Hi all.
I could really use some help trying to figure out if Arducopter 2.6 is ever going to work for me.
I have had a total of 4 units 2x genuine 3DR APMs and 2 generic arducopter.
2 buddies also have 1 unit each.
We all have major issues with all units.
to cut a long story short. We can have 3x perfect return to launches, then the the 4th one will result in a toiletbowl effect. Just randomness like that.
I've given up on using ANY failsafe as APM is just too unreliable.
That was a week ago, now things have gotten much worse.
Even stabalize mode does not work. If the quad makes it off the ground it will sometimes dart off in one direction, other times it just falls out of the sky The quad also "pulses"
Some times the quad will just stop responding to the controls and has to be knocked out of the sky to stop it from flying.
Othertimes the unit will just disarm on takeoff.
Have tried multiple recievers, boards etc, NOTHING fixes these issues. Both my buddies have given up on their board and now fly perfectly with another (closed source) autopilot. I would like to get this going correctly but the APM just seems so unstable.
I have attached some logs in case that helps.
Please help!
Replies
In Theory
With electricity, what current goes out, must come back to the source and the path matters. (maxwell equations)
{Even a tiny shortwave signal from the other side of the world must return, usually through the earth, all 12,000 miles.}
If the originator's return current path also shares a wire with another signal, that signal will be the sum of the two currents. (Current converts to voltage by-way-of resistance, inductance and/or capacitance.)
If you have no direct ground, the originator's current will find another ground. Maybe this other ground goes by the compass and this shared current introduces a magnetic field error. Maybe this originator's ground current couples into one of the low signal (3.3v) lines and interferes with the ppm, i2c lines or other such. (The return "ground" can sometimes be a signal line, that eventually leads to the originator's ground)
In contrast, if you give the originator it's own ground you can be sure it has a low impedance path back to the source.
PS: This is also an example of why you don't tie both ends of a shield to grounds. Shields are a very low impedance, and other signal's current may hop a shared-ride. The shield has a tight electrical coupling to the signal inside, so now the other shared signals may add current/voltage to the signals in the shield.
"What goes out comes back and the path matters." Owlpic
https://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/APM2RC....i am just referring my comments on the drawing as shown with input/output wiring since the power source is a voltage regulator. By the way, i maybe wrong...i am not an expert on this.
My Y6B has gone completely berserk. One day it was working fine (dozens of successful flights), ; went through all the possible settings and calibrations I could think of, went out again today and nearly destroyed it today. See here:
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/y6-out-of-control-crash-flight-mo...
and
http://ardupilot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=9437&p=2232...
I feel your pain.
DG,
I've posted a detailed reply on your discussion. It looks like a GPS position glitch but the glitch was a very slow one which wasn't crazy enough to be caught by the GPS glitch protection.
AC3.2 has two things that may help, it has the extended kalman filter and support for dual GPS which may help. The EKF is off by default in AC3.2 though until it's been tested more fully.
Hi.
Yes, thats the worst part. It happens without warning and after so many perfect flights.
Its hard to imagine its a setup issue as the problems would happen all the time I would think?
As I've said before, 2 buddies of mine tried for quite a while and had the exact same troubles. After swapping to another (closed source) autopilot, I don't think they've had ANY crashes.
It has gone from a nervous ready to switch to manual mode (waiting for something to go wrong) to now turning their backs and walking away while it returns to home.
Same craft, same motors, same everything except APM.
I would think with multiple sensors on board that the unit could at last be able to recognise that its doing a death spiral and say "this is not right"
Shane,
Have you corrected the COMPASS_ORIENT parameter to see if it resolves the circling you were seeing? If this critical parameter was changed between flights then it would explain why the problem suddenly appeared.
Just to add my 2 cents here. My son all but gave up setting up his APM. Turns out the problem was the crappy motors!! The quad would just never settle down. very unstable. Hard to fly. Switching to any guided modes it would fly off all over. Alt hold was give or take 15 meters. lol
The motors you use have that compression style prop nut. They a VERY prone to bending creating a LOT of vibrations. So you can balance your props but it's still no good with bent prop shafts. I highly recommend to get better motors with an actual thread prop shaft. There are 3 things I've learned setting these things up that are far more important than I thought starting out.
1- NO vibrations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2-Calibrate the accelerometers very carefully on a perfectly flat service
3- same for the compass. If the compass is off or getting interference from an esc it will fly all over the map.
Good luck! don't give up man these controllers are the best once set up.
Shane,
Toilet bowling is 99% of the time caused by a compass issue. It circles because when it's aiming for the point, it misses it which leads to another position correction but again it misses, etc, etc which leads to it circling about the point.
I believe the issue is that the compass is set to external (i.e. COMPASS_EXTERNAL) but the orientation (i.e. COMPASS_ORIENT) is set to "0" when it should be "8". I wonder how this happened because the mission planner sets it for you on the Initial Setup >> Compass page when you select "APM with External Compass".
By the way the other common causes of compass issues is interference from the motors. Best to use an external compass (which you are) and put it on a mast 10cm away from power wires. After moving it, make sure to re-do the compass calibration of course.
By the way, the GPS data looks a little choppy. I don't see this causing any big problems but if you've got an FPV equipment near the GPS, it'd be good to move it away.
I find the easiest way to trigger a toilet bowl is to rotate the compass 45' or more. After two or three loiters, it will degrade into a toilet bowl.
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