Autotune for Fixed Wing Airplanes - how to do it in INAV?

Support my work / pawelspychalski
The Autotune for INAV is an amazing feature. You do not have to worry about PID tuning. Or guessing the correct rates. Autotune does everything for you. Especially, it estimates correct rates!
In this video I will show you in details on how to correctly perform Autotune procedure on an fixed-wing airplane with installed INAV.
Oh, and very important. Autotune tunes only rates (how fat airplane should rotate) and feed forward gains. Just like it supposed to! There is no need to tune P and I gains on a PID controller at all.
The procedure is:
- Take Off
- Switch to Acro
- Enable Autotune
- Fly
- Disable Autotune
- Land
- Disarm
- Save new rates and feed forward gains
0:00 INAV Autotune is amazing
0:42 What is tuned?
1:44 How to correctly tune the airplane?
2:30 Launch, climb and activate
3:44 Land and save
5:25 Extra thoughts
5:49 You can improve it
6:27 Outro
#fpvuniversity #inav #autotune #airplane #fpv

[@davidhuryn575]

Autotune is just plain magic. With Autotrim, Autolevel, and Autotune I can go from maiden to a great flying airplane in 1 pack. Thank you, Pawel and the rest of the INAV developers for the constant improvements and for helping so many of us enjoy this great hobby. One topic I have not heard discussed is the recommendation for the use of Stabilized Yaw vs. RC YAW. And if used how to Autotune for it (full rudder deflections?) with either a standard or v-tail configuration.

[@FPVUniversity]

It's not magic. It's science. And math. A lot of math

[@WayneR3804]

Love INAV and just want to thank all those that put in so much effort to make INAV so great!! These videos by Pawel are extremely helpful in taking full advantage of the many many features of INAV. Thanks again!!

[@FPVUniversity]

Glad you like them!

[@alberto2974]

In AUTOTUNE we trust

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic info, Pawel! Thanks a bunch! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@JPspinFPV]

Another great video. This actually cleared up a couple questions I had regarding the autotune function.

[@lleston8927]

Very needed video. Thanks

[@dkieng]

Thanks for the tutorial and sharing this great info.

[@alcmann]

Excellent upload ! Thank you for the video, very informative

[@FPVUniversity]

Glad you enjoyed it! Happy flying

[@raffman4266]

Like always a great video tutorial!! Kudos to you sir!!

[@FPVUniversity]

thanks!

[@RubyS.1]

The rate tuning was a game changer.

[@FPVUniversity]

Yes, it was a pretty awesome change indeed

[@JanDaliba]

Can you please create a video describing differences between Auto trim, auto level and auto tune and full process of setup and using these three modes to finish a build? Thanks :)

[@lowriderfpv8440]

He does that Mate just watch his Videos and read the viewers comments all your questions will be answered!

[@alexcook4851]

Long time iNav user here, this video was very educational. I didn’t know PID wasn’t updated. 👍

[@FPVUniversity]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peacemakermotion3949]

All this time i never knew you had to save haha. Thanks for the heads up :)

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy to help!

[@Rogue_FPV]

Great Stuff!! 🙌🏻💪🏻

[@FPVUniversity]

Thank you 🙌

[@MichaelHeinrich1]

Many thanks Pawel. 😁

[@FPVUniversity]

Most welcome! Happy flying!

[@AndrewNewton]

Very clear and watchable thanks Professor. Can you say what is wrong (if anything) if after AutoTune the Acro throws end up the same as Manual throws?

[@kasatka60]

Спасибо за видео. Ждем дальнейшего развития автотюна.

[@WinstonSmith1984]

Thanks, this is the second most useful feature of INAV. The first most useful feature still needs to be implemented by someone smart: bdirectional dshot, e.g. #8658 :) I suggest switching to a OSD panel that shows the PIDs: then one can see in real time if and by how much they are being changed during autotuning. One thing that confuses me a bit though is the use of rudder in INAV as it seems when using stabilized rudder in the mixer, that INAV tries to resist the natural yaw in banked turns. I just set it to the non-stabilized rudder input in the mixer.

[@tubamanandy2]

Most useful feature has to be AutoLaunch surely ?

[@WinstonSmith1984]

@@tubamanandy2 Oh yes that's right.

[@swissfreek]

@@tubamanandy2 I love love love autolaunch but I think RTH probably belongs up there as well haha

[@dronesluveco386]

Thanks!

[@FPVUniversity]

Welcome!

[@riggerss4]

Brilliant

[@FPVUniversity]

Happy flying!

[@Chris-vc1dh]

Thank you Pawel, have been waiting for this kind of video, does AT effect all modes in INAV a part Manual?

[@catmanfpv9213]

Thank you, Pavel. I confirm that it's proven true. After autotune, my plane is as smooth as baby's butt. But i found that it automatically saved after disarmed on inav 7.

[@pilotmiami1]

Bravo.thenks

[@FPVUniversity]

Thank you

[@OzgurJohn]

Can we have the same for quadcopter ?

[@Videolinquency]

Thank you for making life easy! One question, though: Do we need to minimize partial inputs as long as we fly in autotune? Could gentle stick movements feed false data to the system or otherwise compromise the process? (Flying by nothing but full deflections for a minute or two can be rather demanding, even though it's great fun.)

[@FPVUniversity]

No, you don't have to worry about small stick moves. Just fly

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

Specifically, auto tune ignores anything less than 50% deflection. Above 50%, it will "learn" how much roll you get from 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100% deflection. No need to avoid anything.

[@pino6385]

Quindi disabilitare autotune atterrare disarmare ma non scollegare la batteria e salvare su inav? Grazie

[@alainrac56]

Thank you for this useful video, can you just say more about the way to save on the field with stick handle?

[@FPVUniversity]

It's all in INAV docs github.com/iNavFlight/inav/blob/master/docs/Controls.md

[@alainrac56]

@@FPVUniversity 👍👍

[@andrewjamez]

you can do most of this pre test flight if you have a fair idea of what your control throws need to be to achieve your desired roll/pitch rates. Many designers publish these. After that you just need to set your desired roll/pitch rates (pro tip, the 180deg default roll rate wil not be enough for many autolauches where a large amount of torque roll exists with pusher motors.)Then set feed forward rate in acro mode so that you achieve around 80-90% control surface deflection to what you get in manual mode. Then you will have much more success with pusher wing type auto launches and much less heartache and use of offensive language... Happy flying

[@tubamanandy2]

What an interesting reply, I'd love to know the rough control throws for many of the small ZOHD models to make maidens more successful - not sure where you find these. Also, really interesting point about the standard roll rate not being enough - would love to learn more about that

[@andrewjamez]

I set roll rate to 360 always for small planes 1.2m or less. most of the altitude lost during an auto launch is while the aircraft is trying to recover from torque induced roll.

[@tubamanandy2]

Do you do this so there are less failures in Autolaunch as I cant see many craft eg. Dolphin, Dart etc being capable of anywhere near this roll rate. Is it likely to cause any issues ? (I guess when Autotune is completed it will drop the figure substantially)@@andrewjamez

[@andrewjamez]

@@tubamanandy2 360/roll isnt as fast as you think. You can try less, say 270. The main thing is to set the feed forward rates to match control movement in manual. If physical max roll rate cannot match what you set it to in inav then feed forward will go through the roof in autotune

[@rchongsam5760]

autotune help prevent stall when landing without low speed section throttle?

[@hansburk2830]

👍👍👍

[@CP-zi3eg]

Thank you for this upgrade news. Does it exist for multirotor too ?

[@FPVUniversity]

No, it's only for airplanes

[@darylnewbury]

If you have continuous servo trim on that saves every time you disarm. Is that not saving auto tune as well?

[@frankwarner7279]

I normally set up my wings for about 80/+% throttle which is where I like to fly freestyle. Should I autotune at 80% or stick with the recommended 50%?

[@grzegorzdrozdz6664]

Hey, got a question, I have 3m glider (with electric motor) and I set up this on INAV, how should I do this procedure when I fly glider normally without motor turn on? Also I would like to avoid doing barrel roll, this glider is kinda heavy and never dont this on this one, but if neccecery I can try from 300meters :D One more, how mode soaring is working?

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

With default settings, auto tune will function with at least 50% stick deflection. So you can roll left, then quickly roll right, without doing a full aileron roll. Similarly for pitch - so long as you move that stick at least halfway to max. This may give you a run that works well for your type of aircraft. If you have an aerobatic plane you want to do rolls and loops with, you'll get a better tune with that type of aerobatic flying. If you're never going to do aerobatics, you may not need it tuned for full deflection. Tuned for up to 75% deflection may be just right for you.

[@Carlosfpvmx]

I upgraded from inav 6.1 to inav 7, now I don't have auto launch when I arm my plane, where should I configure it?

[@richiemillet697]

Work the autotune in cruise or other modes

[@peterhancox5268]

So where does ‘AutoTRIM’ and also ‘AutoLEVEL’ fit into the equation. What do you do first?

[@mhk1058]

Does iNAv stabilization not need gain control that you have with a traditional gyro (Hobbyeagle A3 for example) where you can adjust the stabilization gain on the fly?

[@FPVUniversity]

You can adjust gains on the fly with Adjustments framework

[@johnjenner2376]

Hi many thanks for your videos is this applicable for 6.1.1 only?

[@FPVUniversity]

Basically for all versions of INAV

[@mr_batch]

Thanks for your Video! I asked a few Month ago in the Inav Fixwing Group on Discord how it is with the Autosaving. And the Answer from Darren was: it saves automaticly (same as Autotrim). Now, you said it otherwise. Please, enlighten me: What is the Deal now? 1. save by Hand (as you said) 2. Trust the Autosave after Disarm (like Darren said before) ?

[@tubamanandy2]

I was also under the impression it also Autosaves although I always use stick commands just to be sure :)

[@Rogue_FPV]

I have always been under the impresssion that only the Auto-Trim auto saves every 2 seconds or so, but the Auto-Tune needs a manual save, in case someone hits their switch by accident, or doesn’t like the result of the auto-tune be their previous settings

[@mr_batch]

@@Rogue_FPV no sorry. After deactivating autotune, land and disarm in on the lower line in the OSD "settings save". That means, that the Autotune Resaults is saved. Thats what Darren said. But, the 2 second rule on autotrim is correct. Sure.

[@swissfreek]

yeah I see "settings saved" when I disarm even if I don't send the stick command. But at the same time, there must be a way to NOT apply the autotune if you don't like how it went, and if it autosaves then there's no way to do that since the only way to void your autotune changes is to power cycle without saving after landing.

[@mr_batch]

@@swissfreek that exact was my Question. And the Answer was: "Just auto tune again. It’s only rates and FF. So you would have to have done a terrible autotune to get it too bad to fly." In the earlier Versions of Inav you have to save your Tune by Hand, but now? Sorry Guys, i'm confused now... ;)

[@jotham123]

so to save settings, just open inav configurator, connect, go to pid tuning tab and click "save and reboot"?

[@FPVUniversity]

yes. Or use stick command, or OSD

[@ETERNALFLIGHT63]

will be searching next for INav stick command video@@FPVUniversity

[@ImperialArmour]

Is autotune available for multirotor?

[@naddwasdays9671]

When can i upgrade GPS for position hold. Before switching after switching to inav from betaflight. Now i have m8 PLUS gps on my drone. plz help

[@FPVUniversity]

Watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/l17Tm4t_jbueibc it has everything you need to know

[@pseudo1234]

Does the save command work on Standard OpenTX Model V3 settings on the multifunction switch?

[@FPVUniversity]

You have to ask the author of the setting

[@craigcupit1917]

Inav will automatically save tune if continuing adjusting servos is on.

[@FPVUniversity]

That's auto trim feature.

[@Alex_Ivkin77]

hi, how to set flaps in inav 7.1

[@FPVUniversity]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIvJq31oidmHnZo this should get you started

[@turboomni848]

what is the stick command to save before unplugging the battery? ?

[@FPVUniversity]

github.com/iNavFlight/inav/blob/master/docs/Controls.md

[@turboomni848]

@@FPVUniversity thank you

[@naddwasdays9671]

M100 5883 can do position hold.?

[@FPVUniversity]

absolutely. With INAV of course

[@genel.8582]

How do you save the autotune

[@FPVUniversity]

Stick command, OSD or via Configurator

[@technicalsupport6983]

Can autotune works for quardcopter ?

[@FPVUniversity]

no, currently not

[@technicalsupport6983]

@@FPVUniversity 😢

[@VicioStation]

i think that this is the propper video to ask this jaja , can you notice what kind of mistake did i make on the inav configurator in order for this to happend? im from Argentina sorry for my english. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZmkkKCBhs2SsJIsi=3uhxow6Il68KHs3r (was my first ever maiden on a rc plane, only flown before a dji mini but trying to get on fpv step by step) Thanks in advance to you all!

[@fuz3lek]

Musisz być Polakiem słychać po akcencie

[@endliberalism4305]

Ummmmm, i don't see an acro mode ? What is the correct name for acro in inav ?

[@FPVUniversity]

Acro is then Angle/Horizon/PosHold/etc are not enabled. There is Acro indicator and the bottom of Modes tab

[@endliberalism4305]

@FPVUniversity so is manual mode the same as acro ? Trust me, there is NO mode that says "ACRO". PLEASE HELP

[@FPVUniversity]

@@endliberalism4305 Why do you say there is non when Configurator clearly tells you when ACRO is active? Here is a screenshot 1drv.ms/i/s!AlhGFEFGyhfIj6cdOPttIijGFhRQvQ?e=VUHldR

[@endliberalism4305]

@FPVUniversity thank you for screen shot but that word does not exist in the modes tab at all. I've been using beta flight and I nav and I know how to navigate my way around the configuration tool. It might be because I'm using my cellphone that I'm not able to see it 😔..... I ended up setting the mode for auto tune and then made sure horizon and all other flight modes were off when auto tune was active. The only reason I know this worked is because when I look into goggles it actually says autotune/Acro . So tomorrow I will test to make sure it works. Thx for the help. Good day sir

[@RCstagram]

1st) Do I have to do auto tune for every flight? or only one time per each plane? 2nd) Does auto-tune work with not only acro mode but also horizon/angle mode? Thanks in advance :)

[@FPVUniversity]

Autotune for setup only. yes, it will be used by Acro and Angle/Horizon