N4 expansion boards for BLDC

[pilotnbr1]

Hi guys after a break from flying my micro brushed M4 I decided to step up to a larger brushless quad.

The problem:
Everything works except when it come time to start motors...

The patient:
Frame: generic Emax Nighthawk 250 all carbon
Motors: Emax 2204 2300kv
Esc: 12a Simonk with bec

M4 built with the N4 kit
Flashed with aqv7.1.1852-hwv8.6-ext_esc.bin (non quatos external esc)
Using onboard radio bound to Dx6i

Symptoms:
Upon plugging in power the esc sing a successful self check.
All leds seem normal. I can also connect to bluetooth via my smartphone and android app, VERY cool
M4 arms then when I advance throttle the M4 green led starts flashing and nothing happens.

Background:
I have the correct quatos key
Since my esc has bec I have disconnected the red (middle) wire where they plug into the N4
M4 orientation seems correct as the hud moves correctly when the m4 is manipulated (i remember this problem from my first build)
Motor params for arm, start etc have been adjusted per info in forum see pic EDIT: in the pic I had it flashed to quatos and then later I flashed it to non-quatos but kept the same values that you see in the pic

Questions:
Can I even use the M4 internal reciever in this configuration?
Do I need to calibrate my esc? And is it possible without an external reciever? was reading here- viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1446&hilit=esc+calibrate
Which way do you plug esc wires into N4?

Thanks for the help guys! I was naive enough to think I could plug and go but I didnt do my homework!

Luke

[pilotnbr1]

I think one big mistake is that I believe I only need the esc signal wires (yellow in my case) attached to the N4... Can anyone confirm that? As of now I have the esc brown ground wires also plugged in...

[LPR]

Luke

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Questions:
Can I even use the M4 internal receiver in this configuration?

Yes, you can use the internal receiver with your Dx6i. You should be able to see the RC channels move with the QGC Radio & Controls. You need to have an antenna on the receiver and select CYRF (onboard M4v2+).

Do I need to calibrate my esc? And is it possible without an external reciever? was reading here- viewtopic.php?

Yes you need to calibrate common ESCs to be a the proper range for the M4 to control them.

f=33&t=1446&hilit=esc+calibrate
Which way do you plug esc wires into N4?

The yellow wire goes to the pin that has the small white triangle near it and the brown or black wire goes to the far pin. The middle Pin is a 5 volt supply to be used for ESC32s and you would not connect to the middle pin.

If your motors will not run when you used non-Quatos FW then your ESCs need to be calibrated.

This video gives you info on calibrating a ESC. For the ESC to work with AQ FC you need to have a low setting for minimum throttle. I always lower the throttle trim all the way down when I calibrate the ESC, if I don't have a way of measuring the PWM signal from the throttle channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOplk52R4no

Larry

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

Hi Luke,

have you connected 'ADC' wire for voltage Monitoring? - refer to http://autoquad.org/wiki/wiki/m4-microc ... onitoring/

From your screenshot I can see that you set it to MAIN BATTERY. This is wrong when using external ESC! You Need to select EXTERNAL VOLTAGE SENSOR from the Dropdown.

Joerg

[pilotnbr1]

Thanks Larry and Joerg! Thanks for all the info, Very helpful!

Larry I am not having any radio connection issues. But I do not own an external receiver so am unable to perform the esc calibration as demonstrated in the video and in the forum link...

I am looking into performing calibration as described here by changing the MOT_ESC_CALI
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3003&start=130#p26079

Joerg good catch thanks!

Ill report back- thanks again guys!

Luke

[LPR]

Luke

I've not used the Hott Firmware for the Autoquad Flight controllers. You can give it a try but be sure you flash the Hott FW.

If you have an oscilloscope and you know how to use it you can find the micro seconds of a control signal with it.

Larry

[pilotnbr1]

[pilotnbr1]

Ok now I have motors turning! Thanks guys!

I had 3 big things I changed

2 of the esc connections to the N4 were reversed- thanks Larry for the tip regarding the black arrows silk screened
I changed the power input voltage sensor in the misc tab as Joerg has pointed out
I noticed the mixing and motors tab that for throttle I had 1 in each column. Changed that to 100 since this is non-quatos

The motors don't quite turn on at exactly the same time and I have significant deadband at the bottom of the throttle. So I still need to calibrate these ESC. Hoping someone has an idea for calibration without an external reciever, although I might just go buy one..

Thanks again guys! I am always amazed at all the tech packed into such a small product and how configurable and powerful it is.

Luke

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

[pilotnbr1]

I tried flashing with the experimental hott firmware. I followed the steps and am unsure if the calibration is successful.

After the param is changed and lipo reattached the lights on the m4 do signal differently than usual then the motors do seem to pulse for a bit. After its all over the M4 LEDs return to normal. I never see the motors actually rotate during the calibration sequence. I was under the impression the motors would run at full rpm for a bit. I was also hesitant to attach the M4 to my laptop with QGC via usb while a lipo was also attached. Is it ok to have a lipo attached and QGC monitoring the calibration via usb? It would be helpful to observe the calibration via QGC.

Thanks for the help!
Luke