Good morning all,
So I am relatively new to the arducopter community. In short, I am a graduate student hoping to use a quadcopter platform for some remote sensing projects.
Myself and another student have assembled a quad and are using the APM 2.6 Ardumega as our MC unit. We have completed the build, loaded most current firmware (Ardu 3.01), gone through all initial setup in Mission Planner i.e gps calibration, accel calib., radio calibration, esc calibration, motor testing etc. The quad arms perfectly (no pre-arm safety issues), all motors fire at once and are responsive to Tx controls(we are using DEVO 10 transmitter).
ISSUES) 1 Big issue: when we throttle up to take off (in stabilize mode, with simple mode selected) the quad wants to flip back/forward. If one of us holds the quad in hand while throttling up it will stabilize for changes in roll however if you pitch forward or rear it wants to continue in that direction and try to flip. I have combed through previous forums and wiki pages for first flight setup, tuning, and troubleshooting. I have tried adjusting the flight mode, and tweeked the PID very slightly (just adjusted the roll/pitch P from .15 to .08) no noticeable change. I have also switched Tx controls for elevator and rudder to reverse to see if that was the issue but also no change.
2) Small issue: after completing the initial set up the actual initial setup button in Mission planner will not change from Initial to Hardware. As I mentioned above I have gone through all calibrations successfully multiple times but when I have completed all hardware setups, even done my 3DR telemetry set up successfully the icon remains as Initial setup.
I would greatly appreciate any help with these issues!
Short background: we started with a crappy GUAI platform using a NAZA driver had some pretty successful flights, upgraded to a neo 600 quad with all new equipment, and have built a hexacopter with the neo 800c frame. End goal is to use APM and Arducopter to fly a planned mission using waypoints with our hex and quad. Quad is our training platform at the moment.
Thanks!!!
Replies
I was curious if you had purchased your APM from 3drobotics or if it was a clone from China. I've been having a similar problem, however I ordered the less expensive clone version and am paying might be paying for it. I just ordered the pixhawk as a replacement and I'm hoping for better results.
meh, I have a clone and it works just as well as the original. If you buy a clone, just make sure you buy it from a reputable manfc
I have the same issue with my 2.6 but with the ardupilot. On manual mode the elevator works as expected. On Stabilize, it response correctly to pitch commands..but without any the elevator follows the direction of the pitch (ie if its pitching down, the elevator will automatically lower as well adding to the pitch angle and go up if you pitch up the plane -- on ground testing).
despite this known issue, I made a test flight earlier (only purely on manual) and as luck would have it my ezuhf tranmitter got unplugged from my maiin RC tx and the plane went into RTL and promptly accelerated and made a beeline for the ground. Fortunately the electronics seems to be ok and the only the front end of the skywalker was damaged (currently repairing for another test flight tomorrow -- assuming I can find a solution to the stabilize with reversed elevator issue).
What could be happening and what can I do to change the elevator pitch for stabilize?
Not sure about the initial setup or hardware.