One of the Motor does not spin, (The back motor the CCW one),.
I had the same issue. It got resolved by reseting all settings on my DX8 and applying only and only changes that Hoverfly Manual says. Although in my case, it was front CCW that was not spinning. Actually, it starts to spin with rest of motors but then it stops while other 3 are spinning. If I give more throttle, then it would start spinning again for couple of seconds and stopped again.
Sounds to me like you need to calibrate your ESCs to get them all in sync.
...Tiger
I am little skeptical about ESC calibration... here is my story: I have experienced that back motor was not spinning (CW). So, I started checking everything and then I discovered that ESC servo wires for back CW and front CCW were reversely connected to Hoverfly board. My mistake! I switched the wires and started bench test again. This time it was front CCW that started not spinning. I am not Sherlock Holmes but it means that ESCs are okay and it is Hoverfly that controls 'not spinning'. Considering that Hoverfly sport does not have much settings, I have reset my DX transmitter and it fixed my issue.
I still will check my ESCs for calibration even I have another issue.
After a great delay, my boards are finally back (originally ordered start of December). ATM I don't have time to assemble them Maybe after Easter?
Anyway, here are pics...
The left pcb is a power distribution board. But the octagonal pads were not placed during manufacture. They are being remade although there are tracks to the holes so I can probably use them.
The middle pcb is a prop board with microSd and 2 sets of 8+2 servo headers and jumpers to enable 5V (or 3V3) to the first servo header.
The pcb on the right is a daughter pcb that has provision for the gyro (ITG3200), accelerometer, compass, and a pressure ICs. The I2C and power/ground pins are brought out to a header. They could be used with other prop pcbs or other micros. There is an onboard 3V3 regulator to minimise noise.
Just wanted to throw my two cents in! When you are having an issue with a motor not spinning, nine times out of ten we have noticed that it is due to a trim adjustment that has been made on the transmitter end that makes this happen. None of my ELEV-8's, or variations there-of(Hex or Y-6), have all of the motors spinning at the same time and at the same rate upon takeoff. This is due to the trim settings that I have for each of them. On some the left side doesn't begin spinning until the right side is three inches off the ground, and on others the front is three inches off and the back is just starting to spin. Now, in saying this, they all fly great, and I have them set just how I like them, and they handle like a dream once they are airborne. The meat of the story is to check the trim settings of the transmitter!
If you are having an issue with yaw of the craft, ensure that you have the correct propeller in their respective position. Having a CW prop where a CCW prop should be, or vice versa, can make you think that all the thing is going to do is spin uncontrollably every time you try to fly it!
If you are having issues with the ELEV-8 flipping over when you try and take off, you have an ESC connected to the wrong ESC Port on the Hoverfly board. Power down, check the connections, and try again!
I had this "flipping over" problem when I had the gain (gear setting) on my DX6i at around 20. With the gain too low, it seems that the HoverFly can't get control. Moving the gain up to over 40 or so stablized the Elev8 nicely without any other changes.
I have seen quite a bit lately that a lot of people have their gain settings set around 40 or 50. Are you able to get a video of how the craft is flying with your gain settings set that high? I am curious as to how it reacts and handles because between Kevin, Ken and myself, we are all between 26-29% on our gain. As we approach the 35% mark, we can notice a disctinct change in the flight characteristics, and that change is not for the better. The craft is not as responsive, and not nearly as stable during flight. If you have any feedback on the flight characteristics with a high "Gear" gain setting, please let me know.
Nick I was actually running 20% at first but in the long run I have been using 25%. But I also noticed other people were setting the gains real high so I experimented and went up to 40% to check it out but like it much better at 25% as far as doing anything but hovering.
Are these all with the Hoverfly Sport? I have the Pro and they recommend 25 as a starting gain. I'm still not sure what i'm supposed to be using for the altitude hold and auto level. Going to give it a try tomorrow now that I have my new motors and props installed.
I have some videos on my blog - http://tirokartblog.wordpress.com/. They were all done with the gain at 50%. I have tried 100% and it didn't seem a whole lot different. The various crashes I have been having are down to me I think - I am operating in a small space which gives very little time to recover and I have actually never flown an RC aircraft of any kind before.
I have seen quite a bit lately that a lot of people have their gain settings set around 40 or 50. Are you able to get a video of how the craft is flying with your gain settings set that high? I am curious as to how it reacts and handles because between Kevin, Ken and myself, we are all between 26-29% on our gain. As we approach the 35% mark, we can notice a disctinct change in the flight characteristics, and that change is not for the better. The craft is not as responsive, and not nearly as stable during flight. If you have any feedback on the flight characteristics with a high "Gear" gain setting, please let me know.
Got a chance to try some different gains yesterday. Started out at 25/25 and had a "flipping" problem right off the bat. Went back in and re-flashed the board with v4. Apparently it didn't flash properly the first time, althought the screen said it did. Went back out and tried it again. Still seemed to want to start to flip on take-off, but I could catch it, but very squirrely. I turned on autolevel and it flew great. A little "wandering" and and hard to hold altitude (I haven't tried altitude hold yet). I landed and moved the gain up to 40/40 and tried it again. Even more squirrely and autolevel was less effective to. Landed and tried 20/20. That was even worse. So I went back to 25/25 and then ran out of battery. I will try increasing in smaller increments next time I fly it. I also have never gotten an indication that the GPS is working at all. The purple light is constantly flashing (hasn't gotten a fix). I'm going to re-flash the GPS board again.
This is totally weird. I did a more scientific test today, at various gains ranging from 10% to 120%. At 10%, the thing wouldn't fly at all and exhibited the flipping behavior. At 15%, it flew just fine - very nice hover and seemed controllable! The same was true all the way up to 50% without an enormous emount of difference but probably its response did sharpen up as expected. Then I went up to 120% just to see what would happen. It took off but was impossible (for me) to control. So this is completely different to what I found previously. There were two differences of note though. I am now running the HoverFly Sport software, previously I had been running the AP software as it was supposed to be easier to use. The other thing is that when I was having trouble below 40% with flipping, I was on a sloping field. I'd expect the accelerometers to be able to adjust for this at startup but maybe that's a component of the problem. My current test field is flat. I did both today's tests and the previous ones with a stock Elev8 - no extra payload and the HoverFly Sport controller - so that did not have anything to do with the different results.
I am now running the HoverFly Sport software . . . . My current test field is flat. I did both today's tests and the previous ones with a stock Elev8 - no extra payload and the HoverFly Sport controller - so that did not have anything to do with the different results.
The SPORT has no accelerometer, so it shouldn't matter whether or not you start level. The gyro is for rate of change and stability.
The SPORT has no accelerometer, so it shouldn't matter whether or not you start level. The gyro is for rate of change and stability.
Oh. I missed that somehow and just assumed... That explains some of the mysteries - the HoverFly Sport is even more basic than I realized. I have to say that I am planning to replace the HoverFly Sport with an Ardupilot Mega APM2. I don't want to have to work so hard! The APM2 is actually cheaper than the HoverFly Sport and has all the sensors one could ever need. The APM2 seems like a much better choice all around. Or am I missing something? It seems entirely possible since I didn't realize that the HoverFly Sport doesn't even have accelerometers :-).
It depends on your motivation. If you want something that lets you program waypoints and basically flies itself, then the APM2 will be a good choice. If you want something that you have to pilot then the HoverFly is a good choice. I wouldn't buy a self driving car if I wanted to learn to drive. That's not intended to sound snarky or anything - they're just different boards with different goals.
I have built my own Propeller proto board with an IMU that contains the ITG-3200 gyro, and a 10 row servo header that is wired up for Jason Dories QuadX project and running his QuadX code with the modification to the PID's he had made for the Hoverfly sport board to operate the Elev-8 chassis with his code. Ruff landing at the end but I'm still learning.
I hope I am posting this in the right place, if not please redirect me and please excuse my noob-ness. In post #810, I saw that Jason D wrote and released Quad X flight code. Big thanks, Jason! Does this run on the standard Hoverfly sport board? If so, has he or anyone else developed a schematic or I/O map for that board, or is one included?
I need the Hoverfly documentation because I want to buy an ELEV-8 and then build an add-on to the controller with the IMU components that are not on the sport version of the Hoverfly board: accelerometers, magnetic compass, barometric altimeter, and gps. I already have all this stuff and I would rather not start from scratch unless I have to. And, I want to fly it for a while before I go break it That, and I can't afford the kit plus the pro & gps boards from Hoverfly.
MarkFromNJ here is the program from Jason's QuadX-V2 I used in the last video I posted. It has been modified to include the PID terms he came up with to operate the Hoverfly Sport Board on the Elev-8 chassis which has an ITG-3200 gyro.
The board I built consists of:
1 Propeller protoboard
1 ITG-3200 Gyro (I am using a Sparkfun IMU with this gyro)
1 10 row servo header from Samtec
5 4.7k resistors to go between the receiver (Aieleron, Elevator, Throttle, Rudder and Gear) servo header's and Propeller port pins
The grnd row of the servo header is soldered to the grnd row on the protoboard
The center row of the servo header is solder together and then to the 5 volt supply on the protoboard
This program ignores the gear channel as I was experimenting at the time and thanks Tiger!.
EDIT: the QuadX program he posted earlier in this thread is written to operate the Hoverfly Sport board on the Elev-8 chassis, the code I am posting here is from his QuadX project in the Projects forum and has different wiring from the Hoverfly.
Dave's right on with all of that. In addition, an upcoming version of the QuadX code (non-HoverFly version) includes support for an accelerometer (specifically the ADXL345) to handle full flight stability and camera leveling. I have the code working, but it still needs a decent amount of fiddling before I'll be comfortable releasing it into the wild.
The HoverFly Sport board doesn't really offer any way to connect additional stuff to it, but the components are identical to what my QuadX uses. The only significant difference between the two versions is the pin configuration, and some code changes required to handle non-continuous pin ranges on the Sport board. I changed the PID values slightly to tune for the Elev-8 chassis, but otherwise the core of the flight code is identical.
The HoverFly Open board, which I'm told is "coming soon", will have additional component space on it, allowing the connection of a daughterboard with additional components. That said, a Protoboard assembled per Dave's instructions is exactly what I'm flying in the QuadX thread, and it works just fine.
does anyone know anything about the ultrasonic sensor for the sport in the users guide it shows where to plug it in. I thought it was for auto altitude hold. But Cant find any info on what to use. Just went back to double check and it now has a picture under accessories but no real info and when you check buy it goes no where. Maybe they are redoing the sight. Last time I looked there was nothing but how to plug it in.
Be aware when using this. (I should have know better) The first time that i used the maxbotic sensor was at Parallax for the expo. I tested it in the parking lot and all seemed to work well once the gains were adjusted. I then used it to fly the contest over the TALL grass and the water. It was very confused and decided to settle a foot under the water. I plan to use the altimeter that parallax sells to make a module to replace this.
Eggplant - Looks like you can address "pairs" of lights. How did you do that? Seems like it would take a LOT of I/O. A little more detail would be interesting. Very cool for sure!
...Tiger
EDIT: Just looked up the LPD8806 lights. Wow! Didn't know you could get something like that. Didn't see a price, but they look expensive.
Yeah, they are individually addressable. Cool stuff!
It is a bit pricey. Adafruit sells it for $35 per meter. It's made in 5m spools, so less than that will be cut to length. You can cut it every two LEDs.
Comments
I had the same issue. It got resolved by reseting all settings on my DX8 and applying only and only changes that Hoverfly Manual says. Although in my case, it was front CCW that was not spinning. Actually, it starts to spin with rest of motors but then it stops while other 3 are spinning. If I give more throttle, then it would start spinning again for couple of seconds and stopped again.
Dimitri
...Tiger
I am little skeptical about ESC calibration... here is my story: I have experienced that back motor was not spinning (CW). So, I started checking everything and then I discovered that ESC servo wires for back CW and front CCW were reversely connected to Hoverfly board. My mistake! I switched the wires and started bench test again. This time it was front CCW that started not spinning. I am not Sherlock Holmes but it means that ESCs are okay and it is Hoverfly that controls 'not spinning'. Considering that Hoverfly sport does not have much settings, I have reset my DX transmitter and it fixed my issue.
I still will check my ESCs for calibration even I have another issue.
Dimitri
After a great delay, my boards are finally back (originally ordered start of December). ATM I don't have time to assemble them
Anyway, here are pics...
The left pcb is a power distribution board. But the octagonal pads were not placed during manufacture. They are being remade although there are tracks to the holes so I can probably use them.
The middle pcb is a prop board with microSd and 2 sets of 8+2 servo headers and jumpers to enable 5V (or 3V3) to the first servo header.
The pcb on the right is a daughter pcb that has provision for the gyro (ITG3200), accelerometer, compass, and a pressure ICs. The I2C and power/ground pins are brought out to a header. They could be used with other prop pcbs or other micros. There is an onboard 3V3 regulator to minimise noise.
If you are having an issue with yaw of the craft, ensure that you have the correct propeller in their respective position. Having a CW prop where a CCW prop should be, or vice versa, can make you think that all the thing is going to do is spin uncontrollably every time you try to fly it!
If you are having issues with the ELEV-8 flipping over when you try and take off, you have an ESC connected to the wrong ESC Port on the Hoverfly board. Power down, check the connections, and try again!
That is with an unloaded Elev-8 (no camara etc.)
The SPORT has no accelerometer, so it shouldn't matter whether or not you start level. The gyro is for rate of change and stability.
Oh. I missed that somehow and just assumed... That explains some of the mysteries - the HoverFly Sport is even more basic than I realized. I have to say that I am planning to replace the HoverFly Sport with an Ardupilot Mega APM2. I don't want to have to work so hard! The APM2 is actually cheaper than the HoverFly Sport and has all the sensors one could ever need. The APM2 seems like a much better choice all around. Or am I missing something? It seems entirely possible since I didn't realize that the HoverFly Sport doesn't even have accelerometers :-).
Jason
I need the Hoverfly documentation because I want to buy an ELEV-8 and then build an add-on to the controller with the IMU components that are not on the sport version of the Hoverfly board: accelerometers, magnetic compass, barometric altimeter, and gps. I already have all this stuff and I would rather not start from scratch unless I have to. And, I want to fly it for a while before I go break it
Any info is much appreciated.
Thanks, Mark
...Tiger
The board I built consists of:
1 Propeller protoboard
1 ITG-3200 Gyro (I am using a Sparkfun IMU with this gyro)
1 10 row servo header from Samtec
5 4.7k resistors to go between the receiver (Aieleron, Elevator, Throttle, Rudder and Gear) servo header's and Propeller port pins
The grnd row of the servo header is soldered to the grnd row on the protoboard
The center row of the servo header is solder together and then to the 5 volt supply on the protoboard
Receiver connections
P0 - 4.7k - Throttle servo header
P1 - 4.7k - Aileron " "
P2 - 4.7k - Elevator " "
P3 - 4.7k - Rudder " "
P4 - 4.7k - Gear " "
Motor connections
P8 - Front left motor ESC servo header
P9 - Front right motor ESC " "
P10 - Back right motor ESC" "
P11 - Back left motor ESC" "
Gyro connections
P16 - SDA
P17 - SCL
Grnd
3.3volts
This program ignores the gear channel as I was experimenting at the time and thanks Tiger!.
EDIT: the QuadX program he posted earlier in this thread is written to operate the Hoverfly Sport board on the Elev-8 chassis, the code I am posting here is from his QuadX project in the Projects forum and has different wiring from the Hoverfly.
The HoverFly Sport board doesn't really offer any way to connect additional stuff to it, but the components are identical to what my QuadX uses. The only significant difference between the two versions is the pin configuration, and some code changes required to handle non-continuous pin ranges on the Sport board. I changed the PID values slightly to tune for the Elev-8 chassis, but otherwise the core of the flight code is identical.
The HoverFly Open board, which I'm told is "coming soon", will have additional component space on it, allowing the connection of a daughterboard with additional components. That said, a Protoboard assembled per Dave's instructions is exactly what I'm flying in the QuadX thread, and it works just fine.
Jason
It has a small prototyping area with GND, 3.3V, 5V and pins 17 to 25.
http://www.maxbotix.com/products/MB1000.htm
I've had only moderate luck with this feature. It works, but only to about 6 feet and it drifts up and down 2-3 feet.
LPD8806 RGB light strip, 5v BEC, R/C switch, and teensy AVR-based USB microcontroller.
[video=youtube_share;Q8pINzeccg4]
Code: https://github.com/orphu/ThurdKind
...Tiger
EDIT: Just looked up the LPD8806 lights. Wow! Didn't know you could get something like that. Didn't see a price, but they look expensive.
It is a bit pricey. Adafruit sells it for $35 per meter. It's made in 5m spools, so less than that will be cut to length. You can cut it every two LEDs.
http://www.adafruit.com/products/306