Autopilot swaying left and right of track
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@copper Thank you sir! I followed your suggestion to copy some ai.cfg settings from the stock Bonanza and it helped considerably. I am now able to fly an ILS approach including procedure turns using a combination of heading mode to manage the procedure turn and then switching to localizer normal mode when inbound on a 30 degree intercept to the localizer course. Its now as close to real life as anyone could reasonably expect and I have no hesitations using it to keep my instrument skills sharp. Using the Bonanza AI stick&rudder parameters, the autopilot captured and followed the localizer as good as real life down to minimums for the approach.
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Replacing the entire AI.CFG file with the one from the G36 seems to also work well...
And, making the following changes to the AI.CFG file will smooth out the Heading Hold and Altitude Hold...
headingPID = 1.0, 0.01, 1.0, 0.2, 1.0
verticalSpeedPID = 1.0, 0.05, 0.2, 300.0,1000.0 -
@RetiredMan93231 So the "smooth" heading hold means that it will also no longer be swaying left and right?
Then I'd use your parameters instead of the G36 ones since those don't fix the vibration of Altitude Hold unfortunately. -
@copper said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
@RetiredMan93231 So the "smooth" heading hold means that it will also no longer be swaying left and right?
Then I'd use your parameters instead of the G36 ones since those don't fix the vibration of Altitude Hold unfortunately.I recommend doing both, because the G36 AI.CFG fixes the VOR/LOC tracking... Start with the G36 file, then add my additional fixes to the G36 file.
I don't see any pitch vibration after making these changes, but if you still have pitch vibration, you can also try adding this @weptburrito fix to the pitchPID parameters... https://community.justflight.com/post/8010
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Here are some additional recommended changes that will further improve the autopilot performance...
ai.cfg
[STICKANDRUDDER]
;pitchPID = 2.0, 0.1, 5.0, 1.0, 100.0
pitchPID = 2.0, 0.1, 2.0, 1.0, 100.0;headingPID = 2.0, 0.01, 1.2, 0.2, 1.0
headingPID = 1.0, 0.01, 1.0, 0.2, 1.0;verticalSpeedPID = 0.5, 0.01, 0.35, 300.0,1000.0
verticalSpeedPID = 1.0, 0.05, 0.2, 300.0,1000.0;nav_yawPID = 0.015, 0.005, 0.001, 1.0, 360
systems.cfg
[AUTOPILOT]
yaw_damper_gain =0 ;2 -
@RetiredMan93231 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
Here are some additional recommended changes that will further improve the autopilot performance...
ai.cfg
;nav_yawPID = 0.015, 0.005, 0.001, 1.0, 360
I notice that you didn't include a replacement for this line. Just checking to confirm whether that is what you intended.
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@Sender46 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
@RetiredMan93231 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
Here are some additional recommended changes that will further improve the autopilot performance...
ai.cfg
;nav_yawPID = 0.015, 0.005, 0.001, 1.0, 360
I notice that you didn't include a replacement for this line. Just checking to confirm whether that is what you intended.
Yes, this line has been commented out to completely remove this parameter...
This change, and the change to the Yaw Damper parameter, are needed to eliminate a constant left rudder input coming from the autopilot that causes the aircraft to slip during cruise flight. This aircraft has no autopilot rudder axis, so no rudder input should occur from the autopilot.
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@copper said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
It would generally be great to have a full STICKANDRUDDER section. Is your change based on the stock or on the G36 values?
I am using the complete AI.CFG file from the G36 as the basis for these changes...
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@copper said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
It would generally be great to have a full STICKANDRUDDER section. Is your change based on the stock or on the G36 values?
Here is the full [STICKANDRUDDER] section of the AI.CFG file...
[STICKANDRUDDER]
rudderGroundPID = 0.015, 0.001, 0.001, 1.0, 1.0 ; Pk,Ik,Dk,I boundary, D boundary
throttleGroundPID = 1.0,0.10,10.0,10.0,20.0
brakeDifferentialPID = 0.0, 0.0,0.0,0.0, 0.0
throttleDifferentialPID = 0.0 ,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0
throttlePID = 20.0,0.50,20.0,20.0,500.0
;pitchPID = 2.0, 0.1, 5.0, 1.0, 100.0
pitchPID = 2.0, 0.1, 2.0, 1.0, 100.0
rollPID = 1.2, 0.1, 0.6, 8.0, 100.0
;headingPID = 2.0, 0.01, 1.2, 0.2, 1.0
headingPID = 1.0, 0.01, 1.0, 0.2, 1.0
;verticalSpeedPID = 0.5, 0.01, 0.35, 300.0,1000.0
verticalSpeedPID = 1.0, 0.05, 0.2, 300.0,1000.0
nav_ex1PID = 3.5, 0.1, 10.0, 0.035, 50.0
;nav_yawPID = 0.015, 0.005, 0.001, 1.0, 360
glideSlopePID = 4.12, 0.05, 4.5, 2.0, 60.0
flightLevelPID = 100.0, 1.0, 10.0, 100.0, 1000.0 -
@RetiredMan93231 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
@Sender46 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
@RetiredMan93231 said in Autopilot swaying left and right of track:
Here are some additional recommended changes that will further improve the autopilot performance...
ai.cfg
;nav_yawPID = 0.015, 0.005, 0.001, 1.0, 360
I notice that you didn't include a replacement for this line. Just checking to confirm whether that is what you intended.
Yes, this line has been commented out to completely remove this parameter...
This change, and the change to the Yaw Damper parameter, are needed to eliminate a constant left rudder input coming from the autopilot that causes the aircraft to slip during cruise flight. This aircraft has no autopilot rudder axis, so no rudder input should occur from the autopilot.
Great explanation. Thank you.
