Discussions

Hello,

First of all, I have bought a 3DR DIY APM:Copter Quad Kit like this : http://store.3drobotics.com/products/3dr-quad-frame-kit-electronics

With :

 - WIRELESS DATA LINK

 - APM 2.6+

 - APM Power Module

 - 3DR GPS uBlox LEA-6 with Compass

I add no problem building the vehicule and I'm pretty sure I did quite right.

(Please note that I'm a rookie at UAVs but work in the aeronautic domain)

I chose not to buy an RC because I was aiming to arm/pilot my UAV via a ground station like AndroPilot or DroidPlanner. It may be the root problem as I saw here and there on the forums that you must have an RC for security issues.

Well, I did use MissionPlanner to upload the latest ArduCopter sw (3.1+), did the IMU calibration and all the stuffs asked by the wizard but the RC calibration of course.

Then I connected my UAV to AndroPilot/DroidPlanner via Mavlink, it seemed to work well, I can see the roll/pitch/yaw an compass information change as I move the beast.

When I first tried to arm it, it told me "Failure to arm - RC not calibrated"... I searched a bit and found that I could just disable a parameter (ARMING_CHECK) to go through.

No I'm here : I can arm my UAV, the Ground station tell me it is. But my motors don't move at all (I didn't put the props, in fact I want to do some basic testing before going to fly).

Then I use the embedded RC/Joystick of the GS and try to do something but the only thing I can have is some beeps that I believe come from the APM and ESCs of each motors when I move the "sticks".

So here are my questions (finally :) ) :

 - Is it absolutly mandatory to have a a correctly calibrated RC to first arm the UAV ?

 - What is the meaning of those beeps on the ESCs ? It proves at least I can send commands to my UAV but it is not satisfactory enough :(

 - Any other useful information would be welcome !

Please forgive my poor english as I'm french, I hope I was clear enough and that you could gimme a little help !

Thanks.

Etienne.