The page says “If you leave the throttle at minimum for 15 seconds while in any of the above modes the motors will automatically disarm.” The ‘above’ modes listed are Stabilize, ACRO, AltHold, Loiter, or PosHold.
So let’s say I have MOT_SPIN_MIN properly set and at some high altitude I just decide to have throttle stick down to have it descending fast, should I care about 15 seconds to not have it disarmed in the air? I think I have a couple of reasons to not do that and also 15 seconds full speed down probably some altitude I will never be (I’m not sure). The point of my question is to understand and know how it works.
I was searching for any chat (discord, irc etc) where I could ask this type of questions (simple ones) but can’t find anything. Suggestions?
Or it’s just OK populating forums with posts like this?
I think that note should say that auto-disarm will only occur when the copter thinks it has been on the ground for DISARM_DELAY seconds. And I think the default delay is 10 seconds, not 15.
It’s perfectly OK to post that sort of question here, and probably preferred.
There is also an Ardupilot channel on Discord.
The copter should only disarm if it’s not falling too. I think the safest way to do the fast descent with a multirotor is to use the fast descent LUA script which will do a spiral.
This avoids the instability of vertical descent with minimum throttle, especially for descents from high altitude. https://discuss.ardupilot.org/t/copter-4-2-and-fast-descent
There is also an “Air” mode for arm and disarm, which allows for flying and falling with minimum throttle, usually needed for small acro quads. Air mode only applies in flight modes with manual throttle control like Stabilise and Acro.
Just to confirm what I thought I knew, I climbed several thousand feet in a SITL auto mission and then selected Loiter mode at zero throttle. The simulated quadcopter descended for well over 30 seconds without disarming, and I was able to recover to level flight afterward.
I never touched DISARM_DELAY and 10s is what I have (also marked in the default field). Repeated a test three times arming the drone and doing nothing (thortle down), it takes 12 seconds from motor start to motor stop for me. Extra seconds may be something else in the queue or anything. Anyway it gives me a idea about testing STAT_FLTTIME to see the kind of pullability there in my case.
Nice to know. Discord channels are everywhere. Interesting when tested BF and iNAV and ELRS I was able to find channels fast. I see one Ardupilot channel listed in the site but marked as “DEV only”.
I need to learn how to use the simulator. I think is the next thing to do before going forums. Lots of answers are there probably. I’m still a bit confused about how to use it.
If your RC radio can act as a joystick connect it and use joystick function of Mission Planner for manual control or if your radio can’t do that get yourself a pad with symmetric thumbsticks.