RC VTOL - V4

[@Tomasxt25]

For someone who says they are not good at programming you have a really good sense of how to make readable code. Good job!

[@han5vk]

Readable? Perhaps. Maintainable? Heck no. Hard coded constant values all over the place, code repetition..

[@evaahh9584]

hanetar that doesn’t mean it will break. It’s just not flexible

[@theAppleWizz]

@@han5vk some times you don't need things that much flex-able code

[@forwardphysx6167]

Tomasxt25 / legobrainiac Although you should practice storing a function's returned value instead of invoking the entire function for every if statement and math.. Actually that could seriously limit the speed the code runs, especially with these Arduino libraries

[@jsilar1]

Once upon a time i worked for an aerospace corporation. There were constants all over the code produced in Bangalore. The colleagues were told to fix it. for(int i =one; i < thousand; i++) {...} was what we got.

[@GrandadIsAnOldMan]

As usual, clear, concise, all the issues shown and explained, no banging music and heavy editing to just show the "good" bits. Excellent educational series.

[@grahammcnally4799]

Honestly this. Should tell a university to subscribe to his channel as a teaching resume.

[@pdjames1729]

I want super-smart and humble ginger babies :P

[@cameronsmith5968]

The elevator opening was a nice touch. I hope he does the "staircase" for his next video introduction.

[@konradpenttila9748]

My thoughts exactly. I'd also like to point out the humility. "For the remaining 99% of you that watch this video for entertainment purposes only - -." I admit watching these videos for entertainment, however not solely. As GrandadIsAnOldMan pointed out, the clear and concise videos make for an excelent educational series.

[@PunakiviAddikti]

Ah yes, the popular format of DIY. Flashy username card with lots of techno music, then when the build starts, either heavy bass techno music ready to burst your ears or royalty free sample music. I don't know how that became the default for so many channels, but boy I'm glad this channel is more explanation and education centered.

[@benfurnas4263]

From an aging retired Eng, your ability to fail and then learn from that fail, are the very core values of successful engineering. That and a never ending curiosity. Your vids reflect all of those attributes. Nicely done.

[@halamkajohn]

1 propeller on the front faces the axis - 3 drivelines - 2 on each side - one in the rear - wide, symmetric propellers that stop and switch into wings. tri copter

[@twistedyogert]

Isn't that how the Wright Brothers built the first airplane? Proof that you don't need to be a billionaire to change the world.

[@bynumjimmy]

I admire how you keep challenging yourself. You should be proud of yourself.

[@jrotor3301]

And so should his parents👍

[@PaperFun]

Hey Tom, really interesting project! I'm an aeronautical engineering student as well and I've done quite some studies about wingtip devices to make aeroplanes more aerodynamically efficient. Here's an idea that might be interesting to give some thought: I see that you placed your motors some distance apart from the end of the wing, and I can imagine you did this for two reasons: 1) so the propellors don't cut your wing when tilting forwards and 2) so the wing doesn't block half the downward airflow generated by the propellors in hovering flight. But consider this idea: Why not give the piece of CF bar between the wing edge and motor mount a fairing with the same wing profile as the main wing, which would tilt together with the motors. This way when doing forward flight, the fairings (if precisely made) will align just nice and flush with the wing, making your airplane potentially way more efficient. This because wingtip propellors might have a potentially positive effect on your induced drag and even have the effect of a blown wing. This could mean even lower power settings during cruise and potentially a less drastic drop when doing the transition from hover to forward flight. It might also slow the plane down quicker when transitioning from forward flight to hover, because you now got 2 peices of blown wing wich generate a lift force against the flight direction, potentially slowing you down more drastically. A downside might be the precise building so the gap between the rigid and rotating wing parts are as tiny as possible to reduce losses. Another downside might be the lift vector that is constantly generated due to the blown wing effect, regardless of flight configuration. In hover this would mean the engines need a slight forward thrust vector (read forward tilt angle) to compensate for this lift vector. Also the motormounts would need to extend higher ofcourse as to not cut your wing when tilting ;) I know your plane is already quite efficient hence the low power setting you used, but I thought this just might be a very interesting experiment?

[@grahammcnally4799]

Yes please.

[@87mits]

In hover would this make the plane fly backwards? Nvm didn't read all the way through

[@PaperFun]

87mits that would indeed be my assumption, so you would need some forward tilt to compensate. No idea though how significant this would be, but I know that blown wings can generate a significant amount of lift, tom even made a video about it ;) but if you've seen it you'll see that the effect is way more subtle on straight wings

[@ZevHoover]

thats a great idea.

[@poretsmouthrunner]

Been done, albeit with a 4 motor RC plane kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5etiIqwnJp_m68

[@crenn6977]

Embedded programmer here; You might think that the flight controller is written in some foreign programming language, but there is good news! As you've already got yourself writing Arduino code (which is pretty much C with a bit of C++ thrown in for some of the objects, aka Servo and PWM), it's very much possible to remove the Arduino from the equation for your V4 plane and use only the flight controller with your custom code. I'd actually recommend relying on the SBUS output (it's the same information as coming out of the PWM channels) as you get it faster and it's easier and less error prone to trying to read the PWM channels (timing jitter). If you want a bit of help trying to get it going on just the flight controller, send me a youtube message and we can converse and get you up & running :D Keep up the great work, love every video you do.

[@iwantitpaintedblack]

he probably has to learn assembly language and get familiar with atmel IDE for a microsecond stick response

[@oadka]

Sir, a much easier way would be to use JoopBrokking or nicholas Dremm's flight controllers.....on a powerful board like teensy or esp32.

[@jakobmmn6075]

That would make a great drone, because it could stay relatively still in order to take photos, but could travel quite efficiently to cover distance

[@flyonbyya]

Tom is obviously a degreed mechanical engineer. Remarkable

[@aaaaaaaaaassssssssdf]

yeah i won't be building something like this any time soon, but i do like seeing the 3d printed ribs under foamboard. going to try that eventually

[@robert4949]

You’re a great engineer Tom. Your channel is like a modern day version of the experiments of the wright brothers

[@alliejr]

I have a kindergarten-level understanding of flight dynamics and control, but I am an expert software developer. Your code description was spot-on perfect and quite easy to follow. Excellent!

[@jays2002]

I'd give multiple thumbs up if I could. My 20 and 15 yr olds love watching your progress and projects. Inspiring stuff from a young man ;)

[@samuelnicholson8431]

I do believe I have watched this video 4 times now.... Seems like it's time to attempt this project myself. I will probably have to watch it around 50 more before I even begin to understand everything, but it seems a great way to delve into learning about this hobby. Thank you for posting your arduino code!!! Great Video!

[@racox28]

I get a lot of confidence for the future knowing there are people like you in the world!

[@ahaveland]

Many people have spent a lot of time trying to do VTOL transition and you cracked it in a few days, so congratulations! Having two contrarotating motors/props on each wing would give you yaw control, and if arranged like an "H" with a very long bridge, you'd essentially have a quadcopter with pitch and yaw stability that can transition to forward flight as well. Worth a try!

[@AONUT]

Thank you Tom. Your initiative is commendable. VTOL control code is exponentially more difficult than most people comprehend. Only one person in the entire world, an australian "Happy Sunday" had the patience and skill to persevere to develop working code and even he is not willing to rewrite it for a more capable controller than the kk board. Hopefully your "hack" might finally stimulate someone to take on the development effort. We sorely need it.

[@kurtronhovde2184]

Congrats! It's been a long journey, but you are prevailing. I believe I will be following this model very closely but with a tri-motor setup.

[@S700KYFPV]

Tom you are up there by being one of the most coolest guys on the planet. Love the channel.

[@lescarneiro]

Writing useful working arduino code is terrifically satisfying (I know that feeling)! Very well done Tom!

[@lawriedavidson667]

A great video! First time I have ever seen such clear and concise code written by a novice. Congratulations on that.

[@Argosh]

Nice work! As a code nut I suggest you look into functions. The true way to write good code is to have a plan. Write down what you want to do in plain English as a sequence. If you can write it in pseudo code everything else is just icing.

[@luccarodrigues781]

Amazing job getting that VTOL RC plane working properly. Awesome and concise explanations in the video as well!

[@MJ_4458]

To be honest Tom, I have never done any sort of coding with anything RC and I understood everything you said. I have watched a couple of other youtubers doing code but they haven’t explained in detail like you have. Great work though, I enjoy watching your videos and learning new stuff about RC and physics. Keep up the good work👍

[@henryD9363]

Absolutely amazing! Fantastic! I love how you use the fade in and out method of transitioning. My guess was that it would be horrendously complicated, ugly differential equations, etc. And getting it to fly with your starting guesses about PID is also amazing. WOW!

[@kmerfeld11]

on your setup and loop functions, void is the return type. its basically a way for the program to know what to expect from each function. So if a func has a return type of void, don't expect a return value. In other words, you can say "runs the setup function" instead of "runs the void setup code"

[@jobretten5696]

this is top notch quality information and entertainment. mate you hit the sweet spot with your vids

[@sunedssing8721]

Uuuugghh when you switched it back vertical flight mode, and it just stopped in the air, damn. Thats hot.

[@BuildingWithPasgid]

You have been an inspiration. Finally made a vtol .I understand mixers using the kk2 vtol fireware.

[@flymachine]

Congrats, your innovative and busy mind continues to impress and delight me!

[@josh-redeemed]

2:07 hmm that controller looks like it probably won't fit on the plane Tom, you might want to consider a redesign

[@chikoopandya]

Josh Palmer watch the whole video before commenting

[@ashejohnston6289]

@@chikoopandya Quick look up the joke is flying way over your head.

[@gregoetker1389]

V5, integrate a 20mm in the tail rudder to make it look like a Dauphine helicopter. Then you would have yaw/rudder. The weight will also allow you to adjust CG a little easier or to have a bigger battery. Good job

[@chloedevereaux1801]

dauphine..........

[@frank124444]

or try to implement a vaiable pitch as they have on rc helicopters with the swashplate and what not.

[@microflite]

That’s quite impressive Tom! Getting the VTOL to FF transition is not easy. Congrats!

[@marcelobrigato]

Awesome project, well designed and executed!! Congratz!

[@MpxFlyer]

What if you add a really tiny motor on the tail of the plane for some proper yaw control? so not like a tircopter but a motor mounted vertically. (like a regular helicopter's tail motor). therefore you could remove the 15 grams of lead on the tail and gain some better control.

[@supermatt614]

I was thinking maybe a micro vacuum pump, with tubing to the tail. Get some air passing the rudder, and then just tilt the motors a little more backwards to maintain hover.

[@Chamorristaxd]

Guys, do you know how it actually yaws in hover? I checked the code but I still dont know PWM ch1(0); // Throttle PWM ch2(2); // Aileron PWM ch3(3); // Elevator PWM ch4(7); // Rudder PWM ch5(1); // Tilt

[@boomfiziks]

Well done project and well done video. I’m going to show this to my STEAM-RC Aeronautics class. You’re a big favorite to a lot of my students.

[@chemseddineneche5594]

Nice hybird rc plan i love it.

[@diegoteclas]

It works really good for a prototype that is beyond the conventional aeronautic & avionics concept. Congratulations dude. you're my favorite ginger :D

[@DLX_Pilot]

Tom! I must say I truly love your channel. I have been following you for some time now and your videos get better every week. Your fascination with aviation reminds me of myself. Ever thought about getting licensed? It is amazing to see how much you have developed. Keep the videos coming!

[@cruisecho]

I love the 3D printed ribs and foam board construction! I'm going to have to give this a try! I plan on using a Helio Spring FC and ArduPlane to control it.

[@bluedeath996]

I have a KK2 board that I haven't used in years. If you would like it you're welcome to it Tom. The pins are slightly bent, but the board is fully functional and not damaged at all. I am in the UK so it won't be any hassle. Good job on your controller though.

[@poudman1]

Great content, great presentation! I noticed during watching your video that I had a big smile on my face. Combination with Arduino and the way you explain it. Great great great! Thank you, I will absolutely keep following you Tom!

[@aeip-p7g]

That entrance was spectacular

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

+1 Tom - To add yaw while in hover mode can't you add some code to allow the props to tilt independently, i.e., slightly oppositely about the wing centerline. To yaw left mix the 'rudder' so the right motor would tilt slightly forward while the left motor would correspondingly tilt aft. That would give you full control of the model. Food for thought. Cheers from Thailand!

[@williamthomasmi10]

Absolutely mind blowing. Watching it take off and land on it's own is too cool

[@sylek0]

Such a cool project! I love that you put it all on its own PCB. And the video is very informative - It's nice that there's so much work put into making the Arduino code clear

[@route66flyer29]

Congratulations Tom, fantastic job, fantastic plane. *Dance the Skies*

[@83RMonaghan]

Best video yet!

[@bagel_deficient]

Awesome job explaining your code! I like your solution for fading between roll and yaw control. Probably way simpler than what I would have come up with given the same challenge. Keep up the good work!

[@devangpatwardhan9764]

Loved the plane's structure and function

[@atomicsmith]

stellar video as always

[@davew1234]

Excellent video Tom, very informative 👍👍

[@peterdlynes]

I think it's amazing what you have done Tom. I enjoy rc airplanes and Arduino too, but I have not yet tried to combine the two. Now I am thinking about it.

[@raymckinnon2185]

WOW thats alot of work you did. I did the same thing you did by running 2 kk2 boards wired with y harnesses and then out put to a 8 channel multiplexor switched on the gear switch .

[@lucahb6629]

Just an idea but to have yaw control when in a hover. Try and integrate a small (2-4 cm) propeller on a small motor in the rudder that would have minimal weight

[@AlliterationsAficionado]

I have to say, I really do enjoy your videos. You’re a great guy! Keep up the good work!

[@fardrol]

love the jet sound effect! so realsitic! But in all seriousness, you are genius.

[@xraptor10]

The self leveling problem is likely because the "elevator authority" comes from 2 different places in both hover and 45 degree mode. The authority of both engines tilting is going to be mostly constant. But the the actual tail elevator only has authority while in forward flight. And if there's a tail wind while hovering any automatic compensation by the flight controller to the tail elevator servo will have the opposite outcome on the aircraft's pitch.

[@OH8STN]

Absolutely enjoying your videos and I will certainly support you on patreon.

[@OH8STN]

Done! 😊

[@JoranGroothengel]

Love that slide into view from below at the start

[@DeadlyDiddly]

Another remarkable project. I'd definitely buy a PNP version of this plane Tom, love it. 😃👍🏼👍🏼

[@bbrockert]

If you revisit this, or build a V5, the last crash in the V3 video suggests that you could do a barrel roll with zero forward airspeed. It would be an impressive trick to program into your flight control system.

[@ianvicedomini2648]

I'll admit I'm totally brainless when it comes to building a plane or anything remote control to be honest but you managed to pull this one off incredibly mate. Great video

[@kadebrown6162]

always keeping a look out for your name in my subscription feed! ! !

[@miniman3112]

Great progress! Congrats on the maiden flight, really inspiring series!

[@microflite]

Great work Tom! I really appreciate the detailed explanations. You make it appear a lot simpler than it really is!

[@immersion-fx6650]

Love your work Tom!! I agree that more, open source VTOL code - for current FC boards, would be greatly appreciated.

[@kitt28]

i think this would make a great project for someone getting into solder and coding plus arduino coding

[@Gamen4Bros]

Ur one of the channels who really earn millions of subs

[@whidzee]

Love it mate. Great work. You could add a servo on the tail to replace your extra weight. This will give you your rudder control you want

[@danielegerussi7453]

Instead of tilting the motors only you could tilt the wole wing, this solves 2 issues: -you no longer need to keep the motors far from the wingtips -you can use ailerons to get yaw control

[@gregorykress1641]

Tom, I am SO impressed!! Excellent R&D and excellent explanations!!

[@nope2726]

I had thought about doing this kinda project then I found your video. It being your first Arduino Project you should be proud of yourself. I have been thinking now about a vtol plane that uses two props built into holes in the tail wing so that you would not need the control surfaces at all it would just turn the rear motors off when it was flying horizontal.

[@jemlittle1787]

great project bud, keep it going

[@walton909]

Great work Tom. V impressive.

[@alexgian9313]

Brilliant for a first effort! Inspirational I'd say... FWIW (probably not much) have you considered replacing the tail with a (third) tiltable motor, acting as a thruster in normal flight? Then, with small adjustments, it could also double as an elevator, but it could make VTOL a doddle when pointing up, especially as you could also easily add auto-leveling. Thanks for the great vids!

[@spr00sem00se]

excellent, I once made an auto stabiliser for an RC plane as I kept getting confused when bringing it out of rolls. After discovering that my code was inverted on the first launch, the second worked well and I had a nice stabalised plane with limits to pitch and roll that were adjustable via a pot on the controller. It wasnt as good as an off the shelf solution, but it was cheap and MINE :)

[@kevinberry5793]

Impressive engineering Tom. Good job!

[@deyonbisram4406]

Amazing creasion

[@garykongmany6925]

Great build and very informative. Instead of a counter weight in the tail, have you considered a rudder servo in the tail to help balance. Good job none the less👍

[@jonnupe1645]

Thanks for going into detail with the code 👍

[@davidf2281]

Great stuff as always.

[@Henchman1977]

There's a little app called IMPULSERC that should fix your flashing problem with windows 10.

[@MCsCreations]

ImpulseRC Driver Fixer. 😊 And there are a few drivers that should help too. 😉

[@francoislanglois4642]

He can use STM32 ST-Link too... lots of possibilities

[@PeterGMerchant]

Linux Kubuntu would fix the problems with windows 10.

[@ShamblerDK]

@@PeterGMerchant Sure, Linux is nice... if you have endless time for tinkering. Personally, I prefer to be productive.

[@Andreas-kk2uk]

@@ShamblerDK That was maybe 20 years ago, take a look for yourself with a live usb boot stick, instead of blindly trusting M$ propaganda. My grandma uses linux, so even you could make it work

[@gryfandjane]

Really interesting, Tom! Congrats on getting her to fly, and pretty well at that. I enjoyed your walkthrough of the arduino code. It was very cool to see what’s going on behind the scenes when you wiggle the sticks. Best regards -

[@EricBliesener]

Wow very nice project and video Tom! Since you are now making more and more Arduino projects for aircraft I would recommend using more efficient small microcontrollers. A teensy 3 micro controller is about as big as an Arduino nano and is much more powerful so you can run the loop at 10-20x the frequency. I've been using those for 10 years now for aerospace projects and I couldn't recommend it more.

[@crcpeart]

Love your videos. It would be really great to see some basic coding tips from you to perhaps a few links to where you learnt the coding so quickly... thanks !!

[@7cle]

For entertainment only. Well only entertainment but a hell of a lot of entertainment indeed. You make it look so simple when even for a clever guy like you it took months. Well done nonetheless.

[@vitaliigalecki7561]

Nice job, man!

[@ahmadalghooneh2105]

Love the video, you are so good that you share all that experience

[@gcmlrd12]

That’s a genius work , thanks for sharing

[@Bigginger61]

You are a clever git, thanks for your interesting and inspiring videos.

[@aidanginise]

You might want to think about adding a very small motor to the back of the craft. Not only will it allow more control in forward flight mode, but when in hover mode, you could have more "drone-like" control. I don't know, it's just something you should think about.

[@scalercheli]

I love it. What's flight control main board name that u use for VTOL? Tks u.

[@rafaelbachmann3619]

I am sure you know, but in your design you only have 2 degrees of freedom whereas a VTOL usually needs at least 3 to work well. You could have used a tiny propeller on the boom to give you pitch control on hover. That's why you get no self-level :) Usually, the PID outputs for different flight modes differ quite a bit, but again you are lucky here. The openAeroVTOL firmware really was quite good, it is sad to see it slowly fade into oblivion. I have a basic rewrite but I don't yet support transitioning flightmodes reliably. In your specific case I am surprised (positively) that it works that well. Great vid!

[@medienmond]

Yeah! You have found the windows xp hills, beside testing your new plane in the fields

[@nraynaud]

I would be curious to see what the active control code (stuff like full state control) would look like. But you would probably need a pitot tube to do that.

[@sleekitwan]

I absolutely admire the projects you undertake, and your success may vary, but your learning ramps up always. TINY piece of info for you regards aeronautical engineering, not from me, but from NASA, which you may have seen: NASA have produced a winged aircraft, full-size, electrically powered, and made a few mods to the basic aircraft. Primary, there are two things...First, the chord length of the wing (the width as you will know Tom) is surprisingly narrow, which they say makes it 500% as efficient. Secondly, there’s two big props, one each end of the wing very like your design, but there’s a huge array of smaller drone-type propellors ranged along the wing span between the outer props and the fuselage - reminiscent of that Howard Hughes monster plane long ago! The little props are only for taking off, like ‘booster rockets’ on a space shuttle. Good on you Tom, press on!

[@Aussiem8e]

That's bloody awesome mate!

[@RadekMacha]

Nice, I've been looking for something like this (with arduino code showcase specifically) for quite some time. Thank you! On a sidenote, you'd usually put your magic numbers (e.g. 1500 constants, 0.2 mixin percentages etc.) in a const int or const double declaration somewhere up top. That way you can tweak them homogeneously without running into weird issues if you randomly overlook a value and forget to change it.

[@silasmarner7586]

extremely well done Tom!

[@Lineracing]

Looking awesome, thanks for sharing!