User guide

User guide

UI

Connecting to the Crazyflie

Crazyradio (Crazyflie/Crazyflie 2.0)

1. Connect the Crazyradio dongle to the Android device with the USB OTG cable.
2. A pop-up dialog should ask you which app you would like to use with the USB device.
3. Select the Crazyflie app (“Crazyflie Client”).
4. When you run the app for the first time, you can scan for the Crazyflie (must be switched on).
   • Preferences button → Connection Settings → Radio Scan
   • Or you can set channel and data rate in the preferences manually
5. Connect to the Crazyflie by clicking on the connect button.
6. If the connection is established, the connect button should have a green background and the green LEDs on the Crazyflie and the Crazyradio should blink rapidly.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) (Crazyflie 2.0)

Please note:

• Your Android device must support Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) 4.0 and run Android 4.4+ (eg. Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Samsung Galaxy S4).
• Make sure that you have not paired your phone with the Crazyflie 2.0 via your phone's general Bluetooth settings, otherwise the app will not be able to connect properly (connection will claim to be successful, but controls won't work).
• The (old) Crazyflie does NOT support Bluetooth LE, only Crazyflie 2.0 supports Bluetooth LE.

1. To start a Bluetooth LE connection just make sure that no Crazyradio is connected.
2. If you have not turned on Bluetooth on your phone you will be asked to turn it on.
3. Connect to the Crazyflie by clicking on the connect button.
   • Sometimes it might take a few seconds and it might fail the first time, in that case please try again.
4. If the connection is established, the connect button should have a blue background and the green LEDs on the Crazyflie and the Crazyradio should blink rapidly.

Basic controls

The controls are very similar to a normal RC heli- or multicopter transmitter.

The default mode for the controls is Mode 2:

• Thrust is on the Y axis on the left joystick
• Yaw is on the X axis on the left joystick
• Pitch is on the Y axis on the right joystick
• Roll is on the X axis on the right joystick

The mode can be changed in the settings: Preferences button → Flight control settings → Mode

On-screen controls

Controlling the Crazyflie with the on-screen joysticks can be challenging, since there is no haptic feedback. For beginners, a game pad is recommended.

There are a few settings that can be used to optimize the flight controls.

• Make sure that the motors are attached firmly to the arms and that the propellers are trimmed (no or minimal vibrations).
• Trim roll and pitch if the Crazyflie always drifts into a single direction
  • Preferences button → Flight control settings → Roll trim
  • Preferences button → Flight control settings → Pitch trim
• Reduce the yaw angle
  • Enable Advanced flight control
    • Preferences button → Flight control settings → Advanced flight control
  • Set the Max yaw angle to 75 or even less
    • Preferences button → Flight control settings → Advanced flight control preferences → Max yaw angle
  • When the yaw angle is lower, there is less chance that the Crazyflie turns on it's yaw axis, when you control the thrust (in Mode 2 and Mode 3 thrust and yaw are mapped to the same joystick).
• Increase the joystick size to have more control area
  • Preferences button → Controller settings → Virtual joystick size (%)

External controls (game pad)

See Connecting an external controller on how to connect a game pad.

The buttons and axes are assigned by default to work with a Playstation controller (PS3/PS4). If a different controller, e.g. a XBox controller is used, the axes and buttons assignment can be changed in the settings:

• Switch controller to Gamepad
  • Preferences button → Controller settings → Controller
• Preferences button → Controller settings → Gamepad axis and button mapping

Connecting an external controller

Advanced features

Bootloader

Preferences

Feature support

Feature	Crazyradio	Bluetooth LE
Basic controls	Yes	Yes
Connection quality	Yes	Yes
Battery	Yes	No
Console	Yes	Yes
Bootloader	Yes	No
Altitude hold	Yes	No
Height hold	Yes	No
Decks (LED, Buzzer)	Yes	No
Param/Log	Yes	No