Cleanflight not enabling different modes

[Limey10]

Hi all.

I just switched over from a cc3d flight controller to a Flip32 flight controller.

Transmitter is a FlySky FSi6, receiver is also FSi6a.

If I understand it correctly, default flight mode is Acro. However, I am not experienced enough yet for Acro, so I would like to have default set as Angle (or Horizon), with options to change to Angle+Baro followed by Angle+Baro+Mag.

All appears to be normal in Cleanflight. I assigned Aux2 (which is a 3 position switch) to start in Angle, followed by the other two flight modes. The transmitter was setup with the correctly assigned Aux channels.

However, none of these flight modes seem to operate. It doesn';t matter what I select, the quad seems to stay in Acro.

Can anyone give me any clues what may be the problem, or what I have done wrong. I strongly suspect user error here. If I haven';t given enough information, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

[Cheredanine]

On the ports tab, with the flight batter applied, move the 3 posn switch and ensure little green bit moves so when you are in angle and horizon mode the signal is between the two limits

[Limey10]

Hi Cheredanine

I can see that on the modes tab. I actually have it setup now as Aux 1 Angle or Horizon and Aux 2 as Baro or Mag or Baro+Mag.

With the flight battery plugged in, the switches move to the correct positions on Cleanflight, but I still only get Acro outside of Cleanflight.

[Cheredanine]

Can you do a full screenshot of your modes page then in angle mode?

Also what makes you think it is in acro mode?

[atomiclama]

You are saving it aren';t you?

[Limey10]

Hi

To be honest, I don';t know for sure that it is Acro mode. The quad is controllable in the hover, but it handles more like a helicopter than a quad.

Here is the modes page:

and yes, I have been saving it. :-)

[Limey10]

Something that I just spotted. On the configuration tab, I have the receiver set as RX_parallel_pwm; but on this Cleanflight setup video https://youtu.be/8ddPOZI8dY8, the speaker says at around 2:55 that if you have one wire per channel (which I have) I should use RX_serial. Could someone confirm that?

Ok, disregard, I think I answered this one myself. Nothing moves when I switch to anything other than rx_parallel_pwm

[lamprosGR]

Should be like that.

https://vimeo.com/150306867

Baro and mag always enabled in angle or horizon mode. My opinion.

Make sure the space of the green line is enough like my setup.

Good luck.

[Limey10]

Hi lamprosGR

I see you have Baro and Mag selected even when Angle and Horizon are not selected. Would this be a problem?

Also, when no primary flight mode is selected, what mode is the default?

Thanks, Phil

Should be like that.

https://vimeo.com/150306867

Baro and mag always enabled in angle or horizon mode. My opinion.

Make sure the space of the green line is enough like my setup.

Good luck.

[Limey10]

With the settings suggested by lamprosGR, this is what I get (unfortunately no change)

https://youtu.be/5D_68mj5SJc

As can be seen, the settings work in Cleanflight. I start all motors to about 1500rpm. When I apply a bit of left stick, motors 1 and 2 stop completely. Then, when I apply right stick, motors 1 and 2 spool up and motors 3 and 4 stop. This also happens when I select angle or horizon modes.

[lamprosGR]

Baro is for altitude hold but it dosnt work because I need to put a small sponge at the barometer to impove, so barometer its like off. I must actually disable it to see if my hovering gets better. Magnetometer its a compass so its not an issue for me at least. I am not flying acro at my basic flights because I am still learning orientation but I am always give it a try for 30 sec-1 min. The default mode should be acro with baro and mag enabled. I really dont know if my setup is good but I fly so I dont really care. Of course I am accepting your opinions.

[lamprosGR]

As you said you have pwm connection like me. (I fried my dr4) do you have 6 cables going to your receiver from your board? Did you program your radio correctly?

[Limey10]

Hi lamprosGR

haha, good for you buddy - maybe I should follow your example :-)

Yes, I have three wires from channel 1 and single wires for channels 2 to 6 connecting the fc to the receiver.

Also, I think the receiver is programmed correctly. Any tips on what I might have missed?

I read about adding a sponge to the baro, maybe that will make all the difference.

When you change to Angle, does your quad self level and is your setup roughly the same as mine (Flip32 FC)?

[lamprosGR]

It looks you are ready to go. The modes are switching ok. You can see when you enable the modes the grey windows at the left become green so its enabled. When both are grey you are in acro. When we say stabilize mode dosnt mean your hands will be off from you trasmitter. In any mode the ship wants to go to a direction depenting on the wind, on your calibration etc.

[lamprosGR]

Go out and fly it on angle mode. Dont forget the video!! 

[lamprosGR]

I ve got the dragonfly32 pro which is a copy of flip32 but like improved. It';s my first controller and I bought it because I was to states for vacation when I built it. I really dont see anything wrong. The modes are changing correctly. Maybe you are scared like me when I started. Go with angle mode and correct it when wants to go somewhere. Good luck. :)

[Cheredanine]

As above, modes look ok,
One thing I would say, didn';t look on the vid but on the screen shot you have angle mode at one extreme of the 3 posn and horizon at the other, this would put it in acro when the switch is in the middle position, you would have to go into acro to move between angle and horizon, it would be more conventional to have angle at one extreme, horizon in the middle and acro at the other end, edit : seen you have corrected above

However very concerned with your motors not starting until 1500,
On the reciever tab what range does your throttle go from and to?(stick low and stick high)
What is your min throttle?
First step recalibrate you ESCs, your motors should spin up at about 1028
Also have you got motor stop enabled?

[Limey10]

As above, modes look ok,
One thing I would say, didn';t look on the vid but on the screen shot you have angle mode at one extreme of the 3 posn and horizon at the other, this would put it in acro when the switch is in the middle position, you would have to go into acro to move between angle and horizon, it would be more conventional to have angle at one extreme, horizon in the middle and acro at the other end, edit : seen you have corrected above

However very concerned with your motors not starting until 1500,
On the reciever tab what range does your throttle go from and to?(stick low and stick high)
What is your min throttle?
First step recalibrate you ESCs, your motors should spin up at about 1028
Also have you got motor stop enabled?

Aux 1 is a 2 position switch; so up is Angle and down is Horizon - the plan being to not have Acro at all.

Sorry, I probably typed that incorrectly. In the vid I throttled up all motors to about 1200 (they start at around 1106), and then used left/right roll to show how motors 3 and 4 followed by 1 and 2 stopped even when the sticks were centred. My thought is that on a level surface, shouldn';t all of the motors be spinning to maintain a level flight?

On the reciever tab what range does your throttle go from and to?(stick low and stick high)
......1007 to 1997

What is your min throttle?
Min throttle 1100, mid 1500 and max 1900.

First step recalibrate you ESCs, your motors should spin up at about 1028
......Do I still need to do this?

Also have you got motor stop enabled?
......Yes

[Cheredanine]

Ok so min throttle is below the point where your motors spin up, that is why they stop on hard yaw, you have a dead band at the bottom of your throttle.
Your min throttle should be at the point where motors spin up or just after (with props on so really looking at slightly higher than test bench with props off

But
If your motors are not spinning until that high something is squiffy. I am wandering about the ESC settings, not sure what you are using (didn';t look) but typical blheli is 1024 or 1028 (having a brain fart)

Would definitely try recalibration ESCs in cf.
In the long term I would want to look at ESC settings, in the short term, if you want to fly before you look at ESC settings up your min throttle until it is slightly higher than spin up, not ideal, you are losing some of the impact of your stick movement but should be OK to fly

[Limey10]

Ok so min throttle is below the point where your motors spin up, that is why they stop on hard yaw, you have a dead band at the bottom of your throttle.
Your min throttle should be at the point where motors spin up or just after (with props on so really looking at slightly higher than test bench with props off

But
If your motors are not spinning until that high something is squiffy. I am wandering about the ESC settings, not sure what you are using (didn';t look) but typical blheli is 1024 or 1028 (having a brain fart)

Would definitely try recalibration ESCs in cf.
In the long term I would want to look at ESC settings, in the short term, if you want to fly before you look at ESC settings up your min throttle until it is slightly higher than spin up, not ideal, you are losing some of the impact of your stick movement but should be OK to fly

I recalibrated the ESCs (somonk); it took several goes, but now all motors start at 1030.

Do I still need to adjust my min throttle?

[Cheredanine]

Yeah, I would go for 1035 or 1040 and you should be good

(Try your roll test again, as long as you are not at zero throttle your motors should keep spinning

[lamprosGR]

If the motors start spinning at 1030 and you set 1035 or 1040 the motor will not spin when arming? I would go with 1028-1029

[Limey10]

Ok done.

Just tried it on the bench. So with Angle mode selected - motors definitely start sooner. However, when I apply roll or pitch (not maximum), some of the motors stop. I imagine if this is in the air, the quad will drift or flip completely in that direction. Centering the stick does not restart those motors (i.e., self level). Does that make sense?

[Cheredanine]

If the motors start spinning at 1030 and you set 1035 or 1040 the motor will not spin when arming? I would go with 1028-1029

That is rather the point of arming, however in this case he is using motor stop to stop motors at zero throttle, if you have min throttle below motor spin up the motors will stop at less than zero throttle, thus can lead, in the worse case, to the quad falling out the air, but certainly motors stoping during manoeuvring, this is a very bad idea as the motors restarting tends to produce a surge of power which results in the quad jerking around. Not to mention the fact that the motors don';t start at the same point and will tend to produce different thrusts until the FC manages to bring it under control, this can produce very unexpected changes of aspect whilst rotating in a single axis

In short the quad will feel loose and jumpy at low throttle and in manoeuvres and may even fall out the sky

[Limey10]

Hi

I';ve just tried starting up again. This is definitely better than before; however, at one point motor 3 completely stopped and restarted after about a second.

Is it possible that the PID controller I am using is incorrect. I have it on MultiWii re-write. I see a lot of people singing the praises of LuxFloat..... or would i be opening another can of worms by changing?

[Cheredanine]

Ok done.

Just tried it on the bench. So with Angle mode selected - motors definitely start sooner. However, when I apply roll or pitch (not maximum), some of the motors stop. I imagine if this is in the air, the quad will drift or flip completely in that direction. Centering the stick does not restart those motors (i.e., self level). Does that make sense?

No it doesn';t. With the stick centred and throttle up a little the motors should all be spinning in any mode. The fact it works until you move the stick says it ain';t a config problem

unless there is something weird on your ESC settings (kind of assuming you haven';t manually buggered around with their settings) my bet is you have a physical problem

Is this a new build? Wandering about old components with damage/wear or dirt

[Cheredanine]

Hi

I';ve just tried starting up again. This is definitely better than before; however, at one point motor 3 completely stopped and restarted after about a second.

Is it possible that the PID controller I am using is incorrect. I have it on MultiWii re-write. I see a lot of people singing the praises of LuxFloat..... or would i be opening another can of worms by changing?

Unless you have done something very drastic on the PID settings no, it isn';t going to be the controller (actually a lot of the more experienced pilots are using multiwii rewrite at the moment, the incremental values are far more granular than those on lux in the current version of configurator meaning you can get your setting closer to ideal, producing a much better tune)

Is it always motor 3 or does it effect all motors?
Edit: and when the motors stop are they hot?

[Limey10]

It';s a new build.

I haven';t touched the PID settings at all (wouldn';t know what to change anyway :-)

Before the Flip32 fc I had an OpenPilot CC3D fc installed. Flight was pretty much perfect. Very responsive. I thought moving up to the Flip32 would be an upgrade :-(

It affects all motors (not just number 3), but it is nowhere near as pronounced as it was before I recalibrated the ESCs - so it looks like it';s heading in the right direction.

I';ll put some of those plastic things on and see if I can leap majestically into the air first thing in the morning.

Will report back with the results. Thanks for all your help tonight guys.

Phil

[Cheredanine]

Ok mate,
Some bits for when you pick it back up in the am:

You may have a physical problem that was there with the cc3d but the flight controller was compensating.

You should only need to calibrate your ESCs once

I would be worrying about solder joints if it was just one motor

Still a bit concerned about naff solder

Other possibilities include
Dirt, dust or other substance in the motors
The possibility the screws that mount the motors to the frame are a little too long and catching/shorting the motors (would tend to make the motors get hot

Also have you got oneshot 125 enabled? If not then enable it

It would probably help to know what motors, ESCs and battery you are using

[Limey10]

Haven';t managed to get the quad outside today (gotta love English rain), but I did manage a little bit of indoor hovering.

The motors all seem to start up at the same time now. However, when i had Angle mode selected with no Baro or Mag, it was crazy difficult to control. Same with Horizon mode. However, when I selected baro and mag together, I was able to hover, but still with a lot of stick inputs to maintain position. It certainly didn';t feel like I was getting any assistance from the flight controller.

My question would be, how much assistance is angle and horizon mode supposed to give?

"Also have you got oneshot 125 enabled? If not then enable it"
I have SimonK Series 12A ESCs. I couldn';t find anywhere that these ESCs support oneshot125. Am I wrong?

My motors are DYS BE1806 2300KV and battery Floureon 11.1v 2200

I must admit, I am considering at this stage whether I should up my budget and go for a different flight controller; but then I would also like to know what';s going wrong.


It would probably help to know what motors, ESCs and battery you are using