Hello all,

I got a new ARF kit from Quadkopters com and I have assembled it as mentioned in the following video:



I just have 1 problem. After caliberating the ESCs, the motors spin but the blue light on the board is not stable and hence nothing happens when i give throttle from the Tx. This part is shown in the video @ 1:01:00. The control board is ZMR Multiwii light. Someone please help

Welcome quadcptr

Have you arm the Quad  ?

After calibrating the esc's did you uncomment the esc calibration code rewrite the new sketch.
Until you do it the board wont arm.

i.e. you have to uncomment  "//#define ESC_CALIB_CANNOT_FLY  //" this code in the sketch to calibrate the esc's, after calibration is complete, again comment that line and rewrite the sketch to the FC.

Once you power the quad and keep it on a stable surface till the blue light blinking stops. Then arm the quadcopter and fly. The FC needs a lil time to calibrate gyros.
And also the light begins to blink when you move the quad without arming it, which just indicates that sensors are working and collecting data.

[Admin Note] Unnecessary quote of just prior post removed. Please use "Reply" (or the "Quick Reply" box at the bottom) instead of using "Quote" while responding to the last post in a thread.

Yes I did undefine it and uploaded the sketch again after the calibration completed. I didn't miss a single step. I have a flysky radio set FYI. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I have to arm the quad by holding the yaw stick down and the throttle stick to the left on the tx, right?

If your transmitter is mode 2, then yaw and throttle is controlled from the same stick on the left side.


So to arm the board take the throttle completely down and move rudder right; to disarm, move the rudder to the right while keeping the throttle low. Arming may be reversed if your rudder channel is configured in reverse, so try that if its not arming the normal way.
You can arm while connected to Multiwii GUI so as to see whether its working or not (remove props while doing so). As I mentioned earlier give some time after arming for the FC to initialize, and dont move it and keep it on a flat surface while doing so.

Another reason can be throttle and yaw values, which must reach below 1100 and yaw above 1900 with standard MultiWii code. Adjust throws in your transmitter, or change the values of MIN_CHECK and MAX_CHECK in your sketch to settings within the range of your transmitter.

Remain connected to the GUI while tuning as you can see all the parameters in real-time, which really helps in setup.

Thank you everyone, you guys have been very helpful. The reason for the blue light not being stable was the motors were not armed. As I am a beginner, I wasn't even aware that the motors needs to be armed in order to fly

But I still have 1 problem. My values for each channel in the GUI are not below 1100, centered at 1500 and above 1900 hence I trimmed the throttle and the yaw just to arm the motors. I'm not sure if that is right and the Quad is not stable due to that while flying. I also tried to search how to set those values but I couldn't find how to do it exactly in simple steps. Is it something to do with my transmitter or I need to make some changes in the sketch? I couldn't find MIN_CHECK and MAX_CHECK in the sketch btw.

I have set this : #define MINTHROTTLE 1000 // special ESC (simonk)
#define MAXTHROTTLE 1850

The throttle is centered at 1500 normally in multiwii, so the default values are good enough, atleast they are for me.
For eg- I would reduce the "MINTHROTTLE", if Im unable to arm my quad, otherwise would leave it as it is.

There can be many reasons for the quad not being stable, to begin with,
-Have you selected correct configuration of multirotor in your case quad(+ or x)?
-Have you connected the esc's properly to the board?(they are not connected in sequence)
-Have you checked the rotation of motors and mounted appropriate props?
-Have you assigned switch on Tx to select flying modes?(acro/angle/horizon)

Also read more about multiwii @ http://www.multiwii.com/forum lot of info there. Try to update the firmware to multiwii 2.3, download it from here (https://code.google.com/p/multiwii/downloads/list) unzip and write the sketch found in "Multiwii" folder to your FC (select the necessary configuration as you did earlier). After updating connect quad to GUI, recalibrate accelerometer while maintaining level and check various parameters including stick travel etc. Assign a channel for acro/angle/horizon mode and you should be pretty much ready for a test flight.

Added my multiwii configuration settings screenshot for the same quad you bought. Altho values may differ for you.

I did a flight test and had a severe crash All my props are broken. The quality of the props which comes with the kit was very cheap. Also after crashing, some of the nylon screws were also broken. I am planning to replace the nylon screws with the normal metal screws. I guess that's not a problem, right? Also, do you know where I can find 5x3 good quality props?

All props in one crash? Well you should ask Satya @ quadkopters.com or get it from hobbyking because its a scarce product. Props are delicate and they are not crash proof and they will break on impact.If they are bent without any fracture then just straighten it out carefully, its temporary but my quad still flies

Those nylon spacers etc will break on impact, if you have lost the screws, you can go ahead and use metal screws, if possible use a thread locker to lock the screw because they tend to come off due to vibration.IMO changing all the nylon parts to metal ones should be a good idea.

And how did you crash? Bad piloting or bad setup? 

Quote from: quadcptr on February 05, 2014, 02:27:02 AMThe quality of the props which comes with the kit was very cheap

How do you imply that? was your piloting better?

I my self have never broken all the props in one flight. I agree plastic props are easy to break but you would end up breaking couple and bend others but its unlikely to break all

i disagree to this guy
props on quadkopters.com are the best quality i have seen at this price
tmrw u might complain to the  company that sold you a lamborgini coz u crashed it...........

I don't intend to complain about the quality of the propellers or the kit. For the price you pay, this is an excellent kit. The quality of the motors, barebone frame, ESCs and control board is excellent. Not all the props are broken, 2 of them are completely broken and the other 2 are easily chipped on the edge due to the plastic being very thin. I understand being thin and light is good for flying but I meant that they are not good for a beginner like me who'd crash. I hope you understand my point Satya. I am also planning to replace the plastic props with carbon fibre props.

I agree that I am a bad pilot but the problem I am facing here is that my left rear motor is always spinning at a higher speed so it doesn't take off straight I have uploaded my multiwii configuration. Any suggestions?

What I see from your screen shot is you havent assigned a channel/switch for angle mode. Angle mode is the stable mode in multiwii. If you takeoff in angle mode then quad would be stable.Also you are using the default PID values which needs to be tuned according to your setup but thats for later.

Carbon fiber props will shatter on impact, so stick with plastic for now, more over havent seen 5*3 CF props yet.

EDIT: Found 2 blade CF props but no 3 Blades.

 

well what if while learning that props would hit you and if they were carbon fiber props you would end up in hospital
any plastic props will break
as a new pilot you should plastic props only
its very dangerous to fly with carbon fiber props for your first flight

Can a bigger prop be added to this setup. I have bought the same ARF kit but have different set of issues which i am in discussion with Satya. As i came across the same ARF just want to check and be prepared with crashes. Can the motor handle larger prop, may be a 9' one.

9" no way,the props wont fit on motor in the first place. And even if you manage to fit it, then you may come across the Magic White Smoke from motors and escs . I had tried a 6" on 2S and the motors were making a different noise altogether. So dont think motors can take more than 5", maybe a 5*5 prop may work.

The video showing the assembly is more than enough to assemble the quad,a power distribution board was the only thing that is not included in the kit. And if you have tuning problem it can be solved here.

@Sidewinder, I tried to set my PID values same as yours but still not able to get the quad stable every time there is at least one motor spinning very slow. Tried calibrating my acc still no luck

Quote from: SideWinder on February 03, 2014, 09:59:55 PM
There can be many reasons for the quad not being stable, to begin with,
-Have you selected correct configuration of multirotor in your case quad(+ or x)?
-Have you connected the esc's properly to the board?(they are not connected in sequence)
-Have you checked the rotation of motors and mounted appropriate props?
-Have you assigned switch on Tx to select flying modes?(acro/angle/horizon)

I can tell you 10 more reasons for an unstable flight, so until you answer those questions, it will be hard to help you, also attach a video of your unstable flight.
I have a broken prop, otherwise would have showed you how smooth/stable it flies.