Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by malcolm churn on January 20, 2012 at 5:24pm

You have no radio control at all? ... Its really not a good idea to fly it without!! This would be the fastest way to lose your quad and APM. Your lucky it didn't take off.

Wait until you have one. Then you will be able to fly in stabilise and then use a switch on the TX for auto and all other modes.

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Permalink Reply by Serplat on January 20, 2012 at 5:58pm

No, I don't.  Not at the moment, at least.  I will in the future.

My current goal is just to get the ArduCopter to lift off of the ground a few meters, hover for a few seconds, and then land again.  This is an engineering project for school that requires that I complete this task over the course of this week.

Do you happen to know of any reason why it wouldn't actually lift off the ground in auto mode though?

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Permalink Reply by malcolm churn on January 21, 2012 at 4:09am

I fly traditional Heli code, not quads, it may be that it has a fail safe set so that if it loses Radio Link then it will try and land. Your best bet is to ask one of the quad guys here.

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Permalink Reply by Serplat on January 21, 2012 at 9:25am

I believe that I've narrowed it down to a PID issue, because I'm using a non-standard frame.  I've read through the wiki page, but I'm still not entirely sure which PID value I need to fix for it to affect AUTO mode.  Would the throttle PIDs affect AUTO mode, even though I'm not using a remote control?

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ModeratorPermalink Reply by Graham Dyer on January 21, 2012 at 9:34am

props too small, quad too heavy?

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Permalink Reply by Serplat on January 21, 2012 at 9:36am

I doubt it.  I'm using the standard 10" props with the purple motors (the ones sold by DIYDrones, I can look them up if you want) and my frame is about 1.3kg.

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Permalink Reply by Serplat on January 21, 2012 at 10:39am

Currently, I have increased Altitude Hold P to 0.8 and Throttle Rate to 0.5.  Now, the front of my quad appears to lift off of the ground, but the back does not.  Any suggestions on this?

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Permalink Reply by Dave on January 21, 2012 at 5:37pm

++1 about not flying without radio control.  That is a BAD idea.

Unless you are lucky, the quad won't fly properly without tweaking.  This requires you to manually fly it, unless you want your quad in many pieces.  BTW, the ESC's need to be calibrated so the motor speeds all track.

Also, Auto has a failsafe that requires the quad to be Armed and Throttle lifted before it will run the mission.  This requires RC unless you are fudging something - not a good idea from the safety angle.

Those 10" props are like razors and will act just like meat slicers if the quad goes out of control and hits someone :-(

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Permalink Reply by Chris on January 21, 2012 at 6:45pm

another vote for getting a RC system.

if something happens you need human intervention...  forget about losing the quad or APM. those props can do ALOT of damage to a person.

I know of people that have had major lacerations to the hand from motors smaller then the ones we use for quads.

if you insist on flying without a controller, at least have the quad tethered so it can't take off and hurt someone.

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Permalink Reply by Fatih Gokce on January 29, 2012 at 4:14am

Is it possible to take off without giving a throtle command from radio or from something else like joystick? As far as I know in auto take off throttle is manual. 

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Permalink Reply by Jan Schermer on January 29, 2012 at 4:31am

While it is possible to control it without RC, it is NOT possible to setup ESCs without it!!!

And while it MAY fly, it is NOT safe to have no RC in hand, because something will go wrong eventually

Get a RC remote, borrow one if needed, but stop before you hurt yourself or destroy your quad!

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