KK2.1 & KK2.1.5 Instruction Manual V1.17S1 Pro Issue 1 This document details the settings available in the KK2.1.X V1.17S1Pro firmware by Steveis. Special thanks to Rolf Bakke. Without his work, none of this would be possible.
Warning Mutlicopters are not toys. Always make safety your priority. When testing on the bench, or calibrating the ESCs, remember to remove the propellers. Always turn the transmitter on before the receiver and turn the receiver off before the transmitter. Use the firmware at your own risk. Donations I’ve spent many hundreds of hours updating this firmware. If you would like to show your appreciation, I would be delighted if you made a donation to my favourite charity, even if it’s only £1 or $1.
Contents PI Editor ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Receiver Test.............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Receiver Sliders ......................................................................................................
PI Editor Enables you to adjust the control loop feedback parameters for Roll, Pitch and Yaw. The proportional term (P) produces an output value that is proportional to the current error value. A high proportional gain results in a large change in the output for a given change in the error. If the proportional gain is too high, the multicopter will overshoot and start to oscillate. Since the control loop compensates for errors 400 times a second too high a P gain will result in a high frequency oscillation.
PI limits The PI limits are the percentage of motor power that can be used to apply the correction. These should be left at default. For example, a limit of 20 (20% motor power to apply the correction) will allow 80% of motor power to be used for commanding a change in direction from the receiver. Receiver Test Displays the receiver signal inputs. • • • • • • • • • Use the transmitter trims to set the Roll, Pitch and Yaw values to zero.
Mode Settings Various settings – First option listed is the default • • • • • • Self-Level o Aux – AUX channel controls the self-levelling function. o Stick – Turn on Self-levelling by holding the aileron to the right when arming or disarming. Turn it off with left aileron. Note, if you only connect a 4 channel receiver to the KK2.1.X with Roll, Pitch, Throttle and Yaw then set Self-Level to Stick. Link Roll Pitch o Yes – Changes to the PI Settings for both Roll and Pitch when you make changes.
Stick Scaling These settings enable you to adjust the sensitivity of the transmitter stick. A higher number gives a more sensitive response. It is used in preference to increasing the rates in your transmitter. The default values are low for beginners that may not appreciate how sensitive the transmitter sticks can be in controlling a multicopter. • • • If you want to flip and roll, you will need to increase the Roll and Pitch values. Increase the Yaw value to yaw to your liking.
Misc. Settings 2 Various settings – First option listed is the default • • • • • • Board Offset (see Appendix H) o 0 – Zero degrees offset. KK2.1.X board faces forward. o +45 – KK2.1.X board is mounted 45 degrees clockwise (top left corner points in direction of flight). o -45 – KK2.1.X board is mounted 45 degrees anticlockwise (top right corner points in direction of flight). Spin on Arm o No – When armed, with throttle at zero, motors are stopped.
Self-level Settings Self Level Settings are independent from normal PI settings. • • • • • P Gain – The power of the self-levelling. Higher number is stronger. Too high will cause oscillations. To low and it’s slow to self level. Higher number gives the operator more stick control. Lower number reduces the operator stick control. P limit – Limits the max power of self levelling. Higher number is higher limit. ACC Trim Roll – compensates for self level drift when the KK2.1.
MPU6050 Settings Various sensor settings • • • • • • Gyro (deg/sec) – Selects the full-scale range of the three axis gyroscope of ±250, ±500, ±1000, and ±2000°/sec. The lower the value, the better the resolution. However, if you exceed the gyro range during flight, the multicopter will spin quickly and lose orientation (so self level will not work properly). Keep this value low for accurate flight, eg FPV. Beginners should stick with the default of 500.
Sensor Test Displays the raw gyroscope and accelerometer sensor values. • • • Must show "OK" when stationary. If it says “Not OK” when stationary, the sensor chip is faulty. Move the KK2.1.X around to see that the numbers change. In this case, it is fine if the sensors start reading “Not OK”. Sensor Max Min Displays the maximum and minimum sensor values recoded during flight, when self level is off. • • • • • • • • Turn Self Level On. Arm and take off. Turn Self Level Off. Now fly to get the KK2.1.
Mixer Editor This menu lets you adjust where and how much signal the motors gets from the sticks and sensors. This enables you to make any configuration possible, with up to 8 motors or servos. To change between the output channels 1-8, press CHANGE when the upper right number is highlighted. • Throttle – Amount of throttle command. Usually 100% if the output channel is connected to an ESC. Aileron – Amount of aileron/roll command.
Load Motor Layout Enables you to load a preconfigured multicopter setup. • • • • Select from a list of preconfigured multicopter types. “Tricopter Servo M7” uses M7 for the servo which is almost jitter free. You will not be able to Arm the KK2.1.X until you have selected a Motor Layout. When loading the firmware, after a Factory Reset or Resetting a Profile, you will need to select a Motor Layout.
Profiles Enables the use of two user profiles to store settings • • • • • • • • • • • Current Profile o P1 – Profile 1 selected (will be forced to P1 if you select “Yes” for Switch SS & PI). o P2 – Profile 2 selected. Each Profile has all of its own settings, including Receiver type, Motor Layout and ACC Calibration which will need to be set up and calibrated before you can arm the board when the profile is selected. You will need to power cycle the KK2.1.
Debug Various values used for debugging purposes. Version Displays current firmware version information. Factory Reset Perform a complete factory reset on all profiles.
Appendix A – SAFE Screen Information Pre-flight: • • • • • • • • • • If the SAFE screen says ERROR, you must fix that error before you can arm it. You will see the actual error on the display. You may have to power cycle the KK2.1.X to clear an error after fixing it. Top right displays the profile being used (P1 or P2) or tells you which stick scaling and PI profile you are using (PI1 or PI2). It will tell you if Self Level is on or off.
Appendix B – TX Gimbal Control Refer to Misc.
Appendix C – Misc Features The below features do not have any menu options. • Binding satellite receivers o You have to bind a satellite receiver to the KK2.1.X for it to work correctly. o You may need to set up your transmitter to support DSM2 or DSMX. o To bind a DSM2 satellite receiver, hold down buttons 2&3 on power up. o To bind a DSMX satellite receiver, hold down button 3 on power up. • Almost jitter free servos on M7 & M8 – The code supports almost jitter free servos on outputs 7 & 8.
Appendix D – Problems with Self Level The following will cause accuracy issues with Self Level. • • • • • Vibrations are the most common cause – balance your propellers, including the hubs. Balance your motor bells. Ensure you don’t have bent motor shafts. Ensure the engineering quality of your prop adaptors is acceptable. Finally, dynamically balance your motor with prop and prop adaptor. Arming outside the 20deg limit – arm the multicopter when it is level.
Appendix E – Receiver selection To achieve minimum jitter on the outputs (connecting to ESCs and Servos), the order of preference for Receiver selection is: • • • • Standard CPPM DSM Satellite SBus The reason for the above is the interrupt processing that is required to process the receiver channel output increases as you go down the list. Interrupts that occur during the software PWM loop that generates the output pulses on M1 to M8 need to be kept as short as possible to minimise the jitter.
Appendix F – Advanced Mixer Editor Calculations
Appendix G – Pre-flight checks and setup Initial Setup of the KK2.1.X disconnected from Multicopter • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Remove the KK2.1.X. from the Multicopter. Power up the KK2.1.X using a 4 cell battery pack or BEC. Select the required Motor Layout. Select the Receiver Type in Mode Settings. If necessary, change Channel Mapping. Power down the KK2.1.X. Set up your transmitter as a simple aircraft with no mixing. If necessary, bind your transmitter to the receiver (see Appendix C).
• • • • • • • All propellers should still be removed. Arm the KK2.1.X by moving the throttle to minimum and yaw to the right for a few seconds. and apply a little throttle. Ensure all motors spin in the direction as indicated by the Motor Layout. If a motor needs reversing, you need to remove two of the three motor wires from the ESC and swap them over. The KK2.1.X cannot be used to reverse the direction of a motor.
Appendix H – Board Offset
Appendix I – Powering the KK2.1.X The KK2.1.X has two 5V power busses. The first 5V bus is common across the receiver inputs, output 1 (M1) and the programmer port. This bus powers the KK2.1.X processor and needs to be as clean as possible (i.e. no noise from servos). The second 5V bus is common for outputs 2 to 8 (M2 to M8) only. You shouldn’t connect the two 5V busses together as any noise on outputs 2 to 8 will then be present on the KK2.1.X CPU power supply.
Special note for Castle Creation ESC’s created specifically for multicopters Castle Creations have created a pack of four ESCs. You get three ESCs without a BEC and one with a BEC so you don’t need to remove the 5V wire from the ESCs connected to M2 to M8. The ESC with a BEC will be connected to M1 so that it powers the KK2.1.X and receiver. The problem is that the other ESCs need a 5V signal “up the servo connector” in order for them to work.
Appendix J – Settings Record You can record your V1.17S1 Pro settings here. Profile ______ Model Name ___________________________________ Version 1.17S1Pro PI Editor Roll (Aileron) Pitch (Elevator) P Gain P Limit I Gain I Limit Mode Settings Self-Level Link Roll Pitch Auto Disarm Receiver Channel Map Lost Model Alarm Stick Scaling Roll (Ail) Pitch (Ele) Yaw (Rud) Throttle Misc. Settings 1 Minimum Throttle Height Dampening Height D Limit Alarm 1/10 volts Servo filter Acc SW filter Misc.
MPU6050 Settings Gyro (deg/sec) Acc (+/- g) Filter (Hz) Receiver Channel Map Roll (Ail) Pitch (Ele) Throttle Yaw (Rud) AUX Mixer Editor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Throttle Aileron Elevator Rudder Offset Type Rate End Point Limits Min 1 2 3 4 Profiles Current Profile Switch SS & PI Max Min 5 6 7 8 Max
Appendix K – Useful Resources Balancing propellers & motors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02NHYrpA0g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnjflLDxQQU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXuNnYQO2s4 Lazy Zero KKmulticopter Flash Tool and thread: http://lazyzero.de/en/modellbau/kkmulticopterflashtool http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1526042 RCGroups KK2.0 thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1675613 RCGroups KK2.1 and KK2.1.5 thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.
Appendix L – Release Information HW Version 2.1.X SW Version 1.17S1 Pro Steveis V1.17S1Pro changes since V1.16S1Pro for KK2.1.X a) Much improved self level code that more accurately calculates which way is “up”. This improves switching to self level after aggressive flying and will improve the Camera Gimbal operation as the accuracy of the angles is now much better. The receiver interrupts no longer screw with the Self Level calculation.
V1.16S1Pro changes since V1.15S1Pro for KK2.1.X a) Bug fix that prevented Orange R100's going into bind mode (was only in V1.15S1Pro). b) Select receiver type in Mode Settings. Options are Std, CPPM, DSM2, DSMX, SBus. Note, if you change the receiver type, you will need to power cycle the KK2.1.X Also note that if Profile 1 and Profile 2 have different receiver types, you will need to power cycle when changing between the two.
V1.15S1Pro changes since V1.14S1Pro for KK2.1.X a) Added menu option called "Channel Map" in Mode Settings 2 to map KK2.1 receiver inputs using the Receiver Channal Map list. See Note 7 below. b) Added menu option to change Safe screen info ("Alt Safe Screen" in Misc. Settings 2). c) Added menu option to control gimbal pitch with aux input while allowing you to switch self level on or off. -1000 to 0 and 0 to 1000 are both full servo offset so you can control full offset with SL on or SL off.
V1.14S1Pro changes since HK V1.6 for KK2.1.X Default MPU6050 settings now 500 deg/sec and 4g which are close to KK2.0 so P&I and Stick Scale values should be close to those used on KK2.0 If you fly aggressive acro, you will need to increase the gyro rate to 2000 deg/sec. ***** No need to change P&I or stick scaling settings when changing gyro rate ***** Warnings: i) Firmware will reset all settings and you will need to select a motor layout.
vi) Receiver Sliders Menu that shows you the msec value and sliders for the receiver inputs - for info, not calibrated - includes CH6 & CH7 for CPPM and Satellites vii) Output Sliders Menu that shows you the msec value and sliders for the motor/servo outputs this is for info as it is not calibrated viii) Acc Bubble Level Menu for accelerometers vix) Gyro Bubble Level Menu for gyros (could be good for dynamic balancing) x) Added support for Spektrum (R) Satellite and clones (See Note 1 below) xi) Configurabl
Hold buttons 2&3 on power up to enter binding mode (button 3 for DSMX) If you switch between CPPM, Sat or normal receivers, you have to power cycle the KK2.1 Debug lists 16 frame bytes from satellite - you'll know if there are 2 frames of data (so bind again). KK2.
On the Safe screen, you will see PI1 or PI2 in the top right corner. If you want to use Profile 2's SS & PI but don't want Self Level, set Profile 2's self level P gain to zero. When this is done, you will see that Self Level is always Off on the Safe screen. When switching between the two, be very careful if you are changing Stick Scaling. Best to do this with sticks at neutral. Note 7 (Channel Map) This option allows you to swap the order of the inputs for a standard receiver.
