Hoverfly New Hoverfly PRO Firmware v4.6

Just flew a new heavy lift octo on 4.6. I had to increase the gains a bit from my hex, but then it seemed to fly as good or better than before. Hard to say because it's a different setup and without a payload at the moment.
I was coming straight down fast with no wobbles. Very top heavy with two big batteries on top. I can only imagine it will get better with more weight and better balance.

I also have the external compass installed but the compass heading hold is turned off at the moment. Will be flying more tomorrow to do some gps testing.

Did you try AH? I cannot get rid of the drop when I turn the switch on. I can get it to hold, but about 10 feet lower than where I switch it. Actually it drops 10-15 feet and works it way back up sometimes.
 



S11D336B

George - Hoverfly
New altitude hold uses all of the sensors on your HoverflyPro. Having a correct / level horizon is particularly important. If you can, check the horizon on your OSD when the HoverflyPro is ready to fly.

Did you try AH? I cannot get rid of the drop when I turn the switch on. I can get it to hold, but about 10 feet lower than where I switch it. Actually it drops 10-15 feet and works it way back up sometimes.
 

I don't use the OSD from the HFP. Unless I can jsut plug it into the set-up utility and check it there. I am building a new FPV rig and once I have a new wiring harness to tap into the fpv I will check it out.
 

S11D336B

George - Hoverfly
I think I figured out what is going on. You need v4.6 or higher of the setup client for the new accelerometer calibration to work correctly.
Get it here:
http://www.hoverflyupdate.com/setupClient4.6/publish.htm

I don't use the OSD from the HFP. Unless I can jsut plug it into the set-up utility and check it there. I am building a new FPV rig and once I have a new wiring harness to tap into the fpv I will check it out.
 




Efliernz

Pete
So, did anyone find anything useful?

I'm still battling with crooked OSD and needing nearly all the right-roll trim on my Tx when setting AL trim. The weather packed in so no more testing.
My board is level on a nice straight unbent DW VM-6.
I have a public demo on Thursday so I will get it functional and deal with the other stuff later. I have another board I can test the AL and AH with but the OSD doesn't work at all on that board.



Pete
 

So, did anyone find anything useful?

I did notice a new set-up utility downloaded when I launched it today. And Yes, My compass is facing the correct direction now.
I am struggling a bit with tuning. Even in calm conditions I am not finding the right gain. Today I had a bit of a gusty breeze and really fought it. I am getting horrible oscillation (slowish on my octo), but when I turn down the gain I get Yaw issues and a feel I loose control. I have not found the sweet spot yet and feel I lost that rock solid HFP feel. But, on the last flight today I had gain turned all the way up to a 99 gain (as seen in the set-up).

GPS hold is doing much better with the External Mag. This is the good news! It actually hold within 10-15 feet with slow drift (in the wind) It just does not fly smooth in GPS hold as it bounces around. I think it is oscillation, but hard to tell with the 1000mm octo. So, I have tried to tune the gain while the gps is enabled without success today.

Now the QUESTION: I noticed in the set-up utility that when I turn on gps PH, the checkbox is marked for Position Hold and Autolevel. But, the main gain stays at the same number as it is set in standard (Auto Level off) flight. Does this mean it is in AL, but the gain is based on the Auto Level Off settings? Tomorrow I will try to fly with the Mag hold unchecked to see if that effects my lower gain flight characteristics. Although we are forecast to receive up to 8 inches of rain in teh next 24 hours. (Think my octo can carry me out of here if needed :nevreness: )
 

Efliernz

Pete
The stability / oscillation you mention... I nearly had the hexa flip last night in 10mph wind - while trying to trim AL. I have previously flown in 20+mph with 4.3. I was blaming myself for pushing it. Perhaps not...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

yeehaanow

Member
I now have my gimbal on, so the big octo is more balanced in the center.

Tested AH and with a low gain it was holding fine within 1m. No drops on activation. Still not very smooth but I could use it now. Maybe the gain could go even lower.

AL had significant pitch forward to it and I tested position hold as-is. No good.
Then after trimming AL to be perfect, PH worked ok. Very calm day and it held for a while within a couple meters then started drifting after 30 sec maybe.

Tried RTH and it did nothing. I will have to double check my setup, but it showed being activated on the OSD and even being 60m from home it would not fly back.
Not sure if this could be related to the mag compass being off. Can't remember if I left it on or off.

Tried a fast and straight down descent with AL on. It got very wobbly, enough so that I needed to slow the descent for fear of what could happen. In manual mode I can descend like a rocket very smoothly.

I have onboard video of these boring test flights which show the osd and current mode. They don't show stick inputs but I could post them if it would help diagnose anything.
 


Stacky

Member
Sorry still no chance to give it a good workout, probably wont for another week yet. I have a job for a magazine on Friday but will use the previous firmware as i havent had a chance to test the new one yet and it would be more prudent to go with whats worked perfectly.
 

Not from me unfortunately. I feel like i am relearning to fly with 4.6. I had a shoot today and was embarrassed by how hard I fought to keep the heli smooth with about 10mph winds. I did not have time to test with the Mag turned off, but hope to tomorrow. I may still be struggling with the Mag issue and GPS board. I suggest trying 4.6 so we can all learn from others experiences. You can always revert back. I need 4.6 for my external mag addition.
 

Efliernz

Pete
I gave in with 4.6 + 4.6r2 as the AL was really unstable in the descent. I never got a good artificial horizon.

I have tried to roll back to 4.3.860 but my board hates me. Even after I disable temp + acc and redo them, my horizon (on the client) is at 45 degrees! I'm not game to try AL with that!
I have tried 3 times but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Giving up to watch a movie... Not a great week for HF and me. any suggestions greatfully received!

Pete
 

yeehaanow

Member
Not from me unfortunately. I feel like i am relearning to fly with 4.6. I had a shoot today and was embarrassed by how hard I fought to keep the heli smooth with about 10mph winds. I did not have time to test with the Mag turned off, but hope to tomorrow. I may still be struggling with the Mag issue and GPS board. I suggest trying 4.6 so we can all learn from others experiences. You can always revert back. I need 4.6 for my external mag addition.

Were you flying in manual mode or with AL/ GPS on?
Have you tried RTH with 4.6?

To add to my previous experiences, I have had an issue in the past where my copter will suddenly yaw 30 degrees or so, and the throttle jumps. This was in the prev firmware as well, I should add. The same thing hapened on my test flight before.
I now see that on the OSD it shows my heading constant even though I'm yawing, then it will suddenly spin through the numbers and produces the uncommanded yaw. Thought the external mag would sort it out, but apparently not.
Maybe I need to recalibrate with a friend, as it was impossible to keep the big octo from a wobbly rotation.
 

Were you flying in manual mode or with AL/ GPS on?
Have you tried RTH with 4.6?

To add to my previous experiences, I have had an issue in the past where my copter will suddenly yaw 30 degrees or so, and the throttle jumps. This was in the prev firmware as well, I should add. The same thing hapened on my test flight before.
I now see that on the OSD it shows my heading constant even though I'm yawing, then it will suddenly spin through the numbers and produces the uncommanded yaw. Thought the external mag would sort it out, but apparently not.
Maybe I need to recalibrate with a friend, as it was impossible to keep the big octo from a wobbly rotation.

This was mostly in Manual mode although I tried AL for a few seconds and PH. Both were wobbly and bouncy. I have had that same yaw issue and that is what I was speaking of when I mentioned the Mag. I agree, next calibration will be with a second person to keep the large Octa in an evan plane.
 

workshop

Member
Hmmmm.... I'm in the same boat... I have a fleet of professional multis that are finally working well and I don't want to piss off the staff with a backwards upgrade.

The magnetometer feature seems to be working for our craft and, as a workaround, I just ask our pilots to subtract a volt from the OSD in their heads.

I may try this upgrade on a personal machine but since HoverFly stopped paying me for beta testing, I not sure I'm so inclined. :)

Jeff
 

Top