What do I have to setup before first fly?

[lucaszanella]

Hello, just finished my quadcopter and before the first fly I want to need what do I have to setup before flying.

Here's my quadcopter and a link to all parts: http://quadcopter.lucaszanella.com/
(I'm using 2 xbees pro to send quadcopter data wirelessy to the GUI)

Already did this steps:

Magnetometer and Acc calibration (I'm reading data and the quad is responding good to the movements, but the altitude marked on the GUI isn't zero, but don't know if this is a problem)
The directions from the movements are rigth according to the GUI.

There's a problem if the velocity of the motors on the GUI are not marking the same for all. 3 are normal and 1 is marking less than the others, but don't know if it was a calibration issue because I tested it before the mag calibration. (one of the ESCs burned but I don't know why. Minutes before burning, it worked rigth like all other ESCs, so I just disconnected and connected everything back again and it burned. I'm waiting the other one to arrive, so I'll test the motors velocity)

Hope you guys can help me, I spent a lot of time building this quadcopter!

[refractions]

You need to make sure all your motors values are responding as close to each other as possible - otherwise - when you fly your quad it will fly off in the direction of the weak motor - if it flies at all.

This is a very good link to have a read through.

http://www.multiwiicopter.com/pages/multiwiicopter-wiki

I know its for the "paris" board, but this is basically just a motherboard and all the config settings for the tx still apply.

Good luck, and just keep asking questions


Iain

[bill516]

Altitude will not be zero unless you are the seaside or zero feet altitude, baro reads current air pressure and what that is, is dependent on where you live, the numbers you see are in meters and yours is probably jumping up and down by about 1 meter or so.

Do not expect to flick the level switch and your copter to fly perfectly you have some setting up to do. The rpms of the motors will not be equal at the moment as you have not trimmed your copter this can be done by using the Tx trims and getting the rpm balanced in the GUI or by flying, if you trim using the GUI you might need to adjust the trim to get hands off flight. V2 of the code has the option to do in flight calibration http://ncopters.blogspot.de/2012/04/how ... on-in.html tells you how to do it, which is a quicker way to trim as it can do the stable mode trim in flight. The most important setting you can change before your first flight is the RC Rate, it needs to be about .6 to make the copter flyable, it goes all the way up to 1 and at that setting your copter will be like a bull with a wasps nest stuck to its bum.

Once you have the trim sorted then you can get into PID settings and that is a different game altogether.

[lucaszanella]

Why the GUI stops while I'm watching data with xbees? Lost data? Why the GUI just don't reconnect? It gets frizzed and I have to close, so I wouldn't be able to see the altitude live on my screen.
Will something change on the fly if I connect the GUI to the quad via xbee while flying? It's a problem?

What is PCM and PPM and why do I have to change it on my tx?
If all the tx sticks are to 1500 so my quadcopter will be stable with hands off?

What sensors are recommended to me for my first fly? mag and baro activated? Always with level?
I have to set a "almost" flying throttle minimum position?

What's the importance of "Inflight ACC" calibration, can't I do it in the GUI? I don't understand much english so I'm a little bit confused.

Thanks for all and sorry by my bad english. If you guys wanna see future videos subscribe: youtube.com/geekionizado (i make robotic things too )

[refractions]

Just watched your GUI vid on youtube.

I would disable all your modes (level, baro, mag) first and see what your motor values do. If you have baro and level enabled, then your quad will be trying to level out and trying to keep your quad at the same height all the time - you need to play around with your PID values first.

Before that you need to get the correct PID values in ACRO mode - nothing enabled.

Getting stable with "hands off" is something that we all aim to get - this needs a lot of tweaking with PID values, and will take some time to get correct.

If you set a almost flying min throttle, when you power up your quad - your props will be running straight away - I STRONGLY suggest you DO NOT do this as props are dangerous. I have had some nasty slices taken out of my hands, and I`m sure I`m not the only one.

Iain

[bill516]

In flight calibration is not important it is just a quicker way to get your copter trimmed for hands off hover and level flight. The easiest to use is the pass through method for in flight calibration. Take off, hover activate the pass through function switch, land move the sticks as shown on the link in my post above and thats it, your copter is trimmed. You can trim in the gui but it takes longer details are given in the FAQ tab on the home page.

I would first fly with only the GYRO active (its active by default nothing to set up) and see how you copter flies, just try to get into a hover and see if it wants to lean one way or the other. If you can get it to hover by holding the sticks in a position then I would switch the ACC on and use the in flight calibration method the get the trim sorted.

The settings in the GUI are only an indication and do not mean that is what your copter is doing, the 1500 figure is just mid range and one that your copter should just about be hovering, it may be higher or lower than that but if you dont have it connected to the gui you wont know what it is.

As for your other Q's I'll step aside and let someone who knows answer them for you.

[tovrin]

Bill, youve always been very helpful on similar issues, could you create a first timers thread detailing some of the most commonly missed points of preparing your MW for first flight?

something that maybe could get pinned, or at least referenced when someone is new and having issues.

[bill516]

Not sure about that, not that I dont want to, but I dont want to detract from the Connecting elements, Software and FAQ pages as well as they links they provide. I know most people seem to have the same problems, I dont know if it is the way those pages are written, but the information is in those pages you just have to read and understand it. I think a lot of it might be the Stable mode, when I first read it I thought great you only need to switch that on and that's it, it was only when I re-read it that I realised that stable mode is not something that happens without setting things up first.

Anyway when I answer all these questions for beginners it makes me feel good and I have helped somebody, nothing like that personal touch to make you feel special, and boy am I special.