DJI New Spool up throttle response- Need Option to turn off

[araines2750]

DJI & Fellow DJI Naza V1, Naza V2 & WKM users.
I want to open a discussion on the "new" DJI spool-up throttle response programmed into the new versions of NAZA & WKM firmware.
For those who do not know, or have not yet experience the "new" spool-up throttle.....be prepared to be confused.
Without much notice (Naza) and no notice (WKM), DJI has devised a new spool-up throttle condition where the motors start and "idle" until you reach mid-stick & suddenly the throttle goes to 50%. Once you get at 50% and the throttle jumps suddenly, you are then given control over the throttle.
I HATE THIS!!!!
I want control over my throttle.
It has been explained to me that this idea was designed to help new pilots take-off easier. I am not a new pilot.
I came from both the airplane & single rotor world & I have set "safety" habits in my flight routine to help prevent accidents. I get the aircraft (single rotor or multi) light on the gear and double check roll & pitch before take-off.
Also, when setting up a new aircraft or reconfigured aircraft, the ability to get it light on the gear helps to confirm that all is well with props & motors.
Am I the only one who hates this new spool-up throttle response condition?
Can DJI PLEASE give me an option is assistant to "TURN IT OFF".
I have clients calling me thinking that their ESC or motors have issues, but it is this darn new firmware. I have not even seen any notice that they added it to the new WKM firmware, but based on calls & e-mails from friend & clients...it was done without notice.
Sorry for the rant... I just wish DJI would LISTEN to their users & ask questions via a poll or survey BEFORE making drastic changes that impact hundreds or thousands of users & aircraft.

Andrew

 

[BC-deGraaf]

Hè, i like it i have the v2, and i have my throttle on my TX on a spring so its always at the center. No when i arm my motors and let go the throttle the hexa wont lift off when you go over 50% its start to climb and when you out the throttle back at 50% it stay at that altitude...

 

[ChrisViperM]

... I just wish DJI would LISTEN to their users & ask questions via a poll or survey BEFORE making drastic changes that impact hundreds or thousands of users & aircraft.

Andrew

Before that happens, it will freeze in hell......

I guess the reason behind that stupid spool-up is that DJI is thinking that a lot of crashes are related to anxious take-off's by unexperienced users.....if they decide it's a great feature, than you have to swallow it.

So we are all unexperienced idiots....until we decide to start using more useful Flight Controllers.


Chris

 

[VINHEX]

I've just had this issue, changed motors and prop size moved up too 5.24, suddenly what's wrong!!! MOTORS, ESC'S, OVER PROPPED (Too big to start up) Man blew my my mind! When I first started up it was also missing like it was trying to control motors and the hand TX was saying no to the motors.. Again PANIC! Had my ESC's shot! Rolled back to 5.22 BINGO! Sorted....

Why do we need this!!! turn it off!!! I hated it!!! If they keep this in the future updates then I'm sticking on 5.22 not moving up.. DJI really need to do one thing... MARKETING! Read what people want not what they think, what would also be cool is too tell us THEY HAVE DONE IT AND WHY!!!!! not leave us trying to investigate around the wibbly wobbely web to find out!

O and another thing!!!! Aren't WKM supposed to be professional controllers why would a pro like to have less control.. Arhhhhhhhhhh

And relax

Choose NEED OPTION TURNED OFF!!

 

[olof]

I can get used to it, it is strange to start with but its OK with me once you understand it.

You can still check each motor by using cyclic stick as I always do before takeoff.

This is a fly by wire system so it is not like a mechanical system at all. If it makes for less mistakes initially then that is a good thing. And I found it easy to get used to. I think we will see many more changes in how the SW systems work on MRs in the next few years, because it is fly by wire.

It really is remarkable how simple it is to fly a MR versus a single rotor RC heli w/o head lock gyro. If you want total control fly a variable pitch heli, they are very good for improving your skills with the sticks.

 

[ChrisViperM]

If you want total control fly a variable pitch heli, they are very good for improving your skills with the sticks.

Olof, I think you completely missunderstood the points in this thread:

1) Althought the new spool-up "might" be a good feature for some newbees.....but YOU CAN'T SWITCH IT OFF. The decission to use it or not should be up to the operator/user......just like Return-To-Home, Orientation Lock.....

2) There were no obvious warnings documented from DJI about the new spool-up......the result you can read in post #4 from VINHEX, and he is certainly not a "beginner".....



Sorry....but that got nothing to do with switching over to SR-Helis in order to have total control.



Chris

 

[VINHEX]

Thanks Chris,

It's like when you drive your car, you don't look at the rev counter you feel and hear it.. when it needs more or less gas.. You get used to your craft and know when it's peaking to lift off giving you more control if at point you have a gust come rolling in as you take off.. You wouldn't have you car just have one option at lights then wahooo qtr mile in under 12s LOL.. It just felt so horrible and of course worrying that something was wrong when they could have advised us in the release notes.. I got heli's .. 6 of them attached to one frame works for me LOL

 

[olof]

I was just making the point that this is a very young technology and things are bound to change. Like putting automatic transmissions in cars. I hate them but try to buy a SUV or pretty much any car in the USA w/o one, and if you do manage to find one they have no resale value.

I agree that a way to turn it off would be good. But it may also make it confusing, when upgrading FW you would have to reset it. It would have to be using your Iphone or the assitant SW as all the channels are spoken for if you use the rest of the options.

Maybe DJI will make it an advanced option, and I am all for it if they do. If they don't I can live with it. Things change look at how phones and TV has changed over the last few decades, and I would say it is not always for the better, but in general technology gets better.

I think DJI is trying to make this simpler and more fool proof. That is why they try different things. We can vote with our $$$. If you don't like DJI buy something else. I think they are a very innovative company driving this technology forward at a tremendous rate.

 

[CdA D]

I wondered what was happening! It was strange to have that responce in the throttle. I don't think it's a bad thing, but I would rather be able to TURN IT OFF if I want to. And as said before, at least let us know ALL the things that have changed. It's a little nerve racking when you have a few thousand dollars into something and it does things your not expecting.

 

[Olemil]

Doesn't really matter to me either way, I don't use it. I always take off in manual mode so the throttle acts normal (linear), works fine.

 

[ProPilotWannaBe]

I personally tend to see things the way Olof described. No matter what the technology area, those that drive the technology are always "innovating" and changing things in an attempt to make it better. Those of us that use those technologies before they changed get frustrated when they change, but those that jump in after those changed in technology think "this is the way things are supposed to be." If DJI decides to add in the Assistant Software a control for this, AWESOME! I think it would make sense, but as Olof said, more and more changes are going to be evolving over the years and they will become the defacto operation from then on. This applies to Apple, to Google, to Microsoft... they all change things as part of the evolution, and for a short time they try to maintain "backward support" or consistency, and offer a "turn that off" switch, but that lasts only so long before that switch is removed and we have to live with "the new way they are pushing the technology."

As for VIN's comments on market, I actually believe that is why they do these changes. It may not jive with 100% of the user community, but no technology does. And they actually do document the changes. I can't tell you how many times in the weeks after the V2 release that people were posting on thread after thread that their system was broken, when they had never read the new manual. I read it, and I knew even before I powered on the MR after the update what to expect out of the throttle.

Don't get me wrong, DJI has A LOT to learn about customer support and verification and validation of their software before releases, etc. etc... The list could go on and on. But I don't think that keeping all functionality as is, or only being able to introduce new features after the whole community has voted on it, is the right way to go either. Neither do I think that they are required to add switches for every feature they add. Imagine where Apple products, or Google, or Microsoft would be if they added options switches for enabling and disabling everything they've innovated into their software over the years.

Maybe I'm just giving them more credit than they deserve, maybe it's my personality to try and be understanding... dunno.

 

[OneStopRC]

Before that happens, it will freeze in hell......

I guess the reason behind that stupid spool-up is that DJI is thinking that a lot of crashes are related to anxious take-off's by unexperienced users.....if they decide it's a great feature, than you have to swallow it.

So we are all unexperienced idiots....until we decide to start using more useful Flight Controllers.


Chris

Could not have put that better myself....

 

[bruce365]

Hi, I can not see any problem with it, if I want to take off normally I simply switch to manual, is it really that Hard? I do not think so.
Regards - bruce

 

[Electro 2]

This single item alone will most likely push me over to an YS-X6 for my next machine. I was still on the line until I read these accounts of this "feature".

 

[RobertsUp]

I like it.

It came out while I was still building and I've never taken off any other way. It's predictable.

I can still take off in manual if I choose. For whatever reason. If I do then I can get a feel for the differences between the old and new ways.

Assisted takeoff gives me some seconds to look at my TX and see when throttle reaches 50%. Creeping the stick past 50% activates takeoff and takeoff doesn't happen so fast that I lose control. I still have total control over how high the craft flies after takeoff. First time I took off I made it stop ascending at 2 meters. I'm going to spend the weekend trying it out again. I'll land and takeoff multiple times just to become better at it.

Repeat: I can still take off in manual if I choose. That option was never taken away.

Best, Rob

 

[MombasaFlash]

Those of you coming from the SR world will be familiar with governors to control the rotor-head speed and therefore the concept of electronically controlled blade rotation speed is not so foreign. Still referring to SR operation, throttle stick movement between idle and governor activation is as linear as your Tx Throttle Curve until the governor kicks in and the motor/head speed increases with no further stick input. At this point you either simply wait until everything has reached its presets, and has settled down to a constant, or you whack in a great gob of cyclic and let it all catch up to speed in the air. The former is the more usual procedure.

As the whole point of Multi-Rotors - in my view - is to benefit from the inherent stability of their auto-stabilised attitude control, the idea of the system controlling throttle input up to the point of lift off, in order to increase take-off stability and consistency, is not so bad - particularly when bearing in mind the number of untutored and completely inexperienced who are joining the MR fraternity.

As long as the airframe and Flight Control has been correctly configured this 50% Throttle feature just makes each take-off smoother. Personally, I can live with it or without it but I do see how it could bring some consistency by removing the guess work of getting it light on the skids and then quickly leaping into the air. For the experienced pilot this just makes the MR even easier and for the inexperienced it will help make the flying experience less stressful - provided the system has been configured reasonably well.

That said, I do not like being forced to adopt automatic procedures and, in the same way that an SR head speed governor can be turned off if the pilot wishes to regain full manual control, so this 50% Throttle feature should also be a selectable choice.

That is the way I have voted, although I would not actually say "I Hate it ...".

 

[hexa]

I too hate this feature.
I should be able to turn it off and on if I feels like it.
Not good when flying in doors meet.
Or testing copter in shed.
Very dangerous. Copter spools up hit ceiling, crack bulb then falls and whack some one in the head. Dead.
Why fix some thing that's not broken?
I don't fly manual I fly automatic transmission tiptronic Gear box. Super smooth super fast, Less work live longer.

 

[SMP]

I could care less either way. Poll doesn't have that option. It WOULD be nice to be able to turn it off if playing with prop combinations kept it from a motor start/liftoff etc but other than that guys sorry, I don't see the major impact here.