[Paparazzi-devel] How does throttle management work?

[Maik Höpfel]

Hello everyone,

I can report that Paparazzi is flying very well and we're generally
pleased with the results. We're flying an EasyGlider and using
Hendrix' (I think) EasyGlider file, but we did have to tune quite a
few parameters. Anyhow, in calm weather it's already flying excellent,
but we do get quite a few course deviations in stronger winds (5+
m/s). In downwind the plane doesn't bank enough, even though it is
allowed to bank quite a bit more. But I guess we'll be able to fix
that.

What I'm completely at loss with is throttle management. We've been
toying with the parameters, pressing Dash/Loiter/Trim, setting the
groundspeed_setpoint variable in the GCS... Didn't really see a
pattern here. And what happened was that the autopilot did not give
enough throttle (even though to my understanding it is allowed to),
and then it oscillated around some point, basically flying backwards
or not moving at all.
What I'd like to able to is set a minimum airspeed and groundspeed and
have the plane fly fast enough to meet both, but not much faster. But
if that's not how Paparazzi works, I'll go with the intended way of
handling throttle first.

A bonus would be if you could tell me how to just fix the throttle,
maybe let it be controlled from the RC. I'm guessing that's just a
one-liner, but I don't know which one ;)

My airframe config is there: http://pastebin.com/mb7b9c30

Thanks a bunch,

Maik from Berlin