Gimbal problem

[Polleke1949]

I';m running "Arducopter V2.9" and "MissionPlanner 1.2.34 Mav 1.0" on my "Crius AIO Pro V1.1" board and having this problem with the gimbal configuration.
The PITCH servo is doing its job fine, leveling the gimbal well and I can controle it manually with my TX ch 6.
So far so good. 
But...... the ROLL (digital)servo is having power, i can hear it "singing", but it won';t react on my wobbling the copter to the left and right. 
I have external power on the board with an UBEC and one red wire from the ESC';s (port 2) connected to the board.
Tried all settings on the roll with no luck.
Attached is a screenshot of my MP settings.
Anyone got an idea what I';m doing wrong?
[attach=1]

Edit 1: installed everything all over (today) and now even the pitch servo is not reacting anymore
Edit 2: just erased the eeprom and installed everything again.
            now I got the servo';s reacting by going all the way in one direction and blocking there.
            the roll servo goes all the way to the right and stops and the pitch servo goes all the way down and stops there.
            don';t know what to do anymore    please  someone

[Polleke1949]

Please 
Now I think I';m going bananas
When I started all over to be sure I wouldn';t forget anything, I came up with even more problems.
Now I even get my sensors leveled out!
See images 1 and 2
What on earth did I do wrong 
btw I loaded "MegaPirateNG_2.8_R3"
[attach=3][attach=4]

[Gaza07]

Hi Polleke1949 Im afraid ive never had a play with the gimble side of these things yet so cannot really be of any help with that, but the problem you have with level is easy to solve in the version of the planner your using that is the new level command and only works with firmware v2.9 and upwards, to level anything below you need to click the terminal button and once in the terminal type setup then return, once you see the setup prompt make sure your copter is very level and type Level then hit return once its finished you should be able to go back to the HUD and reconnect, and it should then be level 

[Polleke1949]

Hi Polleke1949 Im afraid ive never had a play with the gimble side of these things yet so cannot really be of any help with that, but the problem you have with level is easy to solve in the version of the planner your using that is the new level command and only works with firmware v2.9 and upwards, to level anything below you need to click the terminal button and once in the terminal type setup then return, once you see the setup prompt make sure your copter is very level and type Level then hit return once its finished you should be able to go back to the HUD and reconnect, and it should then be level 

Hi Gaza07,
You';re right on the part of leveling the copter.
thanks for that
I got it working on the v2.9 again, but................
Now I can';t calibrate my radio.......... everything blank.
MP doesn';t "see" my TX .....
[attach=1][attach=2]

[Gaza07]

You must be getting 2.9 from the megapirate svn as the last official release was 2.8r3 I would stick with that version as the beta versions in the svn could be very buggy 

[Polleke1949]

You must be getting 2.9 from the megapirate svn as the last official release was 2.8r3 I would stick with that version as the beta versions in the svn could be very buggy 

Indeed, I got the V2.9 R5 from svn.
I';m running the 2.8 R3 now, but how long does it take for the calibration to end, because I';m waiting for minutes and the only thing happening is the red led keeps blinking (as not armed)
Mission Planner says "Click when done" button and under that button "command received".
When I go back (after minutes of waiting) to the flight data tab, nothing happened.......
Just like in image 1 of my previous post.
I';m going round in circles now
Before I can calibrate the Mission Planner has a "Calibrate Accel" with the text "Arducopter 2.9+" under this button.
Could this be the problem?

[Gaza07]

As above you need to do the level command through the cli or use a older version of the planner 

[Polleke1949]

As above you need to do the level command through the cli or use a older version of the planner 

I';v tried version 1.2.34 and 1.2.33 they have the same thing.
please can you tell me how to do this by the cli. (never done this, so.....)

Edit: I found it on http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2CLI

Thank you so much Gaza07     

[Gaza07]

I thought I had above but here it is again

Connect the planner to your copter

Click the terminal button

Type setup and hit return

The prompt should now say setup 

Type level and hit return (make sure your copter is level before doing this step)

you will see the gyro and acc initialise and get setup once you see the this its done
go back to the screen with the HUD (heads up display) and click connect your copter should be level 

[Polleke1949]

I thought I had above but here it is again

Connect the planner to your copter

Click the terminal button

Type setup and hit return

The prompt should now say setup 

Type level and hit return (make sure your copter is level before doing this step)

you will see the gyro and acc initialise and get setup once you see the this its done
go back to the screen with the HUD (heads up display) and click connect your copter should be level 

YES YES YES. I found it (see my edit in my previous post reply)
Thank you so much 

And now back to my gimbal problem, not yet been solved.......

[Gaza07]

I';m pleased your sorted sorry i dont know how to fix your gimble problem   

[Polleke1949]

I';m pleased your sorted sorry i dont know how to fix your gimble problem   

I know, I hope someone on our forum has a solution.

[Bergerac56]

Hi Polleke

Did you sort your problem?

On one of my copters (a quadx), I use also a AIO V1.1 and a gimbal (tilt and roll). The board is powered by a BEC connected to the "power" connector. The jellow jumper is out as the ESCs are powered by the main power and one of my ESC is powering the "servo" connectors.  Yes, there are in fact 2 "power" on my board: One ESC for the servo';s and a BEC for the rest (so I get power on all the AIO connectors included telemetry and GPS)

The gimbal is connected to the 2 (out of 3) first available connectors on the right of the jellow jumper. CH5 and CH6 are indicated in the specific screen of mission planner (I used all the versions starting from .28 without any problems) My firmware is 2.9.1 from svn.
I also "reversed" the 2 servo';s of the gimbal as for me they were not going the right way :). And obviously I checked the tilt and roll to activate stabilization.

Just to make you nervous...  it works like a charm (some tweeking on the angle option to get a correct movement)

The only thing coming in my mind is that you could work with servo';s needing 50hz refresh rate. In this case, if the refresh rate is faster, the servo "sings" and do strange things if not burns. I had a similar problem on Multiwii. I do not know if this could be the case with MPNG.

Hope it helps

Olivier

[Polleke1949]

Hi Olivier,
After searching the net for weeks you solved my problem.
The only thing I';m experiencing is that the roll servo is a bit jittering on my rolling the copter.
Something I din';t experience on my Crius SE board.
I';ll see how it behaves in flight.
Hopefully its not visible on video.

[Bergerac56]

Hehehe, you';r welcome

By the way, my "roll" is also a bit jittering. With a gopro (wide angle) it is not noticable.

I made some tests with the AIO and with a "real" APM 2.5. I get the same results. As from now, I was then thinking that is was more related to a mecanical problem. And... as it is hard to detect on the video... 

Olivier

[Polleke1949]

Thought everything had been solved, but........ no
When I connect the battery to go flying, I have to "activate" the Ch5 (of the transmitter input ch) in the gimbal settings in the MissionPlanner every time
If I don';t do that, the roll-servo goes all the way to the left. (blocks at about 45 degrees)
When I disable the Ch5 again the problem is solved, but when I want to fly again and connect the battery, I have to do the procedure all over again

[Bergerac56]

Strange,

Are you sure that your parameters are OK? On mine, I have RX chanels 1 to 4 used to control the copter. Chanel 5 is used to choose the mode and chanel 7 is used to control gimbal tilt. Chanel 6 is connected but not used.

ESCs and gimbal servos connected as already mentionned.

here is a snapshot of mission planner

[attachimg=1]

[Polleke1949]

My settings are (almost) the same.
1 to 4 for the copter control.
5 for setting flight modes
6 for controlling the gimbal'; s pitch in flight.
7 and 8 not in use. I want to use the CH7 for autotrimming, when I';m ready for it.
See snapshot
[attach=1]

[Bergerac56]

I think I can reproduce your problem. Could you please just input my parameters and nothing else. Does it work?

When I copy yours in my test system, I got a very strange behavior and at least the blocage of the roll. It starts to "move" when I go vertical. I suppose that you cannot put RC6 as input chanel when the tilt is on RC6. And I am a bit surprised by your "max 0" param.

Please just try with the "input CH" disabled. Does it work?

EDITED: Mmmm, I can reproduce something similar when the radio is not transmitting normally or not sending values in range. When all is correctly installed and not just in test with some elements, it works correctly even with your parameters...

Sorry. Tonight I cannot help 

[Polleke1949]

Hi Olivier,
First of all let me thank you for your perseverance on my problem
I';ve copied your settings exactly to my board and BINGO, it';s doing what it supposed to do
Had to adjust the "angle limits" though, because it didn';t keep the gimbal level in every position.

BTW found this instruction to trim the copter, don';t know if you saw that allready, but here';s the link.
How to Auto Trim APM 2.5 (ArduCopter Firmware 2.8.1) for Stable Flight
The Crius board reacts the same on the leds flashing, so I think it will work......
Gonna try this when the weather :evil gets better.

Good luck,
Paul

[Mslater]

Dont bother with the 2.81 auto trim, its been re-done at 2.9 and is much, much better

ArduCopter V2.9 - New AutoTrim procedure

[Bergerac56]

Hi Olivier,
First of all let me thank you for your perseverance on my problem
I';ve copied your settings exactly to my board and BINGO, it';s doing what it supposed to do
Had to adjust the "angle limits" though, because it didn';t keep the gimbal level in every position.

Hello Paul,

I am glad it works. I know how booring it is when you search and do not find 

All the best

Olivier

[Polleke1949]

Dont bother with the 2.81 auto trim, its been re-done at 2.9 and is much, much better

I';ve got a Crius AIOP board, so I will have to wait for that version in the MegaPirateNG