Motors arm. On the ground, throttle up gently to where the drone is just about to get off the ground. Move the elevator, rudder and ailerons one at a time and the response seems to be consistent with the control; i.e. aileron left, drone starts leaning left etc…
So all good there. Go ahead and throttle up, it gets about 3 feet off the ground and it starts to spin clockwise ( I think ) and starts moving laterally until I bring it down, thanking you guys for selling a soft landing gear kit.
The multiwii platform is all new to me. I had flashed the nano with the fct and did the end point adjustments as well as the Accelerometer and Magnetometer. I’ve triple checked everything.
So I’ve hit a brick wall here.
I did make sure the props are turning the right direction. Also, I’ve assumed that the rear props also needed to be oriented facing up (which puts them “backwards” on the motor if it was mounted normally).
Any suggestion on what to look for next? Is there a more detailed reference out there I can read?
Please post a couple of pictures showing your Propellers so i can check the orientation.
Also, there are multiple “profile” or “mixing” available for VTail platform in MulitWii and some people like more one than the other. (that’s the mixing sent to motors in relation to the VTail) But this should not affect you, it should at least fly.
Do you have any Mode activated (with a switch or not) in WinGUI ?
Also, when you move each Channels in WinGUI make sure:
Throttle - Down 1000 / Up 2000
Yaw - Left 1000 / Right 2000
Rudder - Left 1000 / Right 2000
Elevator / Up 1000 / Down 2000
I had not set up any modes yet, I have read that section of the manual a few times as well as some references on MultiWii. I think I’ve got a handle on it though I might have questions later. I believe that with no modes checked in WinGUI that it defaults to Acro.
I did correctly set up all the end points. Just before writing this reply I checked them and everything is where it should be.
Attached are the photos. Forgive the sloppy wiring, I’m still experimenting with the layout.
The front props are close to the arms and the ESC but they are not rubbing against them. I think I will raise the motors though.
[size=2]Here’s another clue for you all (the walrus was Paul)…[/size]
[size=2]I pulled the DYS motors and reinstalled the F80’s. Two from the first batch that appear to have survived and two brand new ones. [/size]
[size=2]So I arm the motors and everything was fine. I ran the motors without load at about 50% throttle for a bit more than a minute. Temperatures on all four motors were around 40C. Seemed ok, I would think if I had a shorted coil based on my prior experience it probably would have manifested by then.[/size]
[size=2]What I did notice was that one of the motors stopped very quickly when the throttle was pulled to 0. I have it set to where all the motors will stop with the throttle down, I believe this was a setting in the FCT software. Thinking that this was an issue with the motor I installed one of the DYS into the same position (Left front or port bow depending on your lexicon.) It also stopped really fast. I’d really crank the motors and throttle down abruptly and whereas the three other motors just wound down the port bow motor stopped right away. It was instant on the f80 and just a fraction of a second on the DYS. The other three took a couple of seconds. [/size]
[size=2]So I’m going to guess that there is a setting in the ESC that does this, and when I was setting throttle ranges I probably screwed up and set the wrong thing on that ESC. I’ll read up on that, they are [font=Arial]EMAX BLHeli Series 60A[/font][font=Arial]if that makes a difference. The f80’s are rated to pull 45A continuously so I wanted some headroom. In the process I made real estate on the body very hard to find…I’ve got to move the forward ESC’s and I’m not finding a solution that I’m thrilled about…[/font][/size]
[size=2][font=Arial][/font][/size]
[size=2][font=Arial]Thanks[/font][/size]
I follow this pretty good, but a little confusion. To do the brake setting (I’m guessing this is what the issue is)
Turn on tx - throttle to max
Turn on ESC (I’d connect it right to a bound rx)
Throttle still high, wait for two beeps, the usual and customary melodic “1 2 3 1 2 3”.
To get to the brake setting want for one more short beep and pull throttle all the way down.
To turn the brake OFF I would wait for one sequence of four short beeps followed by a long beep. Then pull the throttle high again.
If I exit at this point, pull throttle low within 2 seconds.
Could the brake setting be responsible for my problems? If not (or also) after going through this exercise I’m thinking that maybe I messed up another setting on this or another ESC. I think the best thing to do is reset all four and start over.
Any suggests on any of the settings?
Hopefully this accounts for the drone’s poor behavior after take off…
I reset all the esc’s to factory settings and the issue with the forward port motor went away. Then I had a problem with the forward starboard motor not starting at the same time. So I did that esc again and now it’s fine. I had a lot of practice today programming esc’s with the tx. So did this solve my problem? I don’t know. When I get a moment I’ll find out and report back…
Eric, they were all programmed one at a time connected directly to the throttle port of the receiver. I’m pretty sure that is no longer an issue. I’ve been using FCT and WinGUI exclusively and I was not aware that the functionality of Multiwii would do this so thank you.
right now I’m pretty sure that I buggered a connection to one of the ESC’s from the MC. So really a couple of questions:
If one ESC is not receiving a “signal” to arm from the MC, does this mean that none of them with arm?
Is there a procedure to debug which ESC is not getting a signal which does not involve rewiring the drone? Can I do it through multiwii or Wingui? If not is there an easy way to determine if a signal is getting through to a particular ESC?
Reminder that all four ESC’s are activating when power is applied; all four do the little “123 123” musical thing (is there a name for this???).
Thanks again. Maybe when all my posts are answered, we could put it into a “drone for dummies” section, emphasis on “dummy” (that would be me…)
No, there are not communication from the ESC’s to the flight controller so the controller do not know if they are armed or not. It will send the signal and the ESC which is not armed will just not spin.
In WinGUI if you see an output next to the motor, that mean the flight controller is sending this signal.
The best way to calibrate the ESC’s is through the MultiWii flight controller as this will give exact signal to calibrate.
If you do it with your Transmitter, you have to be sure to set it (end points) first to send the right signal.
If the ESC’s do not Arm you will have to raise the MinCommand value. That’s the signal sent to the ESC’s when the copter is not armed and will get the ESC’s armed (i know it’s confusing).
Thanks. Keep in mind that the circumstances are that it was working, I worked on the lead dress and layout, and then it stopped working.
So if i cut a servo wire between an esc and mc the other motors should arm and spin providing that was the,state they were in before. So that is not the problem.
You are not confusing at all. You have given me some of the best information I have ever received regarding UAVs and I truly appreciate it!
Ok may be a little confused. I was messing around a little in both the multiwii GUI and win gui. Couldn’t figure out in either how to adjust the throttle range in the ESC. I sad how to adjust the end points in all of the controls which I did. Where do I look for programming the esc? Can you adjust any of the other programmable features like braking there as well?
Just a bit of information:
ESC’s were created at first for Planes (and care) in the R/C industry. They use a signal in PWM which is pretty much standard between 500us (micro second) and 2500us.
This said, the standard is not exaclty the same for each Transmitter/Receiver manufacturer so that’s why the ESC’s can be calibrated.
The calibration will set the HIGH and LOW for the signal that is send to the ESC.
When you connect your ESC’s to the Quadrino Nano, the signal is not anymore sent by your Transmitter/Receiver system.
The Quadrino take the signal from Transmitter/Receiver, process it and will output what he need to keep your UAV flying.
If you calibrate the ESC’s with your Transmitter/Receiver it will use the Min/Max values of it, not necessarily the MultiWii.
Another thing is, if you didn’t do the End-Points in your Transmitter prior to calibrate it will be off a bit.
Ok that’s for calibration, the other thing is the “Min Command” which is the signal sent to the ESC’s when you power your system.
This value will need to be high enough so the ESC’s see that there is a Low signal.
Some ESC manufacturer have different values for this setting and the value have to be tweaked in MultiWii.
If you do not hear the arming tone on the motors or one motor never turn that might be the issue. You need to slightly raise it until they are all set.
All other settings cannot be set in MultiWii.
What MultiWii does with the calibration is exactly like the calibration with the Transmitter/Receiver. It will raise the signal to the Max at power up and wait a bit then lower it to the Min.
This actually helps a lot. I’m familiar with PWM because it is technology that is used in other areas like musical electronics. I’m understanding the theory more than the practical part of this; i.e. what button do I push in the GUI.
That said I need to wait until I have some free time to plug it back into the computer and figure out what I can and ask questions about the rest.
Well, I went through the firmware config tool as well as wingui. I’m working on a laptop now and the multiwii config program does not work. However I’m not where how to adjust the throttle range for the ESC’s. I got the endpoints right, and in the FCT tool I saw where to adjust min command as well as min throttle and max command. Those are defaulted at min command = 900, min throttle = 1220 and max command = 1850. Actually min command is 1000 at default, I lowered it due to a message that said you have to do this for some ESC’s. And it apparently worked because I flashed the firmware and now the motors will arm properly. So it was probably something I wiped out when I restored them to factory defaults.
Eric (or anyone knowledgable) if you could take a minute and describe the relationship between these three properties that would be great! You indicated there was some relationship with min command, where does min throttle come into play? If min throttle sets the low range of the ESC, what sets the high range?
Is there some suggested processes for dialing these in? How about adjusting the max output of the motor? Can that be tamed a bit or pushed to the limit? Is there any downside with either? Can you program an aux switch to do that (i.e. adjust max motor output)…
There is no need to use two GUI version. The MultiWiiConf is the software provided by the MulitWii team and require you to install Java prior to use.
For the WinGUI you do not need Java and it’s quite easier to use.
Some of those values are set in the FCT but can also be changed later on in WinGUI.
But others are only set in the FCT while flashing the board.
Default values would be:
Min Command: 1000
Min Throttle: 1220
Max Command: 1850
The explanation for each is available in the FCT user manual (4.4)
I suggest go back to factory settings and do the ESC calibration with MultiWii.
Thanks. I worked with it last night. I could set to 900 or 1000 min command and either worked. i may play around with some other settings when I get going.
The immediate concern is I’m down two motors from the bolt incident and don’t have the money right now to replace them. I’m still hot about that. I did get in touch with Tiger and their response was “sorry” and told me I might want to look at their “special” sale on eBay. So I go over there and the motors are the same price as the USA vendor I used, only the USA vendor has free shipping and can get it to me in 2 days. The “official” tiger motor store charges $20 to ship from China, which could take 2 to 4 weeks if it ever gets here at all.
Did you know that Tiger posts a bolt length warning on some of their product pages on their website, but not the F80?
I should have kept my mouth shut. I was prepared for them to do nothing, in fact I was prepared for no response which is what I really expected. But their response just blew me away. Say nothing about the royal rip off they were getting ready to perform but they were actually directing me away from a big US vendor to go to their direct vendor page on eBay…
All my motor issues are resolved. I had a lot of personal issues that have kept me away but I’m back.
I still can’t get this thing to fly. It just flips to the left. I did the advanced esc calibration, no problems there and there is no question in my mind that i reflashed it correctly. Everything looks ok, the end points are set correctly. I assigned an aux switch to arm the motors and it works though I have to arm first and then change the flight mode with another switch.
Suggestions? I’m ready to see this one in the air…
Can you show us your mode page in WinGUI ?
The copter should not flip but you will have to fly it, it will try to go everywhere even more if you didn’t select any mode which has no stabilisation.
Well now I get to wait again. What has it been, 5, 6 months? I noticed that the gps was out of whack so I did a mag calibration. I could not get it to level out. And then I saw a nick in the cable right into the gps antenna. So it won’t calibrate…and the motors won’t arm I guess because of this?
I must hold a world record. Two drones built, over two grand in parts, numerous component failures, almost burnt my house down and I have yet to fly one of the damn things.
Does anyone know anyone who will set up a drone for money??? I’ve got two…
MAG calibration has nothing to do with the GPS antenna.
The GPS antenna is really just a GPS antenna, the MAG is house inside the Quadrino Nano as all other sensors too.
