Walkera Rodeo 150 Racer Drone

[Toxikrocks 0]

I would like to attach some leds that I can turn on and off.  Can I use the pins to attach a led strip and control it via the controller? 

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

Sorry, but I don't know of any easily accessible pins that can be used for that.

 

[Toxikrocks 0]

What would be the next best thing? Solder it up to the buzzer so I can control it from the transmitter? 

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

If you don't mind giving up the buzzer you could re-purpose it to control some LED's. But the buzzer signal is 5V and can only drive about 30mA maximum. If you only need to turn on a couple low current LED's then the hack is relatively simple. Just remove buzzer, add LED(s) with current limit resistor(s).

But to operate some bright LED's (that need different voltage and/or need more current) you have to add a driver circuit to the buzzer signal. For example, you could swap out the buzzer with a  MOSFET SSR IC, such as something based on a VO14642A. Then this SSR could handle up to 2A directly from the 2S battery pack.

 

[x6oclzjn 0]

On 2016/07/12 at 11:01 PM, Mr.RC-Cam said:

I've posted DiY instructions for adding a $10 OSD (On Screen Display) to the Rodeo 150 here:
 http://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4101-diy-walkera-rodeo-150-minimosd-installation/

FWIW, I'm still waiting for the Baro sensors to arrive. Should be here soon.

Thanks Mr.RC-Cam for all the great work. I should be receiving my minimosd tomorrow at which point I'll be adding my first hack to my Rodeo 150.

For my second hack I'm thinking of adding a servo to adjust the camera angle. It might be because I'm quite new to FPV flying, and maybe I'll get used to it, but I feel like it would be nice to be able to adjust the camera angle on the fly. When flying at a low angle of attack (indoors) I want the camera to point mostly forward. When flying outdoors and I have some more space to push it, the camera obviously needs to point more up.

I can see on Cleanflight CLI that there are additional modes for Servo1-3. I'm thinking of using one of these for my mini-gimbal hack

I couldn't find anyone that has tried adding a servo to the Walkera FC. Can somebody possibly point me in the right direction to figure out which MCU pins are used for these additional servo outputs? Maybe someone has a standard SPF3 and could test the connections between the servo headers and the MCU pins? As a last resort I will have to configure the servo in Cleanflight and test each of the impossibly small pins on a scope for a matching signal.

Thanks,
x6

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

Quote

Can somebody possibly point me in the right direction to figure out which MCU pins are used for these additional servo outputs?

Here's a discussion that has some basic tips for connecting a servo to a SPRacing F3 flight controller:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2598878-Seriously-Pro-Racing-F3-servo-tilt

 

Quote

As a last resort I will have to configure the servo in Cleanflight and test each of the impossibly small pins on a scope for a matching signal.

You should plan on doing that; From my experience hacking the Rodeo, it's doubtful that the proprietary Walkera FC has a dedicated header for the "spare" servo signals. If they did it then you have essentially won the state lottery.

FYI, tilt servos are not something expected on a racing style drone. The task is easily handled by manually adjusting the camera angle before flight. But it's a hobby, so do what makes YOU happy. Be sure to post photos of how you crammed a servo controlled tilt mechanism into your tiny Rodeo -- I'd like to see that magic!

 

[x6oclzjn 0]

On 2017/01/24 at 10:39 PM, Mr.RC-Cam said:

Be sure to post photos of how you crammed a servo controlled tilt mechanism into your tiny Rodeo -- I'd like to see that magic!

Having another look at the camera mount I'm starting to doubt any servo would fit in there. I am getting used to the angle, but now I'm getting very annoyed that the camera angle keeps changing whenever I crash (which is quite often). A gimbal would keep it in place or I could at least correct the angle after a crash.

I finally got my micro minimosd today so when I have everything disassembled I'll take some measurements and see if there is any hope for a gimbal hack.

In the mean time, here's the STL file for replacement landing skids if anyone is interested.
 

Rodeo 150 Landing Skid Rev4.zip

[jm12 0]

Thanks to Me.RC-Cam and G-unit. I bought a Rodeo 150 and an  XSR-M receiver thinking that both form factor and connector were interchangeable with stock- not quite. This thread was the only place on the internet where I could find details on pin layout and it was relatively easy from there. Did anyone ever managed to get telemetry going? I ended up just taping off the smartport lead but I would love to get it hooked up if there's a successful example out there to follow.

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

I don't know of anyone that has connected the Rodeo to a Smart Port R/C Rx, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

My OSD hack information shows how to access the FC's UART2:
https://www.rc-cam.com/forum/index.php?/topic/4101-diy-walkera-rodeo-150-minimosd-installation/&do=findComment&comment=28599

Then you would use the CleanFlight Configuration app to configure the FC to enable the Smart Port function on UART2.

 

[jm12 0]

Thanks, I may give this a shot- if I do I will report back. This world is very new to me so I don't have much of a foundation to go off of thus the reluctance to go poking about without concrete precedent. I think G-unit had tried but I don't know if he ever got things working.

[Tmo 0]

I am wondering how to replace the stock receiver with a frsky receiver?

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

The basics on installing a different receiver are shown in this guy's video:

 

[Tmo 0]

I can not seem to find a pinout for the rodeo 150 external Rx connector. The best information I could find so far has me to believe that the top 3 pins (from left to right) are GND, V+ and signal (maybe PPM and SBUS). I don't know what the bottom 3 pins are.

 

Does anyone have a pinout ?

[Mr.RC-Cam 129]

The video shows the receiver pinout at the 3:00 minute mark. What it shows matches the photo you posted.

The bottom row is somewhat of a mystery (the manual calls it a 5V power output).