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Autopilot Fine Tuning

T

todehnal

Well Known Member
I'm finally getting around to fine tuning my autopilot. I have the Skyview touch, with none of the extra autopilot knobs installed. My preliminary testing resulted in some overshoot, indicating the need to increase the sensitivity setting, which is set at the default value of 10, and shows a max setting of 24. The instructions also state that if increasing the sensitivity failed to correct the overshoot, to try reducing the gain. I thought that it might be advantageous to ask what others have found to be satisfactory settings for the sensitivity, and gain values. Hopefully pointing me in the right direction may save me a lot of wrong steps. Thanks for your help............Tom
 
DHeal said:
I have been using the downloaded "Pre-Set" AP settings that Van's offers on the RV-12 "Support" website. Have you tried those settings? They work fine for me.

www.vansaircraft.com/public/downloads.htm
Click to expand...

Thank David. That's a dotGCA file, and I can't view the settings. I would need to load the files. I would like to know what they are, as apposed to the default Dynon settings. If you have that info, it would be terrific. Thanks.. Tom
 
Additionally, after reading the "RV 12 Skyview Pre-Sets Read Me" file that is in Van's RV-12 download section, it clearly states that all autopilot Settings will be returned to factory settings, so loading this file will not change my settings, or my overshoot condition. Still hoping to get some feedback on any setting changes that other auto pilot users have made before taking on the challenge. Thanks in advance.............Tom
 
I didn't have a lot of luck with those settings. Seemed to hunt in pitch and roll rate seemed high. Each to his own, but here's what I settled on. I started with Mitch's settings but changed:

Roll Sensitivity 5
Roll Gain 2.9
Max Bank Angle 25

Pitch Sensitivity 10
Pitch Gain 3.0

YMMV
 
With the factory default settings, straight and level flight works really well for me. The only problem that I am seeing is when I use the autopilot to perform a complete 90 degree turn, it will overshoot the new heading by 5 to 7 degrees, and then make the final correction back to the selected heading. According the Dynon manual, I need to first, increase the sensitivity, and if that fails to fix it, I need to reduce the gain. Problem that I see is that the default roll gain setting is already at zero. Anyway, that was my original reason for asking for what most of you had settled on for your settings. But they seem to be all over the map. I guess the bottom line will be to follow the Dynon guide through, and see what I end up with......Tom
 
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