The latest Quadrino is 60% smaller yet is a total upgrade of the CPU, sensors, expansion ports and it now comes standard with on-board 50Hz GPS! All this mounted with anti-vibration rubber inside a beautifully designed case for protection.
Available now at the Lynxmotion web site.
Robotshop + Lynxmotion + FlyingEinstein Team Up
We are all very excited to finally tell you that Robotshop & Lynxmotion and Flying Einstein have teamed up to bring you the newest generation of Quadrino - The Quadrino Nano. Although this puppy is small, it packs more power and features than any Quadrino before it!
Read the full press release on PRWeb.
This has been a joint development with the Robotshop and their new Lynxmotion UAV division headed up by none other than Eric Nantel (previously of Dialfonzo-Copter).
"I've known both Lynxmotion and Robotshop from their roots because of my enthusiasm for robotics. Suffice to say I am very excited to work with them and the last few months have been a great experience in designing the Quadrino Nano together. There is much more to come!"
- Colin MacKenzie, CEO FlyingEinstein, LLC
See the full Quick Start Guide for step-by-step instructions. The blue boxes below are hyper-linked to the tutorials.
The Quadrino Flight Controller is a ready-to- fly alternative to the complicated process of gathering the many separate pieces required to make a MultiWii multi-rotor copter.
The Quadrino includes the Arduino micro-controller, Gyro, Accelerometer, Barometer, Magnetometer and on-board usb interface. Plugin your radio receiver channels and ESC motor wires and you are ready-to-fly(1). It supports all MultiWii features such as auto-level mode (acc mode), heading hold (mag mode), and altitude hold (baro). Buy Now!
The Quadrino and MultiWii software supports a variety of flight modes.
Acrobatic Mode is really just flying without any features enabledm this is where you are in the most control of the flight response. When you are an experienced flyer you will probably fly most often in this mode doing flips, barrel rolls, deadman drops and full throttle horizontal flight!
Auto-Level Mode (ACC or ANGLE) is where the copter's control system and sensors keep the copter level with reference to the direction of gravity. In this mode, if you do not give any input to the roll/pitch stick then the copter will remain level "on plane" at all times even if pushed by a gust of wind. Keep in mind though this is not position hold. Wind or other influence could still push the copter in any direction, but the copter will return to a level orientation. In contrast, a gust of wind in acro mode could cause the copter to bank or pitch. In MultiWii version 2.1 ACC mode was renamed to ANGLE mode.
Flip training HORIZON mode is a combination of the ACC/ANGLE mode and regular acrobat mode (no auto-level). When you are not touching the roll/pitch stick then the copter auto-levels, but when you start putting in bank or pitch angles then the copter morphs to acrobat mode. This mode is basically a flip-trainer. It allows you to full bank or pitch to begin a flip and then let go of the stick to have the copter right itself. It really works, and is an awesome feature, but you can still crash the copter if you attempt it at low altitude. Altitude is your friend here!
Compass Hold (MAG hold) when enabled will keep the copter pointing in the same compass direction. You can still YAW, changing the copter's heading, and the copter will then maintain the new heading. This is great for beginner flyers, they can concentrate on the throttle, roll and pitch without worrying about maintaining the copter's heading. The ACC mode, or auto-level, has been renamed to ANGLE mode and the behavior hasn't changed.
Head free (Care free) mode uses the compass and your last known position to transform the commanded stick input from your transmitter from the persepective of the copter into the persepective of you the pilot. For most beginner pilots the toughest part of flying is projecting yourself onto the copters orientation so that you can determine how you need to move the control stick. You have to imagine in your minds eye, you are sitting on the copter and facing the same direction. Head free mode removes this burden! The copter control software, knowing where you are, adjusts the stick input so that roll left is always left on the copter from your perspective and roll right is always right, and the same with the pitch. You take away the notion of a "front" on the copter, there is no front anymore!
GPS Position Hold enhances the auto-level mode to also keep the copter in the same position. It will bank the copter in order to counteract any external force such as wind. Now when you enable this feature the copter stays in one spot!
GPS Return to Home (RTH) when enabled will take full control of the copter, turning it toward the home position and then flying on it's own back to the set home position. The home position is set each time the copter motors are armed. Lost orientation of the copter? Lost sight of it? Turn on the GPS RTH and it will come right back to you. Hopefully, there are no trees or low flying planes in the way! It isnt that smart.
Bluetooth Remote Easily add a Bluetooth or 3DR radio and control features and parameters of your copter while in flight! Get fancy heads-up displays with telemetry, power output, GPS+GoogleMap and more. Also control flight parameters while in the air including Position & RTH control parameters. I recommend an Android tablet or phone but you can also use your laptop. If you plan on using a laptop then use the 3DR radios, they are easier to use and work better. Otherwise, with Android we are left with only bluetooth as a choice since they dont support external radio links.
The Quadrino has a few features that are unique to other MultiWii boards. The most appreciated feature is the EZ-Connect wiring system that makes the initial setup of the flight control board on your copter much easier. This special cable provides the typical 3-pin RC socket headers that connect directly to the ESC inputs. The cable will source power from the first ESC by default. A second cable connects directly to your receiver using single pin female headers. Swapping Quadrino boards using the EZ-Connect system is so easy some people are purchasing an extra set of EZ-Connect cables and sharing the flight controller between many quad frames!
The Quadrino contains some extra diodes to prevent USB power from going to the motor ESCs. This prevents some cases where the motors might throttle up while you are configuring your quad. Most boards do not have these diodes. If you want to bypass this protection, heaven forbid, you can using an alternate protection-less power input.
Integrated logic-level converters are placed between the sensors and the main microprocessor. These allow the main microprocessor to communicate with the sensors at the highest possible speed. Some boards simply use resistor dividers, make sure to look for "logic level converters" in any MultiWii board you buy else your sensor communication will be operating at a lower speed affecting the flight response of the copter.