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APM Brown-outs

Posted by Jonathan Diaz on April 6, 2011 at 10:07pm

 

 Good day guys, hope you can shed some light on this..

 

 I think I blew the outputs of my APM. The mux led doesn't light up when I power it up through the the rc's ubec  and it doesn't receive my rc input and the leds aren't that bright.  However, if I connect the usb to the IMU, it suddenly started initiating the arducopter code and started to receive rc input. But when I remove the usb, poof, its a colorful paper weight again :))The mux led lights up when I connect the usb. It can still detect rc input when using the CLI.(without being powered by the ubec from the rc)

 

  If my memory serves me correctly, I accidentally pulled the rc battery off while the apm is still connected to the usb :( So I guess that did it :(

 

  Before, we tried loading the apm 1.02 code to test the sensors and its connectivity to hk's gcs and it worked, but after the 'accident', the apm doesn't seem to initiate the code although the power led is on.

 

   So right now I'm sort of troubled because my groupmates would probably hunt my ass for this haha! Can I just replace an IC that was 'fried'?  (I'm hoping I won't need to buy a new apm as my groupmates won't chip in since I wrecked it)

 

  I tried separating the power from the rc(I desoldered the sj1 jumper and provided an external 5v) but the problem still persists:(

 

  The IMU seems ok, its ftdi is still working along with the other sensors.

 

  TIA=D

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Replies

  • Jonathan Diaz April 10, 2011 at 7:14am

    Thanks for the feedback guys!=D

     

    Andres,

     

    Hmm Ok I'll try to power the apm then with a 2s lipo on the corresponding pins.

     

    Sebastian,

    Ok I'll also check my ubec as well

     

    Martint,

    Its v1.0

  • Distributor
    Martint BuildYourOwnDrone.co.uk April 7, 2011 at 12:05am
    Which APM are you using? V1.0 or v1.4, 1.0 has numbers 0-7 and 1.4 has numbers 1-8 on the servo connections.

    Regards

    Martin.

    www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk
  • Andrés April 6, 2011 at 11:24pm
    Jonathan,

    > If my memory serves me correctly, I accidentally pulled the rc battery off while the apm is still connected to the usb :( So I guess that did it :(

    That shouldn't be the reason, as I do that all the time...


    In my opinion, you are underpowering your APM. If you use the external supply 5V is not enough, because the voltage regulator needs a higher voltage to be able to supply 5V. Use a 2S Lipo as an external source (at least 7V). Once, I supplied also 5V there, and had a similar behaviour as you have (multiplexer was not working correctly).

    Andrés
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