FPV Ground Station walk around and demo - Joystick and throttle arm control!

This is a demonstration of my all-in-one, self-contained ground control station which integrates a joystick, a throttle arm, RC transmitter and FPV setup. The whole station is modular so it allows you to unplug the control sticks and close the ground control case for easy transport. The joystick and throttle arm store in a larger enclosure with the ground station case.
Piloting with this setup is extremely comfortable which makes long endurance and long range flights a lot easier, especially under manual control. Ask any questions you might have in the comments! Thanks for watching!

[@neilcaywood3803]

All I can say is wow! And thank you for sharing.

[@mango9cloud]

Good job 👏

[@madatthesky7588]

Thanks buddy!

[@flightlieutenant6902]

Great ideas mate . Very educational. Cheers from Australia. 🙂👍🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@madatthesky7588]

Thank you for your support!!!

[@flightlieutenant6902]

@@madatthesky7588 no worries mate , hope to see more of your videos . . cheers from Australia 🙂👍🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@user-kp3fw4zd3c]

how did you connect all these things together? any tutorial video?

[@Chris-pg9ex]

@MadAtTheSky Could i do this with any receiver? What fpv system did you use If you could answer these that would be great.

[@madatthesky7588]

It's actually the transmitter that is modified, but yes, any transmitter will work. Some are more difficult to do this to than others. I used a FrSky X9E because all of the controls were tied to the circuit via connectors. I unplugged the connectors and wired in external connections so I could reconfigure the transmitter back to its original state if I wanted to use it as a traditional transmitter.

[@thibd5645]

Hello ! Nice video, can you explain how do you have interfaced the joystick with your system ?

[@madatthesky7588]

Hi! I essentially hardwired the joystick to the motherboard inside the transmitter. I made it modular by installing D connectors to the case and joystick to make transport and troubleshooting easier.

[@crossbowmotors8368]

@@madatthesky7588 Could you possibly share exactly how you hardwired the joystick to the controller motherboard?

[@GUARD14N]

@@crossbowmotors8368 He wired the potentiometers and switches from the joystick to where they would natively be on the transmitter. Example, the pitch and roll axis potentiometers on the joystick would be wired to directly to where the pitch and roll normally go on the transmitter motherboard. Same for the switches. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

[@piecola2]

your system is beautiful! have you published the project so you can replicate it? I'm not an expert, I'd like to have an FPV plane to shoot like yours!

[@madatthesky7588]

Thabk you for the kind words! I have not published anything, but I do have a notebook with the schematics drawn out and a lot of notes I took while constructing the setup.

[@wandersonmiranda6680]

Mais ser quiser copra esse controle para bota em um projeto como fais

[@joefuels1]

any updates on the build thread?

[@madatthesky7588]

Soon!

[@SomeTechGuy666]

How did you interface the joystick and throttle into the X9E ? Analog ? You took the voltages off the external controls and fed them into the X9E motherboard ? Do you have a build thread for this setup ?

[@madatthesky7588]

Hi, yes all analog. I hardwired everything through D connectors to the motherboard and just calibrated the joystick and throttle through the calibration screen on the radio

[@madatthesky7588]

I do not have a build thread but I'm building another setup and make a thread from that

[@SomeTechGuy666]

@@madatthesky7588 I'd like that. Do you realize that you could attach the signals from the throttle and joystick via USB into an RPi and then feed the signal into the transmitter via the trainer port ?

[@madatthesky7588]

@@SomeTechGuy666 yes, I originally looked for a USB to ppm converter but couldn't find one so I just rigged this up. It was a little time consuming but otherwise pretty easy

[@SomeTechGuy666]

@@madatthesky7588 I saw some projects on git a while back. I'll see if I can dig up some links for you. Would save a lot of wiring to use USB instead of analog. But I understand why you did what you did.

[@crawford323]

Is this adaptable to a quad drone system such as DJI?

[@madatthesky7588]

It would take considerable modification to work with DJI systems, unfortunately

[@crawford323]

@@madatthesky7588 what drone system capable of quality video is adaptable to joystick controls other than DJI

[@madatthesky7588]

Excuse me, I take back what I said previously... you could theoretically open up a DJI controller and wire into the gimbals and switches like I did with the Taranis. The DJI transmitter would of course have to be modified. Sorry for my confusion

[@LEON_pilot]

What makes joystick control possible? USB WindBox?

[@madatthesky7588]

No, I hardwired everything to the transmitter inputs

[@LEON_pilot]

@@madatthesky7588 That must have taken a lot of work 😲

[@madatthesky7588]

@LEONCZECH yes it very much was lol 😀

[@gcl_2000]

Hi very nice setup. Any build details? Thanks

[@madatthesky7588]

Thank you! I really wish I would have done a better job documenting the build but after I started on it I just kinda went full steam ahead until it was completed. I can answer any questions you may have about it though.

[@gcl_2000]

@@madatthesky7588 Thank you. i'll ask when i also have time to do one. Big thanks

[@gcl_2000]

@@madatthesky7588 so basically you just tap the wire from the stick controller in the transmitter to the potentiometer of the joystick, is that what you did?

[@madatthesky7588]

@@gcl_2000 exactly. I opened up the joystick and soldered wires from the pots to the inputs of the transmitter where the sticks would plug in

[@gcl_2000]

@@madatthesky7588 thank you very much

[@blaine2575]

I am very interested in your plane for sale

[@madatthesky7588]

What plane?

[@blaine2575]

Your PA Addiction XL Dan. 206-427-4245

[@blaine2575]

Sorry. Wrong party

[@blaine2575]

Sorry. Wrong party. Please delete my comments

[@neiljones4287]

Might as well just fly a simulator don’t you think?

[@madatthesky7588]

If you want simulated flight. This is a little more immersive and it's fun to build and fly the actual aircraft