Discussions

Quadcopter Troubleshooting Strategies and Problem Isolation

Posted by David Westgate on July 27, 2012 at 12:05pm

I’ve been working on getting a GAUI 330xs working to use as a platform for photography. I’m struggling to get my first stable flight. This is the first effort I've ever made on anything like this.

I’m going to outline everything I’ve done in detail in the hopes that it can help anyone on a similar path. I’d welcome any suggestions/corrections.

I'm also hoping that someone might be willing to provide guidance on how to troubleshoot the types of problems I've been encountering, as I currently have difficulty isolating which component might be causing the difficulties.

To begin with, here is a picture of the copter:

 

3690950049?profile=original

Flight behavior

  1. Switch the DX6i transmitter’s Gear toggle to “1 F-MODE”, which has been connected to the U port on the Naza controller (the "Control Mode Switch" in Naza Assistant)
  2. Turn on the DX6i
  3. Power on the copter by connecting the battery
  4. The copter initializes and the LED on the V-SEN module blinks green, indicating that the GPS signal is good
  5. Pull both joysticks on the DX6i to the lower left to issue the “Combination Stick Command” (CSC), which activates the copter
  6. Ease the throttle up to a bit above half way, where the copter starts lifting off the ground
  7. About 4 feet off the ground, he copter starts to drift off to the right and begins slowly spinning
  8. After about two seconds the copter slowly lurches over and crashes

 

Components

  • GAUI 330xs Quadcopter
  • Spectrum DX6i transmitter
  • DJI Naza-M
    • Firmware v2.01
    • DJI Naza GPS for Naza-M

 

Spectrum DX6i transmitter settings

MODEL TYPE

Acro

REVERSE

 

THRO

N

ELEV

N

GEAR

N

AILE

N

RUDD

N

FLAP

N

THRO CUT

 

Position

INH

WINGTAILMIX

 

DUALAILE

INH

V-TAIL

INH

ELEVON

INH

D/R COMBI

 

D/R SW:

INH

TIMER

 

DOWN TIMER

06:00

SWITCH

TRAINER

DR&EXPO

 

AILE

0 100% INH - 1 100% INH

ELEV

0 100% INH - 1 100% INH

RUDD

0 100% INH - 1 100% INH

TRAVEL ADJ

 

THRO

<down> 100%

ELEV

<down> 100%

GEAR

<down> 83%

AILE

<left> 100%

RUDD

<right> 100%

FLAP

<down> 100%

SUB TRIM

 

THRO

0

ELEV

0

GEAR

0

AILE

0

RUDD

0

FLAP

0

FLAPS

 

NORM

FLAP 0 ELEV 0

LAND <left>

FLAP 0 ELEV 0

MIX 1

 

GEAR <left>

GEAR ACT

RATE

D 0% U 0%

SW

ON TRIM INH

MIX 2

INH

DIFFERENTIAL

INHIBIT

 

DJI Naza Assistant Settings

3690950181?profile=original

3690950086?profile=original3690950214?profile=original3690950195?profile=original3690950095?profile=original3690950232?profile=original3690950254?profile=original

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Replies

  • David Westgate July 27, 2012 at 7:28pm

    Success at last!

    • Discovered the rotors were exactly exactly reversed from what is shown in the Naza Assistant software (legacy of the pre-Naza controller build)
    • Reset the ESCs and re-calibrated controls on the transmitter in the Naza Assistant software (on the TX Monitor screen)
    • On the Autopilot screen of the Assistant, clicked the Default button, which set all Basic Gain values to 100%
    • Changed the Control Mode Switch "1 F Mode" setting to be A instead of GPS
    • Changed Cut Off Type to Immediately (because I am working indoors and there is a cat)

    Though I've finally got this working now, general advice on how to isolate problems and test various components would still be very much appreciated.

    http://youtu.be/QAZFHy2rcoc

This reply was deleted.

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