Compass interference, how do I get rid of it?
Alrighty, some info.
I have a DJI F550 hexacopter frame, I use mostly stock DJI motors and electronics, a bunch of LEDs and so on. A fairly common, cheap setup. It flies quite well in stable mode, loiter seems to work alright at the moment. However, anything that relies on the compass is completely out of control. RTL will sometimes come back and stop within 1-2 m of the take-off area, sometimes it'll scoot off in the wrong direction which forces me to intervene. Simple mode works for a couple of seconds, once in the air the controls are offset by about 90° which makes that feature unreliable at best.
My first build was fairly straightforward and looked very neat, I kept things neat and tidy. But the interference was impossible to get rid of.
My second build, I have twisted ALL ESCs wires. All servo leads going to and from the flight controller, I have put clip-on ferrite rings on wires going to the flight controller and on some other wires too.
But the hexa behaves the same.
The F550 has a built-in power distribution board, the FC is sitting on the bottom plate, the power distribution is right below it. Could this be the culprit? Do I have to put the FC on the top plate, leaving it exposed, or are there other solutions to this problem?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dan Gray on -
I've had a lot of problems stemming from the magnetic compass, and they were all related to ESC's or power wiring being too close to the APM2 magnetic sensor.
Moving the APM2 away from ANY motor or ESC current has ALWAYS solved my problems.
Dan
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Permalink Reply by André Romsi on -
I guess I'll put it on the top plate and see what happens, but that means I'd have to put batteries between the plates and that is hardly ideal. Some won't even fit.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Gordon on
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The DJI uses the bottom plate as a power distribution board. Thhis means current is flowing throught the bottom board in immediate proximity to the mag sensor when the APM is mounted on the bottom plate. Moving it to the top will resolve the issue. However you should make sure when you do this you have covered the barometer to shoeld from buffeting from the props and sunlight effects. I had a APM 2 case on my APM 2.5 and the sensor was radically effected by air from the props and sunlight depending on the angle.
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Permalink Reply by André Romsi on
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Indeed, that's what I thought. I've actually ordered a brand new hexa frame. Once it arrives I'll do everything properly this time. Balance the motors/props one by one, route the cables nicely, use a full set of flashed ESCs and the list goes on and on. It's the "SIX" hexacopter frame from Hobbyking, which is almost a direct copy of the Hoverthings design, so it's a proven desing. The reason why is the price and the adjustable landing gear which gives enough clearance to put the battery below the bottom plate. I can't put my FC on the top plate on my F550, the batteries simply won't fit between the two plates..
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Permalink Reply by Joe Gordon on
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You can put a set of Trex 600 landing gear on the FW450 frame and this works great.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Klimon on -
Joe,
Can you explain why the DJI F550 does so well with th NAZA controller on the bottom frame? They seem to work very well straight out of the box? I am building an F550 with stock DJI ARF components so I want to avoid these problems. I wonder if it might be better to move my APM 2.5 to another frame and use the NAZA flight controller for the DJI F550?
Peter
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