Can MultiWii PRO land safely with loss of one motor on a Hex

[CVMichael]

I ordered MultiWii PRO from HobbyKing (along with other parts to build a Hexacopter), and I was just wondering if something goes wrong with one of the motors (or propeller) during flight, will it just loose control and crash, or can it continue flying with the other 5 motors, and land safely?

Theoretically, you only need 4 motors to fly properly, so it should be able to land safely, but does the software handle it?

PS. Regardless of the answer, I got the MultiWii PRO because of the open source, and since I am a computer programmer with experience with electronics, and microcontrollers, it makes sense for me to get it, and tinker with it

[BeringBullet]

Short answer is no, I had a pro brake in mid flight and the copter went down.

at 1:43 you can see the prop in mid air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXAawfW5_Vs

I think it would be hard to detect a broken prop/motor.
I have since re-build the frame and there is almost no vibrations.

[subaru4wd]

Short answer is no, I had a pro brake in mid flight and the copter went down.

at 1:43 you can see the prop in mid air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXAawfW5_Vs

I think it would be hard to detect a broken prop/motor.
I have since re-build the frame and there is almost no vibrations.

Were you flying a quadcopter or a hex?

A hexacopter will handle a lost prop/motor better than a quad. It won't like it, but it shouldn't fall out of the air like a brick.

[BeringBullet]

it was a hex, and I lost one of the side props

[CVMichael]

Sorry for the late reply, and thanks for your comments.

I agree, theoretically, a hex should not fall out of the sky if it looses one motor/prop. This is something that the software should be able to detect. When a motor loss is detected, the 2 motors near it, should start spinning faster to keep the hex in balance. Maybe this is something that requires more processing power/memory, etc... anyways... when I will get my MultiWii PRO, I will go through the code, and try to see if I can modify it for that...

[treym]

have a look a the hexa and octo with a more resilient motor disposition found in the pdf in this thread viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4364#p43951

notably this diag :



as i am currently assenbling a hexa .. i did not tested anything yet .. but for sure : the code will requires big changes to handle the motor/props detection issue