Discussions

ESC calibration

Posted by Chow Kok Choy on August 1, 2011 at 12:26am

Hi all,

I have just completed assembling the arducopter kit from JDrones and have been able to load the latest firmware .38. However I'm stuck with the ESC calibration. After completing my radio setup for the 6 channels I proceeded to arm the motors as per the ESC calibrations menu and was able to get the motors armed and spinning according to the throttle pressure.

However on removing the Lipo power to the APM, I cannot arm the motor again when I connect the power again and have to go thru the process of ESC calibrations again. It appears the ESC calibrations are not retained in the EEPROM. Is the APM 2560 board faulty or my ESC setup is in error?

 

Chow

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Replies

  • Jiro Hattori August 17, 2011 at 1:57am 
    Hi all

    In my consequence of setting up ArduCopter the 5V power source will be problematic, when you add XBee, GPS, Radio and so on. 
    The one of the esc fed heavy load to those power eater. 
    The behavior of IMU and XBee shows difference USB operated and esc operated.

    Should we better to prepare separate 5V power supply to get reliable system?
  • Chow Kok Choy August 16, 2011 at 5:35pm

    Hi all,

     

    I've still not resolved this issue of the motor/esc refusing to arm after a power down after completing the ESC calibration. My main computer is kaput and I not able to find the time to setup the arducopter again as I've lose all my log on the setup. I suspect that the ESC cannot retain the settings and this is a setup/calibration problem with the ESC. Perhaps someone have experienced the same problem and found a solution?

  • Arifin August 3, 2011 at 7:32pm

    I think there are no any simple ways except you should test your esc manually, because we dont know and not sure wich one has a problem, esc or acm board.

    If you already had the test like i said, what happened after calibration and reconnect your lipo and just raise the throttle?, is esc and motor running normally?

     

    if you are not take a test yet, please do a calibration test on esc using receiver, transmitter, lipo and a brushless motor. After calibrate your esc, do the same step like the problem with your acm board, remove your lipo, connect it again, and raise the throttle. Please tell us the result, and by the way, what brand of your esc?

     

    Regards

    Arifin 

  • Developer
    Jani Hirvinen August 3, 2011 at 7:58am

    1094 and 1927 looks ok for me. But the thing what you said that it will take some time to get solid number.. Hmm question goes why?? My numbers were also from Turnigy 9x with FrSky modules.

     

    Easiest way to check that is APM capturing properly your min/max values is again on CLI.

     

    Just go Setup are on CLI and type: show

     

    That will dump all saved variables. Look for Ch3 min, max values. Do normal arming run engines, disarm and look again show values.

     

    You can do this all while you are connected by USB but yes you need to reboot few times along the way. Even better.

     

    If you have GCS in use, you do not need to reboot to get values out because you can use MAVLink to retrieve those values with your GCS. Try APM Mission Planner for that.

     

    -jani

  • Developer
    Jani Hirvinen August 3, 2011 at 3:42am

    Chow,

     

    If APM would be broked, your motors would not do anything nor you cannot fly so it has to be on the settings...

     

    Can you please check your PWM values at CLI.

     

    Turn that small slider switch to CLI position (closer to RC cables)

    Connect USB cable, start your terminal program and connect to APM (115.200 baud with USB)

    After you get [AC 2.0.XXX] prompt

    type: test

    your prompt will change to test]

    Now type pwm

    After this you should start getting a lot of number and lines running on your screen.. They should look like this

     

    IN: 1: 1484    2: 1491    3: 1110    4: 1492    5: 1070    6: 1074    7: 1493    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1484    2: 1491    3: 1110    4: 1492    5: 1069    6: 1074    7: 1493    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1484    2: 1491    3: 1110    4: 1492    5: 1069    6: 1074    7: 1493    8: 900

     

    We are really interested to see your 3: value on minimum throttle and also in max

     

    As you can see my Throttle min value is 1110 and here is output when my throttle stick is at max:

     

    IN: 1: 1483    2: 1491    3: 1918    4: 1494    5: 1070    6: 1074    7: 1493    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1483    2: 1491    3: 1917    4: 1494    5: 1070    6: 1074    7: 1492    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1483    2: 1491    3: 1917    4: 1494    5: 1070    6: 1074    7: 1492    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1483    2: 1491    3: 1917    4: 1494    5: 1069    6: 1074    7: 1492    8: 900
    IN: 1: 1483    2: 1491    3: 1917    4: 1494    5: 1069    6: 1074    7: 1493    8: 900

     

    And my throttle max value seems to be 1917 - 1918.. On some cases values might be too low or too high so you need to change those values a bit with your radio endpoint settings. Also please note that you can only arm your engines on stablize more

     

    Those other values are my other channels. PWM test is always good if you have problem with something. Like your quad is tilting or yawing. With PWM test you can check that your stick center values are ok. They should be close to 1500 like in my Ch1, 2 and 4.

     

    Channels 5,6,7,8 are used for different things and they are not so important. Ok well Ch5 is because it is your flight mode channel, ch8 should not be connected on ArduCopter as it is failsafe channel for fixed wings and might cause weird behavior on your ArduCopter. Mine Ch8 is at 900 which means it has not been connected.

     

    Let us know how your values looks like...

  • Distributor
    Martint BuildYourOwnDrone.co.uk August 1, 2011 at 12:42am
    Hello Chow,

    What lights are showing on the IMU after the code has loaded with the switch in flight mode?

    Regards

    Martin
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