Receiver failsafe issue with APM2

I have Hitec R/C equipment in my APM2-equipped Telemaster.  The rx is the Optima 7.  This rx has a failsafe capability where you can select the throttle setting and the control surface position when signal is lost.  Loss of signal results in the failsafe selections within one second.   My configuration setting is zero throttle and neutral control surfaces.

I have tested this setup (no APM connected) with partial throttle and control surface deflection.  Turning off the tx results in advertised failsafe behavior.

My understanding is that in APM2 MANUAL mode, receiver outputs are supposed to be directly passed through without modification to the servos and ESC.  Thus I expect failsafe settings to be passed through unchanged when I test it with APM2 connected.

The results have left me concerned!  It appears that the control surfaces behave properly, ie, they go to neutral.  The throttle, however, does not go to zero.  There is a modest reduction in the motor speed but it is nowhere near zero.

Do I have reason to be concerned?

Fred

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Permalink Reply by Vernon Barry on June 7, 2012 at 4:08pm

Sorry, that was one of my frienemies at work making fun of my post. He meant no harm and just kinda hijacked the thread. Again, sorry from me.

Permalink Reply by Zen on June 21, 2012 at 11:57am
Everyone also needs to remember that if anything causes the APM to lock up you're still SOL - it will hold last known parameters until reboot. (throttle, steering, etc) All the discussion about failsafe modes only applies so long as the APM is functioning.

DeveloperPermalink Reply by R_Lefebvre on June 21, 2012 at 12:59pm

What's your point?

When has an APM ever been shown to lock-up? (since the I2C hang was fixed).

What other piece of electronics can do something intelligent *after* it has hung?

Permalink Reply by BR928 on June 21, 2012 at 1:20pm

Well we have to assume the APM is functioning or all of the software improvements are a moot point. I have yet to have mine lock up so far. MyGeekShow guys saved their plane the first day when they let the RC transmitter battery die. I would have to think this type of failure will be much more common. They are sold on the failsafe feature.


DeveloperPermalink Reply by R_Lefebvre on June 22, 2012 at 7:07am

Yes, exactly.  IMO, the APM adds a whole bunch of safety to R/C aircraft.  It's not foolproof, and it still requires the user to understand and setup their failsafe.  But it's much safer than without the APM.

Anybody who thinks otherwise... well I don't know what to say.

Permalink Reply by Fred Forbes on June 22, 2012 at 5:17pm

BR928

Thanks for your previous reply.  For some reason I can't reply to it.  Anyway in another thread someone has stated that you only need to upgrade the PPM firmware if you have a 9X receiver.

I'm going to continue my investigation (meanwhile not flying with my APM2 connected).  I'm hoping when I get my X-plane simulation mode working it will verify if my failsafe is working properly

Fred

Permalink Reply by Fred Forbes on October 29, 2012 at 5:27pm

Since my last message I have reverted to my APM1.4 as I understand it has a straight passthrough in Manual mode.  My throttle failsafe is still set up as previously.  When I am in Auto mode and I power down my transmitter, it immediately goes into Manual mode.  After about 20 sec. it goes into RTL mode.  My understanding is that it should go into Circle mode for the first 20 sec.

When I exercise the failsafe procedure in the simulator (X-Plane 9) it is a disaster.  The PT60 model is so unstable it will not glide in Manual mode and a crash immediately results.  My Telemaster is such a good glider it might survive a failsafe as long as it had some altitude but of course I'm not going to try it,

I'm wondering if I updated my PPM Encoder it would make the throttle failsafe function properly.  Anyone have any opinions on this?

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