AltiTransition.md

Alti Transition QuadPlane

A model for an Alti Transition QuadPlane. It is derived from the RF version in SITL_Models.

Usage

Gazebo and the plugins should be installed as per the ArduPilot Gazebo Plugin instructions.

Update the GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH to include these models:

export GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=$GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH:\
$HOME/SITL_Models/Gazebo/models:\
$HOME/SITL_Models/Gazebo/worlds

Run Gazebo

gz sim -v4 -r alti_transition_runway.sdf

Run ArduPilot SITL

sim_vehicle.py -v ArduPlane --model JSON --add-param-file=$HOME/SITL_Models/Gazebo/config/alti_transition_quad.param --console --map

Preflight checks

The parameters configure the vehicle as an H-frame as this seems to give better yaw control.

Motors

# front right motor (motor1) should spin clockwise
MANUAL> motortest 1 1 1005 2

# rear right motor (motor4) should spin counter-clockwise
MANUAL> motortest 2 1 1005 2

# rear left motor (motor2) should spin clockwise
MANUAL> motortest 3 1 1005 2

# front left motor (motor3) should spin counter-clockwise
MANUAL> motortest 4 1 1005 2

# pusher motor (throttle) should spin clockwise
MANUAL> arm throttle
MANUAL> rc 3 1010

Notes

• The model is auto-tuned using a combination of parameters from the Skywalker X8 quadplane and the RF Alti Transition as an initial configuration.
• The CP for the main wing and CoM for the base link have been adjusted to reduce the amount of elevator required to maintain level flight (it was originally saturating), another round of tuning the model physical parameters could reduce this further (see figure below).