Wrong channel, unable to change

Glad you have it running, the other option for servi power is the escs 5v supply, its there for that reason in a normal rc model and if you pull it down with servo current it wont make your fc restart. Whats the application for your boat?

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Why didn’t i think of powering of the ESC? :blush:
Im going to use it for mapping small lakes and ponds.
This was my winter project.

I got it up an running and it works good in manual mode but when i switch to Auto mode it just drives around totally random.
Just added a small grid with about 10-12 waypoints to try it out.
Where should i start and search for the issue?

How does it go in acro? Or rtl?

I haven’t tried ACRO, the RTL gives me the same result as AUTO, random driving around.

I’m using a ublox Neo-7 gps module which has a HMC5883L compass Integrated and i can not calibrate it in mission planner.

I read somewhere yesterday that someone else has the same issue with this compass and it’s not working in ardupilot after version 4.0 or something like that, it just hit me that maybe i have to buy a newer gps module, if that could be the issue?

Acro is the mode you should be testing in. Get that right and other modes will work. Manual mode is essentially pass thru and will not help in troubleshooting the problem.

That GPS module is old but I don’t see any reason why the compass won’t calibrate.

Ok, so in ACRO mode when i push the Rudder-stick the servo starts to jump randomly and same for the throttle it starts to run and stops, spinns backward and runs for it self a couple of times and then stops.

This kind of behaviour in acro is nowhere near normal and observing that should be the trigger to work on the issues at hand before continuing on to auto etc, the system needs a heading to work properly if your compass is not set up and providing the info for heading then that will need to be sorted first, it’s very much a step by step process and you’ve skipped some steps which didn’t work first time for you.
Even when tuning parameters are at default values acro will drive my boat in nice straight lines at pretty constant speed countering wind etc. And rtl and auto function well but with some overshooting of position control where it crosses the intended track by a meter or two before correcting and crossing to the other side. It’s amazing and a credit to the developers how well both rover and plane fw controls a platform on the default tuning gains.

Well i’m trying to figure out why it makes weird things, i suddenly noticed that the channel is reversing and changes back again, the video explains it.

https://youtu.be/MLkGaoYdw0I

I think if the boat senses it is going backwards (due to GPS drift on the bench) it will reverse the steering because that keeps the yaw rate the same sign, so this might not be an error. Try it on the water or while carrying it forwards. Bench testing can be weird in autonomous modes with GPS error and integrator windup.

Also if you can’t get the compass to calibrate make sure you are disarmed, and also you have to turn off auto-arming if enabled, in order to disarm. The compass is pretty critical.

Yes, as Mike says above it’s doing what it’s supposed to just put it in the water and give it some forward motion.
The only mode worth using on the bench for testing is Manual, you can’t expect acro or rtu or auto to make any sense on the bench because they are stabilised, closed loop control methods and by sitting it on the bench you are opening the loop. You weren’t in manual in the video,

If you even give a small deflection of turn on the bench and hold it the fc will keep increasing the rudder deflection all the way to the end because the boat isn’t turning so the integral is adding up with time and the fc is “thinking” we’ll I’m not seeing the desired turn rate that the radio is asking for so I’ll keep adding rudder till I get to set point turn rate.

I had no idea that when you spoke above about your troubles that the vehicle was not in motion in the water but instead sitting on the bench at home, hence my confusion.

All the modes other than manual use the flight controllers internal and external sensors to assist in controlling the vehicle automatically, that’s what the fc does and why we have one installed. If the vehicle is sitting still on the bench and not moving then you just get a little gps drift for the controller to use as feedback to try to control the vehicle with.

I’m sorry, my bad.
I have to try it in a pond then, maybe today if i have the time.

Tried it with ACRO mode in the pond now, and it worked ok untill it suddenly stopped, could not use throttle, only steering so i had to waith for the wind to bring it to shore, rebooted it and gave it a new try, worked a short while, then the same thing again, it seems like it reboots itself, i don’t know why. The compass doesn’t seem to work either, tried to connect it to Arduino, but it don’t work there either so i ordered a new Mateksys M10-5883, waiting for it to arrive.


Post a link to the .bin log file of the pond test.

BIN-log