Recording a new Forward Direction, Home Point or POI w/A2.

I have a question about maually recording the Forward Direction, HP and POI in the IOC functionality. I am new to the A2, and am in the process of a scratch build, which I have flown under the V2.6 FW, but just upgraded to v2.7. All went well, and I'm prepping for a tied-down test flight before a free-flight test. I am going through some exercises to familiarize myself with manually recording a new HP during a flight, and on the bench, it doesn't seem to be responding the way the new v1.24 A2 Manual indicates it should, if I'm understanding it correctly. I did not do any of this manual HP recording under the v2.6 FW, so I don't know if this is the same behavior I would have seen before upgrading to v2.7.

I have my 3-position switch configured as per Option A in the chart on pg 34. In this config, Pos 1 is Off, Pos 2 is CL and Pos 3 is HL.

If I am understanding correctly, the table in "Step 2 Forward Direction, HP and POI Recording" indicates that to manually record/change the FD, I toggle 3-5 times between pos 1 & 2. If successful, I should see 20 green LED flashes. To record/change the HP, I toggle 3-5 times between Pos 2 & 3. If HP record is successful, I should see 20 violet LED flashes.

I am powering on the radio then the system and waiting until GPS locks in (I'm indoors, so it takes a while). At ~36 seconds I get ~20 rapid green flashes. This should indicate FD has been automatically recorded. Once I have had 7 or more satellites (no red flashes) for longer than 10 seconds, I start the motors and raise the throttle to 50% (yes, props are off). This should automatically record the HP. I then have 1 violet LED flash indicating GPS ATTI mode, then 5 violet LED flashes indicating I am within 8 meters of the HP. Perfect so far.

At this point I move the IOC switch from Off (Pos 1) to CL (Pos 2). I then have 1 violet flash and 1 green flash (indicating GPS and IOC modes). I then toggle the IOC switch between Pos 2 & 3 5 times. I then see ~20 rapid green flashes, indicating the FD has been recorded, not ~20 violet flashes to indicate the HP has been recorded. Also note that I see no rapid indicator flashes when I toggle 3-5 times between Pos 1 & 2, which is where I would expect to record the FD and get the ~20 green flashes.

If I go into the Assistant software and change the config of the IOC switch to Pos 1 is OFF, Pos 2 is POI and POS is HL, then repeat the above test, I still get no rapid indicator flashes when toggling between Pos 1 & 2, and when I toggle between Pos 2 & 3, I now get ~20 violet flashes, indicating the HP has been recorded.

Am I crazy, stupid, or both? If anyone could verify this behavior on their v2.7 FW A2 I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

ADDITIONAL INFO: I repeated the above in the OFF/CL/HL switch config, and after FD and HP was automatically recorded, I manually moved the UAS to a different location several meters away from the current HP (with motors still on simulating flight movement), and rotated the nose to change the FD, then tried to record things again. I got the same results. I just wanted to make sure the UAS being in the EXACT same position as when FD and HP were automatically recorded was not affecting the logic of recording these parameters.
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Chuck, I'd love to help but if I upgrade my A2 firmware I'll have to spend $200 on the new GPS puck.

Sorry! I'll be watching though to see what comes of your efforts.

Bart
 

Chuck, I'd love to help but if I upgrade my A2 firmware I'll have to spend $200 on the new GPS puck.

Sorry! I'll be watching though to see what comes of your efforts.

Bart

Well, I got to the bottom of it, and like I had hoped, it was my understanding/interpretation that was in error. I was in a mindset of absolute toggling between position 1 & 2, and positions 2 & 3. Meaning, I was thinking when you toggle between positions 1 & 2, with my switch configuration, you record FD. When you toggle between positions 2 & 3, you set HP. This is not absolute... it depends on where you start the toggling from (which IOC mode you are in). Start in position 2 (CL in my case), and toggle 5 times between 2 & 3, and you set FD (green flashes). Start in position 3 (HL in my case), and toggle 5 times between 2 & 3, and you set HP (violet flashes). Understanding this key little element perfectly explains why toggling between positions 1 & 2 does nothing when you start in position 1... IOC isn't even active... that's OFF.

This is why I make sure I have hands-on practical experience with the various procedures, even when I think I understand them from just reading the manual. Far better to locate my stupidity during a ground check than when in the air.
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
thanks for coming back and sharing the solution Chuck! really appreciate it!
 

Top