Mikrokopter Camera mount servos worked fine and now...nothing

ctbon

Member
I just mounted my MD2 camera mount and the servos seemed to work fine at first though the mount was rolled up a bit to the right in neutral position so I turned it off and straightened the mount to a neutral position and when I started her back up the servos weren't working at all. When powered up the servos 'locked' just as they are when they are working but they aren't moving when I pitch and roll the copter.

Don't know how to screenshot on XP so I took pics with my phone.

ZhK7E.jpg


I don't know if the gyro screen means anything but here it is anyway...
qLnBm.jpg


Maybe some settings changed spontaneously? It's happened before.

Thanks for your help in advance. :)
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
You did remember to initialize the gyros (full throttle plus full left yaw) after the power cycle didn't you? The camera servos won't work until you do...

Ken
 

ctbon

Member
You did remember to initialize the gyros (full throttle plus full left yaw) after the power cycle didn't you? The camera servos won't work until you do...

Ken

eee...no. I don't normally do that indoors so I didn't do that. THANK YOU!!!!

It works now but I still have the original problem of the mount being rolled up to the right somewhat. (see pic below) How do I fix this?

RFhkd.jpg
 
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Have you done a perfect acc calibration?
My "manual control speed" is set at 5.
Take the servo horn off after you have calibrated gyros and mechanically level it. I see you don't use a poti to control the tilt?
 

ctbon

Member
Sorry, Choppercam, how do I do the acc calibration?

I thought I had to choose between poti tilt and auto-tilt. These are the default settings I have here.
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
Sorry, Choppercam, how do I do the acc calibration?

I thought I had to choose between poti tilt and auto-tilt. These are the default settings I have here.

If the MK flys level as it is now then you don't need to do or redo the Acc calibration, it only needs to be done once during setup or redone after a rebuild or R & R of the flight control board. Acc calibration is throttle stick full up and full right yaw, BUT do not do this unless the MK is perfectly leveled first!

No, you don't have to make a choice between using a poti for tilt or not, you can use a knob or slider on your TX to adjust the platform tilt in flight by setting the poti associated with the knob or slider channel for the Nick servo control setting. Once done the flight contoller will automatically keep adjusting for whatever degree of tilt you set for the platform with the slider from flat level to pointing straight down. If you don't use a poti for tilt adjustment the camera platform will stay level or wherever the neutral point winds up to be 100% of the time.

You can make minor adjustments in the leveling of the platform by changing the number for Servo control under the roll setting but the amount that yours is off level it is best to do as has been suggested and remove the servo horn with the Mk powered up and the gyros calibrated so the servo will be at what the flight contoller sees as center position. Now install the servo horn to make the platform as level as possible, it may not be possible to get it perfect so just get it as close as you can. If it isn't perfect after doing this there are two things you can do, one is if the linkage from the roll servo to the frame is adjustable then see if you can get the platform level by adjusting the linkage. If the linkage isn't adjustable or doesn't have enough adjustment to get the platform level, now make minor changes in the Servo Control setting under roll to get it the rest of the way to level, you should make changes in increments of two and move the Mk side to side after saving the setting to make sure the mount settles in the right spot. If you do all the other adjustments first you shouldn't have to make a change of any more than 4 or 5 to finish dialing it in.

Ken
 


Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Id say you have your roll compensation way to high and also your nick.. you will find it very fast at those settings

Dave
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
Id say you have your roll compensation way to high and also your nick.. you will find it very fast at those settings

Dave

For the AV130 you're used to, yes the settings are probably too high, BUT the correct setting varies by mount and which servos are being used. The only way to really know what the correct settings are is to set that particular mount up properly.

The compensation really has little to do with speed, that is determined by the servos and the mechanism they work through, i.e. direct, belt, gear reduction...etc. Compensation is actually a measurement of the angle the mount needs to be at to maintain level at the extremes of travel. In order to set the compensation I first make sure the servos are centered during intial setup and then from there do the basic leveling in both tilt and roll axis. To determine that I use a round bubble level placed close to the center of the camera platform so I have an accurate visual check of where the platform is in relation to level.

Once that is done, I prop up one side of the landing gear so that the mount moves to maximum travel, this is where you find out if your compensation needs to be adjusted. If at maximum travel the platform is not level in the roll axis, then start making small changes to the compensation setting under roll, if you go higher on the setting and the out of level gets worse, then start going lower on the number to bring it back. Keep making adjustments until the platform is level at maximum travel, then put the Mk back to level and make sure at center the platform is still correctly leveled. If it looks good, move the MK so the mount is at maximum travel on the side opposite from where you did the initial check and adjustment and verify that the platform is level there as well, it should be unless there's a mechanical problem with the mount. You're now done with centering, leveling and compensation settings for the roll axis.

Now repeat the procedure for the tilt axis. Making sure the platform is level at the start, tilt the MK until the platform is at a significant angle typical of what it might see when in FF and then prop the frame up so that it stays in that position. Once again look to see how close to level the platform is and adjust the compensation settings under Tilt until the platform is level. Now tilt it in the opposite direction and make sure the platform is level there too. Once you have compensation set return the Mk to level and make sure the platform is now level in both axis there too.

At this point you should be done. To fully test it pickup the Mk and move it to various positions in both roll and tilt axis then hold it there for a couple of seconds, the platform should stabilize at level if the compensation settings are correct. I should note there is an exception you need to be aware of. Sometimes direct drive camera mounts do not have a linear amount of movement across their entire travel, so it is possible to set the compensation at a particular point and then have it be off if the platform is moved to a spot either further along its travel or somewhere in between center and full travel. In these cases the only option is to find the best compromise by using what you think will be the maximim amount of travel the mount will attain in use and set the compensation for the best leveling at that point. The alternative is to play around with the lenght of the servo arm and/or the linkage attachment points to see if you can get it closer with mechanical adjustments, sometimes you can. The ultimate test is to put a video camera on and go fly around for a bit while recording then view the video and see if the view from the camera stays as close to level as it can while the Mk is flying FF and banking in turns.

OK, time to get to work, class dismissed! ;)

Oh, and BTW, the compensation settings for my Droidworx AD-6 with Avertical View mount and Hitec analog servos are at 90 on both axis and the leveling is near perfect for the full travel of the mount.

Ken
 
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ctbon

Member
I hate to keep asking questions but what would be the best way to set up the poti nick control with my Tx? I have a DX8 Spektrum. How do I set it up and what settings do I use in MK-Tool? I don't understand how you would use a poti for more than one function.

Thanks again for all the help. I love the MRF community!
 

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Morning Chris..

On the DX 8 you will need to use the rotary knob on the front right of the TX.. Check which channel it is assigned to ot assign it a channal. Then choose a free poti and assign it to that channel. Go in camera and assign the nick to that poti.. job done.. something like that any how.

Dave
 


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