Intermittent Issue with Rover Wheels Not Responding under Telemetry Connection

ArduRover
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help me with an issue I’m experiencing with my rover controlled by ArduPilot (using a Cube).

Problem Description:

I programmed my rover, and everything was working perfectly until recently. Here’s what’s happening:

Telemetry and Wheel Control Issue:

When I connect the telemetry from my Cube to the computer and connect to a ground control station (Mission Planner or QGC or MavProxy), the wheels of my rover stop responding to my commands.
The RC signals are correctly received and the outputs (visible in Mission Planner) follow my commands.
The rover can arm and disarm without issues, but the wheels no longer turn as commanded.

Random Behavior on Reboot:

Sometimes, when I disconnect and reconnect the rover’s battery, the wheels start turning randomly without any input.
This issue occurs intermittently: sometimes the rover functions correctly after a restart, and sometimes it doesn’t.
This erratic behavior happens regardless of whether the signal reception problem occurred before the reboot or not.

What I’ve Checked:

RC signals are being received correctly and commands are properly interpreted by the Cube (confirmed via Mission Planner).
Physical connections seem solid and secure.
No changes are made between reboot attempts.

Questions:

Has anyone encountered a similar issue with telemetry or motor controllers?
What could be the potential causes of this intermittent wheel behavior?
Are there any specific troubleshooting steps you would recommend to identify and resolve this issue?

Thanks in advance for your help!

2

If you can confirm proper RC input and servo output indications as you describe, then this seems like an interference issue with the motor driver itself (not an issue with the autopilot). What telemetry system are you using? How is it wired? How is the wiring routed?

3

Thank you for your response.

Telemetry System Used: RF 868x

Wiring: The telemetry is connected to the ‘Telem 1’ port on the Cube. It is also connected to the computer via USB.

Power Supply: The module telemetry is powered via the ‘Telem 2’ port as well.

Thank you for your help.

4

I tested things, and the event comes when after disconnected the GQC or when I let around 30 min the cube running…

5

This last observation may be correlation vs causation error. I have never experienced a motor output issue based on uptime or telemetry connection state. I have run for hours at a time with and without a GCS connected.

I would look toward a motor driver issue - maybe overheat protection, idle/sleep state, or similar on the Sabretooth hardware itself.

Some Sabretooth controllers have a configurable timeout that shuts down motor output when no commands are received for some period of time. I wonder if that’s the culprit.

6

I have found the solution, my FS_GCS_ENABLE parameters wasn’t 0 then my cube was waiting for the telemetry