I'm happy to report that my APM ship is ready to fly! I installed the APM 2.6 from 3DR and the aircraft armed on the first try and all four motors are spinning. I will take it out for a test flight tomorrow..
APM copter is a great platform for the Elev-8 frame. I replace the hoverfly with a Pixhawk after a major crash. I had the same problem as you with one motor not spinning up as fast as the others. I reprogrammed the ESC, then replaced the ESC, swapped motors, and still no change. My problem was a loose bullet connector connecting the motor to the blue extension wires inside the boom. Other related issues that my be related to tilting on take off: taking off from a slope, taking off from loiter mode (if gps is not properly locked in), and gently pushing the throttle for lift off (punching the throttle gets it in the air to stabilize).
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I lost my APM ship - flew away and I was unable to retrieve it. I was testing loiter mode and it drifted away and I was unable to bring it back. In a panic, I switched to RTL mode, but that didn't work either. I did not have a laptop in the field with me so I had no Flight Planner info. I searched the area for several days but never found a trace of it.
I've decided to build another ship, but instead of another Elev-8, I've decided to try a Tarot Fy680 Pro Hexacopter. I want a machine that will have a heavier lift capability as I want to install a gimbal and GoPro camera. I intend to try using another APM, but will be much more conservative and rigorous in my flight testing.
In the meantime, I still have my other Elev-8. I've installed a fixed mounted video cam and a video transmitter - want to try the FPV experience. But the monitor I bought isn't working, so I'm trying to work out that issue...
Really sorry to hear about the lost ship - was a really cool project and I enjoyed following your process. At least you'll be able all to keep all the knowledge you picked up along the way, not that it eases the pain from the lost work and $$.
What's RTL mode? Is loiter mode GPS based? (I'm not very familiar with Mission Planner and the APM system). What steps are you taking to ensure you don't have a repeat problem with the next APM? (it doesn't sound like your error)
PS If you can wait a few months, we (Parallax) will be releasing our own Flight Controller and completely redesigned ELEV-8!! (fully capable of carrying a GoPro w/ gimbal (or two, or three)).
I lost my APM ship - flew away and I was unable to retrieve it. I was testing loiter mode and it drifted away and I was unable to bring it back. In a panic, I switched to RTL mode, but that didn't work either. I did not have a laptop in the field with me so I had no Flight Planner info. I searched the area for several days but never found a trace of it.
I've decided to build another ship, but instead of another Elev-8, I've decided to try a Tarot Fy680 Pro Hexacopter. I want a machine that will have a heavier lift capability as I want to install a gimbal and GoPro camera. I intend to try using another APM, but will be much more conservative and rigorous in my flight testing.
In the meantime, I still have my other Elev-8. I've installed a fixed mounted video cam and a video transmitter - want to try the FPV experience. But the monitor I bought isn't working, so I'm trying to work out that issue...
That really stinks! It still may turn up one day.
Need to put a label on that: Return to sender, address known: here it is:.
Yeah, I should have done that - got too distracted with trying out the aircraft... I've pretty much written it off.
My Tarot FY680Pro Hexacopter kit arrived today - looking forward to building it. This machine promises to provide higher performance - heavier load capacity and I'm hoping for a little longer endurance as well.
Good news! I recovered my APM Elev-8! It crashed in the back yard of a fellow resident here in Sun City and he posted a notice in the Sun City Message Boards ten days later. I didn't see his post until a week ago last Sunday. Unfortunately, in the crash, the #1 boom took the brunt of the force, trashing the motor, it's mount and bending the boom. The homeowner left it where it was for a few days and then his 12 yr old grandson found it and pulled out the wires to the GPS, magnetometer and telemetry transceiver. Here's what it looked like when I got it back home:
I had to tear it down to visually inspect the other booms and test the other motors, ESCs (they were all okay). The APM was still functional except that the ports where the GPS, magnetometer wires plug into were cracked and I had to throw the whole thing away (don't have the tools to repair it myself). I had started a build of a Tarot hexcopter (FY680 Pro), and had received an APM 2.6 and GPS, so I installed them on my Elev-8. I ordered a new mast, boom, motor mount and a hardware package (had to replace some bent screws). I finally got it put back together last night:
I have completed the firmware download, and accel, magnetic comppass, radio and flight mode configurations and ran a successful motor test. The telemetry transceiver is still functional. I should be ready to test fly lit in a few days. Meanwhile, here are my two Elev-8s:
I've been flying both quads for a couple of days now and I have to say that flying with the APM autopilot is a pleasure! After learning to fly the Hoverfly ship (and crashing it several times), flying the APM ship in Stabilize mode is a breeze - much less workload. I flew under breezy conditions and it was stable and easy to fly/land. The Hoverfly ship on the other hand, is a handful by comparison!
I inadvertently penetrated the perimeter of the "electronic fence" while flying the APM ship and it landed automatically. I set the perimeter to a 20 meter radius and and 20 meter ceiling.
One thing I noticed is that under calm conditions, the APM ship drifted to the left and I had to apply right aileron trim to correct. So I hooked up the aircraft to my laptop and looked at the artificial horizon in Mission Planner and saw that the horizon was tilted. So I used to washers as shims to adjust the autopilot until the horizon was level (I made sure that the ship was level sitting on my desk). Also, I looked up the magnetic variation for this area (4 deg, 6 min East) and set that in Mission Planner (after converting to radians) - compared the compass heading my compass on my iPhone - they match up.
I want to further test the electronic fence and Alt Hold mode and then experiment with Loiter and RTL - as soon as they are working to my satisfaction, I will attempt to auto-tune the PIDs.
Nice work! Stabilize is a good way to start out, but it may get boring after awhile Instead of shimming you can also run the calibration procedure.
If you're using features like Geo-fence make sure you're ready to switch back to manual controls. I think the common fly-away scenario is bad GPS signal combined with autopilot like features. RTL is a lot of fun. I've spent many packs flying away using FPV, flipping RTH and enjoying the ride back hands off.
Before you auto-tune backup your settings. Remember not to auto-tune over a hard surface. Some ESCs are not compatible and it will drop out of the sky. Instead of strapping it down, find some deep grass and try auto-tune a couple feet up for a second. Let it go to the side once, if it works take it up higher, then let it run its course. You'll want a full battery, it's going to take at least 5-8 minutes. Windy days are bad, your current PIDs will be better. The saving procedure for the auto-tune is weird, I printed out the instructions and took them with me.
Test your new PIDs on a windy day, if it's calm and you fly slow you may never notice an issue. I would think the default PIDs for APM would be perfect for the Elev-8 though.
Does it wobble when you hit the throttle, or feel unresponsive?
If something weird is going on it could be vibration. Make sure to enable the vibration logging (and turn it off when done) for a couple of flights before using auto-tune.
Ship does not wobble when throttling up and it responds fine. But today, I tested Loiter mode and it didn't work. It was pointed north with about 15 feet of altitude when I switched from Stabilize to Loiter - immediately it rolled to the left (west) and I had to quickly switch back to Stabilize to regain control. I tried this twice and both times got the same result.
Then I attempted to test breaching the electronic fence - I pointed the copter towards the end of the driving range and had it go downrange. When it penetrated the barrier the motors increased speed and it rolled and pitched downward (toilet bowl???); controls were unresponsive and all I could do was watch it hit the ground. The force of the crash ripped the GPS antenna off the mast, bent a prop and broke the mount to the #1 motor. Several of the standoffs on the vibration dampener popped off. Upon further examination at home, the bottom chassis has some cracks and I've ordered a replacement.
I checked out the APM and GPS - both seem to be working. So all I have to replace is a mount, the bottom chassis, a propeller and possibly a motor (I haven't tested it, but I suspect that it may have been damaged).
Trying to figure out what happened, I started reading about compass orientation and that the magnetic compass is mounted upside down from the GPS and to compensate, you have to set the COMPASS_ORIENT to 8 (180 Degrees Roll); it was set to 0. This is the first I heard of this....
So, I have to wait until I get the replacement chassis and get it back together and try again. I'm hoping that this time, it will work.
I flew it yesterday afternoon in moderate breezes - it was stable and impressed how the autopilot adjusted to the breeze. I have a YouTube video posted - search on Brian Buckmaster Lost
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I've decided to build another ship, but instead of another Elev-8, I've decided to try a Tarot Fy680 Pro Hexacopter. I want a machine that will have a heavier lift capability as I want to install a gimbal and GoPro camera. I intend to try using another APM, but will be much more conservative and rigorous in my flight testing.
In the meantime, I still have my other Elev-8. I've installed a fixed mounted video cam and a video transmitter - want to try the FPV experience. But the monitor I bought isn't working, so I'm trying to work out that issue...
What's RTL mode? Is loiter mode GPS based? (I'm not very familiar with Mission Planner and the APM system). What steps are you taking to ensure you don't have a repeat problem with the next APM? (it doesn't sound like your error)
PS If you can wait a few months, we (Parallax) will be releasing our own Flight Controller and completely redesigned ELEV-8!! (fully capable of carrying a GoPro w/ gimbal (or two, or three)).
That really stinks! It still may turn up one day.
Need to put a label on that: Return to sender, address known: here it is:.
My Tarot FY680Pro Hexacopter kit arrived today - looking forward to building it. This machine promises to provide higher performance - heavier load capacity and I'm hoping for a little longer endurance as well.
I had to tear it down to visually inspect the other booms and test the other motors, ESCs (they were all okay). The APM was still functional except that the ports where the GPS, magnetometer wires plug into were cracked and I had to throw the whole thing away (don't have the tools to repair it myself). I had started a build of a Tarot hexcopter (FY680 Pro), and had received an APM 2.6 and GPS, so I installed them on my Elev-8. I ordered a new mast, boom, motor mount and a hardware package (had to replace some bent screws). I finally got it put back together last night:
I have completed the firmware download, and accel, magnetic comppass, radio and flight mode configurations and ran a successful motor test. The telemetry transceiver is still functional. I should be ready to test fly lit in a few days. Meanwhile, here are my two Elev-8s:
Brian
I inadvertently penetrated the perimeter of the "electronic fence" while flying the APM ship and it landed automatically. I set the perimeter to a 20 meter radius and and 20 meter ceiling.
One thing I noticed is that under calm conditions, the APM ship drifted to the left and I had to apply right aileron trim to correct. So I hooked up the aircraft to my laptop and looked at the artificial horizon in Mission Planner and saw that the horizon was tilted. So I used to washers as shims to adjust the autopilot until the horizon was level (I made sure that the ship was level sitting on my desk). Also, I looked up the magnetic variation for this area (4 deg, 6 min East) and set that in Mission Planner (after converting to radians) - compared the compass heading my compass on my iPhone - they match up.
I want to further test the electronic fence and Alt Hold mode and then experiment with Loiter and RTL - as soon as they are working to my satisfaction, I will attempt to auto-tune the PIDs.
If you're using features like Geo-fence make sure you're ready to switch back to manual controls. I think the common fly-away scenario is bad GPS signal combined with autopilot like features. RTL is a lot of fun. I've spent many packs flying away using FPV, flipping RTH and enjoying the ride back hands off.
Before you auto-tune backup your settings. Remember not to auto-tune over a hard surface. Some ESCs are not compatible and it will drop out of the sky. Instead of strapping it down, find some deep grass and try auto-tune a couple feet up for a second. Let it go to the side once, if it works take it up higher, then let it run its course. You'll want a full battery, it's going to take at least 5-8 minutes. Windy days are bad, your current PIDs will be better. The saving procedure for the auto-tune is weird, I printed out the instructions and took them with me.
Test your new PIDs on a windy day, if it's calm and you fly slow you may never notice an issue. I would think the default PIDs for APM would be perfect for the Elev-8 though.
Does it wobble when you hit the throttle, or feel unresponsive?
If something weird is going on it could be vibration. Make sure to enable the vibration logging (and turn it off when done) for a couple of flights before using auto-tune.
Happy flying!
Then I attempted to test breaching the electronic fence - I pointed the copter towards the end of the driving range and had it go downrange. When it penetrated the barrier the motors increased speed and it rolled and pitched downward (toilet bowl???); controls were unresponsive and all I could do was watch it hit the ground. The force of the crash ripped the GPS antenna off the mast, bent a prop and broke the mount to the #1 motor. Several of the standoffs on the vibration dampener popped off. Upon further examination at home, the bottom chassis has some cracks and I've ordered a replacement.
I checked out the APM and GPS - both seem to be working. So all I have to replace is a mount, the bottom chassis, a propeller and possibly a motor (I haven't tested it, but I suspect that it may have been damaged).
Trying to figure out what happened, I started reading about compass orientation and that the magnetic compass is mounted upside down from the GPS and to compensate, you have to set the COMPASS_ORIENT to 8 (180 Degrees Roll); it was set to 0. This is the first I heard of this....
So, I have to wait until I get the replacement chassis and get it back together and try again. I'm hoping that this time, it will work.
I am enjoying your updates, and follow every day.