Hi Dave,
Yes the original 4000mah battery was faulty as one cell wouldn’t charge so we had to buy this 6600mah new one which unfortunately does weigh more.
We weighed each component individually, but the total weight including the payload (base station) was around 2220g this is slightly rounded up and is likely that it weighs less than this.
Ah right, what parameters are those that are specific to this kit?
This is really too heavy for that craft with a predicted hover throttle of 59%. If it’s simply hovering inside then it could work but you really want that hover throttle closer to 50%.
Use this pulldown Menu, select the X500V2 and then “Load Presaved” ignore any messages about “outside of range” and just load the parameters and then Save them.
Hi Dave,
I see, I had a feeling it wouldn’t meet 2:1 ratio as the drone kit was bought before the payload and the weight of the payload wasn’t known so it should’ve been considered side by side. I only do need the drone to just carry the payload at hover only.
These parameters you’ve shown, should I set them to help just get the drone in the air for hovering. Am I just loading the default parameters they show and save them?
…
Yes.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your help. I try to hover it without payload on Monday and see if it’s fine.
Before you do you should make sure you have the Bdshot version of firmware flashed on the Flight Controller. After connecting on the messages screen you will see something like this but yours will say Pixhawk6C-bdshot or something similar:
If you don’t see the 'bdshot suffix then download the .apj file from here Pixhawk 6C Bdshot
And use Mission Planners “load custom software” to flash it.
Then, set these parameters after loading the X500V2 Presaved parameters:
BRD_IO_ENABLE,1
INS_ACCEL_FILTER,10
INS_LOG_BAT_MASK,1
INS_LOG_BAT_OPT,4
MOT_PWM_TYPE,6
SERVO_BLH_AUTO,1 (may already be set)
SERVO_DSHOT_ESC,2 (may already be set)
Hi Dave,
Thank you. Is it after initially connecting then going into the messages and seeing if it has the bdshot suffix? I will save this message so I do not forget.
Yes, right. You have a nice Flight Controller and BLHeli_S ESC’s so these steps will take maximum advantage of the features as you advance into tuning. Best to do them now.
Also, make sure you run Motor Test in Mission Planner (props off) before making any attempt at flight. And, understand which motors should be turning and in which direction when you push the A-D buttons.
Then follow this guide Setting Motor Ranges while you are on that screen.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for clarifying. It’s at my school right now, but I will do it the next time I’m in before any flight test.
Yes that’s a good reminder as I wanted to check the directions again before any flight to avoid any simple but costly mishaps since wrong directions in flight will cause a problem.
Do you have any recommendations for throttle and duration on the motor test page or anything else during the test flight?
Follow the Setting Motor Ranges guide and you will do everything you need during Motor Test.
Read these and good luck w/o an RC System. A link for non-GPS use has already been posted:
Matek Optflow
OptFlow setup/cal
Whether you want to fly this Indoors eventually you should still be outside to do this.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for these links. I do believe I’ve done the optical flow sensor settings. Is there a definitive way to tell that my sensor is working? When I put the drone on a table the rangefinder readings is around 17-18 and when I move my hand towards the sensor it decreases which is expected .
I have never used one.
You can use the “Quick” tab in Mission Planner. Double click a value to change its source to one of the “opt” selections, and you should see x/y change once the EKF is aligned and active.
Highly recommend even a cheap RC rig for initial setup. You are playing with fire to try and take off or tune without it. Once you can take off and hover in stabilize mode with the RC remote, you can move on to an automated takeoff and hover.
Hi Yuri_Rage,
Thank you, I will try this. As for an RC system, I’ve told my supervisor that I should use one, however they haven’t provided me with one as I knew that radio calibration will probably be important for tuning it. I will check however if there are any spare ones that are not being used and that are compatible with the drone.
Does it need any specific parameters or components to be compatible?
Nearly any drone/RC airplane rig will work. SBus tends to be the cheapest protocol that doesn’t require additional encoder hardware to connect. The docs have plenty of info on compatible protocols.
Your “supervisor” wouldn’t be the first to hamper a students progress with nonsense requirements. Endangering people and property should get their attention.
Perhaps the Supervisor hasn’t read the docs and is giving direction out of ignorance.
Ardupilot
Hi Yuri_Rage,
Thank you for helping. I will see if I can get my hands on anything I can use properly.
Hi Dave,
You’re right, there seems to be a sole focus on autonomous. I will stress again that I require one for setup and I will see what they say. Hopefully there are spares so I won’t have to order a new one which will take a while to come and I don’t have too much time left.
Tell him it’s a requirement for configuration and an additional safeguard in case you need to take manual control in unforeseen situations. It is NOT used during normal autonomous operation. What does he think, you’ll be hiding a transmitter in your pocket and secretly control the drone with it?
Hi Oli,
You’re right, I will stress this to them. I will emphasise it’s for safeguard purposes and just in case because I am worried that even the test flight could go wrong and I wouldn’t want to destroy the drone.
