FC needs to be powered before ESC

ArduPlane
1

Hi folks, I’m building my first Arduplane with an F405WingApp and the latest firmware.

After setting everything up and arming, the motors were not spinning up (the “motors” tab on QGroundControl reads “Unable to determine motor count” and wont react - I have just one).

I had already ran through the ESC calibration, but I decided to do it again, and it reacted as expected. The ESC took the calibration and started responding to the inputs in manual mode.

But after powering off and powering up again, I had the same issue - the motor wont respond until I repeat the ESC calibration. It’s not really viable to have to do it every time I change battery.

Any idea how to get around this?

2

Is it configured as Throttle? Use Mission Planner to setup, configure and tune the plane using Arduplane. Use QGC as a ground station later if you like.

3

Thanks for replying, Servo 3 is configured as throttle, and it works since I could calibrate and test it.

image
image702×290 55.3 KB

I had been using QGroundControl as the Mission Planner install guide says “QGC and MAVProxy are alternatives that run stably in Linux”.

Now I’ve got mission planner running, I guess I should try to re-configure the plane and hope that fixes it?

4

If there is anything to fix.

5

I’m at a loss.

I have an elevon + pusher prop fixed wing, with a typical PWM ESC.

The RC is configured and the servos are moving correctly, following the steps here - Elevon Planes — Plane documentation

After that, I follow the ESC config described here as “Typical ESC Calibration” - ESC Calibration — Plane documentation -

Connect via USB, arm and raise throttle, then connect battery, lower throttle. The ESC beeps to acknowledge that it’s been calibrated.

Then I test it a few times, it spins up and down as it should.

Then I disconnect the battery, re-connect, re-arm, and try to spin up from Manual flight mode, but it just sits there.

If I repeat the calibration, it will respond again, until I remove power.

I repeated the calibration and configuration with Mission Planner but it’s the same.

I thought the issue could be that the ESC was being powered before the FC was armed, so I switched “Arming Required” to 0 to test, but it still wouldn’t spin up on start - so I put it back.

It’s as if the ESC calibration is not being saved.

6

I’ve narrowed it down to a problem with the start up sequence.

When I plug in the battery directly, the ESC gets power before the FC is active. The ESC beeps thrice to indicate it’s powered, but doesn’t do any of the following “Cell number” beeps.

If I plug the FC to USB first, and then connect the battery, then the ESC will beep to acknowledge power, and battery cell count, and then respond as expected to arm/disarm/throttle.

So, as a work around I’m powering the FC first via USB and then connecting the battery.