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AC-3.1 autotune support discussion

This is a discussion re the ArduCopter-3.1 AutoTune feature.  A place for people to report successes and failures, ask questions and get answers.

The AutoTune wiki page is here.

 

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Permalink Reply by Frank Vitale on November 23, 2015 at 12:34pm
I will try this tonight after work and give results tomorrow..
Permalink Reply by George Roberts on November 23, 2015 at 1:12pm

Just keep in mind that upside down props still thrust the same direction as right side up props.  Just less efficiently.

Permalink Reply by Frank Vitale on November 23, 2015 at 1:34pm
Thanks, I'll reverse them

DeveloperPermalink Reply by leonardthall on November 23, 2015 at 2:03pm

Hi Frank,

That is perfect actually because it isn't the thrust that makes the difference it is the momentum.

Permalink Reply by Frank Vitale on November 23, 2015 at 2:20pm
yes, I figured it was the large 18 inch carbon fiber props with the locating the weight of the props would cause the issue
Permalink Reply by DG on November 23, 2015 at 7:36pm

Leonard,

  Yes I can flash the ESC's but BLHeli Suite manual does not say it supports the HobbyWing 25A version, just the 20A, but gives examples for QBrain 20A/25A which it says is loaded with Quattro 20A code. .

I suppose it's possible they did not update the manual to include the 25A version, but if anyone can confirm BLHeli works with the Quattro 25A version I'd appreciate it. 

Permalink Reply by Frank Vitale on November 23, 2015 at 7:59pm
Well,success!! Because my escs are hardwired, I just moved my props around one spot. Not only throttied high-low, also as I was doing that, I would inject pitch roll very rapidly. No sync issues. Then went out for autotune. Worked flawlessly. I would like to try this testing with same large,low kv pancake motors,only with high poll count to complete my testing. So, the low poll count was successful with no sync issues!. Thank you,Randy,Lenard,Gregmaan,Craig,And George, for your being passionate enough to add your inputs. I hope this helps any with their decision making when it comes to this issue. I would still advise caution, and do the previous testing ,for safety reasons first, and second, to save grief, and the expense of an ugly outcome. Again, I applaud this forum, and the developers/members, which has made APM/Pixhawk and the rest of the prouducts,not only competitive, but way above the competition when it comes to capabilities they provide. Bravo!!!!!
Permalink Reply by DG on November 27, 2015 at 11:02pm

Cala,

  Sorry, I didn't see your post as I get so many email notifications.

For the Quattro like I have, it was very simple although time consuming because the initial flashing requires exposing the board so it can be flashed with the BLHeli bootloader. After that the signal wires can be used. My daughter held the pins on the pads because my hands are too shaky..  On my setup I installed the Quattro with the board facing the frame so had to do a total disassembly :(   However, I had a spare Quattro and did that first.

For instructions on the Quattro, this is a very good one. The only setting I did different was change the timing to Med High. I already had a Nano Arduino which made it even easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbgqQsAz2yk

Some ESC's come pre-installed with BLH, but be careful as they don't all have the bootloader.  Here is the link to BLHeli

https://blhelisuite.wordpress.com/  In it are manuals and supported ESC's. They just released 14.3 on 11/27.

If you need more info let me know.

Permalink Reply by Cala on November 28, 2015 at 6:00am

Thank's DG, I thought that you have separate esc like this http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__73079__Hobbywing_X_Rotor... they looks very lightweight, you know them? There are ones flashed http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__65153__Turnigy_Multistar... but looks heavy (near my 40 A opto) and I read that they have problems to update, I'm thinking in change the 40A ones on my longer time flying copter for smaller and more efficient ones to be more efficient, he don't need that  too big esc but I'm not have much electronic knowledge too so looking for something plug and flash preferibly or better, flashed but with update capabilities. .......I need all LOL 

I found this but not shure if it's usefull for any esc http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10628__Turnigy_USB_Linke...

Sorry the offtopic

Permalink Reply by DG on December 13, 2015 at 11:22pm

Apologies again Cala!  My email is so overloaded with forum alerts I miss the important ones. 

The RCG link is where to go for answers for HW 20A and 40A ESC's if flashing to BLHeli. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2254658&page=53

Ask the group if there is a source for HW ESC's already flashed with BLHeli. Be very cautious about this because some (especially knockoffs) don't actually have the BLHeli bootloader installed!! The hardest part is doing the first flash because the heat shrink needs to be removed. After the first flash it's easy. I used Arduino's to do it. 

That said today I finally got around to flashing the Quattro ESC (4 in 1) to BLHeli and putting the quad back together. The difference is so great the copter is unflyable.  ROFL.  What I mean by that is now the motors are so responsive, the original PID's (sluggish response) before flashing are causing  the copter to oscillate horribly.  I ended up resetting everything to default and will try tuning ASAP. Seriously, I could not believe the difference.

 

Permalink Reply by Cala on December 14, 2015 at 6:10am

Don't worry DG, I know about that ;) ; finally I asked for the esc that you recommend (hobbywing) and arduino board to try to flash them..... and an extra esc in case...;) , now I have a long wait  and cross fingers to recive them, perhaps in january and I'm going to ask for help to flash them :)

Permalink Reply by DG on December 15, 2015 at 3:41pm

Ok, I reset to default parameters, double checked everything mechanically, recalibrated ESC's, accels and compass, then took it up. Wow, what a difference. It flies better on default PID's than it did after multiple Autotuning and tweaking..

It's too early to say for sure, but right now I'm thinking BLHeli is da bomb, at least for this copter and ESC's. On my 1900g test quad the Quattro is much better, but I think being 2.7-3kg the Alien 680 is too much for the stock firmware.

If the weather holds out this week, I'll see what Autotune does. My confidence level is high.

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