Replies to This Discussion

DeveloperPermalink Reply by Adam Rivera on April 1, 2012 at 10:18am

Very interesting machine! I like the three bladed props.

Several things could be wrong.

1. Validate your props are configured to rotate properly and that you have pusher props as well as puller props. See here.

2. Validate your ESCs are connected to each motor properly. The way that you have them connected will determine the direction of the prop rotation.

3. Make sure that each ESC is connected to the APM2 at the right output. See the same link as above.

3. Please post your PID settings here because that may be playing a role in the flip.

4. Are you applying any pitch before the copter lifts off the ground (ie. forward stick... or any direction for that matter)?

Lets start there and see if it leads us to a solution.

Adam

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 11:21am

Hello Adam,

thanks for your feedback and help diagnosing this - i answer in your alignment:

1.) I have used puller and pusher props - also tested the rotation direction according to the wiki. Should the motor test sequence in the order of the numbers ? - Or is the motor test following a different pattern sequence ?

2.) I have verified the ESC connection before the first flight - when running the motor test, the props turn in the right direction according to the wiki. - As described above, the only remaining thing is actually the sequence which is not clear to me.

3.) Here are the settings:

Stabilize Roll:
P: 4.5 I: 0.1 IMax: 40.0
Stabilize Pitch:
P: 4.5 I:0.1 IMax: 40 D: 0.15
Stabilize Yaw:
P: 7.0 I:0.01 IMax 8.0

Rate Roll:
P: 0.14 I:0.00 D:0.00 Imax:5
Rate Pitch
P:0.14 I:0.00 D:0.00 IMax:5
Rate Yaw
P: 0.13 I:0.00 D:0.00 IMax:50

4.) Pitch was centered, so besides actually throttle, i have not touched anything.

Do you have any suspicion ?

Cheers

Florian

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Permalink Reply by Ellison Chan on April 1, 2012 at 10:45am

Your props are oriented right, according to the picture you included, as long as the front of the APM is facing the top of the picture.  Are you sure all the props are turning in the right direction. (i.e. CW for CW props and CCW for CCW props)

Another thing to check is to make sure you set the Octo X configuration in Mission Planner, which is what your props seemed to be configure for.

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 12:46pm

Hello Ellison !

The front is to the left of the picture - the disconnect handle is on the back. To the front is left (looking from the APM). - I have checked the direction and they all seem to turn in the right way.

I have also set the Octo X configuration in the mission planner - as described above, can i somehow check that i have the ESC cabled in the right sequence ? - Or may there be something else wrong ?

Cheers

Florian

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 12:51pm

Here, i attach the a bigger size picture - if this helps.

Cheers

Florian

Attachments:

• DSC08322s.JPG, 1 MB

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 2:08pm

Here is the link to the 2nd try - similar result:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxUfQu4yCU8&context=C49a42f2ADvj...

Cheers

Florian

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 2:56pm

Ok - i may have found the problem - are the ESC outputs counted from right (1) to left (8) when looking from the pcb side ?

I cabled them from left to right - so exactly inverted to this one here:

http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot-mega/wiki/APM2RC

May this be the error ? - I could not really find any numbering for the APM 2 on the arducopter one, so i looked on the actual other normal planes - is this also the right numbering for the arducopter SW ?

Cheers

Florian

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DeveloperPermalink Reply by Adam Rivera on April 1, 2012 at 3:05pm

Florian: If the board is facing forwards and you are looking at the output pins, they are numbered right to left 1 - 8. That is probably your issue.

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Permalink Reply by Ellison Chan on April 1, 2012 at 2:58pm

The props are right.  Also I wouldn't think that the default PID would be so unbalanced as to flip the quad on the ground.  Did you make sure that all the you radio trims are centred, especially the pitch, since the craft appears to be unbalanced in the pitch axis.  Did you also make sure that you calibrated all the ESCs and the radio with all trims centred?

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Permalink Reply by Florian G on April 1, 2012 at 3:17pm

Ok  -i have definitely cabled everything inversed.

Will re-cable now. As it is night now and i need to do some "real flying" software stuff tomorrow, i can only test it in the next days. Thanks to everyone who helped to locate the issue. - I suspect this is really it. - Will reply to this thread once i have tested it.

Cheers

Florian

PS: Anyone interested in 2-Channel Full-HD live video from the copter instead of this analog stuff.. ? ;-) - My next project..

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Permalink Reply by Ellison Chan on April 1, 2012 at 4:39pm

Ok, that makes sense.  From the looks of the video probably just the front and back motors.

What's this about HD video?  You're planning to send video over an IP link or something??

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Permalink Reply by Ellison Chan on April 1, 2012 at 4:53pm

Oh, and one small suggestion when doing first flight on the ground.  You should throttle up a little, not enough to take off, and nudge the sticks in different directions to see if the craft is responding the way expect.  Do that until you get the feel of how the motors respond to your stick movements before actually doing a lift off.

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