Dualcopter build...

[Derek]

Yes, I think PWM will work. When Dad gets the new servos installed, and he gets everything sorted in regard to the build, I'll go in and try to sort things out in Cleanflight.

[Derek]

Just an update and some troubles, lol. Isn't it funny how that works???

Dad brought his Dualcopter over and we messed with it a bit and we were making some great progress. Cleanflight talks to the Full Naze32. PPM is set up and working. I can see that the DX6i is being recognized because the sticks and switches are moving bars in the Receiver Tab. The Magnetometer seems to be calibrated and working properly. So, that's all good. However, although I can get the board to seemingly arm (green led comes on), the two motors and the two servos aren't working. The motors just sit there and beep, as if they are getting power but no signal. Now, I can take each motor and esc and connect them directly to the receiver and each motor spins. I can take both servos and connect them directly to the receiver and both servos move....but when everything is connected to the Full Naze, the motors and servos aren't working.

Any thoughts on what I'm missing? It's gotta be something simple that I'm overlooking.

[Graham Lawrie]

I am off rock climbing Derek but will be back on later. I had this before. Check that there is enough travel on TX when arming , use trims if necessary, also check Cleanflight reciever trims going from 1500 at mid point and max and min positions so it is going far enough to arm.

[Stambo]

Can you spin the motors from the motors tab?
Is board completely flat when you try to arm?
There is a CLI command that disables arm checks, I cannot remember what it is but if you find and use it, PROPS OFF!!!

[Graham Lawrie]

Look at the 26 minute mark in the video Derek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vOVZPzIMo

[Derek]

Thanks for that, Graham! I did set each channel, as close to 1000 and 2000, as close as this DX6i would let me. On the rudder channel, the low is 990. If I move the settings higher, it jumps to 1014. The middle is set to 1502...I figured that's pretty good. The high is set to 2014. If I make it lower, it jumps to 1992. So, I was guessing that it would be better to have the low end a bit below 1000 and have the high end a bit above 2000. Using my DX8, setting up my quads, I can get those numbers much closer to 1000 and 2000, but I've been messing with this thing for about 4 hours tonight and I still can't get the board to arm.

I did manage to get the motors to stop beeping and I did get the motors to spin up in the Motors Tab.

I'll mess with this more tomorrow. Gotta get up early for work.

[Derek]

I'm wondering about something now. I'm wondering if the troubles are because of the esc's. This dualcopter has a pair of 30amp Plush esc's, from HK. Would there be something in the settings that is acting up because of these esc's? On the other hand, maybe the issues aren't because of these issues because the motors will spin in the Motors tab of Cleanflight.

[Derek]

OK, I think I'm convinced the problem is, in fact, the esc's. In the Config Tab, the esc setting options are ONESHOT125, ONESHOT42, PWM, BRUSHED, and several DSHOT options. When I accidentally selected PWM, the motors stopped beeping (above problem) and the motors did spin in the motors tab but the board still won't arm, therefore the motors won't spin. Also, I don't know if the troubles are because I'm using a PPM setup, not PWM.

I'm gonna try to use the PWM esc setting and set the rx up with PWM. I'm just shooting in the dark now.

[Graham Lawrie]

Did you calibrate ESC,s?

[Graham Lawrie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csCBMF8P3qg

[Graham Lawrie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OKGMhTrqOU&t=453s

[Derek]

Yep, calibrated esc's

[Stambo]

What are the lights doing Derek?

[Derek]

Blue light stays solid. No green light

[Stambo]

Try reverting to stick arming and see if that works.
Have you tried to move the servos from cleanflight?
Obviously this machine will be a little harder than a quad to hold still and level to calibrate the accelerometers.
How are you keeping it level when you try to arm it?
Unlikely to be ESCs if they work from motors tab.

[Derek]

The plan is to use stick arming, so its been that way since the beginning.

Yep...ive tried to move the servos from Cleanflight.

To keep the copter steady and level, ive put together a very basic stand with a bit of plywood and velcro. This stand keeps the copter steady and vertical.

I will try to do a bit of video to share later today that shows my troubles and perhaps each of the Cleanflight tabs.

[Graham Lawrie]

Derek, if the light is staying blue solid and your getting no green, i would re-flash the firmware and start again:)

[Graham Lawrie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSF196OawAg

[Derek]

I did reflash the board, successfully.

THis is odd...in the Motors Tab, there are 6 display bars on the right side. When I connect the battery, bars 5 and 6 gradually drop from 1500 to 0, even though I've not touched anything. I've never seen that before.

I'm also wondering about the ESC/Motor Protocol in the Config Tab. Cleanflight seems to default to ONESHOT125. The esc's on this dualcopter are Turnigy Plush 30amp esc's. I don't believe these are ONESHOT capable. would you guys have a suggestion on what protocol I should set this to or do we need to order some ONESHOT capable esc's?

[Derek]

well, I don't know what I did but now the board will arm and the motors will spin when I raise the throttle stick. I also noticed that when I move the aileron and elevator stick, up down left right, bars 5 and 6 move. So, those have to be the elevator and aileron in a dualcopter setup. I've moved the servo connectors over to 5 and 6 but they still aren't moving.

I'm still plugging away at this....