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Quad/Hexa-Copter using Propeller, Gyros, Accelerometers, Compass, Pressure & GP - Page 17 — Parallax Forums

Quad/Hexa-Copter using Propeller, Gyros, Accelerometers, Compass, Pressure & GP

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Comments

  • chris joneschris jones Posts: 391
    edited 2011-03-25 13:41
    is there something i need to do i can not get my motors to spin the ESC just beep and there is no action at all.
  • JasonDorieJasonDorie Posts: 1,930
    edited 2011-03-25 14:01
    Do you have a remote control and a receiver to test this with?

    Most ESCs require a "zero throttle" condition to initialize, which usually means sending a servo signal of about 1100us long, and holding that for a while. Once the ESC initializes, then you can start sending it higher values to control the throttle. If you power up the ESC and send it something other than a low throttle, it won't respond - this is a standard safety feature.

    If you have an oscilloscope, check to make sure that your "signal" pin is sending the pulses, and check to make sure that you haven't plugged the ESC in backwards - the 3 pins on the ESC are power, ground, and signal. If you have the ESC plugged in backwards, you'll be sending the pulses into the ground wire, and they won't do anything.
  • chris joneschris jones Posts: 391
    edited 2011-03-25 14:18
    ok i will give that a try have you used the code i posted on the last page to test your motors ?
  • JasonDorieJasonDorie Posts: 1,930
    edited 2011-03-25 15:09
    No, I built my own board and wrote my own code.

    I used a receiver connected to the prop, and my remote control transmitter. I initially used the prop to just pass the input values from the R/C receiver on to the Servo32 object, and also printed them to the serial terminal so I could see what the range of values was. That also made it very easy to test the motor controllers.
  • Greg GlennGreg Glenn Posts: 17
    edited 2011-05-03 08:48
    "Crazy Copter" uses PCB as its frame.

    This is way cool. It's not Propeller-based, but it could be:

    http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1433657
  • th3jesterth3jester Posts: 81
    edited 2011-05-03 16:29
    @chris

    I've attached the test code I use for ESC's. Just hook the signal wire up to the correct pin and make sure your ESC's are grounded. Then run the test program.

    You also need the ESC object I've attached.

    Make sure your motors are secured to something, I've already had one fly apart at me.
  • th3jesterth3jester Posts: 81
    edited 2011-05-03 16:33
    On a different note.....

    After two crashes things are looking good. I've integrated the Kalman again, after a few tests I notice the error was just to great to handle, I made a flying oscillator. Now that the Kalman has been reintroduced the outputs are a lot more stable. Right now I'm working on the autonomous routines and integrating the web interface into the intelligence.

    Why is it not good to connect the ESC BEC 5 V together? as in parallel? I currently don't, my setup is as follows: 1 BEC for the Prop(nunchuck, motionplus, 2 mcp3204, hmc6352, 6 sharp IR), 1 BEC for the IP Cam, 1 BEC for the Spinneret, and the last BEC for the wireless router. All the grounds are connected together.

    My ESC's do get reasonably hot when running......I know it's not good, I just don't have to the time to change it.

    @Jason
    Any news on the DCM? Sorry I can't offer much help.
  • JasonDorieJasonDorie Posts: 1,930
    edited 2011-05-03 18:22
    Nothing new on the DCM front yet. I've got a number of other projects on the go (and work, life, etc) so it hasn't been getting the attention it needs. I made some progress toward getting a flight system working with the DCM code, but it's nowhere near stable yet. I have some work to do.

    As for the BECs, usually they're just linear regulators, so there's no problem in connecting them together as long as everything is running from the same power source. You might have problems if there wasn't a common ground, but that's only a hunch. The hot ESCs could easily be a result of the voltage drop through the regulators being converted to heat. A switched mode BEC would eliminate that, if that's actually the issue.
  • LtechLtech Posts: 366
    edited 2011-05-25 13:43
    Have you see this system for stabilisation ?

    http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Infrared_Sensors

    It is based on delta Temp
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