmitter, when this is taken directly
from the battery of video, the currents can flow are very high, causing the destruction of some tracks
on the circuit, or even the batteries. Always be careful not to reverse the connectors, and not confuse
one with another port.
© Ikarus Team Sevilla 2010
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