F550 Hex Copter

By DJI

From: Quadrocopter LLC

3949 MT Hwy 40 W. Suite E Columbia Falls, MT 59912 

Phone: +1 (800) 730 6944 

April 11, 2014

APM 2.6 Autopilot with External Compass

Documentation at: copter.ardupilot.com

Red Light = Armed - Not Blinking

Blue Light = GPS Lock - Blinking
Agricultural UAVs

1. Support precision agriculture

2. Survey plant health with NDVI remote sensing

3. Detect irrigation needs

4. Detect fertilization needs

5. Detect insect infestation

6. Monitor soil patterns

7. Crop insurance claims

8. Farm Service Agency - customers are insurance company, crop advisors & farmers

National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) 1 meter GSD

Various UAV Suppliers

1. SenseFly eBee $25,987.00

2. Zephyr 2 $13,995.00

3. HawkEye parasail $10,995.00

4. Crop Cam $7,000.00

5. Gatewing X100

Various Camera Equipment Suppliers

1. Tetra Cam ADC Lite - $3,759.00 multispectral camera. At 400 feet, each image 

covers 1.85 acres at a resolution of less than 2 inches per pixel. 100 x 75 meters / 

shot. John Palico at tetracam.com 323-319-3693

Agricultural uses for UAVs

Various Image Processing Suppliers and Software

1. AgiSoft $3499.00 

2. IDRISI $1250.00

3. vgSIG

4. AgPixel

5. Quantum GIS

6. Grass

7. Pixel Wrench 2 (Tetra Cam)

8. Fiji Image J (free)

9. PublicLab.org (free)
Ground Sample Distance

Overlap and Resolution

1. GSD = Ground Sampling Distance

2. Overlap from front to back (forward overlap) = 60%

Overlap from side to side (side lap) = 30%

3. In very hilly or urban areas:

Overlap from front to back (forward overlap) = 80%

Overlap from side to side (side lap) = 50 - 60%

Narrow angle = 50 ̊

Normal angle = 60 ̊

Wide angle = 90 ̊

Super wide = 120 ̊

Resolution comparison: 

4. Satellites can provide 2030 cm/pixel, 30 meter spatial resolution

smallest area for practical investigation is 5 acres

Problems with cloud cover, cloud shadow and terrain shadows

8 day repeat cycle between Landsat 5 & 7

After May 2003 Landsat 7 data has triangular wedges of missing data on sides

5. UAVs can provide 3 cm/pixel
Industry Contacts

1. Ron Goldy, MSU Southwest extension 269-944-1477 x207, 269-208-1651

goldyr@msu.edu

Has farmers he works with using soil moisture sensors

2. Tom Zabadal, MSU Southwest extension 269-944-1477 x206

3. George Silva, MSU Southwest extension, Precision Ag

4. Travis Tsunemori, ASABE

5. Dr. Marvin Stone, Oklahoma State Univ. 405-612-6403

6. Phil Hamm, Hermiston Agricultural Research, Oregon State University, Center 

Oregon, 541-567-6337 x110. Using Tetracam Hawkeye over potatoe fields
How Often and How Much

1. Pre-Planting soil patterns

2. Every 2 weeks for plant growth, health and soil moisture

3. Pre-Harvest for annual comparison and yield

4. Satellite imagery can run .47 per acre for 30cm resolution

5. Aerial imagery (plane) can be .75 per acre for 2 meter resolution (DTN, Nebraska)
Mission Planner Software: Initial Setup Wizard

USB wire connection: COM 11 Arduino Mega 2560 - Baud rate 115200

USB Power supplied to copter 

Antenna connection: COM 9 - Baud rate 57600 - Battery power required

Step 7: Battery Monitor

Autopilot Version: APM 2.5 - 3DR

Sensor: 3DR Power Module

Battery Size: 6200mah

Step 8: Optional Items

Sonar Attached: None (Sonar will control altitude more accurately at 26 ft & below)

Step 11: Flight Mode Selection

Gear 

Switch

Flap 

Switch

Mode # Flight Mode Simple 

Mode

PWM

Setting

PWM Range

0 (down) 1 (down) 2 Stabilize yes 1323 0-1230

0 (down) 2 (middle) 4 Alt Hold yes 1575 1231-1360

0 (down) 3 (up) 6 Loiter yes 1979 1361-1490

1 (up) 1 (down) 1 Auto yes 1142 1491-1620

1 (up) 2 (middle) 4 Alt Hold yes 1539 1621-1749

1 (up) 3 (up) 5 Return to launch yes 1741 1750 +

Mandatory Hardware

Step 1: Frame Type = X
Step 14: GeoFence Settings

Enable YES

Type Altitude & Circle

Action Return to launch or Land

Max Alt (Feet) 400

Max Radius (Feet) 2500

Return to launch altitude (Feet) 50

Step 13: Failsafe Options

Failsafe Setting

Battery Failsafe RTL

GPS Failsafe Alt Hold

Ground Station Failsafe Enabled Continue with mission in Auto

Throttle Failsafe Disabled

Throttle Failsafe Value
Stick Mode 2

JR 11X Radio Transmitter

With Spektrum 2.4GHz DSM Technology

Flight Modes:

Gear Switch

(APM 5)

Flight Modes:

Flap Switch

(APM 5)

Gear Switch Flap Switch Flight Mode

0 (down) 1 (down) Stabilize

0 (down) 2 (middle) Alt Hold

0 (down) 3 (up) Loiter

1 (up) 1 (down) Auto

1 (up) 2 (middle) Alt Hold

1 (up) 3 (up) Return to launch

Yaw

Rudd

(APM 4)

Throttle

(APM 3)

Roll

Aile

(APM 1)

Pitch

Elev

(APM 2)

Start Motors Stop Motors

(APM 6)

Slider on back

Camera Gimbal 

Tilt Control

(APM 7)

CHARGING: Plug into radio first, then plug in to wall.

If radio battery is less than 9 volts - Land & Charge radio

Full Charge 11.4 volts Low Charge 9 volts
JR 11X Radio Transmitter

Settings

Dual Rate and Exponential Settings:

Channel D/R Expo

AILE 100 50

ELEV 100 50

RUDD 100 LIN

Travel Adjust

Channel Direction

THRO L 100 100

AILE L & R 100 100

ELEV D & U 100 100

RUDD L & R 100 100

Reverse Switch

THRO AILE ELEV RUDD GEAR FLAP

N R N R N R

AUX 2 AUX 3 AUX 4 AUX 5 AUX 6

R N N N N

Device Select

Channel Device Out

GEAR GEAR SW INH Flight Modes

FLAP FLAP SW SYS Flight Modes

AUX 2 AUX 2 SW ACT

AUX 3 AUX 3 LV ACT

AUX 4 RD D/R SW ACT Camera

AUX 5 MIX/HLD SW ACT

AUX 6 AL D/R SW ACT
JR 11X Radio Transmitter

Settings Continued

Program MIX 1

This setting allows the Gear switch and Flap switch to operate like one 6 position 

switch. This is used for our Flight Modes

FLAP→FLAP POS 0 POS 1

SW SEL 

GEAR

0 0 0 1

U: +0%

D: +0%

U: +100%

D: -50%

THRO STK

 INH

OFFSET: +10
JR 2048 R921X24 Receiver

Current set up with connections as follows

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

+

THRO

AILE

ELEV

RUDD

GEAR

Aux 1

Aux 2

Aux 3

Aux 4

-

Y

O

B

G

R

Y

Y

O

O

B

B

Yellow

Orange

Blue

Green

Red

B=Brown O=Orange

TOP OF RECEIVER

Y=Yellow
APM Lights

LED Behavior Action

Power On Powered

Red Solid Armed, motors will spin 

Red Single Blink Disarmed, motors will not spin

Red Double Blink Disarmed, motors will not spin, failed pre-arm checks

Yellow/Red Flashes During calibration or as part of the in-flight auto trim

Blue Solid GPS working, 3D lock

Blue Blinking GPS working, no lock

Blue Off GPS not attached or not working

PPM/Serial Flashing Data detected
LIPO Batteries

1. Full maximum charge for 4S LIPO flight battery is 16.8v (4.2v x 4)

2. Low voltage warning starts at 14.4v (3.6v x 4)

3. Land by 14.0v (3.5v x 4)

4. Never allow a LIPO battery to discharge below 3v per cell (4S = 12v)
ESC Calibration

Not required on DJI opto ESCs

1. All at once calibration

2. Safety Check!

3. Before calibrating ESCs, please ensure that your copter has NO PROPS on it and 

that the APM is NOT CONNECTED to your computer via USB and the Lipo battery 

is disconnected.

4. Turn on your transmitter and put the throttle stick at maximum.

5. Connect the Lipo battery. On an APM the red, blue and yellow LEDs will light up in 

a cyclical pattern. This means the APM is ready to go into ESC calibration mode the 

next time you plug it in.

6. With the transmitter throttle stick still high, disconnect and reconnect the battery.

7. The autopilot is now in ESC calibration mode. (On an APM you may notice the red 

and blue LEDs blinking alternatively on and off like a police car).

8. Wait for your ESCs to emit the musical tone, the regular number of beeps indicating 

your battery’s cell count (i.e. 3 for 3S, 4 for 4S) and then an additional two beeps to 

indicate that the maximum throttle has been captured.

9. Pull the transmitter’s throttle stick down to its minimum position.

10.The ESCs should then emit a long tone indicating that the minimum throttle has 

been captured and the calibration is complete.

11. If the long tone indicating successful calibration was heard, the ESCs are “live” 

now and if you raise the throttle a bit they should spin. Test that the motors spin by 

raising the throttle a bit and then lowering it again.

12.Set the throttle to minimum and disconnect the battery to exit ESC-calibration 

mode.
NGB Converted - block red to record NIR 

Blue channel = visible light

Green channel = visible light

Red channel = NIR 670 to 750 nm

CHDK - Canon Hack Development Kit - Installed

Canon PowerShot SX260 HS Camera
Skyeye 2 Axis Camera Gimbal

from China

The GMB01 Skyeye Camera Gimbal is a 2-Axis professional level camera housing 

with roll and pitch movement for APV and FPV use. It could install on aircraft, such 

as X650-V4/ V8, X800-V6 and most of other DIY multicopter air frame in the market. 

GMB01 Skyeye Camera Gimbal is fully made of high quality 3K carbon fiber boards. It 

comes with 2 high performance GOTECK GS-D9025MG full metal gear servos.

Gimbal Specifications: 

Material: 3K Carbon Fiber (thickness 1.2mm)

Net Weight: 75g (Servos not included)

Gross Weight: 103g (2pcs Servos included)

Effective width of inner frame: 138mm

The Depth of Inner Frame: 68mm

Effective depth of inner frame: 60mm

Roll angle: 60 degree

Pitch angle: 80 degree

Max load: < 500g

Dimension: 170mm (Width) x158mm (Depth) x110mm (Height)

Servo Specification:

Type: Digital

Operating Speed (4.8V): 0.11 sec/60° degrees at no load

Operating Speed (6V): 0.09 sec/60° degrees at no load

Stall Torque (4.8V): 2.35kg-cm (82.9oz./in)

Stall Torque (6V): 2.5kg-cm (88.2oz/in)

Bushing or Bearing: Ball Bearing

Bearing: Single

Motor Type: Brushed

Gear Type: Metal

Case: Plastic

Weight: 13g (0.46oz)

Dimensions: 23 x 12.1 x 28.8mm (0.9 x 0.48 x 1.13in)

Box inside:

Carbon fiber gimbal frame and assembly parts

2 Goteck GS-D9025MG full metal gear servos

Assembly manual

- See more at: http://readygorc.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_

id=268#sthash.Opf0N3ej.dpuf (Assembly Instructions at http://www.unmannedtech.

co.uk/3/post/2012/07/q650-2-axis-camera-gimbal-assembly-guide.html)
APM to CHDK Camera Link

1. http://plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-apm-to-chdk-camera-link-tutorial/#Use_

the_Canon_CHDK_Camera_Link_to_connect_Your_Canon_Camera_to_the_APM

2. Cut a USB to mini USB cable and keep the mini USB end. 

3. Get rid of the white and green wires

4. Insert the red (switch) wire into one side of a servo plug

5. Insert the black (-) wire into the other side of a servo plug. 

6. Leave the middle of the servo plug empty

7. Plug the servo end of the modified mini USB Servo cable into pin A9 on the side 

row of APM. The text doesn’t line up exactly so be sure to count rows. 

8. Plug the mini USB end into the Canon camera with CHDK installed.

9. Push the Record button (Red Dot on back) to enable CHDK ((ALT) in red appears 

at the bottom of the display)

10.Push the Menu button 

11. Scroll down to CHDK Settings and either press the right side of the circle button or 

press the middle Function Set button.

12.Scroll down to Remote Parameters and either press the right side of the circle 

button or press the middle Function Set button.

13.Make sure the Enable Remote setting has a dot in the parenthesis

14.Press the Menu button to exit the menu.

15.Open Mission Planner

16.Select Config/Tuning tab. 

17.Select Full Parameters List and set the parameters as following:

18.CAM_DURATION: 1

19.CAM_TRIGG_DIST: Depending on overlap required. Keep in mind the normal 

downwind speed of the copter as well as the maximum rate at which the camera 

can take pictures. For the SX260 that’s once every 2.7 seconds. To get as many 

pictures as possible, try setting the distance to 49 (meters).

20.CAM_TRIGG_TYPE: 1

21.RELAY_PIN: 13

22.On the camera, press the Function Set button (middle of the circle)

23.Select Load Script from File

24.Select the E38_APM.bas script file

25.Press the Menu button to exit menu

26.Press the Shutter button to start running the script.

27.Establish a GPS: 3D Fix and walk the copter around to test operation. (set the 

CAM_TRIGG_DIST: to 3 or 4 for manual testing)

28.Press the Shutter button to stop the script.
gentWIRE-USB2

CHDK Camera Control *

http://www.gentles.ltd.uk/gentwire/chdk_sdm/index.htm

gentWIRE-USB2 lets you connect two servo channels to the USB port of a CHDKenabled Canon camera. Scripts running in the camera can detect joystick 

movements on the two channels and carry out a variety of actions in response.

A CHDK script can detect when power is applied to the USB port and for how long that 

power is applied. The CHDK2 uses this to send USB power signals of six different 

durations:

30 mS signal when joystick 1 is moved up

60mS signal when joystick 1 is centered

90mS signal when joystick 1 is moved down

120 mS signal when joystick 2 is moved up

150mS signal when joystick 2 is centered

180mS signal when joystick 2 is moved down

The get_usb_power CHDK script function returns the time power was applied in 10ms 

units, so an “up” movement of joystick 2 will return a value of 12 (or possibly 13 

since it’s not possible for the system to be exactly precise). By using this function a 

script can determine which joystick was moved and in which direction and use this 

to carry out an appropriate action.

The essence of the script is an if statement which passes control to one of six 

subroutines depending on the value returned by get_usb_power. It’s relatively 

simple to modify the script by inserting camera actions in the appropriate 

subroutines. 

Important Note 

When assigning an action to the joystick middle position, bear in mind that it’s not 

possible to move a joystick from the up position to the down position without going 

through the middle position.

3 wire plug is Channel 1, Single wire plug is Channel 2

* We bought 2 of these cables and were never able to get them to work with the 

APM triggering pictures automatically. This wire did work when plugged into the 

R/C receiver and activated with a switch on the R/C transmitter.
Propeller Rotation and Motor Order

1. Safety Check! Ensure writing on props faces up.

2. COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROTATION: USE NORMAL PROPELLER

3. CLOCKWISE ROTATION: USE PUSHER PROPELLER

4. Normal propellers (unmarked or marked “SF”) for counterclockwise motors

5. Pusher propellers (marked “SFP” or “P“) for clockwise motors 

6. Unscrew prop nuts and add propellers to motor collets with writing on props facing 

up in relation to the sky.

7. Add metal spacers on top of prop nuts if prop hub measures less than 5 mm in 

height.

8. Tighten prop nuts to secure propellers in place.

9. Try inserting a 2 mm (5/64) hex wrench into the hole in the side of the prop nut to 

get better leverage when tightening prop nuts.
NDVI Interpretation

0.6 Plants

0.5

0.4 Dry Soil

0.3

0.2 Wet Soil

0.1

0.0 (NIR)

0.3 0.8 0.9 1.1

Wavelength

Reflectance

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

NDVI = NIR + Red

NIR - Red

Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index

SAVI = NIR + Red (1 + L) NIR - Red + L

Where L = l1 + l2 = 2l

Consideration must be given to 

- Atmospheric constraints

- Sensor view & solar zenith angles

- Soil background

- Canopy architecture

Platform Typical Spacial Resolution Typical Field of View

Satellite 2 - 15 m 10 - 50 Km

Aircraft 0.2 - 2 m 2 - 5 Km

UAV 1 - 20 cm 50 - 500 m

Ground Based < 1 cm < 2 m
NDVI Image Processing

Fiji Image J Software

1. Open .DNG image in Photoshop

2. Save image as .TIF

3. Open image in Image J

4. Select Plugins

5. Select Photo Monitoring

6. Select Single image NDVI from displayed image

7. Select Output color for NDVI image = infraBlueNDVI.LUT

8. Select Default for other settings

9. Now, with the new color NDVI image selected

10. Select Image

11. Select Adjust

12. Select Window/Level

13. Click ‘Auto’ 5 times

To display LUT for color range legend

14. Select Image

15. Select Color

16. Select Show LUT

To pick colors and see values from image

17. Select 

18. Click on a color in the image

19. the value will highlight in the Pixel Values window

Px
Colors and Wavelengths

Color from (nm) to (nm) Used for

Violet 380 450

Blue 450 495

Green 495 570

Yellow 570 590

Orange 590 620

Red 620 700

Near IR (NIR) 700 730 Vegetation

Mid IR (MIR) 1550 1750

Far IR (FIR) 2080 2350

Thermal imaging 9000 14000 Heat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg
Electromagnetic Spectrum

NIR

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html