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Advanced User Manual

1. 0 cece eee eee eee eee eens 25 2 3 Tab Tools Programming and testing ccccseeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 26 STEN 26 2 3 2 File Gyro save and read back options cccseseeeeseeeeeeees 27 RANE Eve 27 2 3 4 Temperature rrrnrrrnnnrnnnnnrnnrrnnnrrvanennnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnennnnennnnnnnsennnn 27 2 4 Tab Mixing Control mix and flaps rrreennnnvnvvnrnnvrvvnnnnnnrrvenrnnvennnnnnnne 28 0 0 110 de ee ee eee eee ee 28 222 FAD MOS re 29 2 5 Tab Curves Input Curve Set Up rrrrrranrnerrnnrrrrnnnnrvrnnnnennnnnnrnnnarrnnnnnee 31 TN 31 2 5 2 CU Urve OPONS wcecwensccerectensieczaacagssmsreqaneteawosteceinasdeaseinaseues 31 NT UNO oa ieee eidaneesciereteceeee 32 OT EE 33 2 6 Tab Range Range modifications and Differential Aileron Mode 34 2 7 Tab Advanced 1 Advanced modifications rrrrrrnnrrvrrnrnnnnnvrnnereennnr 35 2 11 RC TX 16000 Matching iecccsccecctarsncaccneoseoianncdvkaceuacccanmnneicnnserenees 36 24 2 CONVO SUR ACC Tee 37 2 7 3 Control Surface Range rrrrnnnnrnrnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnsnnnnnnrennnnnee 38 2 7 4 PWM detailed set Up rannrnnnnernnnrnnnnnvnnnrnnnnennnnrnnnnennnnennnnnnnne 40 15 NNN 40 2 8 Tab Advanced 2 Advanced modifications rrrrrnnnnrvnrnrrnnnnvrnnvrernner 41 2 8 1 Temporary Gyro rate and gain targets Critical time mode 41 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 BET 2 8 1 1 Gyro on rate and target changes
2. rrarrnanennnrrnnnrnanevanennnen 49 2 10 1 3 AN Acceleration Noise cccccceseceeeeeseeeeeeeseees 50 2 10 2 Predictive MOE rrannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnanannsnsrnnrnannrnnnnernnennr 50 2 10 3 High Pass Filter HPF 0 ccc ccc cece ee eeee sense eeeeeeeees 50 2 10 4 Data AVELAGING ccc cece eee ee eee eee eee eaten ee eeeaeae eens 51 2105 FING 2680 Calle aa 51 2 10 6 Gyro LOCK rrernnnnnrrnrnnnnnrrnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnrnnnnnssnnnnnennnnsnennnnsnsennnnn 51 2 10 61 Normal MODE seess 51 2 10 6 2 Un commanded mode rnnnnnnnnnnvennnnevernnvnenrrnnerennnn 51 2 10 6 3 Proportional mode rrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrrnnnnennanrennnnnennnnne 52 2 11 Tab Info Set up information display ccccccceseceeeeeeeeseeeeeeesaeeees 53 2 12 Tab Live data Data analysis rrrrrnnnrrnrnnrrrnnrrnnnnenvrnnernnnnennnnrnnnnnnennnn 55 2 13 Tab Upgrade Upgrade firmware ccccccccseccesseeeceeeeeeeeeeseeeeeseeeeeeas 57 2 191 BL SG firmware UPNETE seriesas nOr a 58 2 13 2 BL 3G system developer upgrade rrrrrrnnrrvrrnnnrrvnnnrennnnnnr 59 2 14 Tab About Bluelight Technologies rrrnnnrrrrnnnrrrnnnrvnnrrnnnnrenrnnnennnnn 61 Detailed Specifications sicisscsceesiseossencosecesscencesmeccenevencunieravexicucsinetestsuasneass 61 Sil FUNCIONAL SOCCINCAUON EE EE A 61 3 2 Hardware specification a rrrnnnrnnnrevnnnnvnnnnnanernnnnnvnnennanrnnnnennnnennnnennnn 63 System developer additional features
3. The actual values set can be seen under the professional 1 tab By default they are all set to Medium gain Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 EPEE 2 2 4 Active rate LED A green LED is set to illuminate as follows When Gyro off disabled When the rate detected on any axis Is equal to or greater than 10 dps When Gyro on enabled Continuous intermittent flashing The LED can be disabled for whatever reason such as to save a little power 2 2 5 Gyro On Off switch The switch is provided in case it is required to switch the gyro off at all times In which case the BL 3G can be used simply as a mixing unit It can also be useful during the Control Surface Range set up procedure as explained in section 2 7 3 2 2 6 Outputs The outputs can be set to normal meaning Output1 will be the pitch output for the elevator control Output3 will be the roll output for the aileron control and Output5 will be the yaw output for the rudder control The Output2 Output4 and Output6 are just the inverted versions of the above signals respectively Power out onto Output6 This option allows a throttle signal input on any of the inputs must be set up from the Advanced 2 tab page to be output onto Output6 This can be useful since a special power curve can be set up see section 2 5 prior to the signal driving the motor controller It is also useful to have the Throttle lock safety feature as detailed
4. The PID controllers can also be disabled in which case only raw gyro rate data is output This feature is for advanced users wishing to use the gyro purely as a sensor with no control output 2 9 2 Automatic Gain Control AGC This feature limits the gain if unwanted feedback oscillations start to set in These oscillations are similar to flutter and are caused when high gain levels are used This is similar to using a microphone too close to the speaker output The speaker output will feedback into the microphone which will again further amplify the signal This positive feedback can also happen with aircraft control surfaces 2 9 3 Rate data range The range over which the gyros operate is defined here with values in degrees per second dps Note that the high pass filter cut off frequency options on the professional 2 tab page are modified depending on the data range chosen If a not so large aircraft is flown in very turbulent weather conditions at high speed then rather large accelerations may be experienced by the craft In such conditions it may be advisable to set a range of either 500 or even 2000 dps It is also possible to modify these with a real time input as can be seen on the advanced tab page 2 9 4 Gyro data rate The Gyro data rate is specified here This is the rate at which gyro data is taken out of the ST gyro device onboard the PCB For each rate there is a corresponding cut off frequency that has also to be s
5. nrrrnnnnernnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnvennnuennnnnenn 64 4 1 Standard commands ccccccsecccceeceeceeeeceeseeseeeeeseeeeeseeeeeseueeeseeeessaaes 64 4 2 ST L3GD20 registers direct access COMMANAS rrrrrrnnnrvenrnnnrrvnnnnnnnnn 68 TT 69 Abbreviations and terms used in this document nrnnnnrnnnnvnnnnnvvnnnnvennner 71 PC Set up tool installation ad 73 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 3078 1 0 Introduction and block diagram The BL 3G gyro has been designed to allow a great deal of fine tuning by the RC model flyer Gyro control algorithms cannot be perfectly set up for each and every model Amongst other things the control algorithm operation depends on the gyro distance relative to the control surfaces the weight of the model how much vibration the model generates how fast the model is flying etc etc On top of this each flyer will generally have different flight characteristics and performance requirements Hence the BL 3G comes with a PC set up software that opens up all the important parameters to allow the RC flyer to set things up exactly as required There are also useful curve mix trim and special functions As detailed later there are better ways to trim a gyro equipped aircraft rather than the normal way with the RC receiver The BL 3G gyro block diagram is show below BL 3G RC receiver Input 1 Output 1 Programmable im Input 2 Susi Negative Pitch UTPU Programmab
6. Upgrade About o q w ME 4 2 5 1 Set up Looking at the left hand side set up section for each of the axes power pitch roll yaw either a user defined curve can be selected or a standard one If a standard one then the options are given in the pull down menu The tools described below will aid in making the selection 2 5 2 Curve Options A switch on the right hand side of this section allows for the background graph above to be changed depending if the input of interest is a power curve or a pitch roll or yaw PRY curve This section then allows for the various standard curves to be seen For example the picture above shows a Tan Tangent curve has been selected and so is shown in the graph area on top of a PRY background l e the stick is shown going from 100 to 100 with corresponding output also from 100 to 100 If a power curve were selected then the background graph would show the curve on top of a graph as shown here Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 EET Power graph with stick input from 0 to 100 and 5 corresponding output also from 0 to 100 s Output Stick position The purpose of this section is to allow the curves to be seen such that the curve required can then be input in the Set up inout curves section to the left It is also possible to create user own curves as detailed below 2 5 2 1
7. XAxisGain 15 00 To check that the correct value has been programmed the data request command is gXAxisGain The response written into the Rxbuffer window is XAxisGain 15 0000 These commands can be checked out on the PC tool tools page 4 2 ST L3GD20 registers direct access commands The following commands are specific to the ST L3GD20 device Certain parameters related to Rate data range Gyro data rate and cut off HPF Temperature uncalibrated are set up with special commands that read and write directly to the ST device In this way any registers of the ST device can be directly programmed and read The commands are of the form L3GD20write 0x2100 This writes the hex value 0x00 to register 0x21 L3GD20read 0x21 This returns the hex value of register 0x21 These commands can be checked out on the PC tool tools page Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 68 of 78 An example is the acquisition of a single sample of temperature data The command is Shown here L3GD20read 0x26 The response to the above command would typically be as shown here Data Ox1A 4 3 Self Test The self test feature allows for all the following features to be checked on the BL 3G gyro All inputs and outputs EEPROM Gyro device Potentiometers In order to perform the test first all inputs must be simultaneously connected to the outputs as shown here Input 1 gt Output
8. bluelight tech com This will then guarantee the correct operation of the pitch roll and yaw controls Note that positive pitch is defined at an elevator movement resulting in a height gain Positive roll is defined as an aileron movement resulting in a starboard to the right directional change Positive yaw is defined as a rudder movement resulting in a clockwise to the right rotation of the aircraft Installation should also be as close as possible to the aircraft centre of gravity It is also possible to mount the Gyro up side down by either selecting this option in the Quick Start tab or the Basic tab In this case the P LED on the front of the BL 3G Gyro will illuminate red and extinguish when configuration parameters are sent Opposite to normal way round Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 6 of 78 of 78 1 2 1 Avoiding unwanted vibration Although the filtering inside the BL 3G is state of the art it does not hurt to protect further by adding some foam protection between the underside of the gyro and the aircraft base where it is mounted One method is to use a zeal sheet and tightly affix it to the base of the BL 3G unit prior to installing into the aircraft 1 3 Gyro electrical installation The BL 3G has inputs from an RC receiver and so accepts standard 5v input signals These can go up to maximum 7 4v or down to a minimum of 2 2v with no problems The BL 3G signal outputs to
9. rnnnrnnnnnrrnnnr 41 2 8 1 2 Take off rate and target Changes rrnnnrrnrnnrennnn 42 2 8 2 Programmable Real Time inputs arrrrrarrrrnnrervnnrernnnnrnnnnennnn 43 Ro NNN 43 2 8 2 2 Gyro Two Gain Adjust rrrnrrrrrnnnrorrrnnnrrrrnnnrnnnnnennnnn 43 202 PN 43 2 8 2 4 Gyro PID Target rrrranrrnnnnnrnrnnnrnvnnnnvnnnrnnnnnnnnrnnrennnnre 44 2 8 2 5 Z axis mix to X and Y gain adjustment 00 44 2 8 2 6 POWGEFIN MOOG ciccscectccdesccecescacveecasecenodse AEE E Eea 45 2 8 2 7 Emergency Cut Off rrrnnnnnennnrennnnevnnrennarennnnennnnennnnen 45 2 8 2 8 adjust Heading LOCK rannnnnnnrnnnnnennnnnrnrnnnennnnnennnn 45 2 8 2 9 Input power and pitch curves rrrnnrrnnnnrrnrnrrnnnvrennnnr 46 2 8 2 10 Flaps control input rannrnnnnnnnnnvnnnrnvnnnnnnnrnrnnnrnnnnen 46 2 9 Tab Professional 1 Professional 1 modifications ccceeeeeeeeees 47 2 9 1 Pitch Roll and Yaw axes PID controllers 005 47 2 9 2 Automatic Gain Control AGC rrrarnrrnnnnnrnnrvnrnnrrnnnnrennnnnennnn 48 29 3 Rate data ANOS inc seccorstcactsaveesteiodsadeaesdasessaaeonssdediantnds 48 2 OA GIO data TANS ne 48 2 10 Tab Professional 2 Professional 2 Modifications ccccceeseeee ees 49 2 10 1 Kalman filters 22 0 0 ccc ccc cece cece eee eeee eee eeeeeeeeeenaaeaas 49 2 10 1 1 IM Inertial Mass rrorrnnnrnnnnnanonnnrenanennnennnennnnnnnre 49 2 10 1 2 MN Measurement Noise
10. 2 10 3 High Pass Filter HPF The HPF is always enabled but the cut off frequency can be adjusted The available cut off frequency options depend on the data rate chosen in the Professional 1 page The options are shown here ODR Hz Cut off frequency Hz 100 18 14 12 11 105 102 1041 10 05 10 02 0 01 200 115 18 14 12 1 105 102 101 10 05 10 02 400 130 115 18 14 12 11 105 102 1041 10 05 800 156 30 115 8 14 2 1 05 02 04 ODR is output data rate When enabled defaults are shown in bold text Particular low frequency noise can therefore be removed from the gyro measurement should this be a problem with particular aircraft Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 50 of 78 of 78 2 10 4 Data averaging default off An additional optional filter is provided here to simply take a rolling average of the data after LPF but before the Kalman filtering If enabled the number of samples that the rolling average is to take effect on must be entered Maximum allowed is 99 Note that this simple filtering will smooth out any noise in the gyro measurements but will do this at the cost of a slow response time known as phase lag This filter can be applied at the same time as the Kalman filtering if required If enabled it is recommended that numbers not much larger than single digit numbers are used 2 10 5 Fine Zero Calibration default auto Each axis can have a small offset added to e
11. 55 of 78 Regarding the vertical axis options are given to automatically scale the data to fit onto the screen This is the default set up Otherwise user own scaling can also be performed with the up and down buttons provided With the aircraft static and engine motor switched off the noise level should be within about 1 degree per second The static level can be adjusted with the controls on the Professional 2 tab page This is detailed in section 2 10 5 on Fine Zero Calibration The signal can also be used to assess the most appropriate parameters to use when setting up the Kalman filters as discussed in section 2 10 1 Note that an A C D C coupling button is also provided This is useful to centre the waveform in the case of a post analysis where a DC level is present from a trim offset or a power signal in the case of a multi rotor application or if the Kalman predictive mode is enabled This will result in a small DC offset in static conditions Also in the case of very small raw gyro data offsets in Raw data view i e prior to calibration A typical static gyro trace is shown below to get a better idea of the noise floor Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About 0 4406 Select Axis x MY MZ Select Data E Raw W Post i 1 Time scale it Wa sec D D Down Up b bu Down Up fast fast Samples 100 Standard Deviation o 0 140
12. Pitch Elev Gyro Invert Roll Ail Gyro Invert Yaw rudder Gyro Invert C Mounting BL 3G face up or Up side down Hit Send to send configuration to the BL 3G Gyro Normal mounting selected Defaults Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 A list of standard aircraft types is given to allow all relevant parameters for such aircraft to be populated onto the advanced tab pages Initially the advanced modification tabs are hidden but can be accessed by pressing the Enable Tabs button to the right hand side Below this button there is an Aircraft Drop n Drag box Any standard configuration txt files can be dropped into this box and populate the other tabs accordingly A later tools tab will allow such files to be created Such files can also be shared with others and downloaded from Bluelight website It is important that when a selection is made that the Send button is pressed to send all the set up parameters to the BL 3G Gyro The last section on this page allows the gyro function to be inverted and for Gyro up side down mounting More on this below The BL 3G ICE MAN Gyro is designed to work right out of the box with no further set up necessary with the exception of fine gain adjustments with the supplied screw driver A Quick set up procedure will be described here for users who don t want to use the PC set up software with comments for those who wish to do some basic modifications
13. Zero if target rates are set up in the Rate targets section of the Advanced 2 tab page o The BL 3G gyro will output signals with minimum 1 1ms and maximum 1 94 ms pulse widths with a frequency of 15ms o The software version number is available when the Click when connected text is clicked o If no input signals are supplied the inputs will default to the mid range value Note Input1 AX simply shows that the gyro correction to pitch will take place in the opposite direction to the pitch motion caused by some external disturbance IMPORTANT NOTICE The information tab page is a good indication how the system should be connected according to the settings selected in the BL 3G set up tool however THE PERFORMANCE OF THE AIRCRAFT SHOULD BE TESTED ON THE GROUND PRIOR TO ANY FLIGHT Checks should also be made that the gyro function is the correct way round for any disturbances and that any flap functions operate the correct way round too Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 54 of 78 of 78 2 12 Tab Live data Data analysis When both developing and flying aircraft such as fixed wing multi copters and other UAVs the amount of induced noise into the data involved with the system stability is of paramount importance It is for this reason that a page is dedicated to looking at the actual data when the system is in full operation Quick Stat Basic Tools Mbxing Curves Range Advanced
14. as you activate your RC Tx sticks If any move in the wrong direction then you can instead connect the servo to the inverted signal out E g if your elevator is incorrect you can move the connection to the elevator servo onto BL 3G output 2 instead of Output 1 Alternatively you can move the slider switch on your RC Tx to invert the signal Alternatively if the input signal can be inverted with the PC set up software o 7 Pick up the aircraft and move it around in all three axes to check if the gyro function is as expected l e if you make a sharp move in a particular direction the gyro function should activate the control surface in such a way as to combat the sharp movement o 8 If the gyro function is in the opposite way than expected then for whichever control surface or surfaces are incorrect you will need to follow the procedure here Incorrect Elevator Gyro function Activate the RC Tx elevator slider switch if you have one on your RC tx to invert the signal Now connect the elevator servo to BL 3G output 2 instead of output 1 Or output 1 instead of 2 if you have it swapped Incorrect Aileron Gyro function Activate the RC Tx aileron slider switch if you have one on your RC tx to invert the signal Now connect the aileron servo to BL 3G output 4 instead of output 3 Or output 3 instead of 4 if you have it swapped Incorrect Rudder Gyro function Activate the RC Tx rudder slider switch if you have one on your RC tx to in
15. in tri copter mode See section 2 2 6 1 of this manual Note3 Pitch is achieved by varying the rotor speed of rotors A and D no change in rotor F Note 4 Inputs are the standard Pitch input 1 Roll input 3 and Yaw input 5 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 12 of 78 Bi copter mode Select Bi copter mode from Basic tab page A Clockwise Output 5 Output 1 Front ra Output 3 Anti clockwise Output 6 Bi copter motor propeller and servo installation Note1 Output 1 is the right rotor ESC control signal Output 3 is the left rotor ESC control signal Output 5 is the right Pitch digital servo control signal Output 6 is the left Pitch digital servo control signal Take care to use the correct outputs since other outputs have other signals on see VTOL below Note2 Pitch is achieved with both servos tilting in the same direction Hence since the servos are assumed to be positioned in mirror image as shown in the diagram they will actually get opposite signals to achieve this Yaw is achieved with the servos moving in opposite directions hence again due to the mirror image design they will get the same signal Note3 It is not important to have the rotors turning opposite to each other since the yaw control is applied via the servos Note 4 Inputs are the standard Pitch input 1 Roll input 3 and Yaw input 5 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro U
16. motors BL 3G Output 1 RC Receiver Pitch Input 1 Motor A front left Power Input 2 Motor C back right gt Input 3 Output 2 On off Motor D back left Fn Motor B front right Input 7 oe Motor E left Output 5 cert Motor F right Output 6 bab Battery The above set ups use the BL 3G Multi copter default settings The diagram shows a hex copter but a quad copter can be operated by simply not connecting motors E and F on outputs 5 and 6 respectively Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 10 of 78 Hex and Quad copter modes Select multi copter mode from Basic tab page The direction of the propeller rotations must be as shown here Propeller rotation can be reversed by simply changing the way the Electronic Speed Controller is connected to the brushless electric motor Clockwise Anti clockwise v Output 1 Output 4 N Output 6 F E Output 5 Y Output 3 AUNE P Multi copter motor and propeller installation Note 1 Quad copter connections are A B C D Note2 Real time switch input for gyro on off acts as a throttle safety lock in multi copter mode See section 2 2 6 1 of this manual Note 3 Inputs are the standard Pitch input 1 Roll input 3 and Yaw input 5 Further information about multi copter mode For standard quad or hex copters a certain proportion of the input yaw signal is fed into the rotors that normally ha
17. next 2 2 6 1 Throttle Safety Lock When the power throttle signal is programmed to be output onto output6 the output is at the minimum level i e throttle off until it is unlocked To unlock the following stick positions need to be momentarily performed Throttle Full low Yaw rudder Full left low Pitch elevator Full up high Roll ailerons Full right high Note that the positions of the sticks may vary depending on individual combinations of different RC transmitter input signals and input signal invert settings To achieve exactly the same as shown in the diagram above you need to do the following o 1 Go to the Advanced 1 page tab and check which way your control surfaces are set up Hit the Active button and if the following happens i The Pitch bar moves to the down side as you move your RC Tx pitch lever up Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 ii The Roll bar moves to the right as you move your RC Tx roll lever to the right iii The Yaw bar moves to the left as you move your RC Tx yaw lever to the left Go ahead and hit the Cancel button when done And you have no ticks in the Invert Inputs check boxes on the Basic tab page then the throttle lock will operate as shown in the diagram above o 2 If any of your inputs are contrary to the above then simply invert them on your RC Tx unit or tick the appropriate boxes in the Invert Inputs check boxes on the B
18. of the spare inputs to the BL 3G Gyro via the Advanced 2 tab page The flaps output signal is then given on output 2 The input flap signal will operate as a toggle switch thus allowing a simple RC transmitter with a two way switch to perform the control A transition from low signal to high signal acts as the active toggle switch Mode 1 Normal In this mode when the input is switched on and off again the flaps will move to a Stage1 position The Stage1 position is set up in the Set flaps Stage 1 position box to the right hand side of the tab When the switch is again activated low then high again the flaps will move to the Stage 2 position The Stage 2 position is set up in the Set flaps Stage 2 position box The settings in these boxes are a percentage of the half stick range typically about 500 us The speed at which the flaps are deployed is set up in the Deployment speed box This time in seconds is the length of time it would take the flaps to move their full range i e from flaps off to flaps fully extended On the third toggle of the switch the flaps will return to their home position Note that if a bias input is added from the Basic tab page then this will also appear on the flap output signal An output nvert programmed in from the Basic tab page will also invert the operation of the flaps Mode 2 Airbrake Crow function The performance of this mode is the same as the Normal mode described above with the followin
19. only mode selection Kalman averaging and High pass filtering Gyro lock features and zero calibration System level diagram to confirm set up configuration Analysis of actual data Oscilloscope mode Firmware upgrade and features upgrade options Details of Bluelight Technologies and where to check for software updates 2 1 Tab Quick Start Standard Aircraft Types This is the first page and contains and allows very fast parameter selection and sending options Quick Start About Quick Start Page Normal Simple Airplane N Typical Airplane Medium gain Gyro settings Default N H N C Small Bectric Airplane Low gain Gyro settings Atemative Mix Airplane BL 3G is plugged in via USB tel Servos Analogue ted Gyro enable disable on input ted Throttle in out disabled ote4 Signals Futaba 1520 compatible Li Li i i ears Enable Small Flying Wing Airplane Low gain Gyro settings laces Tabs L V Tail Airplane Low gain Gyro settings SE Her Advanced tabs Noted Sianals Futaba 1520 compatible _ DISABLED Dual Aleron Servo Airplane Low gain Gyro settings TO C Normal Flaps Configuration Airplane Medium gain Gyros Flap input control on input 4 output on output 7 Aircraft Drag n Drop er drag b file Mulit copter Aircraft here Multi Copter 4 or 6 rotors 25cm arms Te pega tout 5 is left Send Other Configuration Options Gyro Function Invert _
20. positions After exiting the mode the gyro will initialize if in auto fine calibration mode so it s important not to move the gyro until the blue LED starts to flash again Don t forget to then make sure each POT is again set to the central position or the position required to ensure the correct gain setting is set Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 16 of 78 of 78 2 0 PC tool and Programmable features The tool consists of multiple pages used for communicating and setting up the BL 3G gyro All the following pages will be discussed in detail in this section The installation procedure is detailed in section 6 0 of this document o Quick Start o Basic o Tools o Mixing o Curves o Range o Advanced 1 o Advanced 2 o Professional 1 o Professional 2 o Information o Live Data o Upgrade o About Standard aircraft configurations and easy loading of script files Inputs outputs PID controller gains and mix functions Connection saving to file command inputs and visual testing of system Mixing for non standard aircraft configurations and various flap modes Selection of standard or user defined input curves Dual servo aircraft support incl Differential Aileron mode Matches up any RC transmitter receiver to the gyro Also trim adjustments and control surface range set ups are done here Real time inputs and features PID controller detailed set up and sensor
21. roll or yaw to be enabled or disabled Note that if a system is used that does not have any available RC transmitter switches then the default is for the gyro to be enabled 2 8 2 2 Gyro Two Gain Adjust This function allows a gain multiplication factor to be applied in real time This then allows for a high gyro gain during low speed or hover flying and a much lower gain during high speed flying It is also possible to set up an alternative gyro rate range This may be desirable if fast flying is suddenly required or if bad weather and strong winds suddenly appear W Gyro two gain adj Pitch 15 Rol 15 Yaw 15 Fate 500 G The picture above shows the default values of gain multiplication of 1 5 and a gyro rate range of 500 The function takes effect when the programmed input signal is above greater than the central position 2 8 2 3 Gyro Exact Gain This function allows an exact gain to be applied related to the value of the input pulse v Gyro exact gain Pitch 05 Rol 05 Yaw 05 w o a The above value is used to select one of the below table columns For example if 0 5 is selected then as the input signal goes from its minimum value to its maximum value the gain applied will be an exact gain running smoothly from 1 55 to 7 00 With the example of 0 5 set and an input of say 50 the gain applied will be 4 28 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 43 of 7
22. software for immediate download to the BL 3G gyro or for some changes to be made based on it prior to download to the gyro The Load file at start option allows a file to be automatically uploaded into the BL 3G set up tool at start up of the tool In this way a previous file that you may have been working on is automatically loaded in at the Start Data can also be read back from the Gyro to the PC tool directly by pressing the blue R button Note that this will of course overwrite all existing parameters currently in the set up tool 2 3 0 Real time data test This section allows for the acquisition and graphical display of the gyro X pitch Y roll and Z yaw rate data This testing can be enabled and disabled with the buttons provided The gyro positive and negative rates are shown in blue colour The lower display in green colour shows the positive and negative PID outputs This is the control signal that is output to the aircraft In the example above there is positive angular acceleration about the X and Y axes and negative about the Z axis Blue colour This means the aircraft has sustained both a positive pitch and a positive roll rotation To counter this the output signals green colour are showing commanded movement of the aircraft control surfaces to counter these disturbances These graphical displays are also used to set up the aircraft pitch and control surface ranges as detailed in section 2 6 2 3 4 Temperature
23. the PC set up tool are provided to show the gyro can measure ok and can also generate outputs to the control surfaces to counter the measured rotations Temperature Temperature sensor read out and calibration Button to send all parameters to the BL 3G Gyro Mixing for flying wing delta wing V tail and multi copter Tight turns feature mixing some roll into the yaw Normal flaps airbrake function flaperon function and flap pass through All with function application reverse option Two stage flaps supported Curves Types X4 user defined curves 11 points to adjust power pitch roll and yaw inputs 17 pre defined curves smooth curves ie infinite points Range 2 servo outputs Aileron Differential Advanced 1 Fine matching Matches with any RC transmitter Tx for optimal performance Trim adjust Adjust pitch roll and yaw trim Range adjust Adjust pitch roll and yaw movement end points Servo advanced Programmable output signal to support any servo or controller Gyro function Ability to invert the gyro function on a per axis basis Advanced 2 Crash avoidance Set rate targets for pitch up and zero roll for programmable time gain Straight take off Set gain target for zero heading drift for programmable time and gain Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 DET of 78 Set with RC Tx switch off for programmable time Set Gyro PID target to desired roll rotatio
24. the programming of the new firmware The complete re programming time should be less than 20 seconds o When complete go ahead and press the Quit button You must now unplug your Gyro from the PC and also from any external power source to power cycle it Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 58 of 78 of 78 2 13 2 BL 3G system developer upgrade In order to start to use the UART and special commands a license must be acquired Two licenses are available 1 A free demo license Developer demo which allows all features to be used for a fixed duration of 5 minutes After this time a BL 3G gyro power cycle will be necessary then the features may again be used In this way the developer can check out the features Note that the BL 3G PC set up program can be configured to run all its set up entirely by using the UART port rather than USB In this way a developer can test and see the UART working correctly 2 A full demo license Once programmed into the BL 3G gyro the gyro will operate with full UART and special commands mode all the time A small charge will be made for this license The procedure for installing a license is described here System Developer upgrade Enter either a demo key or full license key to enable UART communications Press button for more info Info Enter Current license status 8 Standard user Update if connected to BL X3 Connect to the BL 3G gyro to get license st
25. their central positions the gyro can now be power cycled and no change to the aircraft trim should be seen This confirms the trim is successfully set up Note that the blue Acquire button is provided in case you exit the PC set up tool and later enter it again and wish to find out the trim settings inside the BL 3G Gyro 2 7 3 Control Surface Range The range section allows the end points to be set up when the Gyro is set to off That means with full RC transmitter stick activated the maximum control surface deflection is set up Furthermore it is advisable that the range be set up such that when the gyro is switched on or off the control surfaces do not deflect to different positions Output Trim Range With the radio button selecting the Range option the red Pitch mg m o 100 and green buttons allow modifications Double clicking the range number re sets it back to 100 The gray zero Roll m m o 100 button resets all ranges to 100 The acquire button will re Yaw m m 0 100 acquire any values previously sent to the BL 3G gyro The Auto button has no effect in Range mode Acquire i Auto m Zero M The procedure to set up the ranges uses a combination of the input sensitivity controls on the Professional 1 tab page and the Range settings on the Advanced tab page as detailed here Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 38 of 78 The PID gain box needs to be set to 1
26. up software can be looked for on our website It is also possible to update the BL 3G firmware Please also visit out website to check for these updates www bluelight tech com Cancel Press next to continue Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 73 of 78 You will then see the next screen Welcome to the BL 3G Setup Wizard The installer will guide you through the steps required to Install BL 3G on four computer WARNING Thi computer program i protected by copyright law and international treaties Unauthorized duplication or distribution of this program or any portion of it may result in severe Civil ar criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the masimum extent possible under the law Press next to continue to see the next screen Select Installation Folder The installer will install BL 3G to the following folder To install in this folder click Nest To install to different folder enter it below or click Browse Folder C Program Files 86 SB luelight 6L 3G 4 Install BL 3G for yourself or for anyone who uses this computer C Evernone Just me Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 74 of 78 You may choose to change your default directory but it is strongly recommended that you leave it unchanged The next screen will be Contirm Installation The installer is ready to install BL 3G om your c
27. us to implement Copyright Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd 3 0 Detailed Specifications 3 1 Functional specification Functional specification A list of standards aircraft to choose from Ability to change the Gyro function direction for each axis with or without PC Drag and drop box for aircraft parameter txt files Button to send all parameters to the BL 3G Gyro Up side down mounting option Standard Aircraft Gyro function Drag d drop box Send to Gyro Mounting Stability Pitch roll yaw axes with programmable gains Gyro Gain adjust Via PC software or rotary switches POTS on the PCB Inputs Pitch roll yaw and optional x4 inputs power and or RC Tx switches Ability to invert the input signal Outputs Pitch roll yaw control and also power optional Output Mixing For Flying wing no rudder multi copter dual servo applications Output options Addition of bias sub trim invert signals Servos Can connect to Digital analogue speed controller or Narrow pulse Send to Gyro Tools Save to file All unit set up data can be saved to PC HDD or connected memory Any number of set ups can be saved Typically one per aircraft type Read from file Any pre saved files can be loaded from PC to the BL 3G set up program Connection check The PC tool checks to make sure communication with the gyro unit is possible Command mode Commands can be sent to the unit and responses received Quick check Graphical bars on
28. with the PC set up software 2 1 1 Quick Out of the box installation for fixed wing aircraft o 1 Ensure all servos and aircraft control surfaces are working as expected without the BL 3G Gyro installed o 2 Connect up the BL 3G Gyro between the RC receiver unit and the aircraft servos All RC receiver outputs should be connected to the BL 3G Gyro inputs as shown here make sure the BL 3G Gyro is not connected to a PC Rx Elevator gt BL 3G input 1 Pitch Rx Aileron gt BL 3G input 3 Roll Rx Rudder gt BL 3G input 5 Yaw Rx Channel5 gt BL 3G input 7 Optional Gyro on off No need to connect the throttle signal at this time See diagrams in section 1 3 for physical connections o 3 Connect the BL 3G outputs to the aircraft control surfaces as detailed here BL 3G output 1 Pitch gt Elevator servo BL 3G output 3 Roll gt Aileron servo BL 3G output 5 yaw gt Rudder servo o 4 Now being careful to make sure your RC Tx is switched ON and with the throttle at the minimum position connect the throttle signal from the radio Rx to the ESC unit throttle connection o 5 Wait until the BL 3G Gyro blue and yellow lights start flashing then make sure the aircraft ailerons elevators and rudder move as expected when you activate your RC Tx control sticks Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 18 of 78 o 6 Make sure your control surfaces still move in the required directions
29. 00 b s PWM input TET All inputs P22 1738 W o PWM output voltage All outputs EK PWM output current Drivecurren 1 5 mA output change vs temperature some S S refresh rate mperature range E ep ie consumption voltage ke L E To driver servos ESC any PMW outputs Test conditions at 25 C Typical specifications are not guaranteed IEC 61000 4 2 level 4 compliant Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 63 of 78 of 78 4 0 System developer additional features From the Tools page Data request commands or programming commands can be sent to the BL 3G These are the standard commands It is also possible to send commands directly to the ST L3GD20 device These two options are detailed hereunder 4 1 Standard commands When a read only data request command is sent to the BL 3G the format is as shown here n is any number of characters sj or byte End of command is with a 7 When a programming data command is sent to the BL 3G the format is as shown here f char fraction j nis any number of characters Char or byte iis any number of characters Char or byte not greater than 10 de the integer part of a number and fis any number of characters Char or byte not greater than 10 representing the fractional part of a number The integer part can be prefixed with for negative numbers It is also acceptable to have a for positive numbers but this w
30. 1 Reset Auto scale Scale Coupling on off Up fast D C Down fast E Continuous Scale X 34041 W Tick on 5 2 3 If the gyro is correctly calibrated i e not moved during power up if set to auto fine calibration mode the waveform will stay within around 0 5 degrees sec Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 56 of 78 of 78 2 13 Tab Upgrade Upgrade firmware There are two upgrade paths The first box entitled Software Upgrade BL 3G gyro firmware allows for the actual firmware of the gyro to be upgraded Updated files will be available for download from Bluelight website if and as they become available The second box entitled System software upgrade enables the UART communications port on the BL 3G gyro as well as the special commands to allow programming and data extraction from the BL 3G gyro This is for systems developers wishing to install the BL 3G onto their own PCBs or otherwise onto their own developed systems Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About Software Upgrade BL 3G gyro firmware Opens the sofware upgrade tool in a new window f connected via USB PC Platform Windows Current firmware version Click when connected br C 64bit Enter either a demo key or full license key to enable UART communications Press button for mor
31. 1 Input 2 gt Output 2 Input 3 gt Output 3 Input 4 gt Output 4 Input 5 gt Output 5 Input 6 gt Output 6 Input 7 gt Output 1 UART Tx gt UART Rx The test is entered into by typing in the following command at the tools tab write box window then pressing the Tx USB button note that this test cannot be performed via the UART interface The test takes approximately half a second to complete If all is ok the following message will be displayed in the Rx buffer window Self test 1 0000 Write Self test Sent 1 Truse Tx UART Rx buffer cs Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 69 of 78 of 78 Any error will be reported as shown here and only one error message shown at a time Error Message I Meaning EEPROM U2 write EEPROM write error EEPROM data U2 0 0000 Gyro type U3 0 0000 PotX VR3 0 0000 Pot X pitch is not centralized Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 70 of 78 of 78 5 0 Abbreviations and terms used in this document Pulse Width Modulation This is a voltage square wave signal whereby the signal oscillates between its high level and its low level The pulse width used in this document is the high level The period is the repetition rate A typical RC radio controlled servo signal will have a high level at typically 5 volts for between 1 and 2 ms in duration followed by a low level
32. 1 000 and pots centralized before starting this procedure and the range set up correctly with the Gyro off Range Adjust Procedure o 1 With the aircraft stationary on the ground and connected up to the PC software tool the range is adjusted visually First switch the gyro OFF either with a real time input or via the gyro On Off button on the Basic tab page if with the Basic tab button don t forget to then press the Send button and ensure that when the RC transmitter levers are moved to their maximum positions the actual control surfaces also reach their maximum positions If the maximum position for a particular control surface is not reached increase the range by pressing the appropriate green button If the maximum position is exceeded then reduce by pressing the appropriate red button When complete press the Send button on the Basic tab page to send the new seitings to the BL 3G memory o 2 Switch the gyro ON either with a real time input or via the gyro On Off button on the Basic tab page The input sensitivity controls on the Professional 1 tab page are now set up such that when an RC transmitter lever is at a maximum position the corresponding control surface is also at its maximum end point Note that after changing an input sensitivity value it is necessary to hit the send button at the bottom of the Basic tab page o 3 If you have a real time input set to control the gyro on off function you can confirm that the range se
33. 1 to 9 9999 ZPIDwindup 0 to 99000 ZPIDMIX 0 to 1 0 XKalXe 0 to 20000 XKalP 0 to 20000 XKalQ 0 to 20000 XKalR 0 to 20000 XKalF 0 to 100 String XKalH 0 to 100 String Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 65 of 78 of 78 XKalEn Enable X Kalman filter 1 enable 0 not not ZKalEn Enable Z Kalman filter 1 enable 0 String not Proportional mode 2 P XGyroPropMax Maximum Lock gain String gt Proportional mode 3 P YGPropMax MaximumLockgain 1 String Proportional mode 3 P Minimum Lock gain ZGyroPropMax MaximumLockgain 1 String o Linear or inverse square 1 5 to 3 2 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 66 of 78 PWM in max pulse width us PWM in max pulse width us VTail mix 0 disabled Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 I 67 of 78 AilDif Aileron differential mode VTOL_rud Bi copter mode rudder gain 0 5 to 6 0 String Writes to EEPROM PC tool system commands SelfTestEnable Enables self test tab page SelfTestDisable Disables self test tab page RegisterMapEnable Enables register map tab page RegisterMapDisable Disables register map tab page EERASE Erases EEPROM contents Wait 1 minute after issuing Note Most of the programming commands can be converted to request data commands by prefixing with a q For example To set up the X axis PID gain to 15 the programming command is
34. 8 of 78 Input min 0 Note1 On some RC transmitter the input range may be shown as ranging from 100 to 100 Note2 Gains are limited to maximum 35 and minimum 1 inside the BL 3G Gyro Note3 Can check gain actual value by typing qExGainX into tools page write window and pressing TX USB button qQExGainX for pitch qExGainY for roll and qExGainZ for yaw 2 8 2 4 Gyro PID Target This function allows for definite pitch roll and yaw rates to be set up in real time This can be useful if for example a very accurate roll of exactly say 50 degrees per second is required with perhaps a certain amount of positive pitch to keep the nose straight and level Gyro PID target Pich 50 Rol 59 Yaw 5 aMMa Rates are separately programmable for each axis 2 8 2 5 Z axis mix to X and Y gain adjustment This function adds a smooth gain factor of 0 1 to 9 applied as the input goes from minimum to maximum value W ZMIXto Xand Y gain Gain 05 amp E OG Z yaw subtracted from X pitch positive output Output1 Z yaw subtracted from X pitch negative output Output2 Z yaw added to Y roll positive output Output3 Z y added to Y roll negative output Output4 W aW NS NS S This function is used for multi copter applications Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 PET of 78 2 8 2 6 Power in mode The power throttle signal can be input onto a r
35. Advanced Professionall Professional Into Live Data Upgrade About Kanda 38 991 Select Axis ex OY 2 Select Data C Raw E Post n Time Time scale 5 sec a u Down Up db U Down Up fast fast Samples 100 28 991 Standard Deviation io 10 427 Reset Auto scale Scale Coupling Cape o on off u up u Up fast 7 Tick on D Down D Down fast I Continuous Scale X 1 000 o Options are given to view the raw gyro rate data Raw or the post processed i e the data after the filtering blocks Post Raw data is displayed in black colour and post data in blue The data is viewable as though an oscilloscope were connected internally In this way the system parameters such as LPF data averaging and Kalman filtering can be adjusted and the results actually seen A standard deviation function actually square root of the bias corrected variance is also calculated for the particular data set acquired Where x bar is the data set average and N is the number of samples in the data set Internally a 5ms loop is run prior to using the data to generate the outputs Hence with the default 100 samples the time axis Is split into 5ms segments By default 100 data points are acquired 0 5s total time period This can be changed with the time axis up and down buttons and reset back to 100 with the reset button Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1
36. Analogue Typical Airplane Medium gain Gyro settings Default Note Gyro enable disable on input Noted Throttle on input2 out om output C Small Bectric Airplane Low gain Gyro settings Output lock enabled No need to connect ninl md ask GT om pal be Altemative Mix Airplane A S 1 Enable C Small Flying Wing Airplane on input _ V Tail Airplane Low gain Gi on Outputs EE Advanced tabs Elen E DISABLED compatible C V Tail Airplane Medium gal self calibrating C Normal Flaps Configuration please wait on output 2 Aircraft drag b file Mulit copter Aircraft 5 t is back right Multi Copter 4 or 6 rotors font arog i iut amp is right Other Configuration Options Hit Send to send Gyro Function Invert C Pitch Bev Gyro Invert C Roll Ail Gyro Invet C Yaw rudder Gyro Invert configuration to the BL 3G Gyro C Mounting BL 3G face up or Up side down Normal mounting selected The gyro is self calibrating During this time it is important not to move the BL 3G gyro in any way Please follow this rule whenever the BL 3G gyro Is being powered up Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 77 of 78 After a few seconds it will complete You should now be able to see the message at the top saying BL 3G is plugged in via USB Note that on first connection of the BL 3G to the PC via USB you should also see one red
37. At this point the special gains and rate modifications if any are applied Gan 10 Typically this feature allows for straight and smooth take off runs even in high cross wind situations To achieve this at slow speed the yaw gyro gain would typically be Yaw increased doubled in the example shown here while setting all the rate targets to zero After the pre defined Critical time of 4 seconds in our example the take off mode is exited This means the BL 3G will now operate Critical as normal And if a gyro on off mode was programmed seek onto one of the real time inputs this will operate as normal Activated ance only on 30 power Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 42 of 78 2 8 2 Programmable Real Time Inputs Input is a dedicated real time input Also if so enabled on the basic tab page the input signals Input2 Input4 and Input6 can also act as real time inputs The particular function is selected to be active on a particular input by checking the appropriate radio button on the right hand side The various functions available are detailed here 2 8 2 1 Gyro On Off It is possible to switch the gyro on and off in real time If the input signal is below less than the central position the gyro is switched on above it is switched off V Gyro on off Pitch X Roll W Yaw a AE Furthermore it is possible to allow for any combination of the axes pitch
38. LED on the gyro when the USB is connected this is the power LED followed by two seconds when the blue LED will flash then go out When calibration is complete the blue LED will continue to flash The blue LED is indicating that the firmware inside the BL 3G is running normally This then completes the installation procedure and you are ready to go to section 2 1 detailing the PC set up tool be ultra cool be ultra stable With the ICE MAN Gyro Bluelight Technologies accepts no responsibility for any damage to property or injury to any person or persons caused by the use incorrect or otherwise of this product It is the user responsibility to confirm correct connection and operation prior to any use and to act responsibly at all times See http www bluelight tech com BL 3G htm for more information Contact sales bluelight tech com All content copyright 2013 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd Thailand R amp D 199 206 Moo3 Soi Tha It Rattanathibeth Road Bangraknoi Muangnonthaburi Nonthaburi 11000 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 78 of 78
39. N f i Features Small size weight and power USB PC connection for set up and upgrade MEMS rate sensor Ultra stable over temperature and time Operational temperature 30 C to 85 C ARM Cortex processor for control and I O UART connection for system developers Filters o Low pass High pass programmable o Kalman programmable o Rolling average programmable o Automatic Gain Control AGC option on all axes e Control algorithm o PID Proportional Integrative Differential o All gain parameters programmable 3 external pots e Input Tx Rx matching o Match up to any RC transmitter o Allows low cost system with high end features e Curves input stick curves o Many standard and also x4 use programmable o Good for aircraft control at low cost e Aijleron Differential mode for reduced yaw during turns e Mixing functions trim o Flying wing V tail Flaps Flaperon aircraft o Power in and out for curve transformation o Trim and range adjustments for fine tuning e X3 Rx inputs and X 6 outputs for control signals o Pitch range adjust on 2 pitch output o Roll range adjust on 2 roll output o Yaw range adjust on 2 yaw output e X4real time programmable inputs or dual servo pass thru o Gyro PID gain low high set and rate set Gyro PID gain modulation based on input Gyro on off Critical time mode for spin crash recovery Take off mode for perfect cross wind take offs Mixing of Z axis yaw mix gain control P
40. Some Roll signal mixed into the Yaw This allows a small percentage of the input roll signal to be mixed into the Yaw for the rudder Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 28 of 78 of 78 Multi copter mode Yaw Z mixed into Pitch X and Roll Y This option is used for multi copter applications where the yaw control must modify the RPM of each of the central four motors Thrust on two to be increased and thrust on two to be decreased This coupled with the rotational direction of the motors gives the yaw control When enabled it is possible to set the of mixing required V Tail mode Pitch Elevator and Yaw Rudder mix A slide is supplied to adjust exactly how much pitch is used and how much yaw is used to output When enabled one V Tail servo output is given on output and an inverted version on output2 The second V Tail servo is given on output2 with an inverted version on output6 unless output6 has been set to output the throttle signal Note that the Reverse operation box can be ticked if necessary for your particular configuration If this is ticked then the application of the particular mix function is reversed E g if you have the flying wing selected and when you roll the aileron function is the wrong way round you can invert it by ticking this box 2 4 2 Flap Modes Five different flap modes are supported For aircraft with actual flaps the flap input control is selected to be any
41. The temperature is also shown on this page It is updated when the thermometer icon is pressed provided the connection is still established and the real time data acquisition function real time data test is not active The data returned is 32 second averaged data Note that if the temperature data is requested prior to waiting 32 seconds the 0 degrees C will be displayed The ST gyro MEMSs chip has a temperature sensor inside in order to realize the ultra stable performance of the device It is only displayed on this page for interest For best results press the Cal button and enter the current room temperature once at least after purchasing the BL 3G gyro Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 27 of 78 2 4 Tab Mixing Non standard aircraft configurations and flaps This page allows for Flying wing V tail and Multi copter mix functions to be programmed The Default button sets the page to its factory default values Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About Mix Options No mixing Flying Wing Tight Tums Multi copter Yaw Control Pitch mixed into Roll Mises a little Roll onto the Yaw Yaw A mixed into Pitch and Roll 1 Normal Enable 000 3 Enable 9 Enable OO V Tail Pitch levator and Yaw Rudder mix C Enable Function disabled 100 Pitch 0 100 Yaw V Tad control surface on o
42. User Curves By selecting the User option two power curves can be generated and also two PRY curves The following display is seen when the user option is first selected A red dot is simply clicked on once click and release then moved to the desired location vertically A further click click and release away from the dot itself then fixes the dot in the new location In this way a unique user curve can be set up For information the green box with red numbers underneath the graph will show the exact location the dot is being moved to If you wish to re start the construction process for a specific curve then the red reset button can be pressed at any time to recover the linear curve The curves are automatically saved to PC memory as they are constructed However in order to save the curves into the BL 3G gyro the Send button on the basic tab page must be pressed Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 32 of 78 2 5 3 Test Curve This section allows a curve to be tested to make sure it is working correctly The test uses the real RC transmitter input signal and so is the actual curve within the gyro that is being tested For example let s assume that a Flat low curve is required for the pitch curve In order to test this inside the gyro the following procedure is performed o 1 Standard and also Flat low are selected for the Pitch Curve in the Set up the input curves section o 2 Pitchis s
43. ach data point to ensure very accurate zero rate measurement when static This can be set up with reference to the live data display on the live data tab This can be done once and when programmed into the BL 3G will always be used This is recommended since the Gyro is ultra stable in time and temperature Alternatively and by default when the BL 3G is powered up it will take multiple readings over a period of some 7 seconds and calculate its own offset for optimal zero level set up If this option is used it is important that during these first 7 or so seconds no movement of the aircraft is made As soon as the blue LED blinks again it is ok to move the aircraft Note that if any movements rotations above 18 degrees per second are experienced the BL 3G will ignore the auto calibration and revert to previously stored auto calibration results 2 10 6 Gyro Lock The gyro lock has three options each separately programmable for each axis 2 10 6 1 Normal mode In Normal mode the outputs are simply modified with the gyro data l e Output1 has the pitch gyro data subtracted Output2 has the pitch gyro data added and so on No PID gain changes are made The input from the RC receiver is taken to be a rate command In other words a particular position of the RC transmitter lever will send a pulse of a certain width to the RC receiver which the BL 3G gyro will interpret as a request for a specific rate of turn to be applied to the particular aircraft axi
44. asic tab page Ticking the nvert Inputs check boxes will not change the motion of the bars on the Advanced7 tab but will ensure your throttle lock is aS shown in the diagram above In Multi copter mode the rotor outputs will be locked until the Gyro on off switch is switched to the on position In Multi copter mode it is therefore important to make sure the switch is selected to the Gyro off position to start with This can be achieved knowing the RC transmitter operation and checked prior to connecting the BL 3G Gyro to the multi copter The yellow LED light will NOT blink when the Gyro is in the off mode Take care Immediately after performing the unlock procedure since the throttle will be active and follow your RC throttle stick optionally modified by a throttle curve if selected on the curves tab page If the throttle lock feature is not selected the throttle will always be active 2 2 7 Outputs Bias and invert Each output can be programmed to have a positive or negative DC bias added to it Each signal can also be inverted This may be useful since for each axis pitch roll and yaw a positive signal is supplied on the odd Output pins and the inverse on the even Output pins If for example an aircraft with two servos for the ailerons requires that both servos get the same signal then one can be inverted either Output3 or Output4 in this case 2 2 1 Stall softener feature Differential Ailerons lf you have separate s
45. atus Developer demo Developer full o Acquire the appropriate license from Bluelight technologies Either send an e mail to sales bluelight tech com or see our website for more details www bluelight tech com Buying htm o Simply copy and paste or type in the license number into the box on the left hand side o Amessage will pop up inside the box to indicate the type of license and if valid If valid and a USB connection to the BL 3G exists not UART only connection then the license will be programmed into the BL 3G o Press the Update button to the right to ensure the correct license is indeed inside the BL 3G gyro o For the features to take effect inside the BL 3G a power cycle of the gyro will be necessary The additional features available are detailed in section 4 0 of this document Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 59 of 78 of 78 2 13 Tab About Bluelight Technologies The last tab simply gives contact information about Bluelight Technologies the designers of the BL 3G gyro and where to find more information and software updates downloads Quick Stat Basic Tools Ming Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About BL 3G PG software version 3 00 Supplier Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd Contact sales bluelighttech com S w updates available at Please do let us know if you have any special requirements you would like
46. aw 0 010 3 It is advisable to leave the gain on the Professional 1 tab page set to zero When enabled by a real time signal larger than the mid level the PID integrative gain is set up as an absolute number i e not a multiplication gain factor A typical value of 0 01 can be used for reasonable performance Note that over time the gyro will lose the lock direction and so some drift will occur This will be more pronounced if the input trim is not set up correctly This function is automatically exited when the RC Tx control stick of a particular axis is moved away from the central position This function is then enabled when the input is above the midpoint and disabled when it is below Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 45 of 78 of 78 2 8 2 9 Input power and pitch curves It is sometimes useful to be able to switch between one input curve and another V Input pitch curve select Tan v This is possible by setting up the input power curve select or input pitch curve select options If as shown above the HeliV med curve is selected when Input2 input is activated in the example above as the power curve option this curve will be switched to when the input on the select input goes above the 50 position If the programmable input is less than the 50 level then the normal curve as selected from the Curves page tab is used if above the input curve will immediately be s
47. ax ranges ie offset min max 2 actual center This value is used internally by the gyro to set the central point for its outputs The values will be temporarily sent to the BL 3G gyro on completion of this procedure but will be programmed into it only when the send button on the basic page tab is pressed Note that the blue Acquire button can be pressed at any time to acquire the existing Min Max and Offset values from the BL 3G gyro if required Note also that the data within these boxes can also be modified manually if required This procedure means that any RC transmitter can be used with the gyro ie the standard 1520us 960us and 760us pulses but any other also The values can also be entered into the boxes by hand More information is available by pressing the green information button info 2 7 2 Control Surface Trim It is advisable for the aircraft and also the gyro outputs to be matched up and in perfect trim This section will detail how this is to be achieved Normally the aircraft is trimmed with the RC transmitter during flight When a gyro is used this is also normally the way to do it however it is not necessarily the best way A signal input from the RC transmitter normally is a request signal requesting for a particular angular rotation rate Unless a gyro operates in an un commanded mode as detailed in section 2 10 6 2 However it is not such a good idea to have a rate request constantly in place as a tri
48. bled No need to connect Notet Signals Futaba 1520 compatible Alttemative Mix Airplane Fed ran Enable Small Flying Wing Airplane Low gain Gyro settings ES AS hhote Gyro enable disable on input Pere y Noted Throttle on input out on catpute C V Tail Airplane Low gain Gyro settings j Advanced tabs sre Motet Signals Futaba 1530 compatible DISABLED C V Tail Airplane Medium gain Gyro settings eae j C Normal Flaps Configuration Airplane Medium gain Gyros Flap input control on input 4 output on output 2 Aircraft Drag n Crop drag b file Mulit copter Aircraft here Hotel Output is front left output is back right EF Multi Copter 4 or 6 rotors 25cm arms output2 is beck left catputd is front right For hex copter output 5 i left output amp is night Other Configuration Options Hit Send to send Gyro Function Invert Pitch Elev Gyro Invert C Roll Ail Gyro Invert C Yaw rudder Gyro Invert configuration to the BL 3G Gyro Output lock enabled Mo need to connect Mounting BL 3G face up or Up side down Normal mounting selected Verify that you see the above with the message BL 3G NOT plugged in via USB at the top Step 5 Now plug the supplied USB cable into the BL 3G and also into your PG No other connections at this time You will now see the following d BL 3G Setup Quick Start Page BL 3G is plugged in via USB Normal Simple Airplane Notei Servos
49. current servos gt 2 5A total RC receiver Yaw control Input 5 Gyro on off en Output 5 Rudder Yaw High power _ Gnd a The second battery Battery 2 is now connected to the high power servo Note that the ground wire to the servo must also be connected either to the ground of Battery 1 as shown above or to one of the gyro ground pins as shown below or to both RC receiver Yaw control Gyro on off Sites Rudder Yaw Input x Gnd High power B servo Gnd Note1 If total servo s current is 2 5A or more the servo s power MUST be isolated from the BL 3G gyro The above set ups use the BL 3G default settings Note2 It is the model flyer s responsibility to ensure the servos get their required power and voltage and to ensure the wires are thick enough to ensure this see also below Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 9 of 78 If Battery 1 has enough power then it is also acceptable to connect as shown here RC receiver Yaw control Input 5 ff Sumas Rudder Yaw gt Input x High power B 5v servo ET Although good to save the weight and cost of a second battery the single battery must be of good specification to avoid unwanted noise generation during servo operation Of course any number of servos can be connected with the methodology of the diagrams above 1 3 3 Typical Multi copter system connection ESCs and Electric
50. d with the aircraft and its motion rotation about each axis caused by the control surfaces This is Known as the state model The state model then aids the filter in accurately being able to find the most accurate value for the actual rotational rate of each axis 2 10 1 1 IM Inertial Mass It is unreasonable to expect any commercially available RC gyro to excel for every aircraft type size and user requirements Hence an M Inertial Mass input is given here to get some estimation of the size of the aircraft This number should be set to the aircraft weight for normal flying This number can be set higher if the aircraft is generally flying slowly or lower if it is intended to fly at high speeds 2 10 1 2 MN Measurement Noise Different aircraft will also have different vibration or noise characteristics This is another input to the Kalman filter The actual live gyro data can be seen from the live data tab page and so the setting here can be considered to be x10 the typical noise Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 49 of 78 of 78 variation seen A typical value for electric flyers is around 12 dps Generally the value used will be increased for example for noisy petrol engine aircraft or reduced for gliders or electric flyers 2 10 1 3 AN Acceleration Noise The acceleration noise is the vibration of the aircraft for all sorts of external factors such as aerodynamic design control surfac
51. drive servos and ESC type units have a maximum high output of 3 3v The power output to the servos ESC units is directly fed through from whatever battery normally designated B is connected to the gyro To either its input pins or its output pins As shown below if higher current servos are used then separate gyro servo power supplies batteries must be used The maximum voltage the gyro can accept for B input is 20v and the absolute maximum current it can pass to its outputs is 3 0 A Note that if there is a power interruption Power outage or voltage drop below 3 3v to the BL 3G supply then the BL 3G will operate normally for around 1 second before shutting down or resetting If the power is re instated before this time then it will continue to operate normally 1 3 1 Typical low power system connection shown below is a typical system connection BL 3G Servos Pitch control Elevator pitch Input 1 Output 1 Roll control Input 3 Aileron Roll _ Output 3 ae Rudder Yaw Gyro on off Output 5 Input 7 RC receiver Throttle Input 2 Electric motor ESC power output Elec Speed Controller and throttle input ESC This set up uses the BL 3G default settings The ESC provides power to the RC receiver which then provides power to the BL 3G Gyro through its signal wires Note The above can be used only if total servo s current is less than 2 5A Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axi
52. e flutter loose hinges on control surfaces bad weather etc Acceleration noise is the actual accelerations experienced by the aircraft rather than the noise in the inaccurate measurement of these accelerations by the gyro which is the measurement noise mentioned above Typically this can be set to a reasonably low level of 4 dps but can also be increased for poorly designed aircraft Note that the Kalman filter can be switched off for each axis and only data averaging can be used instead if required 2 10 2 Predictive mode The Kalman filter contains a physical model of the aircraft and its motion the state model This model is a generic model since clearly not all parameters of an individual aircraft are available to it This physical model to some extent models the aircraft dynamics Hence one aspect of the Kalman filter is that for applications where large dynamic changes are occurring such as for aircraft performing aerobatics or any large control surface movements the predictive mode will help the Kalman filter to calculate more accurate actual gyro rates from the raw sensor inputs For aircraft such as hovering multi copters it is better to disable this feature This feature should also be disabled if an offset is used Such as an input PRY curve where the central stick position gives a non zero output Note that even if enabled the feature will automatically be disabled inside the gyro during heading lock mode See advanced 2 tab
53. e info Enter Curent license status 9 Standard user Update if connected to BL 3G Connect to the BL 3G gyro to get license status Developer demo royce the E Developer ful f you are a systems developer and wish to enable the UART and special functions please check here Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 57 of 78 2 13 1 BL 3G firmware upgrade The following procedure can then be used to upgrade the gyro unit o Connect the gyro to the PC via the mini USB connector o Hit the Launch upgrade button A new window will pop up as shown here Bluelight tech software upgrade tool v1 0 Connection status Gyro Connected 1 Select the file 2 Enter Kep word Check 3 Upgrade Upgrade Transferred data size Operation duration O KB O Bytes of 0 EB O Bytes 00 00 00 Abon o Making sure the Gyro connected indication is visible in the first little box three easy steps follow o Step 1 Choose the file efu to download which should have been saved to your PC hard drive or connected memory device o Step 2 Enter the 40 digit key word given to you by Bluelight Technologies If you don t have this simply send a mail to sales bluelight tech com requesting one Press the Check button when done o Step 3 Press the Upgrade button Progress will be displayed in the windows below The upgrade will progress in two phases Phase one is the erasing of the previous firmware and phase two
54. eal time input and mixed into all the outputs with a programmable mix factor 0 to 100 in multi copter mode This function Is not available if the PID controllers are switched off 7 Power in mode Pich i909 P ig Yaw vw O This function is used for multi copter applications Also for the airplane Take off mode as detailed in section 2 7 1 2 2 8 2 Emergency cut off All output signals will be set to their minimum values when the input is not within the top 75 of its range T moraa klima 0800 This then acts as a safety switch should the controlling micro crash for any reason or stop to output a signal then all BL 3G gyro outputs will go to their default safe values The safe value will be as set up under the Basic tab page in the Aircraft type section For applications where the gyro is driving motors this needs to be set to minimum value So that power is switched off In aircraft applications this needs to be set to mid value such that all control surfaces are set to their mid positions 2 8 2 8 adjust or Heading Lock Also known as AVCS mode The I referred to here is the Integrative part of the PID controller This is the part that adds up all the error terms i e all the accelerations measured by the gyro related to a particular axis that are not corrected for by aircraft movements Hence the gain of this is used for the Heading Lock feature 7 ladust headinglock Pitch 0 000 Roll 0000 Y
55. elected as the axis of interest in the Test Curve section o 3 Pitch Roll Yaw is selected with the lever switch in the Curve display Options section o 4 Flatis selected in the Curve display options section as well as Low from the pull down menu o 5 The Start button is now pressed inside the Test Curve section Note that this action actually temporarily programs the gyro with the new curve o 6 The RC Transmitter is switched on and the pitch lever activated R 4 ov 4 A yellow dot will appear with blue horizontal and vertical lines extending from it These will move as the pitch lever is activated The new output horizontal line will now be used by the gyro instead of the normal input vertical line For interest numerical values of input and output are also shown in the green boxes to the left of the graph Note that all the standard curves are mathematically calculated and so the conversion from the stick position to the actual output used are 100 smooth For the user generated curves linear interpolation is performed from the 11user input points The user curves can also be tested with the Test Curve tool Note that if the motion of the yellow dot doesn t extend through the complete range 100 to 100 then the procedures of section 2 6 1 will need to be performed Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 33 of 78 Once the curves have been selec
56. ervos for the wings it s possible to add some bias to both servos to allow them both to deflect up more than down This helps to reduce the likelihood of a wing tip stall when aileron deflections are made at high angles of attack 2 2 8 Outputs Aircraft Type If no inputs are supplied the BL 3G will generate its own carrier signal pulses to use as inputs The pulse width is thus specified here For airplane applications this must be set to the mid range For multi copter applications this must be set to minimum since no inputs generally means no power should be applied to the rotors The selection also ensures up to six motors are supported for multi copters and normal control surfaces for airplanes Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 24 of 78 of 78 2 2 9 Outputs Output connection The outputs can be set up to drive either standard type digital or analogue servos or motor controllers or non standard so called narrow pulse servos See section 5 0 for more information Note that these settings will be inaccessible if the outputs are modified on the advanced tab page Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 25 of 78 2 3 Tab Tools Programming and testing The tools page has various tools available to both program and test the BL 3G gyro Quick Start Basic Tools Midng Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Li
57. ess the Start button within the RC Tx input matching section Note the RC transmitter MUST first be switched on o 3 Slowly move the control sticks to their minimum and maximum positions The bars on the page will show the motion You will also see center point pulse width numbers change Note that if power is not selected under the Advanced 2 tab page as an input then this will not be displayed Rall Min Max Center points ps 1000 ee Pitch 1103 z E owly move l HOD p p controls to min Roll 1343 1000 DEE and max positions ETT Power 1929 0000 Yaw 1000 Yaw LLL Power Acquire W 1000 o 4 Leave the control sticks at their central positions if power is also used then this should be left to its minimum position The PWM values of these central positions can be seen as the center point values o 5 Press the Match button You will notice that the minimum and maximum positions PWM pulse widths will then be recorded in the Min Max boxes to the right hand side of the stick motion bars As will the numbers inside the Offset boxes Roll Min Max ae Onset 1925 0012 Pitch Center points ps 1103 Pitch 1526 1944 1522 0 ee Power Yaw 1521 Pitch i 1927 Power 1108 0016 Yaw Yaw C 1923 a 0000 Power Acquire W 1108 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 36 of 78 of 78 The offset simply measures how far off centre the central pulse widths are from the middle of the min and m
58. g differences A toggle switch up then down when the flaps are at their Stage 2 deployment position will result in the Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 29 of 78 of 78 flaps staying there and instead both ailerons will move to a certain up orientation This to act as an airbrake While the ailerons move up they will still act as ailerons How far extended they become is set up in the Amount of up mix to ailerons box The speed at which these actions happen is the same as for the normal flaps mode however a tick box is provided to have the ailerons deployed activated and also retracted much more quickly This box performs 100 deployment is 2 seconds Mode 3 Flaperons For aircraft with no actual flaps the flap function is added to the ailerons in this mode The operation is similar to normal flaps mode but this time the signal is added to the ailerons An Amount of down mix to ailerons box is provided to further modulate the amount of down mix added This percentage acts on top of the Set flaps Stage 1 position and Set flaps Stage 2 position boxes Mode 4 Ailerons up fast Crow function For aircraft with actual flaps which are controlled directly from the RC Tx Rx a crow function can be implemented by allowing an RC Tx Rx control signal programmed in via the Advanced 2 Tab page to activate the ailerons to both move up If the input signal is larger than the midpoint i e typically lar
59. ger than 1500 us a proportionate signal is used to cause the ailerons to deflect up Note that if a signal less than the midpoint is input the ailerons will both move down a proportionate amount This then allows the input to also be used as a trim Deployment Speed zero set In modes 1 and 2 it is possible to set a zero value into the Deployment Speed box In this mode the flaps input signal coming in on one of the pre programmed BL 3G inputs will be passed through directly to the flaps output output2 This then allows an exact flap control based on an RC Transmitter setting Note that the Reverse operation box can be ticked if necessary for your particular configuration If this is ticked then the application of the particular flap function is reversed E g if you have mode 1 flaps selected and when you toggle the flaps switch your flaps go up instead of down then you can correct it by ticking this box Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 30 of 78 2 5 Tab Curves Input curve set up This page sets up the input control curves The Set up input curves section on the left details what is to be programmed into the BL 3G gyro The other sections of this page are tools to either generate user curves or to aid in selecting the correct curves to use The Default button sets the page to its factory default values Curves Range Advanced1 Advanced2 Professional Professional2 Info Live Data
60. ill be ignored by the BL 3G All programming cena i e non read only commands can be turned into read commands by prefixing the command with a q Returned data is in the form of a string containing floating point data to 4 decimal places Command ___ Meaning Send Value Return Value __ Data request read only Test Communications test Sting Test XInRaw Pitch in Inout PWM width String data to 4dpl YInRaw Roll in Input3 PWM width Z String data to 4dpl ZInRaw Yaw in Input5 PWM width Z String data to 4dpl P7lnRaw Input7 PWM pulse width String data to 4dp P6lnRaw Input6 PWM pulsewidth String data to 4dpl _ P4lnRaw Input4 PWM pulse width String data to 4dpl P2lnRaw Input2 PWM pulse width String data to 4dpl _ GQXRAW sf Raw gyro X axis data String data to 4dp gYRAW l RawgyroYaxisdata String data to 4dpl _ GZRAW sf Raw gyro Z axis data 1 String data to 4dp GXPST X axis post processed data String data to 4dpl GYPST 1 Yaxispostprocesseddata String data to 4dpl _ GZPST Z axis post processed data String data to 4dpl qPotX X axis potentiometer gain String ee to 4dpl 0 to 4095 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 PET of 78 0 to 4095 0 to 4095 gExGainX Realtime exact gain pitch String gain value gExGainY Realtime exactgainroll String gain va
61. ion Normally 1 52ms However these can vary and for not so good quality systems there will also be variances between different axes pitch roll yaw and power Hence it is wise to match up the RC transmitter with the gyro It is also then possible to use a low cost transmitter system with the BL 3G gyro and still benefit from the full motion of the control sticks The Default button sets the page to its factory default values Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professional Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About iL x INDOLE Mmarcnine Start Match Cancel ere ha nm uer GT SS nm TE Saint ins am SENT PE GOE SLR A BRT I SLT fr IE mie ower Pitch bars minimun Jk 1 1 Eval Lee ril Te Se yll bar full right Yaw bar full left tv Fite Mount face up Reset this page to Li r nilock throttle when Pi i Fi The procedure is to first match up the full range of the control sticks RC Tx input matching then to match up the central stick positions RC Tx fine trim centre points These procedures will be described below Note that the other control inputs not matched are matched to the Power Throttle input Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 35 of 78 2 7 1 RC Tx input matching The matching procedure is detailed here o 1 Ensure the RC transmitter has its trim buttons centralized then switch it on o 2 Pr
62. isplayed at the bottom left automatically after successful communications has been set up see next section The purpose of this page is simply to make sure the gyro has been set up as required Note that X is pitch Y is roll and Z is yaw The page as shown above is informing the connection to the aircraft is as follows o The USB is connected The UART port is also available but not connected o Outputi Connect to the pitch servo of the aircraft If your servo is in another orientation then the inverse signal is available on Output2 o QOutput3 Connect to the roll servo of the aircraft If your servo is in another orientation then the inverse signal is available on Outputs If two servos are used then Output3 and Output4 can both be used If it is required that they both have the same signal then Output4 can be inverted from the Basic tab page Input2 is set up as a real time input with the throttle in function mapped to it The throttle output has been mapped to Output6 Input7 is set up as a real time input with the Gyro on off function mapped to it The gyro is ON and has Kalman and high pass filtering enabled but data averaging disabled The input curves are all set to linear The gyro lock is set to normal mode Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 53 of 78 O 00060 O O o Rate targets are all set to 0 meaning the critical time mode is disabled NZ will appear meaning Non
63. ition frequency however the central pulse high period is still typically centred on 1 52ms with 0 5ms either side Non standard may also use a narrow pulse of 760 us instead of 1 52ms Low Pass Filter Allows only low frequency signals to pass thus reducing the effect of unwanted noise in the signals Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 72 of 78 6 0 PC Set up tool installation Step 1 Do not plug your BL 3G gyro into your PC yet Insert the supplied CD into your PC drive and find the two files as shown here T9 setup exe Note that most updated files are available at our website at http www bluelight tech com Downloads htm Please make sure to always check here for updated PC tool software and also for BL 3G firmware Step 2 Double click on the setup exe file If you don t have the NET pronounced dot net framework installed on your PC you will be prompted to install this first Follow Microsoft instructions to do this NET is a framework that allows executable files to run within a Windows protected environment Most modern PCs have this software pre installed but not all Then repeat this step again You will see the following screen pop up SVIE Thank you for purchasing the t CGAI BL 3G gyro A wizard will come up next to guide you through the software installation process Ve would like to take this opportunity to let you know that updates to this BL 3G set
64. ition is at the full left rudder position and PWM max is at the full right rudder position If the Invert box is checked then the gain factor applied is as shown here Gain factor GCen GMax PWM width PWM PWM PWM min Centre max Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 52 of 78 2 11 Tab Info Set up information display This page shows the set up parameters in a graphical format and is updated in real time as set up changes are made Quick Start Basic Tools Ming Curves Range Advanced1 Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About USB pie ng Gyro ON B L 3 G q st loaded file None generated Mid range Pitch an gt rn 1 Functi Output gt Input1 AX Pitch Input AX Power in de 2 Output 2 p ii Roll bp lg 3 Output3 gt Input3 AY Roll near n Roll Z gt IPU Output4 gt Inputd AY Yaw Input 5 Output5 gt Inputb AZ Yaw Linear Input 6 Fox Output gt Power Throttle argets Input 7 Critical time mode None Com Port 7 gt Baud rate 19200 b 5 BL 3G f w version Click when connected Output PWM specification TI FI Min 1 1 Max 1 54 The functions and how they are enabled is shown in the centre with the inputs to the left and the outputs to the right The PWM pulse train is also shown as set up The above is the default view The software version inside the BL 3G is d
65. l be lost when it is powered off Quick Stat Basic Tools Maing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About Realtime fns or Pass Through Invert In Gyro Outputs Realtime fn Pass thru Invert Throttle out onto Check to output throttle onto output 6 ae Output Input2 L Input Throttle out safety lock enable Input4 Input3 Input L Inputs Subtrim and Output Invert Aircraft Type Inputs 1 3 5 always passed thru Bias us Invert 8 Aplane ry Ti comer Output 1 000 z Gain adjustments _ Multi copter _ Bi copter X pitch ais gyro Medium n Output 2 000 L Output connection Y foll ads gyro Medium W Output3 000 Digital servo yaw ads gyro Medium w Output4 000 Analogue servo Output5 000 Controller Activity LED Narow pulse Dutput6 000 Enable disable a BL 3G is plugged in via USB Gyro On C Mount Gyro Up Side Down Click to toggle Reset this page to defaults gt Defaults Send data to BL 3G gyro gt Send 2 2 1 Real time functions or Pass Through mode Generally Input1 Input3 and Input5 will be used for Pitch Roll and Yaw inputs respectively as shown on the block diagram of the introduction This leaves Input2 Input4 Input6 and Input7 for either real time inputs i e special functions that can be activated with spare channels on an RC transmitter or as secondary pitch roll and yaw inputs for dual aileron ai
66. lable Developer upgrade To allow for the PCB module to be installed into a developers own system a UART connection might be useful for programming and operation of the final system Also many new commands are made available To enable these features it is necessary to purchase an upgrade license A free demo license is also available Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 62 of 78 3 2 Hardware specification Parameter Testcondition Min __ Typical Max Units gt Full scale FS rate User 425011 dps degrees ee ee 1 2000 Sensitivity FS 250dps 8 75 m ps digit FS 250dps 1 17 50 FS 250dps 1 70 coe ee A P temperature Rate noise density At50 Hz BW 003 dps sgri Hz Digital zero rate level FS 250dps 10 dps FS 250dps 5 FS 250dps 1 7355 Zero rate level change FS 250dps 0 03 dps C vs temperature FS 2000dps 0 04 acceleration PWM O Inputchannels px pp Output channels 1 x6 JP PWM accuracy All outputs 1 gt 1 lus gt PWM input pulse high 2 1520 20 000 us PWM input period 1000 10 000 20 001 us PWM output pulse high 100 1 500 65 000 us PWM output period 1 101 10 000 65 001 us Communications pp pp USB mini interface Fullspeed 1 64 Bytes ms USB power sourcing 1 1 1 100 mA UART channels PP xp UART speed 119200 1192
67. le Fu p an Input 5 Output 4 Yaw Programmable Input7 Gaute Negative Yaw p USB ICE MAN Gyro XN 1 Pitchin pwrs Pitch out 1 2 Y ana 3 Roll in Roll out 3 4 8 5 Yawin Yaw out 5 6 Inout gt gt UART connection Ground 1 gt Outputi black 2 Ground wires to 3 black OUTSIDE wires to of PCB 4 OUTSIDE 5 of PCB Input gt 6 gt Output6 Input eee Output Gnd 5v Sig bluelight tech com Sig 5v Gnd o o o A o o o Potentiometers pitch roll yaw gain adjust Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 4 of 78 With the LEDs indicating the following Red Power on blue Software working red PC update Up side down mounting green Gyro on or angular rate gt 10 deg sec when gyro off 1 1 Gyro connection to PC One PC USB A male to mini USB B male cable is supplied This allows high speed communications between the PC and the BL 3G gyro It also provides power to the gyro Note that the USB is limited to drawing 100 mA current from the PC This is enough to drive the BL 3G gyro and normally also the connected RC receiver However an external 5V DC power supply battery or ESC output MUST be connected to the unit if servos are also connected at the same time The power can be connected to any input or output but not the UART pins Note that during normal flight the gyro will take power from either a separate battery for pe
68. lue gExGainz Real time exact gain yaw String gain value gAvTemperature 32 second averaged temp String data to 4dpl _ Status Status information String error code Version Software version number String version ID ProdiD HardwareproductID String Prod code _ Error 0 or all ok 1 message string XAxisGain X axis gyro PID gain 0 to 99 999 YAxisGain Y axis gyro PID gain 0 to 99 999 ZAxisGain Z axis gyro PID gain 0 to 99 999 String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String String ActivityLED 0 off 1 on ExtYawMix 0 to 100 GyroYawMix O to 100 PWM out1Bias 999 PWM out2Bias 999 PWM out3Bias 999 PWM out4Bias 999 PWM out5Bias 999 PWM out6Bias 999 PWM out1 Inv 0 not 1 inv PWM_out2Inv 0 not 1 inv PWM_out3Inv Invert output 0 not 1 inv PWM out4Inv Invert output 0 not 1 inv PWM out5Inv 0 not 1 inv PWM_out6Inv O not 1 inv PWM_inDefault 0 1 to 99 XPPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 XIPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 XDPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 XPIDwindup 0 to 99000 XPIDMIX 0 to 1 0 YPPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 YIPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 YDPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 YPIDwindup 0 to 99000 YPIDMIX O to 1 0 ZPPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 ZIPIDgain 0 1 to 9 9999 ZDPIDgain 0
69. m The reason is that such a request will be interpreted by the gyro controller as an error to be corrected and as such will impact the heading lock feature causing high drift It is also desirable to have no movement in the control surfaces when switching the gyro on and off in flight The philosophy of the BL 3G gyro is to move the trim settings so as to be as close to the aircraft as possible hence to move them to the gyro output ee 8 Tim Range Red buttons are provided to decrease trim or range and Pitch m m oO 100 green buttons to increase them The radio button allows Roll m m 0 100 either the trim to be selected or the range The range allows 3 the end points to be set Also available is a blue button to Yaw m m t 100 acquire the trim and range that may have been previously Acquire m Am B ze ME set into the BL 3G for a particular aircraft The orange button is an auto trim feature for moving the trim from the RC transmitter to the gyro output A grey zero button is also supplied to quickly set either trim or Range values to zero Note that individual values can be set to zero by simply double clicking them Trim Adjust Procedure o 1 With the aircraft on the ground and connected up to the PC software the trim can be adjusted visually This can be done either with the RC transmitter Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 37 of 78 or by adjusting the pitch roll a
70. mitted per second in a Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 communications system Not to be confused with the data rate A distinction is made since for example for a UART there may be one stop bit used for every 8 bits of data used as part of the low level protocol and so the useful data rate is reduced Modified by a factor of 8 9 Quad Rotor An aircraft with four rotors all pointing in the same upwards direction The control surface part of an aircraft wing used to move the aircraft in roll i RPM is revolutions per minute a standard way to measure propeller and motor speed RC Radio controlled Gain The amplification of an electronic system or software algorithm Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Now incorporated onto the silicon wafer of an IC integrated circuit Servo A servo is a mechanical system whereby an input PWM signal is converted to a physical movement of a mechanical arm Typically referred to as either standard or digital A standard sometimes called analogue servo has custom logic while a digital one typically has a microprocessor a power switch and amplifier A digital servo will have faster response constant torque and smoother overall acceleration deceleration better resolution and also holding power A disadvantage is a slight increase in power consumption Standard servos operate at typically 50Hz with digital ones going as fast as 333 Hz 8ms repet
71. n the gyro is switched on An input is then set up to allow the gyro to be switched on and off By default this is Input7 but can be set to any of Roll the four input options See below Note that a zero time selection in the Critical time box Sas disables this function Yaw Note also that if a spin is entered into on purpose then it Gain 10 can be decided beforehand which direction the spin will take clockwise or anti clockwise in which case a spin opposite rudder rate can also be applied by entering a value in the Yaw box This will then be active at the same time as the positive pitch To enhance the recovery since Active each time gyro the spin will normally be entered into at slow speed an ig increased gain can also be applied with the Gain selection box 2 8 1 2 Take off rate and target changes Temp rate targets This mode allows special rates and gains to be set during Pt the take off run It is entered into only when 30 of full FE power is applied Hence the power input needs to be input Take off mode to the BL 3G gyro or alternatively any spare RC Transmitter channel suitably set up In this mode the gyro Pitch 0000 dps is automatically switched on at the start with the normal pre programmed settings The pre programmed gyro Gan 10 on off switch will not operate prior to entering into this mode Once 30 of full power is applied it is assumed the aircraft is commencing its take off run
72. nal rate with optional pitch rate set to zero to give nice clean and regular aircraft barrel roll performance Set Gyro PID target to desired pitch rotational rate with optional roll rate set to zero to give nice clean and regular aircraft loop performance Power in mode Allows the power signal to be mixed into all output signals Used for QR since outputs are all connected to motor controllers Emergency cut off All control surfaces go to their safe positions if a programmable input signal stops transmitting Safe is central positions for airplane applications or minimum positions for Multi rotor applications Rotational lock Heading lock roll lock or pitch lock activated with programmable gains when Pitch roll yaw an RC Tx switch is toggled Curve selects An RC Tx switch can be programmed to switch between curves for either power or pitch axes Flap selection Flap input channel selection Professional 1 Internal gyro set Detailed set up of the PID controllers for the pitch roll and yaw gyro functions up Strong wind mode Allows modifications of how the gyro measures the aircraft rotations about pitch roll and yaw axes ie its sensitivity Can set to 2000 deg sec range in case of very turbulent and bad weather flying Mix function onl Disable the gyro functions for gyro to act as mixer curve unit only AGC Automatic Gain Control to limit flutter type oscillations Professional 2 Aircraft type and Can adjust
73. nd yaw settings on the Advanced 1 tab page with the little square buttons provided Note that although the trim will work in real time the data will not be saved to the BL 3G gyro until the Send button on the basic tab page is activated in the normal way o 2 The aircraft should then be flown in the normal way with the gyro switched off This can be achieved by assigning a real time input to the gyro on off function or by setting the gyro to off on the Basic tab page The aircraft can then be trimmed in the normal way from the RC transmitter o 3 Back on the ground the aircraft is connected up to the BL 3G PC tool again On the advanced 1 tab page press the orange Auto button This will automatically get the RC transmitter trim settings and display them in the Trim section o 4 If all other aspects of the BL 3G set up tool are as required go to the Basic tab page and press the send button Note that the aircraft trim will not be correct at this stage o 5 Go to the Tools tab page and press the Test button You will see output data displayed graphically in green colour Adjust your RC transmitter trim controls to remove the green indications You will also notice the aircraft control surfaces coming back into good trim The inputs to the BL 3G gyro are now set up to be exactly at their central positions and the trim settings have been successfully transferred to the BL 3G gyro outputs Leaving the controls of your RC transmitter at
74. ndle pitch and roll On the BL 3GRC this is set as default to 70 on the Mix tab page This can be changed to accommodate different design aircraft Furthermore the amount of throttle used to mix into the output signals normally used to control the attitude of the multi copter can also be modified by changing the of mixing in the power in mode on the Advanced 2 tab page By Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 11 of 78 default this should be set to 100 Pitch 100 roll and 0 Yaw Again this option to change this is given for people designing their own special aircraft Tri copter mode Select Tri copter mode from Basic tab page A Da Clockwise S Output 1 ro t 29gvedarae mron e B do 333 a g MR Output 6 F ar Pars She lt M Etg da Ses wou sre Re ra is Tga kr S88 3 aes H kN Ea Anti clockwise N Yaw servo D Tri copter motor propeller and servo installation Note1 Output 5 will operate the servo changing the orientation of rotor F above This for the yaw control Hence the motor rotational directions shown above are not critical Ensure this yaw servo is correctly specified If operating a small tri copter then a relatively fast motor update signal is necessary 400Hz or more Since every output PWM frequency will be the same the servo will need to be a fast digital one Note2 Real time switch input for gyro on off acts as a throttle safety lock
75. nn 5 1 3 Gyro electrical installation rrarrrrrnnnrorrnnnrvrnnrrrrrnnnrenrnnnrennnnnrnnnnnnnenn 7 bod Typical systemi connecties nena ENEE 7 1 3 2 High current system connection rrarrrerrnnrrerrnvrverrnnrrerrnereen 9 1 3 3 Typical Multi copter system CONNECTION rrrarrnnnnnrannnnnrnnnn 10 1 3 4 Cables and POWE rrrnnnnrnnannennnnrnnnnnrnvnnnnnnnnnenvansrnnnnnnnnnnennnen 16 1 3 5 Gyro function Invert with POTS mode ccceee eee e es 16 2 0 PC tool and Programmable features snrnnrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnevnnnnnrr 17 2 1 Tab Quick Start Standard aircraft types ccccccecssseeeeeeeeesaeeeeeeeees 17 2 1 1 Quick Out of the box installation Fixed wing c00 18 2 2 Tab Basic Basic operational modifications rarrrrnnnrrrnnrrrnnrrennnnrrnnnn 20 2 2 1 Real time functions or Pass Through mode ccceseeeeee 20 22 22 22 NENNS R ania n E R 22 2 PLAN LED oore ccteeneesaneecaseoeenccelentecte deer osessseaieteense 23 225 610 OMON S NN sjanse ror nsa nni SS NNE ERER E ES 23 226 JUNIUS ere eE E E E T 23 2 2 6 1 Throttle Safety LOCK arnnnannnnnnnaannnvarnnnnvnnnnnnr 23 2 2 Outputs Bias and invert cece cece cece cece e eee ease eeeenees 24 2 2 7 1 Stall softener feature rrrnnrrnrnnnrvrrnnrvvnnnrvvnnnnvannnnnnn 24 2 2 8 Outputs Aircraft Type cece cece ccc e eee eeeeeeeeeaeeeeaeeaes 24 2 2 9 Outputs Output connection
76. nt is the direct deviation or distance the state is away from where it should be The Integrative measurement is the addition over time of all the proportional measurements and gives the controller greater impulse to move the system to its required state if the deviation is prolonged The Differential measurement measures the change of the deviation from one time period to another In other words if there is little improvement over time to make the system move to the desired state this measurement will give the controller further impulse to move the system in the direction required Pitch is the movement of an aircraft in the nose up attitude l e positive pitch is nose up and negative pitch is nose down Roll Roll is the downward movement of an aircraft starboard side wing l e positive roll is a movement of the starboard wing down in order to turn the aircraft to the right Negative roll is a movement of the portside wing down in order to turn the aircraft to the left Yaw is the motion of an aircraft within the plane of its wings in a clockwise rotation l e positive yaw is a clockwise motion and negative yaw is an anti clockwise or counter clockwise motion UART The Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter is a simple two or sometimes four wire two way communications system with no common clock Each side of the communication must generate its own clock for data recovery The baud rate is the number of symbols trans
77. ny inputs stick movement is detected outside of the central position the gyro gain will be drastically reduced Gyro stability will then be applied again as the sticks move to more central positions The gain function looks as shown here 1 20 O Pass through gyro gain factor JOY 7 a ae i JERN 0 00 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Pass through gain vs stick position min max taken from Adv1 page input values The PWM output frequency will still be defined by what is set up in the Advanced 1 tab page however pulse widths will not be re scaled to those shown in the Signal outputs section It is also advisable to perform the RC Tx inputs signal matching since these values will be used to calculate the gain factor as shown in the diagram above Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 21 of 78 2 2 2 Input Invert These check boxes allow the input signals for the Pitch Roll and Yaw to be inverted Note that the bars on the Advanced 7 tab page will not change direction since they represent the actual input from the RC transmitter As detailed above when pass through mode is selected in the inversion is instead applied to the gyro action for the selected output 2 2 3 Gain adjustments These adjustments basically define how much of an effect the gyro function has Gain adjustments for the pitch X roll Y and yaw Z axes PID controllers are set here to be either low medium or high
78. o Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 15 of 78 1 3 4 Cables and Power It is Important to have sufficiently thick wire for both ground and power in order to carry the current required by the servo s For information the following table shows the maximum safe current carrying capability for a given wire thickness It is also important to meet the servo voltage requirements The voltage drop at the servo is related to the wire length from the battery to the servo Some examples Distance battery Distance battery Voltage drop mV Voltage drop as of to servo inch to servo cm input voltage Sv 60 1588 1 190 37 gt Figures are for DC 5v input voltage and Copper wire Figures assume maximum safe current for wire thickness If less current is drawn then a lower voltage drop will result 1 3 5 Gyro function Invert with POTS Mode Normally the POTS on the BL 3GRC are used to modify the gain or effect of the gyro correction More gain effect as they are rotated clockwise However if they are ALL turned to full left prior to applying power to the unit then a special mode is entered into The mode is indicated by a constant blue LED illuminated after power up Once in this mode turn the POT for the channel that you want inverted to Maximum right position and other POTS to a central position The mode will exit 4 5 seconds after all three POTS have been moved away from their full hard left
79. o control the roll it is likely that the small change in rotor speeds will not be enough for the movement necessary for a vein especially at very low speed Hence a command is provided to program the BL 3GRC to implement a gain on top of the normal gain This command is as follows and can be input from the tools page write window VTOL rud E g to increase the gain type VTOL rud 1 5 To check that the gain has increased to the correct value type qVTOL rud The result will display in the Rx buffer window as VTOL rudGain 1 5000 The default is to have the gain at 1 0 Limits are from 0 5 up to 6 0 Note 6 When the VTOL aircraft is flying horizontally the control outputs clearly operate as shown here Vertical mode Horizontal mode BL 3GRC outputs Motor differential Veins differential 1 and 3 rudder 2 or 4 or both Veins parallel deflection Veins parallel deflection Veins differential Motor differential 1 and 3 rudder 2 or 4 or both Note regarding all rotor servo mix set ups When operating motors it is advisable to have the PWM period output Adv1 tab page set to a value of between 2 0 and 2 5 ms This then means the rotors change their speed very quickly in response to the gyro However this means the servos will also receive high speed pulses 1 2 0ms 500HZz and 1 2 5ms 400Hz Please make sure your servos are fast enough otherwise they may overheat and become damaged Bluelight Technologies C
80. omputer Click Hest to start the installation Followed by Installing BL 3G BL 3G ts being installed Please wall Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 75 of 78 Note that the screen may remain with no progress being shown for up to 20 seconds Or SO Finally you will see the following screen Installation Complete BL 3G has been successtully installed Click Close to exit Please use Windows Update to check for any critical updates to the NET Framework Cancel Step 3 Find the executable file on your PC It should be available in three locations 1 As an application in the User s Program Menu section of your PC This is In the All Programs section of your start button menu for a Windows 7 machine 2 An application will reside inside the directory Bluelight Technologies of your User s Program Menu section of your PC BL 3G 3 As a desk top icon Double click to open up the application Step 4 The start up screen will appear as shown here Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 76 of 78 of 78 Quick Start Page BL 3G NOT plugged in via USB Normal Simple Airplane Motel Servos Analogue Typical Airplane Medium gain Gyro settings Default Note Gyro enable disable on input Noted Throttle on input out on outputt C Small Blectric Airplane Low gain Gyro settings Output lock ena
81. or individual aircraft types and performance requirements Hence it is highlighted in yellow and also has buttons to the right for quick up and down modifications The overall limits to the gain values are between 1 and 35 The small potentiometers are shown here too These are modified with a small screwdriver on the gyro PCB itself Hence the final gain is a combination of the gain set up in the PID gain box as detailed above In fact the potentiometers adjust the gain set up in the PID gain box by a certain positive or negative percentage The potentiometer setting is indicated in the Manual gain adjust text The final gain is show in the yellow Total gain box The purpose of the PCB potentiometers is to allow Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 47 of 78 of 78 the gain to be easily and quickly modified in the field without the need to connect to a PC each time The input signal to the PID controllers can also be set up here This is the sensitivity of the input control of the RC transmitter when Gyro is ON For example if a small pitch is requested by moving the pitch lever on the RC transmitter up this will send a command to the pitch PID controller to request a particular rate for example a 10 degrees per second rotation Whether this is a small movement of the transmitter lever or a larger one is set up using this input sensitivity box Please also see section 2 7 3 2 on control surface range set up
82. os the selection on the Basic tab page only needs to be made Note that for some older technology analogue servos it may be necessary to set a PWM period of higher than 15ms If continuous or intermittent every few minutes vibration is heard seen then it may be necessary to increase the PWM period Typical servo requirements can be seen by pressing the green info button into 2 7 5 Gyro Function Invert This allows the application of the gyro Gyro Function Invert correction signal to be reversed Different FT inv Pach GERE aircraft will have different input signals and different servo connections and so it may be C Inv Roll C Inv Yaw necessary to invert the gyro function for a particular axis Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 PET of 78 2 8 Tab Advanced 2 Advanced modifications This page allows for more detailed and not so common modifications to be made It also allows up to 4 input channels to be programmed to various special functions as required Basic Tools Mong Curves Range Advanced Advanced2 Professional Professional2 Info Live Data Upgrade About G Gyro two gain adi Gyro PID target Power in mode I adjust heading lock Input pitch curve select s gt Defaults 2 8 1 Temporary Gyro rate targets and gains Critical time mode This section allows two modes to be enabled The first mode detailed below is entered into every
83. ould appear in the Rx buffer window If it does not appear an error message will be displayed instead The echo means the BL 3G has successfully received the word and has echoed it back again The write window can be used to write a number of commands to the BL 3G Details of this are available in the systems developer document See section 4 0 for details on the commands available The Cycle button is used to cycle through the various baud rates This option is available in case the BL 3G baud rate was previously changed and forgotten about This option is available only when a port is open and will set the software to the correct baud rate Note that for the BL 3G gyro the baud rate is currently fixed at 19 200 b s Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 26 of 78 of 78 2 3 2 File Gyro save and read back options It is possible to save a file onto the PC hard drive or connected memory for future reference with a user defined path and file name for the file It is also possible to set up the software so that each time the send button on the Basic tab page is pressed the file is also saved These features allow a file to be saved for each aircraft used and so the settings can then be re used to program the gyro in future for the particular aircraft The file saved is a simple text file and so can be carefully edited to change aircraft information if required Any file can also be read back into the PC set up
84. ower in Emergency cut off Heading lock gyro function all axes o 2x Input curves switchable in real time e 1x UART for 16 bit raw X Y Z rate and 8 bit temperature digital data out and PC connection Highly programmable for many applications Variable input voltage 20v to 5v or down to 3 3v LED displays to show gyro operational Factory calibrated RoHS green compliant O O O O O GO ie PM EJN Tee BL 3G Ultra stable 3 Axis Gyro Advanced User Manual Applications e RC aircraft stabilization e Multi copter UAV stabilization e General Robotics Size power and weight e 42x 38x 18 mm unit e 45 mA when in normal operation e Weight is 19g PC tool e Intuitive and easy to use software for detailed user programming Graphical real time data monitoring Graphical matching to RC transmitter Graphical curve generation tool USB and or UART connection This ultra stable BL 3G MEMS based gyro is ideal for stabilizing all manor or aircraft See videos and more details at www bluelight tech com BL 3G htm It is specially set up for RC flying applications Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 BET Contents Page 1 0 Introduction and block diagram nerannvvvnnnvnnnnnnnnnnennnnnvnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvennnnnennnn 4 MVP ONC OIG COI PO serene eeticser eee tes E RORE 5 hee AVVO ON 6 1 2 1 Avoiding UNWANTED vibration rrrrannrvrnnnrvrnnrvrranrennnnrnnnnnnnnn
85. pecified Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 48 of 78 of 78 2 10 Tab Professional 2 Professional 2 modifications This page sets up more specific gyro control parameters as detailed here At the bottom of the page there is one button Default button This sets the page to its factory default values Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About Kalman Filters High Pass Filter HPF Gryo Lock roll N Enable disable X pitch Nomal Uncom Proplock MN id s anna 05 Hz Yfrol Nomal Uncom PropLock AN oi Note ODR 200 Hz Z aw 9 Normal Un com PropLock d s IM 91000 e Proportional Gain Gyro Lock Enable W 7 01 00 GCen 01 00 GEen 01 00 Gen Predictive mode enable 01 50 GM x 01 50 GMax 01 50 GMax Fine Zero Calibration dps po15 PWM po15 PWM 0015 PWM X pitch Y roll Z yw centre centre centre 0 0 0 0 0 0 Invert Invert Invert Auto fine calibration enable Reset this page to defaults gt Defaults 2 10 1 Kalman filters The Kalman filter parameters are set up here This filter is used to eke out the real data from the typical inherent noise associated with any signal acquisition hardware The reader is encouraged to study the Kalman filter in dedicated texts The Kalman filter includes a model of the physics associate
86. roll input sensitivity Roll Tadda Disable FIDs for RAW data out mode Yaw ads PID controller I No PID controllers P gain 0 2500 PID gain 11 000 Rate data range Gyro data rate Bel 100 Hz Igain 0 0000 e 001500 Manual Z 500 dps big gain adjust AMHz 125 0 2000 4 70 2000 dps gre D gain Zhen sner 10 Total Zgain 10 923 200 He fyaw input sensitivity Yaw 1U JES Automatic Gain Control Check to enable Pitch Roll Yaw Reset this page to defaults gt Defaults 2 9 1 Pitch Roll and Yaw axes PID controllers The pitch roll and yaw axes PID controller parameters can be set up individually P gain is the proportional gain I gain is the integrative gain and D gain is the differential gain Integral windup is the tendency for the integral part to keep adding up especially during static conditions and could go on to a very high value indeed if not kept in check The integrative part of the PID controller is actually used as a heading lock for aiplane applications See section 2 8 2 8 It is not advisable to modify this setting on this page but instead it can be modified via a real time input see the advanced tab section By using a real time input the gain for the heading lock can be enabled and disabled during flight thus avoiding the integral windup problem during static conditions The overall effect of the gyros is modified with the PID gain box This then is the most important parameter to modify f
87. rplanes The special functions will be covered in detail under the advanced 2 tab section of this manual They are active if checked in this basic tab section Dual aileron airplanes cab be supported with dual outputs from the BL 3GRC gyro but some applications require the dual inputs coming in from the RC Rx to be passed through to the dual outputs of the gyro In this case the operation is as follows Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 Input 1 Pitch gt Output 1 Pitch Realtime fns or Pass Through Invert In Gyro ULI ee en Realtimefn Fass thru invert v Gyro 1 Input 3 Roll gt Output 3 Roll a a Input 4 Roll gt Output 4 Roll put Input Input6 Input5 Input 5 Yaw gt Output 5 Yaw Input 6 Yaw gt Output 6 Yaw E g setting Pitch pass through mode This mode can be selected for any combination of Pitch Roll and or Yaw When in this mode the invert option on the right of the selection box allows for the gyro action to be inverted for only that one particular output Note that the gyro inversion for both outputs Pitch in the example shown above can still be performed in the normal way using the invert options from the bottom right hand side of the Advanced 1 tab page as detailed in section 2 7 5 Or indeed with the POTS as detailed in section 1 3 5 While in this mode the gyro function will operate in an un commanded mode Not in rate mode This means when a
88. s 2 10 6 2 Un commanded mode In this mode only if an input signal does not vary from a previous one will the PID output with gyro data be applied otherwise no gyro data will be used It is assumed a variance is indication that a control surface movement is required commanded If no variance it is assumed stability is required and hence the gyro will operate as normal In this mode a change of the RC transmitter lever will act in exactly the same way as it would should no gyro be present In other words the RC transmitter lever will move the particular aircraft control surface to a specific angle Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 BET 2 10 6 3 Proportional mode In this mode the rate of change of the gyro lock gain factor needs to be set up l e the gain at the central PWM pulse width GCen is set For example a gain factor of 1 will mean there is no change in the gyro final gain at the central PWM position i e PWM centre typically at 1 5ms but at the extreme positions i e typically at 1ms and 2ms the gain is multiplied by a factor GMax which by default is set to 1 5 If the Invert option is selected the gain at the central PWM pulse position PWM centre is set to the maximum GMax and falls off linearly either side until at the extremes it becomes the minimum value GCen Gain factor GMax GCen PWM width PWM PWM PWM min Centre max For the rudder as an example the PWM min pos
89. s gyro User Manual V3 1 Note the following alternative typical low power connection systems Pitch control Roll control Input 3 Yaw control Input 5 Gyro on off Input 7 Throttle Input 2 RC receiver Input 1 BL 3G Output 1 Output 3 Output 5 Output 6 Servos Elevator pitch Aileron Roll Rudder Yaw Throttle Electric motor Elec Speed ESC power output Controller O ESC This set up uses the BL 3G default settings In this example the throttle output is taken from the BL 3G output also The advantage of this method is that the BL 3G can be programmed to have a throttle safety lock feature and also throttle curve Note The above can be used only if total servo s current is less than 2 5A Care must be taken as with any connection method to fully test on the ground first with full power applied to the motor Note that some RC cables are sold with the alternative colour coding of yellow orange red and brown These are equivalent to white red and black as shown here Ee Signal SV GND These can be connected together with no problems It is the RC pilot s responsibility to ensure the connections provide correct and adequate power as required Please also see the tables in section 1 3 4 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 of 78 1 3 2 High current system connection shown below is a connection scenario with high
90. ser Manual V3 1 13 of 78 Bi VTOL mode Select Bi copter mode from Basic tab page Front D A Clockwise Anti clockwise Output 3 Output 1 BL 3GRC GW facing upwards Output 5 Output 6 Output 2 or 4 cf VTOL Bi copter motor propeller and servo installation Note1 Output 1 is the right rotor ESC control signal thrust and roll Output 3 is the left rotor ESC control signal thrust and roll Output 5 is the right digital servo control signal pitch and yaw Output 6 is the left digital servo control signal pitch and yaw Output 2 is an optional rudder digital servo control signal roll Output 4 is an optional rudder digital servo control signal roll inverse to output 2 Note2 In the VTOL position as shown above roll is achieved with differential motor speeds Pitch and yaw is achieved with outputs 5 and 6 operating veins Roll is further assisted with an optional vein attached to output 2 or 4 or veins on both Note3 It is advisable to have the rotors turning opposite to each other to avoid unwanted reactionary yaw torque when the rotors are not at the same RPM Note 4 Inputs are the standard Pitch input 1 Roll input 3 and Yaw input 5 Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 14 of 78 of 78 Note 5 If using the optional veins to control roll the gain of these control signals can be adjusted separately Since the rotor speeds are the main way t
91. such that its repetition rate is in the region of 10ms Invert Invert as it is used in this document refers to the width of the high level of a PWM signal Typically in RC applications a pulse width high will be between 1 and 2ms in duration The central position being 1 5ms A positive deviation from this is towards the 2ms point and a negative deviation towards the 1ms point A signal s inverse is said to be its deviation from 1 5ms in the opposite way For example if a signal is say 1 1ms in high level duration this is 0 4ms away from smaller than or negative deviation the central 1 5ms position Hence its inverse is said to be 0 4ms the other side larger than or positive deviation of the 1 5ms point and so becomes 1 9ms Kalman filter A Kalman filter is a filter that is used in many control applications to remove or reduce the inherent noise in a measurement even when the precise nature of a particular system model is unknown It works by estimating the state of a process in a way that minimises the mean of the squared error PID The Proportional Integrative Differential algorithm is commonly used in control electronics and systems It works by feeding back three measurements of a system which if the system is disturbed from the state in which it is required to be in are non zero The weighted sum of these measurements is fed to a controller that moves the system towards its required state The Proportional measureme
92. t 6 100 of normal signal outputs set on Adv tab signal outputs Reset this page to defaults gt Defaults This feature allows support of aircraft with dual servos per control surface where the servos mounting locations and or mechanical linkages may all be dissimilar The Aileron differential feature allows a smaller range to be set for a downward moving aileron thus avoiding to some extent unwanted yaw during turns caused by downward aileron drag Normally values of less than 100 are used to reduce the range However a larger value can also be added but care must be taken with this since the output signal will then increase from the default as detailed in the Advanced tab signal outputs section Setting values greater than 100 will increase the signal range sent to the servo and could result in the servo being overdriven It is recommended that values less than 100 always be used Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 34 of 78 of 78 2 7 Tab Advanced 1 Advanced modifications This page allows for the BL 3G gyro to be accurately matched up to any RC transmitter receiver system Typically good quality RC systems will output accurate minimum and maximum pulses when the control sticks are moved to their minimum and maximum positions Normally somewhere between 1 ms and 2ms respectively They will also output a central pulse width when the control sticks are left in the central posit
93. t up is correct by switching the gyro on and off while the RC transmitter levers are at their maximum positions With perfect set up the control surfaces should not move appreciably when the gyro is switched on and off Note that you can also go to the Jools tab page press the Test button and look at the PID data the green coloured bars and note that they should extend left and right and not change very much when the gyro is repeatedly switched on and off This confirms the range adjust is successfully set up Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 39 of 78 of 78 2 7 4 PWM detailed set up If special requirements are needed the PWM minimum and maximum values are set up here Also the PWM repetition time ie the period or frequency For information the central pulse width and its frequency are shown Min Max Period Note that if a PWM output type is set up in the Basic tab page output connection section for example by pressing the defaults button on that page then any detailed PWM set ups made in the Advanced tab page will be overwritten Similarly if the defaults button is pressed on the Advanced 1 tab page then the Basic tab page PWM output connection data will be overwritten Note that any inconsistent values entered such as period too small compared to the maximum PWM pulse width then an error will be indicated Note that the minimum PWM period that can be set is limited to 1 4ms For standard serv
94. ted and the Set up the input curves section completed the send button on the basic page tab must be pressed in order to send all the data to the BL 3G gyro memory Note that the blue Acquire button can be pressed in order to acquire the data stored in the BL 3G gyro if required This will retrieve all the curves data including the 4 user curves stored within the BL 3G 2 6 Tab Range Output range modifications and Differential Aileron Mode This page allows the secondary control surface outputs to be modified to have a percentage smaller or larger range as the control stick moves from min to max position Also to set differential ranges to the two aileron servo outputs The Default button sets the page to its factory default values of 100 and no aileron differential Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About The ranges of the secondary outputs for Pitch Roll and Yaw can be modified here Pitch output 2 iii 100 of nomal signal outputs Note1 Power cycle the BL 3GRC set on Adv tab signal outputs Ga ka ee ee aa these settings Note Take care when setting values greater than 100 Output signal WILL Rall output 4 swing below and above normal min max values 100 Mote3 For Aileron Differential mode Aeon alee kr set a less than 100 to reduce ET LJ Operation downward going aileron during tums Yaw outpu
95. the internal Kalman filters to match the environmental noise and environment vibration of the aircraft matching Also available is an averaging filter for very high noise environments where gyro high speed operation is not so critical The Kalman filtering can also be adjusted to match the aircraft model size for very fine tuning Inertial mass parameter Gyro zero The gyro zero calibration can be set to manually or automatically each time the calibration unit is switched on Manual set up is achieved graphically Gyro lock modes The gyro lock feature can be set to normal of un commanded User preference for how the aircraft operates when the gyro is switched off See user manual for details lt can also be set to proportional mode see below Control surface When control surfaces extend to their maximum reaches turbulence and or flutter support flutter may set in in which case it may be necessary to have an automatically higher gyro gain proportional to the control surface location Alternatively this can be set to operate inversely proportional Graphical display A display is provided to give graphical feedback as to the unit set up Live data Oscilloscope mode The PC tool acts as an oscilloscope with standard deviation read out to show the gyro measured data pre and post filtering This to characterize the aircraft noise environment Upgrade BL 3G firmware The BL 3G firmware can be upgraded as updates become avai
96. time the gryo is switched on with a programmable strobe And the second once only during the take off run when almost full power is first applied 2 8 1 1 Gyro on rate and target changes Normally the BL 3G will operate by giving appropriate control outputs to make the gyro rate zero for a particular axis However this can be modified to any value within range l e within range of the data range selected on the Professional 1 page This then allows the gyro to lock onto a particular and fixed angular rate rather than one of zero The angular rate can be set up to be either positive or negative This feature is useful when teaching novice flyers and allows the aircraft to quickly recover from a spin situation At the same time the gain applied can also be modified by a factor chosen from the Gain box The way it works is as follows Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 PET of 78 o During a spin it is necessary to stop the wings spinning so a zero roll rate is selected Temp rate targets o If the spin direction is unknown also a zero yaw rate is Ed in selected EN o A positive pitch is then applied to stop the aircraft Take off mode loosing further height 50 deg sec in this example o The duration of all the above rates is then set up with the Critical time box This sets the number of seconds the Pitch rates and gains are to last for The actions rate and gain changes start whe
97. trol engine aircraft of from the electric motor controller for electric flyers It is most important to make sure the connections are such that the ground wire is always connected to the outside pin of the BL 3G gyro Ground pins black wire are ALWAYS on the outside of the PCB 5V in the centre and the signal on the inside Four gold plated contact Futaba J type 3 pin cables with polarization tabs are supplied with the BL 3GRC unit not with the BL 3GMod l u These for connecting the RC receiver outputs to the gyro inputs Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 Sof a Note that if the cables don t fit into your RC receiver unit then the polarization tabs can be simply cut away Q cr i i ge Note that the unit can be easily operated exactly the same with an RS232 communications cable not supplied However a USB connection is first necessary to set up the gyro to operate in this mode Note that if your PC does not have an RS232 port then a standard USB to RS232 cable needs to be purchased and the software driver installed onto the PC first 1 2 Gyro connection to aircraft The connection and orientation of the gyro must be as shown here ICE MAN Gyro 1 Pitchin pwr osPiG Pitch out 1 2 3 Roll in Roll out 3 4 5 Yaw in Yaw out 5 6 i e 1 I i Left port wing Right starboard wing E CENA ne Yaw gt 6 Input LEHI Suput
98. utput inverse on 2 V Tad control surface on outputs inverse on 6 unless throttle out on amp defined Reverse operation Haps control O Mode 1 Normal flaps O Mode 7 Airbrake Crow function 3 Mode 3 Flaperon function Set fips Stage1 ap s ziti Z Toggle 1 Stage 1 flaps Toggle 1 Stage 1 flaps Toggle 1 Stage 1 flaps on ailerons earl Toggle 2 Stage 2 flaps Toggle 2 Stage 2 flaps Toggle 2 Stage 2 flaps on ailerons Set flaps Stage on a 3 Mi p 3 i 00 fy Toggle flaps up Toggle 3 Airbrake Stage 2 flaps Toggle 3 05 flaps on ailerons position and ailerons up Toggle 4 Airbrake off flaps up Amount of down mix to ailerons Depioymentspeed p Sec E for full deployment 8 Mode 0 No flaps Amount of up mix to ailerons 80 ty 60 wf Fast Arrbrake a _ Mode 4 Ailerons up fast Crow EEE ai Mode 2 Aircraft with real flaps only Reset this pageto defaults gt Defaults 2 4 1 Mix Options Five different modes can be selected Flying Wing mode Pitch mixed into Roll This option allows for a flying wing type aircraft to be supported This is an aircraft type with no separate pitch control Hence the ailerons must support both pitch and roll When this option is selected Output3 and Output4 are used as the outputs for the two flying wing servos When enabled it is possible to set the of mixing required Flaperon function below can also be used in this configuration Tight Turns mode
99. ve Data Upgrade About Communications Read Save and retrieve setup data files to from PC ALL data File name Select USB or UART USB from Gyro Check to save set up data to PC rT awe communications mode to l ssa l mee r Check to load set up data from PC Load for see Upgrade tab UART DEE 3 a Load R CA Userstaceri Documents Bluelight Tech Check Parts Baud rate 19200 bps by Tick to save a file every time data is sent to the BL 3G Load file at start COM4 Available Port ke USB Fluggedin Real time data test Aipitch axis rate data a Gay Cycle Gaze pen Cal Z raw axis rate data B Write Test a pitch ads PID data Rx buffer Y roll ads PID data yaw ads PID data EEE Ger 75 Cancel Test 2 3 1 Communications This section allows the PC to connect to make sure communications with the BL 3G are ok It also allows test commands to be sent to the unit and the responses seen The above example shows that COM4 is available This means the serial USB cable driver has been successfully installed and the cable connected But not necessarily yet the BL 3G to the other end of the cable On pressing the green open button the selected port in this example COM4 is connected to An error message will display if the connection fails If all is ok then the test word Test can be written into the write window On pressing the red Tx transmit button an echo of the word sh
100. vert the signal Now connect the rudder servo to BL 3G output 6 instead of output 5 Or output 5 instead of 6 if you have it swapped This method will only work if throttle is not output on output 6 The alternatives to the above are A Use the BL 3G set up software and invert the inputs from the Basic tab page instead You will still need to use the alternative outputs or if you prefer to invert the gyro function itself from either the Quick Start tab page or the Advanced 7 tab page In this case no need to use the alternative outputs Before doing this i e before connecting the BL 3G Gyro to the PC via USB make sure to have power applied to the BL 3G Gyro from your aircraft system Alternatively disconnect the servo outputs from the BL 3G Gyro before connecting the BL 3G Gyro to the PC and re connect the outputs after re programming is complete and the Gyro disconnected from the PC B Invert by entering the Gyro function Invert with Pots Mode See section 1 3 5 above Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 19 of 78 2 2 Tab Basic Basic operational modifications This is the first page and contains basic modifications as detailed here At the bottom of the page there are two buttons Default button This sets the page to its factory default values Send button This sends the data from all pages to the BL 3G Note that this button must be pressed otherwise all data on the BL 3G wil
101. witched to the HeliV med curve Similarly the pitch curve can also be switched in real time To a tangent curve in the example above using Input4 The available options for the power Curves are The available options for the pitch Curves are Linear Linear Square Square Inv square HeliPitch low Cube HeliPitch med Inv cube HeliPitch high Sigma low Flat low Sigma med Flat med Sigma high Flat high HeliV low Tan HeliV med User3 HeliV high User4 Flat low Flat med Flat high Tan User1t User2 2 8 2 10 Flaps Control Input Assignment of an input channel for the flaps control signal Bluelight Technologies Co Ltd BL 3GRC 3 axis gyro User Manual V3 1 46 of 78 of 78 2 9 Tab Professional 1 Professional 1 modifications This page sets up specific gyro control parameters as detailed here The Default button sets the page to its factory default values Quick Start Basic Tools Mixing Curves Range Advanced Advanced2 Professionall Professional Info Live Data Upgrade About A Pitch ads PID controller Y Roll ads PID controller P gain 0 2500 PID gain 11 000 P gain 0 2500 PID gain 11 000 i 0 0000 Integral 0 0000 Integral 001500 I gain tegal 001500 Manual X I gain windup Manual Y windup gain adjust imt gan ods limit 4156 0 40 D gain 0 2000 Tali D gain 0 7000 40 Xilin semei 1 10 Total Xgain 9 728 2 an 1 10 Total Y gain 10356 pitch input sensitivity Pitch HE Y

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