Plane is not going to waypoint, drawing circles instead

ArduPlane Plane 4.2
1

Hello,
I’m using Pixhawk 1 (has numbers 2.4.8 on its housing) and trying to perform a autonomous mission.
After setting waypoints and manual takeoff, I set the switch to the AUTO mode and expect the plane will go to the first waypoint. But instead, it starts drawing circles (or the “8” shape) right around where the home location set.

While I don’t know much about this, here are some information that I think might be relevant:

  • There is a waypoint near the home location: “Tracker Home”
  • During the flight, on mission planner the alert “compass variance” showed up. (I was calibrated the compass right before the flight)
  • Using Ublox Neo M8N GPS with compass, plugged in to the sockets “GPS” and “I2C”.

I believe there is no magnetic interferance around, I’m flying at a empty field, and gps module is away form the motor.

How can I solve this?

Thanks.

2

Do you have an Antenna Tracker?

1 Like
3

Do you have a non-zero WP_MAX_RADIUS?
“Using a non-zero value is only recommended when it is critical that the aircraft does approach within the given radius, and should loop around until it has done so. This can cause the aircraft to loop forever if its turn radius is greater than the maximum radius set.”

2 Likes
4

I did not intentionally set any antenna tracker, and only using digi xbee as telemetry module on my PC at ground. I will check if its enabled or not on my next flight. And do you know how to disable that? I checked the ardupilot website and see only the enabling settings.

Thanks.

5

Yes its set to a non-zero value.

6

I think @trevellyan has the right answer.

1 Like
7

Tried it but it doesn’t work @trevellyan , is there other ways to disable it…

8

What problem are you having and what is the “it” that you tried?

My reply to zboras was asking whether they had a non-zero WP_MAX_RADIUS, because that can cause the problem they described. If you’re having a different problem, you should probably open a new topic.

9

@trevellyan, thank you for replying.

the “it” is the WP_MAX_RADIUS that you suggested making non-zero.

the effect that i am trying is something close to AUTO mode’s ability to pass through waypoints, instead of circling them.

however, at the same time, i want the ability of modifying the pitch, roll, and yaw like in GUIDED mode via set_attitude_target_send.

if i use AUTO mode, i lose set_attitude_target_send.
if i use GUIDED mode, i lose going through waypoints.

i want both.

10

I did not suggest making WP_MAX_RADIUS non-zero. On the contrary, I quoted from the documentation where it says that a non-zero WP_MAX_RADIUS can cause the problem described by the OP.

I no longer use ArduPilot on a regular basis, so you’ll need to find someone else to help you.

11

oh, pardon, you’re correct. tried using zero and non-zero values, and neither helped regardless. anyhoot, thank you for the response :slight_smile: