Just a post as a compliment to the Devs. Today, I was able to test a full flight with my X8 with a payload and a motor out. Only a 3kg load instead of the maximum 4.5kg, but that's a design fault of my own in the target bracket, not of the magnets or of the X8.
It flew as if nothing was wrong. Start to finish, I had full control, and it behaved almost as if the motor was actually working. Only the tiniest bias on roll to one side, but you probably wouldn't actually notice. Some hot motors when I landed (perfectly, and with absolute control I might add).
So all I can say to the Devs - top notch stuff guys. Really top notch.
Can't wait to try it again with a full payload (4.5kg)...
Comments
Hi Euan,
nice videos as always.
Can you see the "clicks" of the EPM on the Compass?
Could you post a picture of the compass values from the flightlog?
And here's the long version. 20 mins, so get the coffee on...
What's really amazing, is that there really isn't any "motor redundancy code". This is just a natural result of good controller design.
Again, there's nothing specific in the code to handle motor failure.
Actually, it would probably be a good thing at this point to write some code that would detect this has happened, and send a GCS warning. I've heard a few times that people with Octocopters lost a motor, and didn't even know until it came home. It would be best to issue a warning, so the operator can decide what to do.
(I'll upload the 3DR quad video shortly - it's 25 mins of footage, and I need to trim it down to a more youtbe friendly length).
Cheer Randy, Looking forward to the EPM code in 3.3, and I'll be able to do the entire thing on auto! :-)
Re: alt hold - yes indeed. I also did a test with the 1kg payload system attached to conventional 3DR 2014 quad. I tried it manually and it was practically in the stratosphere before I was fully back in control. In loiter/pos hold/alt hold, it bounced 1 metre only. Amazing. Stable too - on the 3DR quad it's located forward on the gimbal mount holes - this means you have a CoG issue when you release the payload. Again, on manual, I'm at least 2m off by the time I'm level. In Loiter, it barely moved at all.
Doug - I'm using Sunnysky X4112s + 1655 CF props. They get warm with a load on, and very warm when there's a motor out. But I saw no performance issues in either case.
Nice video. Happy to see it's working well. The EPM is a wonderful thing too.
It is also sort of amazing how quickly the alt-hold responds when you drop such a heavy weight. If you try to do the same thing under manual control you'll see how slow we human are compared to computers.
Nice Demo! I'm swapping motor on my X8 and was wondering what size motors and props you are using?
I installing 600kv motors and will be using 13inch props. I've had heating problems when I used 880kv motors with either 10 or 11 inch.
Keep up the great work.