the Ys-X6 seems to automatically asign the ATRE to the steadicam IMU - and Sbus at channel 7 works fine.. Just went out for first test-flight an hour ago, but I'm a rotor and battery shorter as they touched eachother when the multirotor overcompensated. Just waiting for spares now, and probably turn the sensitivites DOWN from default.
Zero UAV UAV Zero Steadi470
- Thread starter johnno
- Start date
Btw, does anyone have functional parameter settings ? .. If I hold the Zero-steadi in my hand at a bit of throttle it seems to act strangely, like late compensation, and sometimes a motor doesn't start while the others are running. So it's definitely not flying with current settings
Seems like you have not done the throttle calibration correctly.
Hi Johnno,
I may be able to let you know in a day or two - I will be programming my FR Sky receiver which should be very similar to Futaba. I have never used an SBus before so it will be interesting to see if it is intuitive/easy or not. Hopefully tomorrow! Jim
Well........before setting up the Steadi470 for flight I (tried) had to balance the camera stabilizer. Unforturnately, a few issues arose. First, I had to lower the battery as far down as possible so that the camera would counter balance which caused my first issue. The inner tube got stuck inside the larger one. Just couldn't make it move at all - not even turn. So I removed battery holder and turned it and reglued/screwed it on. But no matter where I positioned the battery, the camera is just too light to counter balance the battery with the adjustments available. I even added a fishing weight which is nuts! Still couldn't get it balanced. Last (current) issue is the poor design of the battery holder. I used velcro to hold down the battery but that is such a nasty way to make small adjustments for balance - a suggestion to Zero is to have an adjustable holder similiar to almost ANY steadicam type device - in that case to balance the camera. So, I am stuck for a bit until I find a way to balance this thing. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have attached a video of my issue. jim
http://youtu.be/ybd8ynpHODE
http://youtu.be/ybd8ynpHODE
Hi Johnno,
I began setting up my transmitter tonight and all you need to do is the control calibration in the install guide (end points of transmitter controls). Other than that, the ATRE is ready to go. Finished assigning all the switches etc and am working my way through. Not too bad so far - other than running into some weirdness with balancing the camera stabilizer. I hope to complete everything in a day or two and then make a final video of setting up the YS-X6 and stabilizer. Got one servo that doesn't calm down all the way - keeps hunting. Maybe it will behave eventually. Appears that the stabilizer doesn't care all that much if it is in balance or not since it actually seems to work even though I was not able to perfectly balance it. ??? Jim
I began setting up my transmitter tonight and all you need to do is the control calibration in the install guide (end points of transmitter controls). Other than that, the ATRE is ready to go. Finished assigning all the switches etc and am working my way through. Not too bad so far - other than running into some weirdness with balancing the camera stabilizer. I hope to complete everything in a day or two and then make a final video of setting up the YS-X6 and stabilizer. Got one servo that doesn't calm down all the way - keeps hunting. Maybe it will behave eventually. Appears that the stabilizer doesn't care all that much if it is in balance or not since it actually seems to work even though I was not able to perfectly balance it. ??? Jim
I had the standard lens on the NEX-5 making it heavy enough to be in perfect balance with the battery. Trouble is though that one of the rotors actually managed to touch the battery itself when it swung over, destroying both rotor and battery. Anyhows, I think I will try to upgrade the Ys-X6 to the newest firmware and do all calibrations/settings again. Would very much appreciate if someone has the correct paramter settings as I am still unsure which CTRL-type (6? 10?) it should have. also, it's aircraft type 1 right? -- The magnetometer/GPS calibration is also quite hard to get right. I ended up using a rotating chair.
johnno
Member
Hi Jim, My Transmitter and RX is due this week so hopefully can start, dont understand why it wont balance did you say in the Vid that your using a 4Cell 5000ma battery what discharge rate ? and one other thing would be interesting have you weighed it yet with Batt and Cam?? Sorry cant be more help but your a way ahead of me, John.
I am using control type 6 as it shows on the Zero video. Though no telling if that has changed. Have not updated the firmware yet. Probably should do that before I set everything up since I understand it wipes out everything. But wanted to get familiar with setup first. One thing I did notice is that it is hard to get consistent readings on the transmitter controls. I think it calculates MP for actual # since that seems to disappear - but even end points are not consistent. I have tried this setting a number of times with consistently inconsistent results! Not sure why.
I was able to attempt to test fly my steadi470 this weekend. I found a used Sony Nex5 on Amazon, and was then able to fininsh the calibration of the center IMU after the counter weights were set. I am using a 3s 5800 MAH, a video transmitter and Sony CCD camera as well as the NEX5, and did not have an issue setting the balance with this setup.
When attempting to do my first test flight I found the unit was unstable. Seems I will have to go back and recalibrate the ESC's and the flight IMU parameters again. When attempting to get off the ground the FC allowed the craft to rotate and or tilt to the point where it was not possible to establish a relaible stable hover. When I initially setup my YS-X6 flight controller (another unit) I had simular issues and wound up changing ESC's, which solved this issue. I am certain with a bit more configuration / calibration of the FC and ESC's I will be fine.
So far no luck though.
Mark
When attempting to do my first test flight I found the unit was unstable. Seems I will have to go back and recalibrate the ESC's and the flight IMU parameters again. When attempting to get off the ground the FC allowed the craft to rotate and or tilt to the point where it was not possible to establish a relaible stable hover. When I initially setup my YS-X6 flight controller (another unit) I had simular issues and wound up changing ESC's, which solved this issue. I am certain with a bit more configuration / calibration of the FC and ESC's I will be fine.
So far no luck though.
Mark
Thanks for the reply about CTRL-type Socratic! .. I can tell that after a mishap today where the Zero-steadi turned itself on the head when it was meant to lift off, I suddenly realized what my problem was: nothing electronic! ..they sent 4 x pusher props, not 2x normal + 2x pusher. I never did multirotors before so I didn't think about the two rotors running the opposite direction, just strapped the rotors on. Now that I had some non-pusher props delivered, I tried another test-flight in the darkness, and it worked fine!! Finally flying!! Had some damage to the antenna and servos from the test-flight earlier today unfortunately, and also had strong vibration. apart from that, all calibrations and trouble in the YS-X& seemed to be unimportant. Though understanding how the YS-X6 sets it self up and sometimes rejects custom setup, I don't know. Its cumbersome. Will try more testing tomorrow and wish luck on you project!
First successful flight - low battery: http://youtu.be/H-g987lK5h0?hd=1
First successful flight - low battery: http://youtu.be/H-g987lK5h0?hd=1
Last edited by a moderator:
Anyone have a suggestion as to what I might be doing wrong with updating the firmware? Unable to get updated firmware file to run. ??
http://youtu.be/lUsr7Nq3A_A
SOLUTION: Had to rename the file using all English letters. After that, all was okay. Here is the link to the correct process. http://youtu.be/16YvLD35YGw
http://youtu.be/lUsr7Nq3A_A
SOLUTION: Had to rename the file using all English letters. After that, all was okay. Here is the link to the correct process. http://youtu.be/16YvLD35YGw
Last edited by a moderator:
Had another test-flight with cam today - Has a lot of vibration-issues, two of the motors seems a bit loose and shaky from the first ground-crash.. But it could also be flight settings. I hope Zero sells spare parts? Got some great footage though until one of my batteries just gave up extremely sudden (It was well below freezing temperature) - http://youtu.be/9JGmqZMwZTA?hd=1
What are you using for a battery? I have found a low voltage warning buzzer helps a lot and they are only abut 3 or 4 bucks on ebay. I am surprised though, that the quad went down so quickly - I would expect a soft landing once the flight controller detects low battery. You might want to check the configuration on that. Also, probably dumb question, but did you balance the props - they are large enough to really cause some vibration if they are out of balance.
I have a 5000mAh Turnigy 5.0 rated at 30C - Yeah, it went incredibly fast. I actually have one of those buzzers, but didn't use it this time as I thought the flight controller would warn me well in time - not so. The voltage detect is at 3,7V I think - it's meant to be split on four right? I did not balance the props - thought they would be ready to go from the start as this is no heli?
I have found that balancing the props on the multicopters is pretty important if you want steady video (I know with GoPro the term is "jello"). Since these props are so large (I am used to 10.45) I would think an out of balance condition would really shake things up. I purchased a set of Groupner props for another hex I have and was surprised to see how far out of balance they were - every one! I have almost the same battery - I haven't had good luck with turnigy nano tech so went with the basic turnigy 4S 5.0 rated at 40-50. A bit heavy and wasn't able to balance the stabilizer completely without adding weight to the camera end. The quad seems heavy enough without adding extra weight 2.925 kg! Guess I will see how it handles pretty soon.
Looking greatly forward to seeing yours in the air too, and hope you won't have the mishaps I have had now. need to make a custom fix to the broken landing pad connection (the one with the extra reinforcers) The carbon parts survived, but not the plastic in the actual mid-frame. Thanks for the tip about propeller balancing, I certainly will get them in shape when I have things back up!
A couple of things have come up. After calibrating the stabilizer, there are no "stops" to restrict the camera from bumping into landing gear. Is that how this works? Or is the max point the point were I am calibrating roll and pitch? The servos are SHRIEKING! Also, #4 motor stops around half throttle. Not real good for flying! Have gone back and re-calibrated throttle a number of times but keep getting the same result. Any suggestions? Here is a video of the issues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVkwVAM-Fc