Open Pilot CC3D

WOW, what a board this is, totally amazed at the simplicity in configuration and the flying ability, this leaves the KK2 standing. Was hearing quite a lot about the Open Pilot CC3D flight controller, so I decided to order one off Ebay. The one I puchased was a rip off version, backengineered off the original and reproduced at halv the cost. I tend to refrain from buying expensive stuff like FC's on Ebay, because one never know what you might get. But in this case the FC was very cheap, so if did turn out to be useless, then what the heck. The CC3D I purchased cost 11 dollars from this supplier.

Shipping was very fast, took around 10 days and all was good to go. I was planning on changing my Cruis AIOP ver2.0, seeing as i have never been able to PID tune it properly. Mounting the FC was simple. The hardest bit about it was converting the mounting holes, the Crius is much wider 50mm x 50mm compared to 35x35mm for the CC3D. I saw a very cheap mounting plate at under 2 dollars, it fits the 50x50mm on the bottom plate, has vibration pads, the top plate is smaller and fits the 35x35mm of the CC3D, The Talon frame which i was mounting it on has only mounting holes for a 50x50mm mount, but seeing as i intitially thought that the CC3D was just for testing fun I refrained from purchasing more accessories. I ended up building a wooden mount and after that was done, the board was mounted and ready in under 10 minutes.

 

The CC3D form factorcompared to the Crius.

The software Open Pilot GSC for configuring the flight controller is one of best flight controller software I have seen, simple, clean, user friendly, well designed and very informative, very difficult to get anything wrong, everthing from the automatic flashing of the firmware, quad setup, motor calibration and radio setup, took about 15 minutes, I won´t  get into how it is all done, but this guy has done a whole series on the CC3D, watch all 8 series and you will have all the infomation you require to set it up. Despite the software setup being simple, it still gives you the ability to dig down into tweeking at a more advanced level. Like I said am no expert so initially I stuck with the more simple. The quad flew with the default PID values. I then followed this youtube tutorial on in air PID tuning and this was PID tuned in a breeze.

My flying skills have picked up some what after using the selflevel of the KK2, so thinking that i was in selflevel/Stabilize mode, I lifted off, what i did not know was that i actually had reveresed my channel five and was flying in rate/manual/acro mode and wow it was almost tuned in, Prior to this i had never flown in rate/manual/acro mode before, but with this board it was a breeze, very responsive and was just cool to fly. So if you have been stuck the KK2 for a while, this board could take you to the next level, the KK2 was fun to fly, but now it is soon time for real action. You can of coarse buy this board from some official sites, and i would suggest that you buy it from hobbyking or another certified retailer.
Open Pilot have stopped manufactering and selling the cc3d board, so you will mainly just find clones on the net, these clones are of varying quality. Mine died after a couple of days and greenshop333 was very quick to offer a refund, so would not hesitate to use him again for the same board and hopefully the next will be of better quality.

 Very neat compared to my other builds, four motor wires and a power cable. from a UBEC. You can buy a casing for more protection.

 I have connected my 3dr telemetry to the board through the main port, so no need for an USB cable. The cable is supplied with the CC3D .

I used the main port on the right, as it is  configured pr. default for telemtry at the baudrate of 57600. The Pinouts are as shown below.

On the back of the 3dr there is a set of equivelent pinouts. 

Connect 5v/VCC from the CC3D to the 3dr.

Connect GND to GND

Connect TX on the CC3D to RX on the 3dr

Connect RX on the CC3D to the TX on the 3dr

It should  work without the need of configuring the 3dr radio, but you might run into some issues.

I initially followed this tutorial  to setup the 3dr, but this did not work, It suggests to change the Mavlink to Raw Data. When i changed it back to Mavlink and saved I got the connection. You are able to change the baudrate if need be, using the 3dr software. When you connect the CC3D software using the 3dr radio, it can take 30-40 seconds before it fully initiates the software. So be a bit patient.

 

 Connection to the radio is done through the receiver port, with a supplied cable, no need for soldering. Its a simple as plug in both ends, Does however require to read the online manual to get the corret ports. The software will confirm if you got it all right and reversing of the channels is also done through the software. The software is very illustrative and easy to use.

Pros: Very very cheap, compared to the KK2.

Small form factor gives you more space usually where it is always cramped.

Cabling is done neatly, with the 3 provided cables.

Software is illustrative and simple more tweeking available compared to the KK2.

Very responsive and fun to fly.

Has autolevel function for beginners.

Can mount a 3dr unit for cableless configuration.

Can mount a bluetooth radio for cableless config.

Can mount a GPS to show long/lat on FPV screen.

Ratittude mode: Rattitude mode will give you more response as you feed stick input in; when you return the stick to Center, you're back in attitude mode. 

PID tuning is very easy on this board.

Cons: Board size, have to convert from a lager form factor 50mm to 35mm if you are not running on a 250 frame size.

Configuration requires a PC compared to the KK2.

Only basic support for GPS for OSD displaying long/lat though its big brother CC3D revo does support all these functions.

No altitude hold or mission planning.