Discussion Mikrokopter / UAVP / quadrocopter / quadrotor build

[BJM-Maxx]

My MK is not interested in new firmware. I am stuck with what it came with, 0.70d. I use MK tools 1.53 and happily update settings with it. When I try to use the terminal however it messes up and gives me gibberish. If I flip the MK power off and on I get a few legible lines of start up text, then it goes back to gibberish. Anyone know what this is? The gibberish constantly updates like something is being read without line feeds.

[MorenoEnNYC1]

Yes, definitely redundancy. I once witnessed the LED on the AR7000's satellite RX turn off for a second or 2....this means loss of signal. Thankfully the main unit itself (AR7000) was there as backup.

Originally Posted by nikivan

Thanks for the replies, AJ and Jim. So, why would you want to use PPM converter with Spektrum, if you could use the satellite receiver only?

[saabguyspg]

Originally Posted by MorenoEnNYC1

Yes, definitely redundancy. I once witnessed the LED on the AR7000's satellite RX turn off for a second or 2....this means loss of signal. Thankfully the main unit itself (AR7000) was there as backup.

agreed i use mine for the redundancy and also the MK did some strange things when only one sat was used. One other thing is that I trigger two camera's with my servo parallel to one channel output so that is nice.

[saabguyspg]

I know it sounds strange and silly but did you install the pressure sensor the right way in the board? it does have a polarity and I know you have it disabled but who know's what it may do if installed backward....

No beeping usually means no shorting... and no seizing of servo's to cause overload of the onboard bec or your own beck....

I am sure you have tried other batteries.

I would tie it down tho the garage floor and put normal flight throttel on it. Then watch the ESC lights, main board light and make sure none of them turn red.... ever... Then check how warm your battery is, also how warm the motors are and the voltage regulator..... let us know how that goes. oh and also see if it throttels up on you when tied down and under controlled elevation conditions.

A picture of your setup may reveal something too.

Originally Posted by mrcoffi

Hi Rusty and 'Saabguyspg',

Thank you so much for your replies and suggestions. The seizing servo is an interesting one - would that upset the electronics? Definitely no beeping when this sudden 'throttle up' happens and no way of knowing if the receiver LED flashes either. Pre-set throttle failsafe also sounds plausible. The randomness of when this happens is as though it is interference but the puzzling thing is that it happened the other day in the middle of the countryside!

The international forum is really interesting - didn't realize this existed, thank you Rusty.

[vpersiani]

Originally Posted by AZ ChopperCam

Would there be any interest in this 2/3 axis ring gimbal for you guys with Mikrokopters? It is the smallest ring gimbal that I'm aware of. Offers proportional servo control of tilt and roll and non-proportional 360 pan. it can be configured as a 2 axis only with tilt/roll. Up to 100 degrees of tilt travel and about 45 degrees of total roll travel (22 degrees either side of horizontal.) There are 6 ball bearings in the ring. Constructed of G10, Delrin, and Aluminum.

Designed to fit small point and shoot as well as consumer type HD cameras. it is the first of a series of ring gimbals that will be produced by PhotoShip One.

Weight as a 3 axis version is 13 ounces. As 2 axis it is 10 ounces.

No idea on cost yet. email design@photoshipone.com for details.

Very nice design.
Sounds a bit heavy for MK, but could be good for 500/600 heli.
I'm a bit afraid that it may be ... not so cheap.

[wavess]

Originally Posted by jamied

hi wavess
have a picture of mine couple pages back.you wont regret it when you get it going.post a short video soon
jamie

Yes I saw it, it´s looking very good, congrats, can´t wait to see a video from it

[FredericG]

Originally Posted by BJM-Maxx

My MK is not interested in new firmware. I am stuck with what it came with, 0.70d. I use MK tools 1.53 and happily update settings with it. When I try to use the terminal however it messes up and gives me gibberish. If I flip the MK power off and on I get a few legible lines of start up text, then it goes back to gibberish. Anyone know what this is? The gibberish constantly updates like something is being read without line feeds.

This "gibberish" is normal. It is the FC that sends out unsolicited debug-messages. It is not readable, this is the kind of messages that go between the FC and the MKTool. When you restart the board you will see some human-readable text but then it starts again sending these debug-messages. This all seems OK to me.
Updating the SW does not work?

Frederic

[wavess]

Originally Posted by AZ ChopperCam

Would there be any interest in this 2/3 axis ring gimbal for you guys with Mikrokopters? It is the smallest ring gimbal that I'm aware of. Offers proportional servo control of tilt and roll and non-proportional 360 pan. it can be configured as a 2 axis only with tilt/roll. Up to 100 degrees of tilt travel and about 45 degrees of total roll travel (22 degrees either side of horizontal.) There are 6 ball bearings in the ring. Constructed of G10, Delrin, and Aluminum.

Designed to fit small point and shoot as well as consumer type HD cameras. it is the first of a series of ring gimbals that will be produced by PhotoShip One.

Weight as a 3 axis version is 13 ounces. As 2 axis it is 10 ounces.

No idea on cost yet. email design@photoshipone.com for details.

Would be nice if it was lighter and not so tall. Email Sent

[ssassen]

AZ Choppercam,

Very nice, my compliments, I've sent you an email inquiring about the gimbal.

Cheers,

Sander.

[saabguyspg]

is anyone flying x with a 1.3 board and if so do you have the tilt working? I can't seem to get it on any of the pads (J-3 4 5 or 7)

[FredericG]

Originally Posted by saabguyspg

is anyone flying x with a 1.3 board and if so do you have the tilt working? I can't seem to get it on any of the pads (J-3 4 5 or 7)

I think it is on the regular servo output on SV2

Frederic

[BJM-Maxx]

Originally Posted by FredericG

This "gibberish" is normal. It is the FC that sends out unsolicited debug-messages. It is not readable, this is the kind of messages that go between the FC and the MKTool. When you restart the board you will see some human-readable text but then it starts again sending these debug-messages. This all seems OK to me.
Updating the SW does not work?

Frederic

Thanks for the response. I finally did something that worked. I don't even know what I did but the firmware updated. I only had the 0.74 handy as a test and when it successfully loaded I then found the latest and greatest and loaded it. I finally get to fly without worrying so much about gyro issues.

When it updated it suddenly stopped sending garbage and after updating it started again, just as you described. In the past the update process would just not work. I used another laptop this time, something must have been different.

[MB1380]

Hi lads, looking for some more advice if possible.
The last time i used it my mikrokopter worked fine, left it idle for a week and went to fly it today.
Turned it on and it tested the SC's as usual. Went to start the motors then and they all worked except one whose SC was flashing.
I then turned it off and on again and it no longer tests any of the motors? just gives 2 beeps from the FC then nothing.........
I have plugged into MK tool and it says I2C error and none of the motors registered.
Any ideas appreciated??

[saabguyspg]

thanks frederick, I did not know that they moved it... SV2... I will have to look for it... thanks!

[FredericG]

Originally Posted by MB1380

Hi lads, looking for some more advice if possible.
The last time i used it my mikrokopter worked fine, left it idle for a week and went to fly it today.
Turned it on and it tested the SC's as usual. Went to start the motors then and they all worked except one whose SC was flashing.
I then turned it off and on again and it no longer tests any of the motors? just gives 2 beeps from the FC then nothing.........
I have plugged into MK tool and it says I2C error and none of the motors registered.
Any ideas appreciated??

It could be that the failing ESC makes I2C communication with the good ESC impossible. I would disconnect the bad ESC from the I2C bus. If it does not work I would disconnect them all are reconnect one af the other, each time checking that it is being detected.

Frederic