My question is this: is the Y6 actually supposed to compensate in cases of motor/prop/esc failure, or is this configuration really no more reliable than "normal" multicopter configurations?
I've been flying my Y6 regularly for nearly a year now. I've upgraded to the 2014 frame, upgraded to Pixhawk, upgraded to 4S batteries... it's been a great machine and I've been very impressed with it. And although other multicopters seemed lighter/faster/more-agile, I thought the Y6 was better because it was "safer".
Yesterday, mid-hover (in Loiter mode) the motors sounded wrong. It looked like the bottom motor on the tail slowed down, then nearly instantly the whole thing flipped upside down and drove itself into the ground. When I tested the motors afterward the back-bottom one didn't respond at all... it appears that it failed mid-flight.
It looks like the damage is limited to the GPS mast, a few stand-offs, several propellers, and at least one prop-adapter that was smashed into a rock during this upside-down dive. It could have been worse, but I truly believed that it was supposed to gracefully recover from a failure like this.
I chose to invest in the Y6 over other configurations with the understanding that the stacked motors/props provide redundant safety in the case of a motor/prop/esc failure. Is this really the case?
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I suppose anything is possible. After the crash I immediately removed the props, plugged in the battery, and armed the pixhawk... all motors spun normally except the bottom-tail one. I've since figured out it's the ESC that failed, not the motor (I've taken apart everything and am rebuilding from scratch).
Since the battery on the Y6 doesn't fit the "normal" way when the Tarot 2D gimbal is installed I had it mounted perpendicular to normal (as described to me by tech support). I assume this changes the center of gravity a bit, but I had run AutoTune and the Y6 was handling pretty similarly to my previous no-gimbal 3S configuration.
I'll re-solder the Deans on the ESCs and test all the wires and motors again just in case.
Is there a way to test the redundancy? If I intentionally don't plug in a motor, should it be able to fly a little still?
This crash has been a bit of a heartbreaker... my brand new Tarot 2D Kit has been added to the casualties (it seemed physically unharmed but when I apply power it just jerks around randomly). This is my first really significant crash and I hope it's easy to learn to trust the hardware again.
I had a similar issue, when I received the Y6, I was pretty excited, mounted the propellers and in a rush of excitement, installed the rear lower propeller upside down.
It was able to hover and fly wihtout me even noticing that something was wrong. It is only on my third flight that I lost the propeller and then flipped and crashed upside down... the video transmitter and antenna were mounted using velcro and popped, the telemetry module was mounted using two side tape and the antenna SMA connector took the hit. Battle damage cost, 100$ to replace the telemetry module and propellers.
I noticed that the propeller had been mounted upside down when I say that the prop adapter ring was still on the shaft, it should have fell down with the propeller if the propeller would have been mounted properly.
What I think is that it takes a lot of time to react to a sudden change in the flight characteristics, you need lots of altitude for the quad to recover loosing a prop or a motor stopping.
I am curious to know if anyone did survive a sudden change like loosing a motor or prop and if so, how much altitude did they need to recover from the incident...
I'm flying a Y6 for the same reason you do, I crashed a quad about 7 month ago because of a motor failure at 24m above ground, decided to rebuild It as a Y6.
Now my Y6 with new motors has 3h16m of flight and if the redundancy works I don't care much of a motor failing, but your question made me wonder if It will really work and keep flying.
You need altitude as well, and a stabilise program; bring in loiter the FC will try and maintain position, and that is probably the opposite of what it needs to do to preserve level flight.
Your understanding is correct. I'm building a Y6 right now after losing my quad to a prop failure. Watching closely.
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