Quadcopter Help

[jayakathewiz]

Hi Everyone,

Is there anyone in Halifax who has created a quadcopter that might be able to help me out? I've built one and I'm using the KK Plus 5.5e board. I've had it built for over 3 weeks now and still can't get a firmware that will work properly and allow me to fly. Lots of failed attempts. Many firmware flashes. A ton of research. It's becoming very frustrating. I've spent over $600 on it so far and can't fly it!

Just wondering if there's someone out there that's a guru with Quadcopters that I may be able to meet up with or come out to the field some time to chat and see what I can do to get in the air.

My current issue is that I'm using the quadcontroller v4.7 firmware on the board and all is configured and working properly accept I have a lazy motor 4. It has nothing to do with any of the motors or escs because whatever one I have plugged into M4 has the same issue. It only spins when throttle is at about 3/4 and will never match the rpms of the other 3 motors/props. There are other people having the same issue but I guess I'm just too new to all of this to be able to figure it out. I've tried a bunch of suggestions but at this point I feel like dropping it off the bridge...

Thanks.

PS, I've attached a pic of my Quadcopter.

[KrasherJack]

Jay..
There are quite a few guys flying quads, here.
Jay..Here are some of the things I would check..

1) Plug a spare esc into motor and check the throttle with your Rx plugged directly to the ESC and motor.(as per an Aircraft mode)
2) check ESC calibration for full throttle.
3) replace ESC and or motor.
4) check throttle output to the four booms with the monitor console display.
5) are you set up for Cross + or star config...
6) do you Att hold on...Did you calibrate, or set to zero..

If all of that doesn't help...I would Go buy a plane
Good luck
Jack

[RocketManRC]

User waxman on here (a.k.a. John) is the resident expert with the KK board and managed to beat his quad into shape a few weeks ago after a long time messing with it. I'm sure he will comment when he reads this.

It sounds to me like your board is configured to be a tricopter instead of quadcopter. You would probably get the type of behaviour you are experiencing if that is the case as the M4 output would be expected to be a servo. If that were the case then the motor would only respond to a yaw request (easy to test). Can you post a link to the firmware that you are using? Did you make any changes to it?

I will be at Shannon Park both mornings this weekend if you want to bring it by.

Rick

[RocketManRC]

By the way, neat idea on your landing gear!

[RocketManRC]

Curiosity got the best of me so I did a bit of searching and found an explanation for the problem that makes sense to me. It's on this thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... 3&page=138

Look at post #2057 which is the second one on the page.

I have the equipment to test the outputs from your receiver to see what the stick centre values are and I can probably figure out how to modify the firmware to adjust it for you.

As I said before, come by some time in the morning on the weekend and I'll have a look at it...

[RocketManRC]

I checked the 4.7 firmware and it is expecting all the stick centre positions to be the same at 1500us out of the receiver. It should be easy to adjust each channel to exactly 1500 by using the subtrims or trims and/or a mix. I use this "servo tester" to measure the outputs of the receiver so there is no guesswork:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... oduct=4573

They are actually in stock at the moment. I suggest that anyone working with multicopters get one of these!

I will make sure I have it with me on the weekend.

[jayakathewiz]

I love Forums!!

Thanks for the quick responses, guys!

RocketMan, I think you're right. It must have something to do with centering and the output of my controller. I had found that thread you pointed out but didn't see that particular post. It's the best explanation I've seen so far and sounds like the issue. Soooo many people said I should be able to trim it out but so far I haven't been able to do that.

I'm using the Futaba 6EX. I just have no idea how to tell what its center is or how to hack the firmware to account for a different center (and what does the 1500uS mean anyway?). Although I'm more than willing/capable to dig through the code and find where I need to tweak it. I'm an IT guy and have years of programming experience with many languages so that's why I feel like my brain is going to explode on this one. I've never had 'bug' I couldn't figure out. Sigh.

Fyi, this is the exact firmware I'm using right now: http://www.multircshop.com/site/banners ... V4_7_X.zip.

Like I mentioned, everything seems to be working great aside from the 4th motor and I've already confirmed it's not an issue with the particular motor or esc. The other 3 spin up at the same rate and maintain their rpms. If I push the pitch stick forward, the 2 back motors speed up (well, one of them). If I push the pitch stick backwards, the 2 front motors speed up. Yaw right, spins the 2 left motors. Yaw left spins the 2 right motors (well, one of them). Holding the quad in the air and tilting in those directions while at 1/4 throttle is causing the correct opposite motors to compensate for the movement. So it all seems good...aside from lazy 4.

I'll try a few things tonight when I get home and I'll definitely come to the field tomorrow morning. What's the best time to reach you there?

Thanks again!

[jayakathewiz]

I checked the 4.7 firmware and it is expecting all the stick centre positions to be the same at 1500us out of the receiver. It should be easy to adjust each channel to exactly 1500 by using the subtrims or trims and/or a mix. I use this "servo tester" to measure the outputs of the receiver so there is no guesswork:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... oduct=4573

They are actually in stock at the moment. I suggest that anyone working with multicopters get one of these!

I will make sure I have it with me on the weekend.

Right. Ok. Hopefully that's the issue and I can actually fly it tomorrow! I guess I don't really understand why only 1 motor would be affected by this though. I figured if the center is off for any of the 4 channels, it would affect at least 2 motors. But again, I'm a newbie....and I'm also not sure what the difference is between trim and sub-trim and what mix is. But that's only a couple google searches away so I'll look that up.

When I first got into this (after I saw the recent video online of the swarm of nano quadcopters...amazing if you haven't seen it yet) it was a bit daunting as to all the things you need to know but I've learned sooo much over the last couple weeks researching all of this. And even though I haven't been successful yet, I'm totally hooked and I think I'll be a regular on the field now My ultimate goal is HD FPV flying to take some aerial shots of my Dads land.

[RocketManRC]

I will get to the field by 8:30. It's probably going to be too windy to fly much but at least it won't be raining or snowing.

I'm intrigued by your problem. Hopefully we can figure it out!

[KrasherJack]

Hey Rick, nice here in Boston Tonight +15 no wind...sigh
Jay,
Do you have a console program to monitor the KK board, you should see your Transmitter input controls and the output drive to the motors...

Also the transmitter should be in aircraft mode...Just checking
Jack