Nice flying
Those are made to be beaten … 
Yes - Especially when I’m flying. Will need to stock up on props!
Hello everyone.
I purchased a 400 TMotor kit with FC included and I have some questions about the FC.
When I am on multiwiiconf (or GUI) and set the throttle to max all motors get full speed (I have no battery and no props installed, only talking about motors signals in WiiConf), but then front right and rear left motors start to slow down slowly without touching anything. I have read that it could be a normal behaviour when the drone is on the floor but it doesn’t happend when it is flying. So the question is if this is a normal behaviour (i wouldnt like it to happend when I’m flying the drone )
Also, on the WiiGUI, the AUX2 signal moves randomly between 1000 and 2000 yet I have nothing attached to it (just the 4 stick channels and one switch on AUX1) nothing on AUX2, I have revised it plenty times and everything is right which make me think that the FC could be damaged.
And the last one, when I try to raise the drone 1 centimiter or so, it goes to front right direction. I think this could be fixed via TX trims but since MultiWiiConf Tx signals are ok Im not sure if the drone should be more stable.
Some clues about the installation:
- ESC callibrated manually (tried with MultiWii but it didnt work, when I raised the drone less than a centimeter it started to roll, this has been fixed with manually calibration)
- Only one ESC has the V signal to the FC as said on the manual
- TX config seems ok, the sticks min output is 1000 and max output is 2000, on WiiConf everything seems ok.
- When I want to make any changes on config.h or acc calibration via MultiWiiConf, I have to clear the EPPOM first, if not, it wont do anything. Dont know if this is normal.
- I have done Acc Calibration plenty times, the Acc output seems ok (z=510, Pitch and Roll between 0-1)
Adn the last thing, contratulations Eric on the frame, when i saw it I knew that it has to be mine x)
Thank you
Hi davidsp,
The behavior about the Throttle is normal. The flight controller is not static and will always modulate the motor outputs based either on the gyroscope only and the accelerometer if in a mode that use it.
If you didn’t set any modes in the MultiWiiConf for an AUX1 than you are on Gyro only.
If there is nothing connected to AUX2, it mean the pin is “Floating” and could be triggered randomly. Just don’t assign anything to that AUX2 in the MultiWiiConf and you will be good.
Hobby drones cannot yet fly reliably at 1cm from the ground. There is a lot of Ground Effect and it will be hard to keep there.
It’s best to lift for at least 40-50cm.
The frame might want to dive in one direction, it’s normal and you will need to get it back by controlling it.
You can “Trim” to avoid this and get the drone almost staying at the same place.
When you did the ESC calibration, where you set in the transmitter to 120% of End Points ? This is important because it will not teach the right “Scale” if you didn’t.
We don’t understand your problem with the EPPROM. When you change things in Config.h you will need to upload back the board and do the ACC calibration.
Hi Eric!
I know I cannot fly the drone at 1cm from the ground, sadly there is strong wind these days in Spain and I cannot fly it outside, I was just checking the behaviour indoor because the first time I tried to fly it, it rolled like hell but I’m pretty sure the problem was in ESCs calibration. Anyways I will try to fly it tomorrow but I have to recalibrate ESC since I did it with endpoints to 100%, should I put them back to 100% when I finish the calibration?
About the EPPROM, what happen is that, once I upload a MultiWii con the board, trying to upload again another version with changes in Config file (example, the MINTHROTTLE value) it wont take effect (seems like it didnt write it on the memory). I must first load EPPROM clean program from Arduino examples to clean the EPPROM and upload again the Multiwii with the changes and do the ACC calibration. It’s not a big deal but I was surprised since I have programmed some Tiva boards and I never had to do it that way.
Big thanks
No, the End Point is extending the signal that is sent to the MultiWii board.
It’s needed all the time unless you will not reach 1000 to 2000 of signal in MultiWiiConf (which is needed).
The ESC calibration tell the ESC what is a Full Throttle signal and Zero signal.
If you the calibration with your End Points at 100%, you will never be able to reach full throttle because there will be a blind spot between 100% and 120%.
MultiWii board will send a signal to the ESC similar to the 120%.
In fact the MINTHROTTLE can be changed in the MultiWiiConf, on top you have another label.
Finally I could get it flying today, not too long because of the strong wind and I didnt want to crash it but it was really stable.
Thank you for everything Eric
Awesome Vtail Jay…
Wow… yes it’s a nice build.
Have you already some video feed online ?
Hey everybody,
Its my first post here, so bear with me, but I have a story to tell you all.
Back in September 2014, I reached out to DiaLFonZo about the possibility of getting the arm ends opened up a bit, to accommodate some larger motors (Dualsky XM4010MR-5) that I wanted to fly the V-Tail 500 with.
This is what the V-Tail looked like before all this happened, and you can probably understand why I asked:
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af92/must3rj/20141127%2009%2023%2040.jpg
You can see that to mount these large motors, the arms had to be flipped, and alot of washers were needed (the washers… so many washers) to space it away from the screw heads.
In January, DiaLFonZo offered to make this idea a reality for me, started getting a prototype together to accommodate these motors, and was gracious enough to offer them to me to test out.
This is what the prototype mockup looked like:
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af92/must3rj/VTail%20500%20-%20Large%20Motors.png
In early March the arms shipped out to me, and I started building. This is how it turned out:
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af92/must3rj/20150319%2008%2018%2051.jpg
As you can see, the prototype fit the motors fantastically, and I am very excited to get this in the air! I’m at the point right now where I’m waiting for the Seattle rains to subside, and hopefully get it in the air this weekend.
Thank you DiaLFonZo for accommodating me and my request!
Edit (forgot some details!):
I totally forgot about the other part of the story! When DiaLFonZo sent me the prototype arms, he included a surprise for me- a set of thicker 3mm tail plates!
It has the same profile…
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af92/must3rj/20150326%2008%2006%2028.jpg
…but is double the thickness, and from what I can see, is stiffening the frame up a bit more and will likely help out if there’s a major crash. One thing I really like about this, is how it was built to accommodate the forward body plates. In the below picture, you can see where the two plates overlay, the 3mm tail plate is milled down to a 2mm thickness, allowing them to fit together really nicely. I am contemplating using the extra longer screws that came with the V-Tail kit to get to the standoffs inbetween the plates a bit more, just so there’s some extra bite. I’ll be doing that tonight, now that it is in its final configuration, removing all the screws and adding blue locktite to the ends, organizing the wiring a bit better, and tightening it all down.
http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af92/must3rj/20150326%2008%2008%2002.jpg
Build specs for those that want to know:
APM2.6 (V-Tail firmware)
FrSky X8R Receiver
3DR Telemetry Radio
3DR uBlox GPS & Compass
3DR MinimOSD w/ Sony HAD 520line Camera
Afro 30A ESC
Dualsky XM4010MR-5 Motors
APM2.6 Power Module
11.1V 8000mAh 3S1P 35C Battery
…all on a V-Tail 500.
Cheers!
Wow just found this forum I just setup a mix for my OpenPilot/Taulabs boards and have been running it on a Mini hunter Vtail. I plan to build a 500 with sunnysky 2212 980kv motors shortly but have a question for Eric. Is there any chance an add on kit can be offered for the mini so that 1806 motors can be used instead of 1510? Much broader selection and more in line with what is being done these days with the minis. Looks like a 23mm motor OD. The 2212 has been one of my favorites for years so definitely need to build the mini a big brother.
@ must3rj, very cool looking quad
Thanks for the nice words.
It would be nice to share the settings to others for the OpenPilot board…
Yes, the mini would need a review for larger motor. This would make it compatible with a better selection of motors for sure.
Need to take some time to do that…
DiaLFonZo if you can work some of your design magic that would be great. I will post mixer settings when I get home for the OP/TL boards. After seeing must3rj vtail I am curious just how large a prop it would take? Perhaps he can share that detail as I just caught the 930kv stamped on the motor in his pics
The restriction will come from the rear motors, since larger props can hit the ground. 12in might be the maximum with limited ground clearance.
All the vtails look great but assuming one might hit the ground a few times it looks like the 400 is a little more “beefier”? Designed to take 2830 with 9" props?
The 400 will be a bit more sturdy since the arms are shorter.
9" propellers will fit but might hit the ground so take-off in grass might be tricky.
Hey guys, an update on the beta arms for the large pancake motors. They work, and work well! I’m now dealing with tuning the APM2.8 because I’m getting the wobble of death starting slowly turning into something horrendous, but the frame is rigid (that thicker tail is AWESOME), and its working out really well. I really like this setup; the challenge to tune the APM is really keeping me going. I had a violent crash yesterday while doing a test flight (one of the motors was bad and it took over a month for the warrantied replacement, so I’m just now starting to fly it) and I broke the rear arms. While I wait for replacement and spare rear arms, I’m going to do a custom power wire job and shield it, lower PID for yaw, and clean up the ESC signal wires a little better. Then back at it. I’ll get some pictures of it mid-air next time I’m out.
I bought this like… middle of last year, built the frame, mounted the motors, and then got busy with other things. I’m finally getting back to it, now that I got my Quadrino Nano. She’s very close to ready to program and power up. The only connection left to make is the black pin from the Q-N doesn’t fit in the receiver socket because the receiver socket expected a non-square pin. I’m going to wear down the side of the pin a bit so I can get it in there. Then I just need to trade out my twist ties for zip ties and make sure all the cables are secured to the frame.
