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Loiter problems on APM 2.6 quadcopter

Posted by Samuel Arnold on May 30, 2014 at 4:28pm

Hi guys.

I have a problem with my copter in loiter mode. I cant find the sweet spot (throttle input) where the copter hovers at a fix altitude. It tends to go either up or down on its self. I uploaded a video. Could you please give me any sugestions? The RTL function is working with no problems and there the copter can maintain his altitude. Well maybe it is because he is up high in the air ?! 

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Tags: loiter, altitude, problem
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Replies

  • Samuel Arnold June 13, 2014 at 5:28am

    Excuse me please for the long time in which I didn´t reply! But I have decided to go for the DJI Naza MV2. I just cant afford more crashes due to my not completely correct tunings. And I cant stand the knowledge during a job with my drone that every moment it could go "nuts". So here I will now hope that the Naza is stable in its function, as recommended. 

    But thank you all for your great help! I think this here is the best online community I have been in!

    Greetings, Samuel Arnold

    • Jason Day > Samuel Arnold June 13, 2014 at 6:27am

      no problem, hot much do you want for the apm?

      Jason

      • Samuel Arnold > Jason Day June 14, 2014 at 5:55am

        What would you give and where are you from? Well. I soldered the two pins together, where the current goes from the ESC "array" to the main controlling unit. and i guess that my powermodule has a problem. My APM has those two "limitations". The soldering is easy to remove with a tin removal "pump". I bought the board from England via eBay and still have over a year warranty.

        • Jason Day > Samuel Arnold July 10, 2014 at 6:58am

          I normally get them for £27 new with delivery (just the board, no GPS)

          I can offer you £15...

  • Samuel Arnold June 8, 2014 at 5:20am

    Here the video for the current crash, related to the GPS loiter problems. The crash occured after I set the INS_MPU6K_FILTER to 92

    • Jason Day > Samuel Arnold June 8, 2014 at 11:57am

      I had the same happen before I figured out the filter trick.

      I tried the 'land' function, it went higher. then flipped over.

      try 10 and 20 for the settings. it's a resonance filter to overcome vibration from the props and the frame.

      Don't try loiter first. you are placing too much control in the 'hands' of the apm. 

      test it with altitude hold, and be ready to flip back into stabilise mode if it's not behaving. (ie not surging up or down, then up, or motors pulsing)

      tune all this out with 'other' settings, but make the alt hold work first.

      Attached is screenshot of my apm planner extented tuning screen.

      These settings work for me, I've left it in loiter for up to 5 minutes, just hanging there like a kite.

      but I've had my share of crashes getting here.

      My first adventure into rtl, resulted in it going straight up to maybe 100 meters (after I stupidly turned the radio off as the test) I managed to get control back and bring it down safely, but the autoland was my next test, read as crash)... 

      which is when I went back to basics, get alt hold working etc (sorry for repeating myself, but it's important)

      first maybe go right back to basics, take the props off. spin the motors 1 at a time, check for vibration. 

      check they are going the right direction.

      check the props are balanced...does the machine fly correctly in stabilise and acro mode?

      Tri Tuning.JPG

      https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702497916?profile=original
      • Henri > Jason Day June 8, 2014 at 1:34pm

        I fully with Jason.

        I do operate three quads of various sizes and a 1.5 meter (49.21 inches) hexacopter. These are my experience with APM.

        You *must* protect the onboard barometer of the followings:

        - Light

        - Vibrations

        - Power supply electrical noise (use a BEC and a separate small lipo (2S) battery is best)


          If you can solder, a simple 5 volts voltage regulator will do the job (7805 mounted on a small heatsink is ok and cost less than a "BEC")

        4 x 100 uF ceramic capacitors (low ESR) added to the APM on the four sides improve further noise filtering.

        Furthermore if temperature did change as you transported your aircraft, it needs to stabilize.

        Before taking off and "hoping for the best " or what I call "plug and pray" look on mission planner for:

        Number of sats {higher than 6}, hdop {should be smaller than 2}, and altitude while your aircraft is on the ground. Altitude will vary but it shouldn't exeed 50 cm (0.5 meter or 1.96 inch). 

        Then and only then you can safely take off as your APM is now ready.

        But of course you'll do whatever you may see fit in your case.

        I merely mentioned what I do to bring back my aircrafts not in a kit form :-)

        Good luck and happy flying.

        Henri

  • Daniel Perez June 7, 2014 at 9:08pm

    Hi Samuel,

    do you have the Tlog from your flight, your rlog doesn´t give too much information, please upload the others.

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