Pixhawk leds

Chalagi

Member
After completely going through the pixhawk program I tried to arm the motors but had no luck. I would give me the arming sound but not arm. The system led on the pixhawk would blink 2 times each but after letting it sit for sometime that's all it did. I have re-calibrated my esc's using the throttle channel on the rx and all six calibrated and had a linear throttle as I moved the throttle stick upward. I"m using a Taranis with a X8R rx on a Tarot 680 with pixhawk and gps.
 

dazzab

Member
What did your ground station report? It might be in some sort of fail safe due to failing a pre-arm check. Something like the compass not being calibrated etc. Did you arm it with the hardware switch? A lot of people aren't aware that the Pixhawk uses a hardware safety switch. It can be disabled in the software if you prefer.
 

Chalagi

Member
On the mission planner it gave me a message that the compass need redone, And also the throttle if lower that the failsafe or something like that. It also gave me a message the "Arm was not a mode"
 

dazzab

Member
On the mission planner it gave me a message that the compass need redone, And also the throttle if lower that the failsafe or something like that. It also gave me a message the "Arm was not a mode"
So redo you compass calibration. Then look in the 'Failsafe' section of the config tab. What it's telling you is that your lowest throttle setting is below the value that has been set to trip a failsafe. So you need to look at PWM setting that your lowest throttle setting is outputting (which is shown in the failsafe config page as well) and then change the failsafe throttle value to about 20 lower than that value. Failsafe is a confusing topic but it's really important to get it right so make sure you read through the manual about it. In a nut shell when you turn your transmitter off it should trip a failsafe that automatically puts the mode in to RTL or Land. MAKE SURE WHEN CONFIGURING AND TESTING FAILSAFE YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PROPS ON THE COPTER as per the warning on the failsafe config screen. I highly recommend that you do not fly until you are confident that the failsafe is correctly configured.
 

Chalagi

Member
OK right now all it's saying is "Compass incorrect". Int eh window at the first compass screen is tells me to point fron, right, left, top and bottom to the north and rotate the copter 360 degrees on all 6 axis. then the next screen tells me to point the copter north and rotate on the "Pitch" axis and the turn 90 degree and rotate the copter on its roll axis. I have tried this many times both ways and the program accepts the calibrate. But when I try to arm the motors it give me the same compass incorrect.
 


Chalagi

Member
Yes and right now I'm trying to reverse my "Ele" channel. But over in the servo section I move over to where I should be able in reverse and when I press the enter button all I get is curve selections and not a reverse selection. I accepted the radio calibration the way it is.
 

Chalagi

Member
So far I have taken care of the "Compass incorrect" problem and no its giving me "Check failsafe throttle" and i have moved that sucker all over the place. Instructions tell me to make the number 10 smaller than the pwm amount on channel which is 874 with throttle stick at bottom so I made mine 860 and still get the same message
 

Chalagi

Member
I can't get my fail safe throttle value to work by this means

  • at least 10 PWM higher than your Channel 3’s PWM value when the throttle stick is fully down and the transmitter is off
  • at least 10 lower than your channel 3’s PWM value when the throttle stick is fully down and the transmitter is on
  • above 910
 


meriachee

Member
I fought with the compass for two days and discovered something rather interesting - the MAC version of MP has a great history file, but the PC version of MP has a MUCH better compass calibration utility, it shows you in a real time window where the thing needs to be oriented to get the reading it's looking for. The Mac version just puts up timer status bar and says "dance".
Also, if you're using the external GPS puck, DO NOT move it after the calibration. The PixHawk will disagree with the compass readings and need re calibration. With a foldable mast, make sure it's proper before starting up the PixHawk. It gets cranky.
 

Chalagi

Member
Yea I discovered pretty fast that the compass was very touchy and I was doing mine in real times and watching it on my laptop screen
 

meriachee

Member
The funny thing is that their video showed the guy doing the compass dance at his desk. Being a boat guy, I can tell you that marine GPS doesn't work too well in the house, so I was skeptical. After it calibrated, the screen showed the Google Map and it not only had the location right, it showed the device in the proper corner of the house. That's kinda scarey actually.
 


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