I’m really struggling with this!! I’ve used the Mission Planner to set up this drone completely all of the mandatory equipment steps. When complete the drone appears to respond correctly. Running the “motor test” all motors turn in the correct POSITION and with the correct ROTATION. Attempting to fly the thing is another story! It’s totally unstable and cannot leave the ground without uncontrollable gyrations even with low rates on the Tx.
I then tried the ArduPilot Methodic Configurator(latest version) . This very detailed approach seemed to progress smothly however when finished and ready to do a “lua Quicktune” flight the drone will not arm and reports a “low battery” is preventing arming. Going back to MP “all parameters” list I find odd values have been inserted including wildly incorrect battery parameters. After correcting these value however “low battery” is still being reported in MP.
Can someone give me a hint on how to get the thing off the ground. Honestly this is not my first rodeo in either the drone arena or normal heli’s but right now I don’t have any idea where to go next.
Thanks a bunch for any insight y’all can provide.
TOM
First off, you should not need to change any rates on your radio. Every input shaping is done through arducopter itself.
As for AMC, you might have filled something in wrong. It should work fine. There should be a guide video on how to use it. I myself haven’t tried it yet. I use mission planner directly to configure everything.
You shouldn’t need that much configuring to get it off the ground. Have you followed the guide on the wiki? Following every step before first flight?
Once it’s off the ground and feels rather stable, than you can do a quicktune or autotune. The drone still might need some manual tuning before using any automated tuning.
As for the battery, make sure it’s charged. It should give a prearm error if it’s a bit too low.
Don’t mess with rates or trims on the radio. That doesn’t work on flight controllers and can cause a lot of trouble. If you feel you “need” them, there’s something not right with the drone.
I had this exact experience on an 1100mm build I was doing last summer Tom. My solution was the following…
Fresh default params reset
Then go through all the standard mandatory calibration steps in mission planner.
Then when you go do you first flight, take off just above ground for only a couple seconds (as long as you can confidently keep it up without risk of crashing). If you cant take off without crashing, even just spinning motors on ground just below takeoff for a while will work (all instructions say to use stabilize flight mode, I found poshold worked better for me).
Take the flight log from that short flight/hover/motor spin you just did and run it through magfit.
Apply param recommendations from magfit
Repeat the flight test hopefully flying a bit longer and around, run this flight through magfit again. Repeat over and over until stable enough to run autotune
Run autotune
One of the biggest issues making flight so bad on my 1100 build was the initial placement of my external Here 3 gps. We had it too low and close to the frame. Getting it up and away from mag interference was critical.
I’ve never worked with the Tarot 650 frame, but looking online I see the top plate is used as a power distribution board. If that’s the case it may be causing interference or other issues that could be contributing to the trouble, especially if the compass is mounted close by.
Cameron (Cam??)
That’s brilliant! Thanks for that reply – it provides a whole new direction to follow. I’m very grateful for your guidance.
I will also visit the Youtube link to Andy series!
Allister
Got it!! It really didn’t help at all but thought it was worth a try :-). Got a good lead on a procedure from Cameron Barton so now have a new direction to follow ;-0.
TOM
The 650 frame I have I stopped using it way back when dji had the naza flight controllers just for the reasons that @Allister says. Its a good idea in theory but in practice nah. Had one meltdown to the ground bc of that frame.
Kevin
Strangely I’m drifting in that direction myself. I’m confused by the whole Ardupilot ecosystem because it seems so many folks are utterly successful with it. Yet when I do the Mission Planner (or Methodical configuator) it seems like all is well but it isn’t. With a PHD in electrical engineering it seems that maybe I’m just not smart enough?? OR something is very marginal about Pixhawk 6C/arducopter etc.??
Allister
That’s an excellent observation! I was tempted but decided to use the
Holybro PM07 Power Module which is located well away from the FC.
Thanks for the quick response!!
TOM
I have a Tarot 650 Sport and use a separate power distribution board from MATEK. I installed it on the bottom plate. I chose this board because it has additional 5, 10V circuitry to power my receiver, landing gear and gimbal controllers.
I also installed my ESCs there and added a second top plate - my aircraft is a triple decker. Bottom for power distribution, middle for ESC/motor interconnections, and top plate for receiver, Pixhawk, telemetry, remoteID, etc.
I also have a Tarot 650 with 4S Tarot 600kV driven by a 4in1 Holybro 65A ESC mounted in the middle of the bottom plate. Power supply by Holybro Power Modul and FC is Holybro 6C Mini + M8N .Brilliant combination. Flying experience is excellent. Max speed 90km/h.
Arducopter Firmware is perfect for me, I prefer it compared to PX4. Think the developper are doing a great job and also the meth. Configurator is a very helpfull tool especially for beginners.Thanks to all contributors bringing so much profession and fun in our hobby
It sounds like you did pretty well with your initial attempt. It is common for an aircraft to be too unstable to fly with defaults. Here are the steps you need to follow to get your aircraft tuned and flying.
Be very carful on your initial flights as they are the most risky flights. Follow the instructions carefully and if you get stuck I can answer questions here.
