AQ armed, but motors not runnning

[DUKE40]

Hi,

I have managed to go through the calibration and calculation. And now I wanted to perform some checks before the maiden flight, but even when the copter is armed (green led on) my motors are remaining idle. I have tried several values for MOT_START (from 950 up to 1150) but could not solve the issue.
I am running Flyduino ESC with SimonK firmware, my ESCs have been calibrated and are running smooth when connected directly to the throttle channel of an RX.
Anybody an idea what I should do to get the things running? I had never such issues with MultiWii and I am sure that it is only a little thing which is hindering me of flying my AQ.

Thanks and best regards,
DUKE40

[LPR]

Duke

You've come a long way to just get stopped at this point. I've had the same problem with some of the older firmware but not the current firmware. With one firmware if you waited too long to arm the copter, when you did arm it, it would just let the motors run at start RPM.
This is not a common problem now.
Try reloading the lastest firmware.

Larry

[DUKE40]

Hi,

unfortunately, for some reason, I am not able anymore to connect Qgroundcontrol to the AQ. Despite the port being recognized, clicking on connect looks quite OK, no error pops up, but QGroundcontrol continue to state "Not Connected".

I am using 6.6.0 Rev2 on the AQ,

One further thing I just noticed, arming works, but disarming ist not working at all, the AQ remains armed until I cut the power. It seems to be bewitched.

[LPR]

Duke

I would try to Flash new firmware in your AQ. I think you would want to flash Version v6.6.0 stable (b1035).

Good luck

Larry

[DUKE40]

This is the version I already have flashed on the AQ 6.6.0 stable (b1035).
I might give it a try, reflashing the AQ, and performing again the Radio settings, configuring the mixing table and uploading my params file.

Perhaps this could help.

[DUKE40]

I have checked again the firmware, as I was able to connect again (It needed obviously a rest ) and the firmware I used is 6.6 Beta r76 b1034. So it might be good to reflash with 6.6.0 b1035 which is newer for sure.

[LPR]

Duke

I would first try to download a new GCS.

I always delete the old GCS first, both the zip file and unzipped file which is usually in the downloads.

Larry

[DUKE40]

Now the motors are running, but they are not starting at the same stick position.
First of all, all 4 ESCs (Flyduino 10A with SimonK Firmware) have been calibrated together, using a Y cable I calibrated them at the same time, so they should have the same throttle range!
I ensured my AutoQuad is absolutely level for the testing.
I am wondering what might be causing this strange behaviour. I use Firmware 6.6.0 R76 b1034.
My MOT_START is set to 1100.
Attached the logs of my two attempts without props. From what I can see, everything looks fine, but obviously it is not.

I have checked again the ESCs, when they are connected in parallel to the Throttle channel of my RX, they all start at the same stick position, so this should prove that the throttle range is correctly stored for each of them.

Perhaps somebody can discover anything in my logs pointing to the cause of this strange behaviour.

Thanks in advance for any hint or advice.

[LPR]

Duke

The motors starting at different throttle positions is not too strange. To have that happen all you need to do is set the lowest throttle position on the calibrated ESC a little too high. The ESC32 are defalut at 1000 microseconds for the lowest throttle position and the motors will start around 1100 us. The default for the AQ board is 1125 for the lowest setting for start. So if all the ESC will start to spin the motors below 1125 then they all will start up at one time.
If you recalibrate all the ESC to the lowest value by pulling the throttle trim to the lowest setting that would be one way to have all the motors start at the same time. You could also just raise the Motor/ESC start setting till they all start at the same time. You will find the Motor/ESC start setting on the Special setting page under Edit Parameters.

Your copter will fly well even if the motor start at different times.

Larry

[DUKE40]

Hi Larry,

your explanation is quite interesting, but I am wondering why at least one motor is sometimes stopping after I have moved roll of pitch. I never had such issues while using MultiWii and expected AutoQuad to perform at least much better.
Currently I am anxious about making the first flight, and it will probably take a lot more time before I am 100% sure everything is fine, and feel ready for maiden flight. I mean there is a lot more money in there as on a normal Wiicopter with cheap components.
One motor is starting much much later, almost at mid posistion for the throttle stick. I need to check if this is linked to the motor, the ESC or the AutoQuad output.
I will report the results of my tests.