How to add a Rangefinder and OPFLOW sensor to your INAV Quad (Matek 3901-LOX)

[@Terry_Fritz]

I've been experimenting with the same Opflow units for almost three years now with mixed success. Those PID settings you showed in the document at the end of the video don't make much difference to performance in my case. I'm using INAV 7.1 and the default PIDs seem to work as well as the pictured ones. Best performance seems to be over surfaces like ceramic tiles with lots of small features for the camera to see. Worst of the lot is plain carpet. When my fluffy back lawn is short I get reliable terrain following and position hold from 100 to around 500mm. A fair bit of bobbing happens at 700mm altitude. Concrete with moss and lichens gives similar results. If anybody is looking to nail their quad in the sky like a DJI MAvic this is not the way to go but fun to try and it will keep you busy. I discovered the global population of Opflow experimenters is a small pool and a knowledge of Hindi and Korean will help. Cheers and have fun.

[@Painless360]

Performance of the OPFLOW depends on so many things. Not least being over the right kind of surface in good light.. Thanks for the comment. Happy flying!

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

You'd probably be better with Arducopter it handles position hold in general much better and tends to do better with the more obscure things like this.

[@TheOriginalGeekyNoob]

I'm in that same boat right now with a MicoAir MTF-01, it works to a fashion, but its far from DJI-like even after hours of tuning and experimentation.

[@8cinq]

I'd say if you want good stabilisation px4flow is the only option. I wasted a lot of time with Matek OF, but the result was never been good.

[@ristokoiva]

Check out MicoAir MTF-01, its lidar rangefinder has in comparison to ST VL53L0X in Matek, up to 8 m range. Also I have no initialization issues with MTF-01, when it is very near to ground during power-up. I have one fitted in my SpeedyBee Master 5 V2 frame in the area where O3 unit aluminum heat sink is originally meant to go. It fits perfectly there. On top of the MTF-01 I have Walksnail Avatar VTX V2 unit. Did a custom mount out of TPU and PETG to attach both there.

[@MCsCreations]

Thanks a bunch for the tutorial, Lee! 😃 I'm definitely going to try it! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@ojwhaaaojwhaaa5457]

Can you use position hold indoors, only using a Matek 3901-LOX and magnetometer without a GPS? I don't mean dead reckoning, just without any GPS?

[@guytas]

Thanks for this video. I see in the comments that everyone has its own prefered sensor. Good to see that there are a selection to choose from. I'm fairly new to Inav (actually this was my first day succesfully fly with nav hold), can you tell me if I'm heading the right way? I wish to use inav to fly a 5 inch drone 50cm high over a plateform. I want it to detect if it gets off the plateform and turn around if so. I basically wish to fly every square meter of that plateform. You seems to know quite a bite about inav and sensors... so I thought to ask 🤔

[@theinventionshow]

If i want to fly inside and outside and i have enabled the dedreconing i will be able to use the gps and the functions normally outside?

[@FPV54rus]

Привет. Видео отличное! Все по теме. Подскажите пожалуйста о настройке полетных режимов. Какие нужно выбрать для точной высоты и позиции.

[@Painless360]

kzbin.info0aMDfspDAVw happy flying!

[@woutersmith7616]

Very usefull,thanx🤠👍🇿🇦

[@jungleb]

Thanks for your video. I would like to ask you. I want to use a optical flow along with a GPS in my quad. I know that the default P gains for POS and VEL are too low and should be increased. Once I raise this P gain, do this increase affect the GPS navigation, like oversaturate or can both share the same parameter.

[@Painless360]

I'd ask this of the INAV developers via the support pages, they are the best at getting into the details. Best of luck!

[@jungleb]

@@Painless360 you are always quick and helpful

[@sirburns1825]

Hey, a bit of topic, but what would you say would be the biggest factor when choosing between inav and betaflight for my quad?

[@Painless360]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2KVpXSOo6yjqrs may help... Happy flying

[@fpvgio]

Do you have a flight video demonstrating this sensor?

[@Painless360]

Nope, happy flying!

[@Vegan_Cooking_Show]

Awesome neato! Can this hardware work under the arducopter system or is it inav only?

[@Painless360]

There are better performing sensors for Ardupilot. See the links in the description... Happy flying

[@438fpv]

Just about to do zohd altus build and was thinking about having one of these. Can you havve them switch on/off via a switch?

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't use this sensor board. See my fixed wing Rangefinder video... Happy flying

[@gregdavidd]

Thanks for this!! I see you have the power lead coming right out the back next to the antennas. Do you think this could affect the VTX output reception for long range?

[@Terry_Fritz]

The power to the module is very low compared to VTX signals so I doubt if it would interfere.

[@gregdavidd]

@@Terry_Fritz I guess I should have been more clear I was talking about the power lead for the battery not for the optical flow

[@Painless360]

No issues here. Happy flying!

[@k4x4map46]

nice excellent thank you!!

[@basemandog]

Any chance this will work with speedybee?

[@Painless360]

This quad is using a Speedybee stack... Happy flying

[@DemersEvan]

Lmao I literally got mine today and plan to install it tonight, thanks for the video!

[@TJbuffs]

How did it work out for you?

[@lebolk]

Hi ! thanks for the video :) Is there a way to use both LIDAR/OPFLOW with GPS /w Mag at the same time ? Maybe to force using LIDAR from the ground to 3m high, then GPS for higher altitudes ? I'm using MTF-01 btw. thanks !

[@Painless360]

That is kinda how it works... :D

[@dakshtripathi4340]

Can you make one for ardupilot

[@Painless360]

Already done... Happy flying!

[@harryking6485]

Hello, I only installed an optical flow meter to keep a certain distance from the ground, but when I turn on the hover mode, the traversing machine rushes directly upwards. How can I solve this situation?

[@Painless360]

Set hover throttle?

[@harryking6485]

@@Painless360 sorry ,how do i Set the hover throttle?

[@Painless360]

All covered in the Quad Build series... Best of luck

[@harryking6485]

@@Painless360ok! I’ll try that few days later, my fc just broken😃 thank you sir!!

[@Keatondenzer19]

What value should we expect for the optical flow calibration?

[@Painless360]

Whick value specifically?

[@ArikaFortuna]

I have mtf-01 optical flow and lidar sensor, can i soldering it in i2c pad (sda/scl)

[@Painless360]

I've not used that one. Best of luck

[@FatSlowButter]

what is the purpose of the sensor again? Is it used for autonomous flights?

[@Painless360]

Help it maintain position in a hover and land automatically more precisely.. Happy flying

[@oloendithas]

I've never been able to get 2 meters effectively with those units (had three of them). Above 80cm always went crazy showing random numbers. My idea was to make my CineLog35 stable indoor. But the limitation of ~1 meter was really disappointing(

[@Painless360]

Yeah, Rangefinder sensors like the Benewake TF units are far superior... Happy flying

[@anatoliisavenko8493]

Does it require some specific mode like SURFACE or something else? Or does it work by default when you are under max_surface_altitude?

[@Painless360]

It's always supplying height data... Happy flying

[@anatoliisavenko8493]

​@@Painless360 Yes correct, but in which mode or modifier (like SURFACE) INAV uses that data from rangefinder and optical flow. Is it enough to switch the drone into postion+alt hold mode? If rangefinder data is present for the flight controller will it use it automatically as more precision values? The same question regarding data from optical flow. INAV uses it as more precise data and ignores the accelerometer when opt flow data is present by sensors? Thanks for your answers!

[@Painless360]

That's my understanding.... Happy flying

[@mrk-dr9zx]

Which will be better ? Matek 3901-LOX or MTF-01 ?

[@Painless360]

Better in what way?

[@mrk-dr9zx]

@@Painless360 For hold position on my 7 inch drone

[@Painless360]

That depends on how high you want it to work and other factors. Most cheap sensors like this have limited range...

[@Hdig892]

Can it be used with arducopter on pixhawk 6?

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't, this isn't a great quaility piece of kit. See my video on the Benewake rangefinder, it is a lot more useful for flying a lower levels.

[@PickMe_Gaming]

how about the modes? pos&hold, nav altitude, heading hold and surface in one switch?

[@Painless360]

Add SURFACE mode to the flight mode when you want to use the Rangefinder... Happy flying

[@PickMe_Gaming]

@@Painless360 yeah when I add SURFACE mode my drone up and down do you have an idea what happen to my drone?

[@Painless360]

Not without looking at the logs and your setup... If you find the cause, please share....

[@PickMe_Gaming]

@@Painless360 scale value: 6.796875

[@PickMe_Gaming]

my debug 1 and 2 does not match why can you help me?

[@Painless360]

Use the method shown. What troubleshooting have you already done?

[@PickMe_Gaming]

@@Painless360 I follow the steps in your video seems the debug 1 and 2 does not match I don`t know why does not match

[@Painless360]

I cover that in the video, and how to change the settings.... best of luck

[@835FPV]

It's like he knows what my next project is! 🥹