Beyond Futuristic Cameras
Beyond Futuristic Cameras
The A2 flight controller offers excellent performance and lots of features. Together with its user friendly interface, it makes it a great solution for aerial photography and video.
In the box you'll find the main control module, IMU module, GPS and LED unit, PMU, 2 male to male servo cables, a USB programming cable, 3 sizes of carbon rods to mount the GPS unit and mounting accessories. The high quality looking cases are all aluminum.
The A2's built in flight control receiver makes the wiring and setup pretty simple. It works natively with Futaba FASST or DJI DESST transmitters. Users with Spektrum transmitters can connect two DSM2 satellite receivers to the flight controller.
The software of A2 offers 9 types of multirotors to choose from. If you use a custom unlisted airframe, A2 has a mixer that allows you to setup the motor parameters to fit your needs. The Intelligent Orientation Control (IOC) feature uses the GPS and Compass data to let the copter know exactly where it is from the takeoff point. It can also forward direction as well as a user defined point of interest. There are three modes you can select: course lock - which faces the copter in the desired forward direction (in this mode the nose of the copter is irrelevant to the flight path), home lock - where you can take off after locking the GPS and recorded position so that you can fly it back if you lose orientation, and point of interest, which will fly the copter over a chosen object or location.
If your copter has retractable landing gear, you can use it in case of a safety problem, or when the motor is out. The landing gear will automatically move to the down position so you don't land on your camera and gimbal. The landing gear will not retract up until you take off and move 5M above the take off altitude. This is great and saves your servos if you accidentally hit the switch before you take off.
The Failsafe feature can be triggered manually from the transmitter or from a loss of signal from the transmitter. The software enables 3 modes in case of failsafe: Hover, Go Home and Land, and Altitude Go Home and Land.
In the hover mode, if failsafe is triggered, the copter will stop moving and hold its position waiting for the signal to return. Go Home and Land are amazing because the copter will fly itself back to the take off point and autoland. If the copter is below 20M from the takeoff altitude it will first climb to 20M and then fly home. This is to avoid possible obstructions in the flight path. If the copter is above 20M it will stay at that altitude and fly home. This is a very important feature because it saves the copter from getting lost or be damaged.
Losing a motor on a hexacopter used to be a severe safety problem because with no control everything could happen. Now it is relatively safe. When a motor stops spinning the flight controller will compensate by spinning the copter around the unfunctioning motor. The operator can land instantly or fly the copter to a safer landing zone.
Flying the A2 is a very enjoyable experience. In GPS and Atti modes it will self level when you release the command sticks and overall it feels like you are a flying a normal helicopter with training wheels on. In manual mode you'll gain more power and as the pilot you will need to control it just like a normal helicopter. You can get more speed out of manual mode by increasing the tilt angle and in some cases manual mode can be smoother with altitude changes.
The A2 has the look and feel of a true classy product. It performs perfectly and it's very solid and reliable. It has the right features and its software makes it easy to setup, fly and tune.
Take your creative enthusiasm to the skies!
