3DR Iris+... My experience so far

[sledge57]

Bought myself a Christmas present last year, Iris+, wanted to try autonomous flight someday and this seemed like a good way to start.

So I forced myself to leave it in the box until the weather (Michigan weather sucks..) got nice and today was the day!

So I watched all the videos I could find on YouTube for the last couple days and I deemed myself ready.

My flying experience so far has consisted of limited flight time on my FW 550 hex, Naza 2 etc, quite a few hours on my Blade 180 qxhd and a few hours on my Blade Nano qx. So I know I can handle the Iris (or can I?)

So after work I finally un-boxed the Iris (well I had already removed the battery to charge it). I put the long legs on and got ready for the maiden flight.

Took it outside powered up the Tx, plugged in the battery and waited while it initialized. Finally got a green LED for GPS lock, telemetry on TX said 8 sats.

Everything looked good to go, so I arm it with the "red button" pull the throttle stick down and right to arm motors and........

Nothing! It beeped at me and flipped me off

After a few failed attempts to initialize I go back to the computer and try looking up trouble shooting options and see it says to connect it to "Mission Planner" to see what went wrong.

Well what went wrong was I needed to read a bunch more about these issues. I connected to Mission Planner and the first thing I get is a message to update FW and to "click here" to do so, another mistake...

I did this and now it seemed I had to redo the entire setup (I didn't have to I don't believe)

So I go through the Setup Wizard (biggest Mistake so far apparently) and things became a PITA from there.

Back to the internet to investigate the issue more and I see, "DON'T USE SETUP WIZARD"

Instead it was suggested to reload the parameters. I keep reading, learn how to do this and after all was said and done I was now able to arm the motors and now have a quad capable of flying, (or do I?)

I don't know exactly what the initial issue was but I have now performed parameter reload, compass calibration, accelerometer calibration and TX calibration.

Going to try and fly again tomorrow however I do not trust this MR at the moment. I'm still looking for a procedure to restore the Iris to it's original configuration (and I may have already accomplished that, but I'm not sure)

So at the moment the score is:
DJI - 1
3Dr - 0

More tomorrow and pics I hope.

 

[Gary Seven]

Hey @sledge57, Thanks for the post. I too am considering this sUAV. I've been spending the last two months or so watching all the YouTube videos and reading tons and tons on both the DroidWorks site and also "ardupilot.com". My big takeaway in all this is just like OpenTx, APM is a work in progress and always will be. That's the very nature of the Open Source beast.

I'm totally the armchair pilot here as I don't even have the vehicle in my hands yet. But from everything I've read so far, operating and flying an APM rig is very different than a Naza set up. It appears one must read tons of material, forums, and "between the lines" to get a handle on this. For this very reason I've been afraid to get involved with APM, but with Iris it appears an "easy" way to get started.

Keep us posted!!

 

[cootertwo]

Hey Doug, I did the same exact thing. I have got mine "close" to original, but now my radio doesn't show the info from the Iris+. I can fly, all the modes work, just no info back to the radio screen. I thought I had read enough, before I got my Iris+, but I was wrong! Just a suspicion here, but I think maybe the "controller reset procedure" might be out of date. I wrote 3dr, and they answered me with the suggestion that I try the controller update, and get back to them. They did respond in 2 days. At least we're not on a line to China! And like you, I was interested in the autonomous flight thing, and the Iris+ seems like the best deal, if you add up the price of all the Pixhawk goodies, we're getting a pretty nice quad on the cheap. We'll win, just takes a bit more patience and understanding, going from Chinese, to Tex/Mex. It's the "salsa"

 

[Old Man]

I did similar with a quad from 3DR over a year ago and wiped the RTF programming. Once you start blindly working through the Set Up Wizard you wipe the programming and set up previously installed by 3DR that had it good to go when you got it. If people caught the part in the printed instructions about the RTF units being set up and ready to go perhaps we would not tax ourselves with re-installing and having to set up all the parameters again that were already installed and ready to go.

Typically a RTF 3DR product at best only needs to have a compass calibration performed after taking it out of the box and installing the props. Better to cal the compass before installing the props but...ya know After the first calibration it self updates if you have the auto calibrate box checked in Mission Planner. Doesn't hurt to check that north is oriented correctly once in awhile when you update software through Mission Planner. As for updates, read the new updates notice before downloading the new stuff. Make sure you are not downloading a Beta update for for clicking the button. The update notice pop ups make it clear updates are beta or release versions so choose only the release versions unless you want to be a beta tester.

I think you'll find that Pixhawk and Mission Planner will end up providing the most reliable performance available with extremely versatile functionality after you learn more about it. Take the time to learn about the numerous failsafes and how to set them up in MP. It's nearly impossible to experience a fly away if they are used. I think I probably made all the same fumbles you did, perhaps a few more;( when I first tried APM 2.6 but that gave me a bit of a head start when Pixhawk came out.

Perhaps, and just for people like us, 3DR might consider providing a single page, large print advisory that people do not run the Set Up Wizard after receiving a RTF product from them until after reading all the other included instructions and those found with considerable depth in the Arducopter Wiki. There's a lot to learn and it's not intuitive. Much more extensive than DJI stuff, but then again, APM and Pixhawk are much, much better and provide far greater user flexibility. Does take some work activating learning synapses that people like me have allowed to languish though. The difficulty most experience with an APM based product is that it is not the same as DJI. We got spoiled with no skills required, flip the switch and fly, hope it works, and have to shift to intelligence through learning and understanding. I'm just as guilty as the next guy in that.

BTW, if you received an SD card with your copter (it will be in the Pixhawk FC) all the original parameters are probably still on it. Call 3DR and ask if such might be the case and how to transfer the data back to the Pixhawk. I do not believe the cards get over written until after they fill up and that takes quite a few flights. Worth a try anyway.

 

[Shwepps]

Waiting for the pictures....

 

[sledge57]

Thanks everyone, as it stands now the score is:
DJI - 2
3Dr - 0

No luck flying today, copter armed but wants to flip forwards upon increasing throttle, props are spinning correct direction etc...

Calling 3dR per Oldmans advice to find out about original params.

Not ready to surrender (not even close) but it would be nice if there was a way to revert to factory settings easily (probably is, just haven't found it yet)

Took a pic or 2 indoors, post later, not much to see really, just an out of the box Iris +

 

[Old Man]

Sounds like the position of the GPS is reversed in MP. Check the Wiki for how the orientation is supposed to be checked off for Puxhawk.


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[sledge57]

Ok I'll check.

Latest attempt.

Reloaded Iris+ parameters, I think I loaded Old Iris parameters last time, (sure of it)
Redid all calibrations after params.
Did ESC cal per 3dR instructions.

Attempted to fly, this time I was able to throttle up to 50% with no signs of flipping.

Increased throttle to a bit past 50% and copter flipped and pulling throttle back didn't seem to work immediately.

Not happy ATM

Score:
DJI - 3
3dR - -1

Trying to find out how to get log file from Pixhawk now

 

[sledge57]

Nothing much today. However I'm now 99% sure the initial failure to arm is because I'm an idiot.

After way more reading I've discovered that the Pixhawk has a very intensive list of things it looks at before allowing the motors to arm. I believe my issue was "Gyro cal failed" which according to the developers means the copter was most likely moving when the accelerometer was initializing.

In other words after connecting the battery I was trying to close the battery door instead of keeping my fat fingers off until initialization was done....

Now if I can only figure out how to un-do the mess I made of the thing and hopefully another post I found will do just that. Hopefully the 4th time is a charm. Hope so anyway, Tarot Gimbal and FPV gear for Iris should be here Friday. I guess I can put FPV gear on FW 550, I already have a gimbal for it too. (FPV for framing GoPro not flying "true fpv mode")

Here's what I found for those interested.

Is there a way to reset the Iris + to its default settings in Mission Planner?


From 3DR support

Load ArduPlane Firmware, then go back and load ArduCopter firmware again and perform all the calibrations all over again (radio calibration, accelerometer calibration, and compass calibration). Below are instructions to do this.
1. Connect your vehicle to the computer using the USB cable, Open Mission Planner (Do not hit connect button)
2. Load a totally different firmware (for example, ArduPlane) >> Go to Initial Setup >> Install Firmware >> Select ArduPlane V3.2
3. When it's done. Reboot the vehicle (Unplug and replug the USB)
4. Repeat the steps but now load exactly the Firmware that you want to use (ArduCopter)
5. When it's done. Click the Connect button on Mission Planner
6. Load the parameters for your vehicle. Go to Initial Setup >> Mandatory Hardware >> Frame type and choose Iris+ from the drop down menu. Look at the photo attched for assistance.

To make sure you are calibrating the accelerometers correctly I recommend you watch a video, link provided below:

Also can you calibrate the compass? I will provide the link below:

Also the radio calibration, link provided below:

 

[Gary Seven]

@sledge57 Did 3DR send you that information in an email, or did you did all that up yourself? Looks like someone's been doing their homework. Man, what a helluva lot of work to get the Iris+ back to "default" mode!!

Question: In the first two videos I see the guy is connecting the Iris to MP via a laptop and the 3DR radio. Is it possible to connect this way to a desktop as well? I assume all I would have to do is turn off my WiFi and connect the radio to a USB port on my desktop (a Windows 7 machine)? I ask because I do not own a laptop, just an iPad and a Nexus 7, neither of which would work in this case. Thanks!

 

[Old Man]

It should work as you describe if the firmware is uploaded to the desktop before radio connecting to the desktop. 3DR radio needs a computer, not a specific type of computer. FYI, if flying an automated mission using a 3DR radio connection the range can be much much greater than achievable using WiFi. Some have reported effective range of several kilometers with better antenna set up.

I'll lay odds the info provided came from 3DR. Their customer service really is that good. Although a lot more work to set up I've learned through 3DR and their documentation, and from friends that use a fleet of Pixhawk in aerospace products, that Pixhawk is vastly superior with greater capabilities to anything else out there and has more internal functions requiring set up to provide the additional functionality.

Once set up there's no need to change anything, ever, for using it in the manner desired. Just update software after checking the Readme files periodically. However, if the bug bites you the tools are there to make it do a great many other things after some additional study for enlightenment. For large heavy lift there's nothing better yet.

A copter is just a bunch of expensive parts establishing how much work it's capable of doing. The FC is what establishes functionality and how effectively the work can get done.


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[sledge57]

This info wasn't given to me but to another Iris plus owner. It was on the APM forum and it came from 3dr 3days ago.

While it seems like a lot it's really easy (if it works of course) took maybe 15 minutes. And yrs you can do it from your desktop PC. There's software to do all this from a Mac or Android as well but I've read the Windows software was best. I have a laptop but I'm doing everything from desktop at the moment

I'll let you know if it works later tonight. I tried to call 3dr last night but I thought they closed at 6 PST but they close at 5.

 

[Old Man]

That appears to provide a little more support for a single page with large block letters instruction sheet to be provided in RTF 3DR MR's not to engage the set up wizard.


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[sledge57]

Ok, success, limited but still success. I finally got it in the air.

In Alt Hold it was a hand full, in Loiter it flew relatively well, a little "toilet bowl" action it seems like.

It was a bit windy for a first flight also, ~15 mph but it only drifted a couple feet and returned.

I know the Pixhawk will self calibrate the compass and after a few flights the compass cal will improve and hopefully Alt-Hold with it.

What I'm wondering now is, I see in MP, in compass calibration you can choose "auto declination" or you can enter your declination info manually if you know it (I do).

So can I just switch to manual declination and just enter my declination info, or do I need to re-do the compass cal again if I enter the info manually, Old Man?

Pics, not much to see but pics anyway, try to get some flying this weekend.

 

[Old Man]

You can enter the known compass offset and check off the auto declination afterwards and no additional compass cal necessary. Or you could just check auto declination and be done with it. I have never, ever, calibrated the compass in my first Pixhawk and I've flown it, accurately, in several different states. I don't suggest everyone do that but the system truly is that good. You really want to do the auto tune in altitude hold. I believe the instructions say the same thing. You do not want to be in a GPS mode for that. Wait for a day with very little wind and pick a wide open space. You will have to interrupt the auto tune a couple of times because the copter will drift with the wind while self tuning. It will be a little jerky at first. If it will hold a hover in Alt Hold, even if a touch wobbly, it's stable enough for auto tune.

Just to let you know, I like and trust Pixhawk so much I just bought another. I've tried a couple versions of DJI (never again) and presently setting up a Vector, but the Pixhawk provides boundless opportunities. I'm really pleased this is starting to come together for you.

Oh, how's the score card tallying up?

 

[sledge57]

Thanks for the info, I had seen the "autotune" video before but forgot about it and just saw it again after digging through the Wiki some and wanted to ask if you suggest I do it and I see the answer is yes. I will perform autotune when (if?) we get a calm day.

3dr is catching up on the score card. Not sure I totally trust it yet but I was really happy with what I saw tonight.

I was just aggravated I messed it up in the first place as I probably would have have a rock solid experience if I hadn't messed with the setup.

Can't wait to see how it flies with the added weight of a camera, gimbal and fpv tx.

Also trying to decide what to set the 3rd flight mode to. Not going to fly missions any time soon so "auto" isn't needed and I certainly don't want to accidentally go into auto mode, even though I have no mission loaded.

So far now I just set it to "Alt-Hold".

I'm thinking about "Position Hold" for that mode for now though, thoughts?

 

[Old Man]

Before you fly again go into MP and start setting up the Geo Fence. It works extremely well. Set your max altitudes and distances so it will never fly higher or further away than you want to walk to go after it should you run the battery down. If you assure you have a GPS fix before arming it will always work. You'll have to decide how you want it to react when hitting the fence. The first time I used it I had it set to RTL and it took a minute to recognize it was coming back because I exceeded the limits. I'd forgotten that I'd set up the fence... Think about voltage failsafe levels and what you want it to do should they be achieved. A lot of people set up for Return to Home under those conditions but when you think about it, if it's a ways out it may not have enough battery left to make it back. It WILL run the battery to nothing trying to get back under such circumstances and crash on the return leg. That happened to some friends when they were having too much fun flying with goggles and their X-8's. My personal preference for just about all the failsafes is to "Always Land" wherever it's at and make the hike. You can override most of them if necessary to reposition the copter to clear an obstacle underneath but you have to manually bring it down after the override. I save Return to Home for one of the switch positions in order to make that a physical action in the event such a drastic action becomes warranted. That typically happens only if I got careless and flew to far out and lost orientation. Did that twice since I'm a slow learner but was glad to have had the "save my sorry butt" mode when I needed it. Works great for demos too.

I have not read up on the Iris transmitter so I don't know if it's limited to a three position switch or has the ability to be mixed for a 6 position switch set up. I use 6 flight modes, periodically changing some of them out for others. On the primary 3 position switch I use Stabilize, Loiter, and Return to Home. Those are just bare basics. One flight mode I have fun with is Guide but it's terrible for a gimbaled camera. Fly hard and the gimbal will hit the stops a lot. It's a single stick flying mode where you fly the quad like a model airplane. The yaw channel is not functional to the user when in Guide since it's slaved to the aileron channel. Loiter and Position Hold modes are excellent camera modes.

You will probably want to use a laptop or some other WiFi device to stay linked to the Iris when using Auto Tune. Spend a few minutes with the Wiki reading about it before initiating the process but auto tune is flat out nice! By now you're starting to see how versatile the FC is, and unfortunately how the Wiki was in many places written by engineers in language that often only makes sense to other engineers. If APM and Pixhawk have a weak spot it's seen in the way the Wiki is written. If they ever decide to make use of a good tech writer to clean that up they'll have the market by the tail.

The default limits used in 3DR copters make for a rock solid flying machine, however, they won't be extremely lively. The user has to decide what they like and make adjustments for climb rates and roll/yaw maximums. If using a Loiter mode the forward speed my be a bit slower than preferred so it can be adjusted on the PID's page of MP to be a lot more sprightly. Do all that stuff after you've flown it a bit to establish likes and dislikes.

 

[sledge57]

Geo Fence is enabled but it's still set to defaults, 100m vertical and 300m horizontal.

Going to lower both until my confidence level is higher. I'm thinking 30m vertical and 100m horizontal to start.

The TX is setup so one switch initiates "land", a 3 position switch gives: std (alt-hold) loiter and auto (the position I set to alt-hold again) the last switch used is RTL and is mixed to work in all 3 positions of the flight mode switch.

 

[Old Man]

Ok, so if you have RTL and Land always available changing the second Alt Hold to Position Hold sounds good until you want to start experimenting. Your choice of fence limits sounds good as long as you can clear vertical obstacles during an RTL.


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[JoeBob]

+1 on Autotune.

You really do need to make the effort to set up your TX so that you can use 6 flights modes. On my Futaba T8fg it's a combination of a 2 position switch and a 3 position switch. Labelled!!! (Taranis has a six-position switch that you can swap in.)

Once you get the 6 ranges programmed into your radio, it's easy to swap out flight modes in Mission Planner.

I use Stabilize, Altitude Hold, Auto, Loiter, RTL, and Land as my defaults. Land is my panic switch. If something goes amiss, I can just slam both switches down and the UAV settles softly to earth. (It does hop a bit before deciding that it's really down...) My favorite flying mode is Alt Hold. I can concentrate on where I am and what I'm filming without having to wrestle with the the throttle. Auto is fun, and with spline-waypoints is very smooth.