Transmitter Based Tuning

You can perform extensive parameter tuning in flight using your R/C transmitter. This is meant for advanced users who are unable to use the Autotune features or wish to do fine tuning with full manual tuning control of each parameter

Overview

Transmitter based tuning allows you to tune a single parameter or a set of parameters while flying. The basic idea is to link the tuning value of a parameter to a knob or slider on your transmitter then to adjust the parameter in flight by moving the knob.

With transmitter based tuning you can tune single or multiple parameters in flight using Channel 6 of the transmitter.

The TUNE parameter determines which parameter is being tuned.

The TUNE_MAX parameter determines the maximum value of the parameter when the channel is at RC6_MAX, while the TUNE_MIN parameter determines the value when RC channel 6 is at RC6_MIN.

TUNE Values

Value

Meaning

Parameter

0

None

1

Stab Roll/Pitch kP

ATC_ANG_RLL_P, ATC_ANG_PIT_P

4

Rate Roll/Pitch kP

ATC_RAT_RLL_P, ATC_RAT_PIT_P

5

Rate Roll/Pitch kI

ATC_RAT_RLL_I, ATC_RAT_PIT_I

21

Rate Roll/Pitch kD

ATC_RAT_RLL_D, ATC_RAT_PIT_D

3

Stab Yaw kP

ATC_ANG_YAW_P

6

Rate Yaw kP

ATC_RAT_YAW_P

26

Rate Yaw kD

ATC_RAT_YAW_D

56

Rate Yaw Filter

ATC_RAT_YAW_FLTE

55

Motor Yaw Headroom

MOT_YAW_HEADROOM

14

AltHold kP

PSC_POSZ_P

7

Throttle Rate kP

PSC_VELZ_P

34

Throttle Accel kP

PSC_ACCZ_P

35

Throttle Accel kI

PSC_ACCZ_I

36

Throttle Accel kD

PSC_ACCZ_D

12

Loiter Pos kP

PSC_POSXY_P

22

Velocity XY kP

PSC_VELXY_P

28

Velocity XY kI

PSC_VELXY_I

10

WP Speed

WPNAV_SPEED

25

Acro RollPitch kP

ACRO_RP_RATE

40

Acro Yaw kP

ACRO_Y_RATE

45

RC Feel

ATC_INPUT_TC

13

Heli Ext Gyro

H_GYR_GAIN

38

Declination

COMPASS_DEC

39

Circle Rate

CIRCLE_RATE

46

Rate Pitch kP

ATC_RAT_PIT_P

47

Rate Pitch kI

ATC_RAT_PIT_I

48

Rate Pitch kD

ATC_RAT_PIT_D

49

Rate Roll kP

ATC_RAT_RLL_P

50

Rate Roll kI

ATC_RAT_RLL_I

51

Rate Roll kD

ATC_RAT_RLL_D

52

Rate Pitch FF

ATC_RAT_PIT_FF **

53

Rate Roll FF

ATC_RAT_RLL_FF **

54

Rate Yaw FF

ATC_RAT_YAW_FF **

57

Winch

WINCH_RATE_MAX

58

SysID Magnitude

SIDS_MAGNITUDE

59

Position Control Max

Lean Angle

PSC_ANGLE_MAX

** Traditional Heli Only

These values can be either set manually or using Mission Planner

Setting with Mission Planner

Rate Roll P and Rate Pitch P will be used in the following example procedure

../_images/RollPitchTuning.png
  1. Connect your autopilot to Mission Planner

  2. On Mission Planner, select CONFIG>>Extended Tuning

  3. Set the TUNE drop down box option to “Rate Roll/Pitch kP”

  4. Set Min to 0.08, Max to 0.20 (most copters ideal gain is within this range although from a small number of copter the Max can be as high as 0.25)

  5. Push the “Write Params” button

  6. Turn your transmitter’s CH6 tuning knob to the minimum position, press the “Refresh Params” button and ensure that the Rate Roll P and Rate Pitch P values become 0.08 (or something very close)

  7. Turn the CH6 knob to its maximum position, press “Refresh Params” and ensure the Rate Roll P moves to 0.20

  8. Move the CH6 knob back to the middle

  9. Arm and fly your copter in Stabilize mode adjusting the ch6 knob until you get a copter that is responsive but not wobbly

  10. After the flight, disconnect your LiPo battery and reconnect the autopilot to the mission planner

  11. With the CH6 knob in the position that gave the best performance, return to the Copter Pids screen and push the “Refresh Params” button

  12. In the Rate Roll P and Rate Pitch P fields re-type the value that you see but just slightly modified so that the mission planner recognizes that it’s changed and resends to the autopilot (Note: if you re-type exactly the same number as what appears in Rate Roll P it won’t be updated). So for example, if the Rate Roll P appears as “0.1213” make it “0.1200”

  13. Set Ch6 Opt back to “None” and push “Write Params”

  14. Push the Disconnect button on the top right, and the Connect

  15. Ensure that the Rate Roll P value is the value that you retyped in step #12

Note

While you are moving the tuning knob the values update at 3 times per second. The need to press the Refresh button in the mission planner in steps #6 and #7 above is just because the Copter is not sending the updates to the mission planner in real-time.