ESC calibration mode - Gentle reminder

[tovrin]

REMOVE YOUR PROPS

i tried to commit suicide tonight when i carelessly enabled calibration with my props on, my quad went into 100% mode, bounced off my laptop (scratching the screen heavily), and into the wall, breaking a motor mount, destroying 4 props, and luckily missing all of the 2 people and 2 animals in the living room.

I am now forbidden to work on my quad while watching TV (I have to be in my workroom)

[Hamburger]

sounds real bad, sorry for that mishap.

Did it at least result in calibrated ESCs?

[UndCon]

I think this feature will hurt more people considering how huge the thread at RCG has become.

The feature is dangerous!

[Pyrofer]

Eeep.

I think it should be a rule, if you are not flying=remove props. Its just safer that way.

Glad no people were hurt!

When I tried the calib mode it didn't seem to do anything. I got no beeps at all from my escs even after 20 seconds or so.

[PatrikE]

sounds real bad, sorry for that mishap.

Did it at least result in calibrated ESCs?

Would it be whise to make a separate scetch for calibrating ESC's?

Or somee Kind of you MUST pull some DI High to allow Callibration to start? ( A Jumper or someting )

[chris ables]

In the code theres a link right above where you uncomment for esc calibration and i went to that link and it stated that there is no beeps while calibrating but instead there is blinking leds to let you know when it's done , about ten seconds it says ! It also says that it calibrates them to 1000 & 2000 and without tx ! I seen this link in the new 2.1 firmware ! Very important to go there and read the whole thing ! Ive had quads climb the wall myself and break props like a blender gone wild !! Not cool at all !

[chris ables]

Here's the link ! http://code.google.com/p/multiwii/wiki/ESCsCalibration

[Pyrofer]

Like I said, never have props on if you are not going to fly.

I wish there was an easy way to test esc calibration without getting an RPM reader of some sort on the motor.

[tovrin]

sounds real bad, sorry for that mishap.

Did it at least result in calibrated ESCs?

LOL, i dont think so, since the ESCs never went into beep mode, i picked up the pieces of my quad, saw the broken motor mount and just put it all in my workshop and then found the bottle of rum...

Ill look at it tonight, but ive got to purchase those aluminum motor mounts for sure now.

[UndCon]

sounds real bad, sorry for that mishap.

Did it at least result in calibrated ESCs?

LOL, i dont think so, since the ESCs never went into beep mode, i picked up the pieces of my quad, saw the broken motor mount and just put it all in my workshop and then found the bottle of rum...

Ill look at it tonight, but ive got to purchase those aluminum motor mounts for sure now.

After that kind of experience I would also grab the Rum.

Still - the single most dangerous piece of code implemented so far.

Dangerous top list
1 ESC calibration
2 the so called Failsafe

[tovrin]

1, i think the tool needs to exist in some form or another, perfect tuning of all ESC is very helpful
2. safeguards need to be applied, the code is too simple.
3. GUI interfacing would limit liability and human error (to an extent)

my setup with FTDI cable works as follow, i believe others do as well, until told otherwise:

i connect my FTDI and my board powers up, ESC's, LED, and RX do not power (cant remember if USB acted same).
I connect my LI-Po and the rest power up, ESC chime in, RX, and LED go bright.

using either battery sensor or user (keyboard) input you could confirm from the gui that the LI-Po is disconnected and the props are off, before initiating the Calibration procedure. this would allow the use to safely plug in the li-po and safely send 2000 to the throttle, thereby powering up the ESC with full throttle at same time causing the ESC to go into set max mode.

this also allows you to give fair warning to remove props and gives definite instruction to the user on how to proceed.

this will likely not work with bluetooth users, i assume the FTDI cable and possibly USB cable to be necessary for this to work.

[tovrin]

i tested esc calibration (without props attached) today and the ESC beeped like they took it properly. no incidents. I am fairly certain the reason for my incident is related to having my FTDI cable connected as i rebooted everything. today when i did it, i had nothing connected, but merely plugged my li-po in and all 4 ESC started beeping according to having their min/max set properly, then resetting and beeping according to the # of cells in the battery attached.

[tovrin]

after the near death incident I had to rebuild my motor mounts and i finally got rid of my bullet connectors, remounted my gyro, and generally tightened everything down.

only had a complete set of 9x4.7 so i mounted my 4S battery, and took her for a couple full batteries today and she flies better than ever. no more hover bounce, throttle control is much more consistent, and most happily, i finally got my ACC fully tuned in. she levels really slowly but she does level, ill play with my PID settings tomorrow. I have always had a bit of a drifting yaw problem, and that still exists, but am ordering an IMU soon that includes a compass so im not gonna worry about it.

anyway, im stoked, the hover bounce issue was driving me mad, i think it was mostly related to the gyro coming physically loose from the 2 sided tape, its much more securely mounted now.

still not allowed to work on it in the living room...