WARNING to TradHeli users:
Do not attempt to fly AC3.3 until you hear otherwise from me. I have not even bench tested it yet, let alone test flown it. There are quite a lot of changes that have gone in that could be crash-o-matic for helicopters.
AC3.3 release for Tradheli is likely to be delayed.
This post will serve as the official release progress thread for TradHeli.
Warning: DO NOT FLY RC6! It has a critical bug that will likely end in a crash.
Warning for RC5:
RATE_YAW_FILT_HZ param will change defaults from 5Hz to 20Hz to be more suitable for helicopters. If you have never changed this parameter from 5 before, then it will automatically update the value to 20 without warning. This much faster filter will probably require reduction in your P and D terms, and the yaw may oscillate badly. Be prepared to retune these. As a safety measure, probably cut them in half for your first take-off.
Warning #2 for RC5:
I accidentally broke the Landing Detector. It will probably never trigger. You should land in Stabilize mode, or be prepared to shut down the motor as soon as it touches the ground in Alt_Hold, Loiter, Auto, etc.
Replies
Funny thing happened... just as I determined that I was going to put gas in the heli and fly it, I inadvertently powered down the heli while MP was refreshing the parameter file. I didnt think anything of it but now when I power up, I get a PreArm: Check heli parameters error and of course cannot ARM. I couldnt find any text on this error, any ideas? I reset to defaults and reloaded the parameter file, re-calibrated everything and get the same error. Maybe the parameter file is corrupt now? With that being said, I will now wipe it clean and start over.
@Chris
The errors that trip the PreArm:Check heli parameters are:
RSC_CRITICAL too large
RSC_MODE invalid
RUNUP_TIME too small
RSC_IDLE too large
for example, RSC_IDLE must be less than RSC_CRITICAL
For me, I had RSC_CRITICAL and RSC_IDLE the same value =0 which was giving me the PreArm:Check heli parameters error.
Hope this helps.
Steve
I have been playing with these parameters and have a question. What is the H_RSC_RUNUP_TIME do? I had to change this setting to greater than 1 to avoid the Prearm :check heli parameter error but I did not see any effect on the throttle servo?
Initial test hover in Stabilize mode was not good... rapid oscillations in roll. After reviewing the data log, it looks like my I term in pitch, roll and yaw is a bit high.
Hi Chris,
I doubt that I-term would cause oscillation. Try backing off your P, D and/or FF. How high is your I? I normally use about 0.200-0.500. And I've never seen oscillation from it.
Runup is the time it takes your rotor to come up to full speed after you start it. So, if you were using a Ramp time of 10 seconds, best to set Runup to 15 or so. If you are using a soft-start ramp in the ESC, you'll have to time it.
This is what controls how long the helicopter will hold on the ground before attempting to take off in Alt_Hold, Loiter, Auto, etc. If you set it to 1, it will attempt to take off almost immediately, but since there is no rotor speed, the collective will ramp all the way up, then as the rotor comes up to speed, it will launch in the air and climb until it can get things back in control. So, you want this to be realistic.
Thanks for the reply.
I misinterpreted the data log for my last post, yes it was the P gains that were too high.
After a couple of hours of testing and tuning I was able to get the heli to fly very well with 3.3. The only issue I had was that I was unable to take off in Loiter...the heli maintained negative collective pitch regardless of throttle setting. Alt Hold, Loiter, Auto, and RTL all work great once airborne though.
I understand the function of Runup Time in terms of an electric setup, but how does this apply to a gas setup? I believe I have the Runup Time set to "2" right now, maybe this is why I was unable to take off in Loiter?
Thanks for the help.
That is strange that you can fly in Loiter, but not take off. Can you give a log?
Thanks for the input. It took me a minute to figure out how to set this up right on my gasser but I think I got it now.
RSC_CRITICAL is set to 300 which is the point at which my governor kicks on
RSC_IDLE is set to 250 which is my normal throttle trim setting which I previously had to set manually, now conveniently once armed the idle is already set.
I am really looking forward to having the heli take off straight without having to correct the yaw because of the arming heading lock feature working off of the RSC_CRITICAL value.
I am really liking 3.3, great work guys.
Completed the setup on my TREX 450L and it is much easier to set up. Great work.
I did notice with the update it is much more responsive then before in the RC inputs. I will need to update my expo in the radio. I like that that the autopilot reacts faster especially in the wind. I am noticing a twitchy bounce in control, more on the tail then the rest but it is on all control. Thoughts on that.
Thanks
Joe
Hi Joe, I don't quite understand what you are saying? You have a bounce on the tail in pitch? You might just need to reduce gains a bit.
Did a new setup using 3.3.2rc1 on a Gaui Hurricane 550, it is really easy now using H_SV_MAN - THANK YOU !
I used H_SV_MAN=1 to set the H_CYC_MAX limit. I wanted to set rate_roll/pitch_FF to get 75% of the H_CYC_MAX, had to set H_SV_MAN=0 and rate_roll/pitch_P=I=D=0. It would be nice to have another setting for H_SV_MAN, i.e. H_SV_MAN=6 would work like H_SV_MAN=0 but would use the rate_roll/pitch_FF settings.
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