Hoverfly Throttle issue

[mfabriz]

Hello, i have a big quad (1,5m of diameter and weight about 20 Kg) for professional use with Hoverfly Pro, Hoverfly Gps, Castle Creations Ice2 HV 120, 4 motors AXI 5320/18 and Spectrum Dx8 Radio, 4 batteries 5,3 Amps 22,2V.
Some time ago we were flying and shoot for a film and suddenly, while we were returning to land, quad seemed to descend too fast, so we give more throttle but... nothing.. the motor speed not changed but remain at half throttle speed... after quad go down and broke 1 arm.
We repaired quad and the day after all was ok, we made 1 day of shoot and quad was fine.
After 1 week, we was testing new camera head settings and, after 5 flight fine, seem problem, the throttle did not increase motors speed and quad made another crash.
So we decide to change radio and receiver with another Spektrum Dx8, 1° flight all ok, second flight, same problem and other crash.
Today, after 2 flight same problem another time.
Battery after crash are ok, remained 60% power.

So throttle not work over 1/2 position some times, the motors speed remain about ad half power (fortunately does not go to 0) , all other commands are ok, only throttle was problem

I have last firmware, every time with crash we have flight with AL inserted, without GPS (switch of GPS to off).
I have checked all settings with Hoverfly tool, throttle endpoints are ok, the cursor on Tool go from 0 to max (not go to middle with max value), all switch are ok, all work correctly,.
I check also Castle Creations logs and i saw that the throttle before all crashes is not increased, it's remained constant.
The problem is extemporaneous and for us is impossible to work in this situation.

Here is a video of crash from quad, from audio you can hear that motors did not increase the speed, but when quad become to descent the throttle stick was to max value..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTFjysX2M7A&feature=youtu.be

Have you any suggest?
Thanks
Marco from Italy

 

[redridinghood]

Check your Castle esc settings. Are your low voltage cutoffs setup correctly?

 

[mfabriz]

Hello,

Castle esc settings are as raccomended on Hoverfly site at this address

https://hoverflytech.zendesk.com/entries/21786178-castle-creations-esc-settings

Thanks
Marco

 

[CX4]

I had a similar problem last week. Flashed latest firmware (4.3.860). On first flight while in AL I turned on AH at four feet, it held within the limit.
However on the SECOND flight when I turned on AH it SHOT UP 15 feet and I had no throttle response up or down. Even when I switched off AH it stayed at altitude.
I panicked and switched off AL and it dropped. I emailed HF and am awaiting a response.


Droidworx CX4, HFP, HFGPS, DX8, AXi2217-12, Castle Creations Phoenix-25.

 

[mfabriz]

It's possible that the problem is the cut-off on Castle Creation regulators?

 

[S11D336B]

I would check your AL and AH switches. A friend of mine had this kind of thing happen, turns out AL and AH were swapped. You can verify this with the setup client.

I had a similar problem last week. Flashed latest firmware (4.3.860). On first flight while in AL I turned on AH at four feet, it held within the limit.
However on the SECOND flight when I turned on AH it SHOT UP 15 feet and I had no throttle response up or down. Even when I switched off AH it stayed at altitude.
I panicked and switched off AL and it dropped. I emailed HF and am awaiting a response.


Droidworx CX4, HFP, HFGPS, DX8, AXi2217-12, Castle Creations Phoenix-25.

 

[Bluerex]

Dumb question from a Naza user... can you override the AH the same way you slew the position hold? Or do you pick an altitude and engage AH then disengage if you want to change altitude?

C

 

[mfabriz]

Hi George,

i have controlled, all switch are ok..

 

[CX4]

No that's not the cause. When I engage AL on the transmitter it is selected in setup client. And AH shows AH selected on setup client. As I am not too familiar with this stuff, I have been meticulous not to mess with and to write down any adjustments I have tried since I got this system. Also note it flew OK just seconds before.

I would check your AL and AH switches. A friend of mine had this kind of thing happen, turns out AL and AH were swapped. You can verify this with the setup client.

 

[CX4]

Good question. I taught that I could SLEW AH, but after reading your question I re-read the HFPRO & GPS manuals and it looks like that might be only for POSITION HOLD. In any case I got no response from any of my inputs, pitch, roll or throttle.

Dumb question from a Naza user... can you override the AH the same way you slew the position hold? Or do you pick an altitude and engage AH then disengage if you want to change altitude?

C

 

[dzwiss]

AH does not need to be disengaged to change altitude. When you have the multi in a stable hover you engage AH and center the throttle to maintain altitude. When you want to change altitude, you push the throttle up to increase altitude or down to decrease altitude. The rate is controlled by how far you move the throttle. Just as you reach the desired altitude, you return the throttle to the center position. As the manual says, expect some error...this is not precise so give yourself some room. I suggest you disengage AH to land with plenty of altitude and be prepared to react when you hit the switch. The PH and RTH has worked very well, slightly better than the expected error as stated in the manual even in wind. Please see my videos. Slewing, again, I have no complaints. It performs within the tolerances as advertised. I think one problem here is people are expecting more than what the manual is telling you to expect in terms of performance. It clearly states in the GPS manual, that a 10-60 foot diameter circular error can be expected and conditions (performance) can change day to day. Same with AH, the manual suggests accuracy to a few feet up and down under the best conditions. I am happy to report, my experience has been better than what we are told to expect. I would imagine different conditions, set ups, and skills will give better or worse results. I highly recommend reading all of the manuals in their entirety, and going to their support site for tips and updates before you even get started with your builds and then frequently review them during the build and while flying and testing your rig. You should do this regardless your experience or skill level in multi-rotors if you want the best performance.

David

 

[Bluerex]

Thanks David,
I am trying to keep up to date with the documentation, but it is some times seems conflicting and it is not always easy to get the chronology right to know which is the latest development. As an example I have read two very different directions on using "trim" in AL mode... do you set it on the TX then power-down HP AND re-zero the TX before flying again (the HP now has an idea of a zero-trim state for your craft) OR do you just use the trims like a regular RC model.
This is not a criticism of the good folk at HF, just my fumbling attempts to come to terms with the new controllers. So any help really appreciated but I cannot guarantee my questions will not be stupid ones - just that I will only ask them once (or twice at the very most)...

c

 

[CX4]

I re-read the manuals and you are right. What about the throttle issue?

AH does not need to be disengaged to change altitude. When you have the multi in a stable hover you engage AH and center the throttle to maintain altitude. When you want to change altitude, you push the throttle up to increase altitude or down to decrease altitude. The rate is controlled by how far you move the throttle. Just as you reach the desired altitude, you return the throttle to the center position. As the manual says, expect some error...this is not precise so give yourself some room. I suggest you disengage AH to land with plenty of altitude and be prepared to react when you hit the switch. The PH and RTH has worked very well, slightly better than the expected error as stated in the manual even in wind. Please see my videos. Slewing, again, I have no complaints. It performs within the tolerances as advertised. I think one problem here is people are expecting more than what the manual is telling you to expect in terms of performance. It clearly states in the GPS manual, that a 10-60 foot diameter circular error can be expected and conditions (performance) can change day to day. Same with AH, the manual suggests accuracy to a few feet up and down under the best conditions. I am happy to report, my experience has been better than what we are told to expect. I would imagine different conditions, set ups, and skills will give better or worse results. I highly recommend reading all of the manuals in their entirety, and going to their support site for tips and updates before you even get started with your builds and then frequently review them during the build and while flying and testing your rig. You should do this regardless your experience or skill level in multi-rotors if you want the best performance.

David

 

[dzwiss]

CX4...

If you have no throttle response and no directional control, it seems like that is a problem between your radio and receiver that may be occurring in-flight Can you power your receiver with a different ESC BEC? Just disconnect the present red wire and reconnect one from another ESC. Power all servos on your camera gimbal and the HFPro with a separate BEC rather than powering all from a single ESC BEC.

Bluerex...

To trim AL,
1- in calm condtions, maintain stable hover in a open area
2- switch on AL
3- adjust trim until multi-rotor has minimal drift
4- land multi-rotor with AL engaged
5- leaving AL engaged, disconnect battery on multi-rotor
6- switch off AL on radio
7- reconnect battery on multi-rotor
8- do not change trims on radio
9- test AL drift on next flight and adjust as needed starting with step 1

David

 

[S11D336B]

For Autoleveling, just use your trims like normal. Make sure to power cycle your HoverflyPro before using normal mode again. This will re-calibrate normal mode for use with the adjusted trims.

Thanks David,
I am trying to keep up to date with the documentation, but it is some times seems conflicting and it is not always easy to get the chronology right to know which is the latest development. As an example I have read two very different directions on using "trim" in AL mode... do you set it on the TX then power-down HP AND re-zero the TX before flying again (the HP now has an idea of a zero-trim state for your craft) OR do you just use the trims like a regular RC model.
This is not a criticism of the good folk at HF, just my fumbling attempts to come to terms with the new controllers. So any help really appreciated but I cannot guarantee my questions will not be stupid ones - just that I will only ask them once (or twice at the very most)...

c