Can One Fly Two Quads At Once?

[GlassKnees]

This question has come to me several times over the last year or so. Can one fly two quads using the same transmitter? I think you can. All you have to do is bind both receivers to the same transmitter.

But why would you want to do this? Since both aircraft are getting the same signals and responding the same way, except perhaps for minor differences in performance, wouldn't it be dangerous? Well, yes, unless perhaps both quads had mission way point capabilities. You could plan separate waypoint missions - I'm thinking of having my Tarot Iron Man, with a gimbal and camera set up, fly a couple of meters above and behind my Parallax Elev-8 - I could shoot video of my Elev-8 in flight....

I can set the two aircraft apart and set up each mission so that they fly to their respective first waypoint and loiter for a couple of seconds - I can have the Tarot linger a tad longer to give the Elev-8 a chance to depart on its course. I can set the altitude a meter or two higher than the Elev-8's and simply have the Tarot follow at the same speed. At the end, they would each land at their respective takeoff points.

What if something goes wrong? Well, I can select any one of three flight modes which I can select via a three position switch on my transmitter. Typically, I set Stabilize, Auto (fly the waypoint mission autonomously), and RTL. On the Elev-8 I can set the third flight mode to Land and the Tarot to RTL - that way if something goes awry I can immediately land the Elev-8 and have the Tarot head back for home (I can take over manually again after the Elev-8 has landed and disarmed).

Another thing I can do is take advantage of APM's ch 9 which I used to autotune the Elev-8 - I can change the ch 9 selection on the extended tuning page in Mission Planner from autotune to Land - that way, I can flip the GEAR switch on the transmitter to cause the Elev-8 to land without affecting the Tarot's flight. But I would have to experiement - will toggling the GEAR switch override the autopilot, or do I have to be in a manual (Stabilize, Alt Hold) mode in order for it to work?

If I Can work out the math and test the safety contingencies, I think it would be fun to capture video of my Elev-8 in flight from above...

 

[LoneRCRanger]

Hopefully, someone else can help you. Me, I have enough trouble just trying to fly one!

 

[RENOV8R]

Or you could just set up a mission for your Elev-8 to fly. Then just manually fly your Tarot above it and record it's flight. Of course this would require the Tarot to be set up with an FPV system so that you could see first-hand what you are recording

 

[GlassKnees]

Yeah, that's a possibility - I'd have to set two different flight modes on each aircraft for the one switch position on the transmitter. That way, I'd have manual control on the Tarot and if something goes awry I can still select the panic switch position - either RTL or land for the Elev-8 and RTL or whatever for the Tarot. Thanks!

Of course, I still have to complete the Tarot build and do some flight testing....

 

[mozquito1]

Just use your feet.
I have an evo tx. The firmware update that you can't get no more, hobby king took if off the site. If you took it close to another quad you could take over control of it as well as your own.
Which is why they took it off.
But it had to have a flysky rx.
Get this question quite often on here.
But I have no interest.

 

[Tentoes]

Successfully?

 

[mdm]

My grandson and I have a pair of Promark VR70 that will bind to the same transmitter if you aren't careful. Just for grins I attempted to fly both at the same time intentionally. What an exciting experience that turned into. Sounds good in theory but the reality isn't so good. Minor differences in performance and the wind experienced by them quickly made them head off with different directions, altitudes, speeds,...

 

[mozquito1]

Successfully?

Apparently so but like the post above there will be minor effects that change Flight paths. They may sync for the first few seconds of flight. unless your cross-eyed no chance

 

[GlassKnees]

My grandson and I have a pair of Promark VR70 that will bind to the same transmitter if you aren't careful. Just for grins I attempted to fly both at the same time intentionally. What an exciting experience that turned into. Sounds good in theory but the reality isn't so good. Minor differences in performance and the wind experienced by them quickly made them head off with different directions, altitudes, speeds,...

Well, that's why I would rely on waypoints and have the autopilots fly the aircraft. Again, if anything went awry I could reserve one flight mode switch position for aborting - have one aircraft land while the other returns to the launch point. I would not attempt this except on a calm day and in a clear field with nobody around...

 

[mozquito1]

My brain hurts, I just like freestyle.

 

[Tentoes]

You MIGHT pull it off with GPS drones that fly themselves.