Aiop v2: ESC-calibration problems

[KoCopter]

Hi all,

I am building my first quadcopter and have problems with the calibration of the ESC's.
I made a little video to illustrate my problem Aiop V2 ESC-calibration problems

A)
Let me first tell you what I did so far. I got myself the follow set at RCTimer: 
•   http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=785&productname=
•   http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=838&productname=

Containing:
•   Flight controller: 1x AIO PRO FC V2.0
•   ESC:  4x SimonK 30A
GPS: CN06 V2.0 x 1
•   Telemetry : 1x RCTimer Radio Telemetry Kit 433Mhz
•   Motor: 4x RCTimer 2830-1000KV brushless motor
•   Frame: 1x RM 450 V2
•   Props: 4x 1045 Carbon Reinforced Forward & Reverse propeller

Further I use:
•   DX8 transmitter and AR8000 receiver.
•   Lipo:  3S 2200 mAh

I assembled the frame, motors and ESC's, thereby powering the Aiop via a separate 3A BEC.
I downloaded "MegaPirateNG 2.8 R3" and loaded it via Arduino tot the Aiop.
After that I  calibrated the radio following Peter Kings Crius AIO Pro GPS radio calibration and ESC calibration
No problem till there.

B)
Next step is to calibrate te ESC's and here comes the problem.
Again I followed Peter's You Tube instructions, to be summarized as follows:
1.   disconnect USB and battery => no power at entire system;
2.   turn on the DX8 with the throttle stick at maximum;
3.   connect Lipo to power the Aiop, the AR800 receiver and the ESCs. The ESC's beeps "tie die die". The red amber green leds cycle slowly and continuously during booting Aiop => tells the Aiop to go in calibration mode (correct ?)
4.   leaving the throttle stick at full + disconnect the Lipo + reconnect it again. The Aiop reboots and the rest of the system is powered. The ESC's beeps again: same riddle plus an extra beep, indicating the actual start of ESC-calibration.
5.   drop the throttle to full down => confirmation/arming beeps.
6.   move the throttle up a little to confirm all ESCs are armed and the motors are working in sync.
7.   after step 6 the motors start as expected ;-). Everything seems ok. But after unplugging and reconnecting the lipo the motors won't start again!
Just as if the calibration "isn't saved". What am I doing wrong?

I studied several posts. Is any of underneath quotes relevant for my configuration?

•   now arm the APM (Aiop in my case) with right rudder/low throttle for 4 secs, release rudder and then all your motors should spin if given a little throttle. Your ESC';s are now calibrated. No further action is required.
•   My main issue is that when plugged into the Mission planer via USB low throttle and right yaw arms the board and everything works. However if I just connect the Lipo with the board not hooked up to the laptop the board does not seem to boot up and will not arm. ESC';s make the same sequence of sounds either way but the board never boots up. The board is getting power as the blue light is on but after a few flashes non of the red amber green remain on.
•   Bottom line is that Gaza and the other guys in the chatroom came up with the answer - the RCTimer ESCs wanted to see more throttle throw from the stick before they would enter calibration mode, so I increased the throw on the transmitter (DX8) software to 115% and went through the cal again.

Hope you can help me. Don't know what to do at this point.

Many thanks in advance.

Best regards, Ko

[peter_a]

Not sure , but you may have missed a stage by memory.

I think it`s

power on  ( throttle full ) leds cycling .
power off
power on  ( throttle full ) wait for the beeps ... very fast low throttle.
power off

when you get it wrong the esc`s just stop working .

[KoCopter]

Peter, thanks for your reaction. The sequence you suggest is the one I used. So that is not the answer to my problem.

In addition to the problem description: it is difficult to get the Aiop in calibration mode. Sometimes a few lipo disconnects /reconnects will suffice. Most of the time however I have to reload the firmware where after one or two disconnect and reconnects does the trick. Seems a bid weird to me. Is this common behavior?

[peter_a]

There is a setting in mission planner to make it boot into cal mode on next boot !!!!

Sorry , not had the same problem as yourself , but I do know that the last stage "wait for the beeps ... very fast low throttle" , can be a problem if you don`t move to low throttle very very fast .

[ausi1972]

You have calibrated the ESC';s just fine (I prefer to use the throttle cut switch on a Dx8 though, just set the throttle cut to 30% which is equal to low stick on a Dx8).

The part you are missing is you need to arm the quad before the motors will start.
Just hold the rudder right for 4 seconds until you see the LED';s start cycling. Then after that the red LED will stay on permanent which is armed.

Remember to disarm after flying be holding rudder left for 4 seconds until the red LED goes back to flashing.

[peter_a]

Yep , you are right  , he`s not arming the board , I watched the video and didn`t twig that !!!!!
I`m getting into the habit of arming the board , but more importantly remembering to disarm it , for the time later when I add fall safe .

[KoCopter]

Thnx Ausi, problem solved! I indeed missed the arming-concept. It works however a bit different as you said.

After powering the quad the ABC leds cycle a few seconds and after that the red led is flashing.

Power the DX8 and arm the quad by holding the left stick in the left under position for a few seconds. The leds will cycle again and the red led stays on permanent. After that the motors starts when moving the throttle.

Disarming requires holding the left stick in the right under position. After a few seconds the red led starts flashing and the motors won't start when giving throttle. The quad also seems to disarms after an idle timeout (not moving the throttle for a while).

Thnx for your help.

[firey1]

that sounds like your yaw is reversed if you arm to the left
and yes it will auto disarm if throttle not moved up after arming after a certian time

[peter_a]

if you calibrate your radio and only pitch should be reversed . 

[KoCopter]

Watching the instruction video of Peter King I noticed that the pitch indeed should be reversed. That is not the case with me. Should I recalibrate the DX8? And is this reverse thing (in respect to the green APM bars) an APM-setting or can I configure that in the DX8? From your replies I understand that the pitch should be reversed. Is that the only control, or should other controls also be reversed (rudder, ...)?

[ausi1972]

You need to reverse the channels so the green bars follow your stick movements except the pitch which should be opposite.
Use my Google Docs folder for the Dx8 SPM file to setup your radio for Arducopter.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-B7PQy0joGrUjFmb2pSTFlqcWc&usp=sharing

[KoCopter]

Thnx again Ausi.
Last question though.
Can you recommend me a viewer for the SPM-file.
My virus checker bounced "freefileviewer_730" and "fileviewpro" is asking for my creditcard.

[ausi1972]

There is no viewer for the SPM file, you can just open it in Notepad though since it is just a text file.
Just copy it onto your SD card for your Dx8 and import that model onto your Dx8. I have a video on YouTube for doing that.