FlySky FS-i6 Programming
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FlySky FS-i6 Programming

For combat robotics
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Programming the FlySky FS-i6 Transmitter for Combat Robotics
You bought a FlySky-i6 radio system because of its impressive list of features, its incredibly low price, and its
popularity with combat robot builders. It's what you call a 'no-brainer'. Then the box arrived and it contained a
transmitter, a receiver, and no manual. A quick search on the 'net and you have a FlySky manual -- half of it is in
Chinese and the other half might as well be. No problem, you head over to YouTube and soon have multiple
videos on how to setup the FS-i6... for airplanes, helicopters, and quads. What about your combat robot?
Not to worry -- I'm here to help. I'll try to avoid aircraft related names when describing the radio functions but
I'll leave them in where required to allow reference to the manual or labels on the transmitter.
There are multiple versions of the FS-i6 manual on-line. None are good, but the best is this all-English version
from the FlySky site:
http://www.flysky-cn.com/download_detail/&downloadsId=4.html
The FlySky i6X transmitter is functionally very similar to the FS-i6. There are some internal differences but almost
everything in this guide applies to the i6X as well. I've added 'i6X' notes where I have found differences.
The contents of this guide were tested and verified on a FlySky i6 running firmware version 2.0 dated 16-Aug-
2017.
Copyright 2018, Mark Joerger

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Summary of Contents for FlySky FS-i6

  • Page 1 It's what you call a 'no-brainer'. Then the box arrived and it contained a transmitter, a receiver, and no manual. A quick search on the 'net and you have a FlySky manual -- half of it is in Chinese and the other half might as well be.
  • Page 2 Quick and Dirty Combat Set-up You're in a hurry? Don't want any details? Grab four 'AA' cells and stuff them in the transmitter… Step 1: Turn On Elevon Mixing Flip all the toggle switches along the top of the transmitter 'up' and pull the left control stick all the way 'down'.

  • Page 3: Turning On The Transmitter

    The transmitter does not check the positions of variable knobs VrA and VrB before powering up. Channels 5 and 6 are assigned to those knobs by default -- do not assign weapons or direct motion control to the FS-i6 variable knobs! Menu Navigation Menu navigation does not follow an entirely consistent method, but it starts to make sense after a while.

  • Page 4: Transmitter Modes

    Transmitter Mode 2 is the U.S. standard which has the vertical sticks reversed: Throttle channel 3 on the left stick and Elevator channel 2 on the right stick. The FS-i6 transmitter comes with Mode 2 enabled. The FlySky FS-i6 allows switching between these two 'standard' modes and offers two additional modes, but neither Mode 3 nor Mode 4 have any benefit in robot combat.
  • Page 5 This video shows how to convert an FS-i6 control stick to spring-centering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxSoGHRH45k • You can also change the FS-i6 firmware to allow a transmitter with channel 3 centered to startup without setting off the safety lockout with a setting in the 'secret menu': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDRxZqklQbg&feature=youtu.be Alternately, you might just pull down the channel 3 stick at startup.

  • Page 6: End Points

    Functions Menu Programming The FlySky FS-i6 and other twin-stick radios are designed to control a variety of fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft. Many of the control functions available on the transmitter are of no use to combat robot applications. The functions in this section have specific combat robot applications. They are listed in (almost) the order they occur in the menu -- I moved a couple functions to the end for special attention.

  • Page 7: Aux Channels

    The Auxiliary Channels function can assign radio channels 5 and 6 to any of the four switches (SWA, SWB, SWC, SWD) or two variable knobs (VrA, VrB). Most versions of the FS-i6 transmitter firmware default to assigning radio channels 5 and 6 to variable knobs VrA and VrB.
  • Page 8 In model airplanes channel 6 is often assigned to the control of Flaps which modify the lift properties of the wing at slow flight speeds. See the warning about assigning robot weapon control to the FS-i6 knobs in the ‘Turning On the Transmitter’ section of this guide. •...
  • Page 9 Dual Rate/Exp 'Dual Rate' and 'Exponential Response' are typically addressed separately in transmitter function settings, but FlySky has opted to combine them into a single setting. Both functions are switched between their two settings the same time by switch SWA.
  • Page 10 The custom mixes can be saved for other uses. • The FS-i6 does not allow custom mixes to be assigned to a transmitter switch to turn them on/off in combat; they must be turned on/off from within the menu system. This severely limits their use in combat robot control.
  • Page 11 o V-Tail V-tail is used less frequently than Elevon as a combat robot drive mix. It moves the rotation control axis from the generally preferred right stick Aileron location to the left stick Rudder location. Right and left side speed controllers plug into receiver ports 4 and 2.

  • Page 12: Throttle Curve

    o Throttle Curve This function adjusts the response of channel 3 to compensate for non-linear engine responses in 'gas' engines. It is similar to the 'Dual Rate/Exp' function for the other stick channels but a more elaborate response curve can be defined by setting response at five stick points: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. It has two modes controlled by SWB: 'Normal' and 'Idle Up' that are set independently -- like the dual rate.

  • Page 13: System Settings Menu

    The FS-i6 is made to control airplanes and a variety of helicopter styles. The Type Select helicopter types are very specific to helicopter functions and are of no use to combat robots.
  • Page 14 Receiver Setup Submenu Hidden down near the bottom of the 'System Settings Menu' is a 'RX Setup' option that opens a new submenu. Most of the functions included in this sub-menu apply only if you're adding receivers that use a different protocol or setting up telemetry sensors.
  • Page 15 Troubleshooting Channel Mixing Problems Having your channel mixing setup correctly on your transmitter gets the right signals sent to your receiver, but that doesn't mean that your robot is going to respond correctly to the stick inputs. The left and right side motor controllers may be plugged into the wrong receiver ports, the current polarity to the motors may be reversed, and you may even have accidentally activated a mixing option in the controller board that is competing with your transmitter mixing.

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