Radio Controller Overview
Included with Marlyn is a Radio Controller (as shown) which is used for piloting Marlyn in the final 20m of landing in the Helicopter Mode, as well as several emergency control functions.
The Radio Controller (RC) consists of the following features;
A. An aerial used for communication with Marlyn.
B. The main on/off switch.
C. Screen showing battery level and other important information.
D*. Left stick, controlling the altitude and yaw angle in Manual Flight. The stick is spring-loaded so defaults to the centre.
Up/down: controls the vertical speed
Left/right: controls the yaw direction or heading (Helicopter Mode only)
E*. Right stick, controlling horizontal movement in Manual Flight. The stick is spring-loaded so defaults to the centre.
Up/down: controls forward/backward movement, causing Marlyn to pitch (Helicopter Mode only)
Left/right: controls left/right movement, causing Marlyn to roll
F. Screen control buttons, used to filter through options on the screen.
Switch Overview
A. Mission Switch — Pressed In
When this button is pressed in, the drone is placed into Mission Flight, which signals Marlyn to follow the flight plan (to be used at all times during a normal mapping flight).
A. Mission Switch — Pressed Out
When this button is pressed out to the neutral position, the drone is placed into Manual Flight, where the user has control of Marlyn, but with GPS and stabilization assistance. This mode is used in the final 20m of landing and in emergencies. When pressed, the drone will remain in the same transition mode (i.e. helicopter or airplane) that it is currently flying in, unless the Transition Switch is triggered.
B. Transition Switch — Neutral
To manually switch the aircraft's flight mode between Helicopter and Airplane flight you can use the transition switch, labelled ‘B’ on your RC. The switch has 3 settings
When this switch is in the neutral position, the drone will simply continue in the current mode.
B. Transition Switch — Forwards
Force Airplane Mode
When this switch is pressed forwards (away from the user) the drone will be forced into airplane mode (immediately if in Manual Flight, or as soon as Manual Flight is engaged).
B. Transition Switch — Backwards
When this switch is pressed backwards (towards the user) the drone will be forced into helicopter mode (immediately if in Manual Flight, or as soon as Manual Flight is engaged).
C. Return-to-home Switch — Neutral
The Return to Home switch has three settings. The neutral position does not give a command to the drone.
C. Return-to-home Switch — Forwards
Return to home.
When this switch is pressed forwards (away from the user), the drone will be triggered to Return to Home, which will begin the normal approach and landing procedure. Navigator will now show a panel indicating the return to home procedure has initiated.
After verifying that the drone has received the signal, return this switch to the Neutral position. The RC will vibrate when in this mode to indicate to the user that this switch position is engaged until the switch is reset to neutral.
C. Return-to-home Switch — Backwards
Unlock the disarm switch for landing.
When the switch is pressed backwards (towards the user), the arm/disarm switch (D) becomes unlocked. This allows the user to disarm the aircraft (stop the motors) as soon as it touches the ground.
D. Arm Switch — Pressed Out
When this button is pressed out to the neutral position, Marlyn’s motors are turned off. When Marlyn is on the ground Marlyn can be disarmed this way. However, as a safety mechanism when in the air, Marlyn will not directly respond to pressing out this button, provided the Return to home switch is in a neutral position.
D. Arm Switch — Pressed In
F & E. Emergency Motor Shutdown
Marlyn is equipped with various emergency procedures to react to unforeseen circumstances. As a last resort you have the option to shut down Marlyns motors regardless it's current state. After you have made this command, the aircraft will quickly lose altitude and crash-land.
To prevent accidental triggering of an emergency motor shutdown command, multiple actions must be taken by the operator to confirm. On the reverse side of Marlyn’s RC are 2 small round push buttons marked E & F as shown below. Push and hold them both to shut down Marlyn’s motors in an emergency situation. If the buttons are released within 5 seconds of triggering, the motors will spin up again. The drone will likely recover to a normal state, but this is not guaranteed. Press both buttons for more than 5 seconds to confirm the emergency motor shutdown.