1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. SunFounder Manuals
  4. Quadcopters
  5. SF250
  6. Manual

SunFounder SF250 Manual

Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

About SunFounder
SunFounder is a technology company focused on Raspberry Pi and Arduino open source
community development. Committed to the promotion of open source culture, we strive to
bring the fun of electronics making to people all around the world and enable everyone to
be a maker. Our products include learning kits, development boards, robots, sensor
modules and development tools. In addition to high quality products, SunFounder also offers
video tutorials to help your own project. If you have interest in open source or making
something cool, welcome to join us! Visit www.sunfounder.com for more!
About the Kit
The Q250/SF250 quadcopter is tailored for the hobbyists for FPV flying. It runs the OpenPilot
firmware of the flight controller and the electronic speed controller. This kit is designed to
meet the hobbyists' higher requirement of flying the aircraft, featuring stability, flexibility and
agility. You can realize a stable flight in a small space or a rapid 3D flight based on your own
configuration and parameter setting.
In this book, we will show you how to configure the wizard of CC3D. In addition, we have
also provided the videos about how to assemble and fly the Q250 and SF250 quadcopters
for you. You can check them under VIDEO on our website.
Free Support
If you have any TECHNICAL questions, add a topic under
website and we'll reply as soon as possible.
For NON-TECH questions like order and shipment issues, please
service@sunfounder.com. You're also welcomed to share your projects on FORUM.
Copyright Notice
All contents including but not limited to texts, images, and code in this manual are owned
by the SunFounder Company. You should only use it for personal study, investigation,
enjoyment, or other non-commercial or nonprofit purposes, under the related regulations
and copyrights laws, without infringing the legal rights of the author and relevant right
holders. For any individual or organization that uses these for commercial profit without
permission, the Company reserves the right to take legal action.
Preface
FORUM
section on our
send an email to

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the SF250 and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel

Related Manuals for SunFounder SF250

Summary of Contents for SunFounder SF250

  • Page 1 Visit www.sunfounder.com for more! About the Kit The Q250/SF250 quadcopter is tailored for the hobbyists for FPV flying. It runs the OpenPilot firmware of the flight controller and the electronic speed controller. This kit is designed to meet the hobbyists’...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Contents Overview ............................1 For Q250 ............................1 For SF250 ............................2 For SF250 Assembled Kit (with Radio Transmitter) ..............3 Connect the Receiver ....................... 4 CC3D Flight Controller ....................... 4 Connect to the Receiver ......................5 For PWM Mode: ........................5 For PPM Mode: ........................

  • Page 3: Overview

    This instruction manual applies to the aircraft kits including the Q250 kit, SF250 components kit, and SF250 assembled kit (with radio transmitter). Since the Q250 and SF250 kit are provided in components, you need to mount them yourself. For different aircrafts, check the respective assembly tutorials below.

  • Page 4: For Sf250

    On our website, go to VIDEO -> Aircraft Model -> SF250. You can see 6 videos including a basic introduction one and detailed tutorials which are marked with numbers in order. Aircraft assembly is a task that requires carefulness and patience, so please follow the steps...

  • Page 5: For Sf250 Assembled Kit (With Radio Transmitter)

    For SF250 Assembled Kit (with Radio Transmitter) For the SF250 assembled kit, most of the components have been assembled except the propellers and the battery before arriving at your doorstep. Please finish the assembly by following the tutorial in www.sunfounder.com ->...

  • Page 6: Connect The Receiver

    2. Connect the Receiver The wire connection for the PWM Mode is mentioned in the video, but the wiring differs for various receivers in different modes, so you need to adapt it to the actual situation. First let's check the pins of the CC3D flight controller. CC3D Flight Controller The pins of CC3D flight controller is as shown below.

  • Page 7: Connect To The Receiver

    Connect to the Receiver The CC3D flight controller supports three modes: PWM, PPM, and SBUS. Thus as long as your receiver supports one of these modes, it works with this kit. The wiring for three modes is described below. For PWM Mode: Prepare eight wires for a PWM mode receiver, and connect the receiver and the flight controller as shown below.

  • Page 8: For Ppm Mode

    For PPM Mode: Flight Controller Receiver For PPM mode, since GND, PWR and CH1 are connected together, we need to connect the 3pin cable to other position, and then connect CH6 to PPM(CH2).

  • Page 9: For Sbus Mode

    For SBUS Mode: Flight Controller (Main Port) Receiver SBUS About the Radio Transmitter Since a radio transmitter will be used in software debugging, let’s first learn something about it now. For more details, please refer to the transmitter’s user manual. Talking of radio transmitter control, here a term is involved: "channel", meaning how many types of movement the copter can make by the radio transmitter control.
  • Page 10 Before applying the radio transmitter, you need to know there are two different types of radio transmitter. They are different in the position of throttle – left (what we provided in this kit) and right. The throttle controls the motor speed. The higher you push it, the motor rotates faster, and the quadcopter flies higher, and vice versa.
  • Page 11 Next, let’s move on to software debugging.

  • Page 12: Cc3D Software Debugging

    -> Drones/Model Aircrafts -> CC3D -> SunFounder 250 or Q250 or SunFounder 250+Radiolink T8FB Remote Controller(Assembled), Find Related links at the bottom of the page. Here we take OpenPilot as an example, but you can also use LibrePilot instead. Check the...

  • Page 13: Plug In The Cc3D Flight Control

    Plug in the CC3D Flight Control Connect the CC3D flight controller to computer with the Micro USB Cable included, and you can see the Power LED lights up and stay brighten constantly, while the Status LED blinks. The driver installation will take some minutes; a reminder of failing to install may pop up as shown below, and you can just ignore it - the installation result in Device Manager shall prevail.
  • Page 14 There are two possibilities: 1) OpenPilot or LibrePilot GCS is not installed yet; 2) The driver failed to install. Right-click CopterControl, and click Update Driver Software… Select Browse my computer for driver software.
  • Page 15 Click Browse to enter the installation path of OpenPilot (or LibrePilot), and select the driver folder, then click Next. When the installation is all done, click close to exit. Then you can see the flight controller has been recognized by the computer.

  • Page 16: Configuring The Wizard Of Cc3D

    Later during the application, sometimes it may happen that the device cannot be recognized. Don’t worry, just try to replug the USB cable, or reburn the firmware. Configuring the Wizard of CC3D Ensure the CC3D flight controller is kept connected to the computer, and double-click to open the GCS just installed.
  • Page 17 On the interface of configuring the wizard, there is a red mark reminding you to disassemble the propeller blades before configuring the wizard in case of any accidents. Then click Next to enter the interface of firmware upgrading. It will prompt you that the version of the firmware should be consistent with that of the GCS. For the first time of configuring, you're suggested to upgrade the firmware.
  • Page 18 After writing is done, then click Next to configure the receiver of the remote-control system. Select the corresponding mode according to your receiver’s wiring. Here we take PWM mode as an example. Click Next. Choose the type of vehicle the OpenPilot controller board is going to be used with.
  • Page 19 Then, choose the multirotor type. There are several choices provided on the drop-down list of the multirotor type. Choose Quadcopter Click Next. Choose Rapid ESC.
  • Page 20 Now you can see all the settings you just completed displayed on the interface. Click Next to go to the interface of calibrating the sensor. Be careful to ensure that the vehicle is really level before calibration to avoid any error.

  • Page 21: Calibrating The Motor Output

    For hardware configuration, if you don't remember the options or are not sure about the settings, just leave the default option selected. Calibrating the Motor Output Enter the interface of output calibration of the motor. Pay attention to disassemble the propellers before switching on power.
  • Page 22 Click Next.
  • Page 23 The output calibration means setting the neutral rate for the motor. Follow the steps below: Step 1: Connect the battery to the aircraft. Step 2: Press the Start button below and slide the slider to the right until the motor starts to spin.
  • Page 24 After setting, select the type of your air frame. For a Q250 quadcopter, choose Current Tuning. And for SF250, please choose QAV250. Then click Next. Click Save to save the configuration directly to your OpenPilot controller.
  • Page 25 After saving, there will be an interface of rebooting your controller. Just wait for a while.

  • Page 26: Configuring The Radio Transmitter

    Configuring the Radio Transmitter During the configuration of the radio transmitter, the default option is that the GCS of the CC3D disables the unlocking of the throttle. You'd better check whether the throttle is locked before configuration to avoid any damage during the configuration caused by having forgot to unload the battery.
  • Page 27 Pay attention to the points below before configuration: 1) Keep the receiver correctly connected to the flight controller which is powered by a battery. If not, follow steps in 2. Connect the receiver to connect. 2) Switch on the radio transmitter; make sure your transmitter works well with the receiver, and they can be paired.
  • Page 28 Next, choose the type of transmitter of the radio transmitter between Acro and Multicopter. Acro is suitable for fixed wing aircraft and quadcopter. Therefore, here choose Acro. Next, select the transmitter mode of the radio transmitter. Here are two options: throttle-left mode and throttle-right mode.
  • Page 29 Click Next, follow the prompts on the screen to calibrate the throttle, aileron, elevator, and rudder respectively. Notes: Firstly When you move the throttle stick for the first time, if it is moved all the time even when you move other channel sticks, you should follow these steps to check. 1) Check whether the receiver is correctly connected to the CC3D board.
  • Page 30 Then, calibrate the flight mode. A 3-way auxiliary channel would be better to set. Note down the aux channel for flight mode setting, since we will use it later. Configure Accessory Accessory 1 Accessory 2. If you don’t want to do that, just click Next/Skip.
  • Page 31 After all the configuration, keep all the channel switched at neutral. Click Next. Please move all controls to their maximum on both directions to check whether all channels have been configured well. You should see the stick in OpenPilot moves as the real stick does.
  • Page 32 Based on the instructions, pull the throttle, aileron, elevator, or rudder or toggle the mode switch to check whether it moves in the same direction as the stick actually does. For example, when you move the Throttle stick from lowest to highest on the transmitter, if the throttle stick on the OpenPilot also moves in the same way, it’s OK;...

  • Page 33: Modifying The Rx Input Parameters

    Until now, all the configuration of the channels is completed. Click Save and then enter the configuration of unlocking the radio transmitter. During configuration of the radio transmitter, by default the throttle is locked. You can define the method to unlock it in the way you like. Next, set the time of receiving no signal to automatically lock the throttle.

  • Page 34: Pwm Mode

    Some parameters are not reasonably set by default, which may cause failure in unlocking the aircraft, thus we should modify these parameters prior to flying. PWM Mode Click Output on the menu column at the left side. Neutral is the critical point of the motor to spin that you configured previously.

  • Page 35: Ppm Mode

    Neutral: the threshold value of the channel. The Neutral for the throttle should be set greater than that for four motors (1088), and about 50 greater than the Min value, in case the aircraft takes off when we just slightly pull the throttle; and it leaves enough throttle ascending space, which would be easier to operate for entry-level hobbyists.
  • Page 36 Click Input, and set the Min, Neutral and Max values for all channels. Min: the minimum value of the channel. Neutral: the threshold value of the channel. The Neutral for throttle should be set greater than that for four motors (1089), and about 50 greater than the Min value, in case the aircraft takes off when we just slightly pull the throttle;...

  • Page 37: Sbus Mode

    Move the channel sticks. If the channel value slider is toggled reversely, just tick Reversed. For instance, when you move the Pitch stick from bottom to top, if the channel value slider is toggled from right to left at the same time, it indicates it is reversed. Thus you should tick the box Reversed after Pitch.

  • Page 38: Calibrating The Aircraft

    Move the aux channel for flight mode setting, and you can see the Slider is toggled to the corresponding position (Pos. 1, Pos. 2, Pos. 3…). For beginners, DO select Pos. 1. You can try Pos. 2 or higher level when you've mastered the basic control and can handle higher ones. Note: The figure below is to show you that you can move the aux channel to select the flight mode, which does NOT mean to select Pos.
  • Page 39 Click FlightData, and check whether the horizontal line is in parallel with the yellow line or not. If yes, the calibration is ok; otherwise, follow the instructions below to operate. Place the aircraft on a leveled surface, click Altitude, then Level to calibrate. When the progress bar goes to 100%, click Save.

  • Page 40: Setting Parameters Manually

    Click FlightData again, and then you can see parallel lines now. So you've finished the debugging. Now, let’s mount the propellers, and unlock the aircraft to check how it flies well. Note: If an aircraft bumping happens, the setting parameters will change, thus you need to follow 3.
  • Page 41 Step 3: Move the Throttle stick to check the channel value status on the OpenPilot. If the Pitch changes when you move the Throttle stick, just exchange the channel of Pitch and Throttle on the interface, then click Save. Now Throttle is Chan3, while Pitch...
  • Page 42 Step 5: Move the Aileron stick. If the Roll channel value changes, no need to modify its channel. But if the changes when you move the Roll stick, just exchange the channel Chan4 and Chan5. Step 6: Move the Rudder stick.

  • Page 43: Ppm Mode

    Step 9: Click Input, and set the Min, Neutral and Max values for all channels. Min: the minimum value of the channel. Neutral: the threshold value of the channel. The Neutral for throttle should be set greater than that for four motors (1088), and about 50 greater than the Min value, in case the aircraft takes off when we just slightly pull the throttle;...
  • Page 44 Step 3: Move the Throttle channel stick to check the channel value status on the OpenPilot. If the Pitch changes when you move the Throttle channel stick, just exchange the channel of Pitch and Throttle, then click Save. Now Throttle is Chan3, while Pitch is Chan1.
  • Page 45 Step 5: Move the Aileron channel stick. If the Roll channel value changes, no need to modify its channel. If the changes when you move the Roll stick, just exchange the channel Chan4 and Chan5. Step 6: Move the Rudder channel stick.
  • Page 46 Click Input, and set the Min, Neutral and Max values for all channels. Min: the minimum value of the channel. Neutral: the threshold value of the channel. The Neutral for throttle should be set greater than that for four motors (1089), and about 50 greater than the Min value, in case the aircraft takes off when we just slightly pull the throttle;...

  • Page 47: Sbus Mode

    Move the channel stick. If the channel value slider is toggled reversely, just tick Reversed. For instance, when you move the Pitch stick from bottom to top, if the channel value slider is toggled from right to left at the same time, it indicates it is reversed. Thus you should tick the box Reversed after Pitch.
  • Page 48 If the Roll changes when you move the Pitch channel stick, just exchange the channel of Roll and Pitch, then click Save. Now Roll is Chan1, while Pitch is Chan2. Step 5: Move the Aileron channel stick. If the Roll channel value changes, no need to modify its channel.

  • Page 49: Save The Settings

    Move the channel stick. If the channel value slider is toggled reversely, just tick Reversed. For instance, when you move the Pitch stick from bottom to top, if the channel value slider is toggled from right to left, it indicates it is reversed. Thus we should tick the box Reversed after Pitch.
  • Page 50 4. More Info. You've completed the configuration of the CC3D flight controller. You can refer then to videos under VIDEO on our website www.sunfounder.com for the assembly and fly-related guide of the quadcopters like Q250 and SF250. For any technical questions, welcome to post under FORUM on our website. And do not hesitate if you have suggestions or want to share your amazing and useful experiment in post or video.

This manual is also suitable for:

Q250

Table of Contents