Hey Folks, I just did my maiden flight of my newly restored CS8 and I kept it low and safe for her first maiden voyage. I however got a warning in my ear that has me a little concerned. After a couple minutes of low level hovering I got the voice telling my that I had a max temperature warning. could anyone walk me through the implications of this warning and what the causes might be. I do have a small scheduled flight for tomorrow but I don't want to do this flight if it means possible damage or injury to myself or my newly restored CS8.
Aaargh not this one. I was suppose to have my 2 gb micro sd card today but it didn't come in. I suppose I can just wait till it comes in tomorrow and install and figure out then. But I have this little flight tomorrow and not sure if it's safe but would like to do it if it's safe.
David I'm not 100% sure but I believe that is a warning of a BL temp being triggered. It's at either 100 or 115 celsius. Andy could probably look at the code. I don't know that I have ever seen a listing of all of the alerts.
David, with all due respect, considering recent history, I do not suggest you flying the copter again until you are able to do so with a properly-formatted microSD card in the Navi board. I'd also suggest doing so with the copter firmly tethered to the ground, or to a similarly-stable object (like an anchored picnic bench). Run the motors up and make it fail again, but not in a way that anything can get hurt. Don't go to 100% throttle...just enough throttle so that the copter lifts an inch or so off the table and keeps the ropes or straps taught. I think you'll learn something from that process.
If you read my recent thread, http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/help-what-the-heck-happened-here.848/ , you may think twice about flying. Without the log file, there's no way to tell, but I wouldn't leave the ground again without an SD card inside, and then run through a couple of batteries as a test. First, just hover and make some small altitude changes for 1 battery, then make some nice squares or figure 8s for another battery. Then, if you can do that with both batteries getting down to safety-voltage level without a BL warning, you're probably safe to fly... Without those tests, and with no SD card, you're basically going to Vegas... Best, Ben
The high-temp warning happens at 115*C. I would double check to make sure you don't have a motor that is slightly off from straight up and down to make sure your not inducing extra torque for your copter to try and compensate for. This would cause a motor to work much harder then in needs to be. I also agree... i wouldn't fly until you have that figured out or until you have a SD card that is working. If you need a copter lmk... Im just a few hours away and can shoot for you. Josh
I've spent the better part of the hour looking for the BL max temp in the source code. I don't think it's hardwired in. If you look at http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/BL-Ctrl_2.0 it suggests that you need to start up MK Tool, hold down Control and click on the Settings button to get into the BL-Ctrl setting window where you can set the maximum temperature. That link suggests that the max temp default is 100C. Unfortunately, I'm not set up right now to check this....could someone else try this with MK Tool please? Thanks Andy
To summarize that 18m video... If you have high BL temps, check the CG, Motors, Solder joints, BL, Wiring, everything... B.
Also in the new mktools it lists all bl temps on the right side when you go to the OSD window. This is quite handy if you have an xbee or similiar. Cheers, Jeff
Do any of you know if I can upload gpx files to the forum. Josh has looked over a couple of my gpx files. The ones where I was doing a practice run around my house and doing alot of hovering show some of my motors getting extremely hot. Then I decided to do some limited flights so that the motors wouldn't heat up while I was doing a few quick shots for a client and I didn't' get the audible warnings. Josh says that the temps look better but some of the voltages are differing by as much as 6 - 7 amps. Any ideas. We have already looked at the CG of my cinestar and making sure that all the propellor blades are level with each other. The solder joints all appear to be good, no breaks, cracks or dull solder joints or bridging. Any other ideas would be great. I do have my GPX data if anyone would like to take a stab at it. I still haven't found a good reader yet so I can decipher these files for myself. David
Hi David: Sure you can upload GPX files as long as the filename terminates in ".gpx". Check out these programs (just do a Google search for them): MK_GPXTOOL MK_GPX There may be others. My preference is MK_GPXTOOL. You'll need to invest a little time to learn how to use it (until my second new DVD set is released (or escapes))! Andy.
Sam: The date is really up to Quadrocopter, but I'm guessing March 1st -- but that's really Adam's call not mine. I'm doing everything I can to allow that date. Originally I had planned to have a DVD set covering MK Tool, MK GPX Tool and Google Earth (as it pertains to GPX files). However, the total run time was getting too long, and it was threatening to hold up the MK Tool part, so we decided to split it into two DVD sets: Set 1) MK Tool, and Set 2) GPX files, MK_GPXTOOL and Google Earth. There's just a limit to how much video you can put on two DVDs and we wanted to avoid holding up the MK Tool part. The current run time for the MK Tool two-DVD set is 2 hours 24 minutes. It is a beginner's guide so it also goes into detail about installing virtual COM port drivers etc., testing the MK USB adapter (yeah, I know that's on the build guide, but I couldn't assume that everyone would have purchased that), updating the MK Boards' software, and then it gets into AH, PH, CH, CF, and Failsafes. It does NOT cover waypoint flying, nor the settings for the proportional-integral-derivative controllers (PID). Not sure whether I'll do an Advanced Guide for that as it seems almost like a black art to get those things set right -- apart from which it varies from bird to bird and personal preference. Oh. And the phase of the moon. The MK Tool DVD set is called a "A Rather Good Beginner's Guide™ to MK Tool" just in case you need to know that. Coming to a Quadrocopter Web Site near you.... Thanks for the interest in my work! Andy.
Sign me up. Do you sign copies! I want to be one of the first ones to get your new dads. I hope you will put the ones out for the gpx tool soon as well. OK guys I am posting 2 gpx files. the one labeled temp was during a flight in front of my house doing alot of basic hovering and such. the labeled non temp was doing basic maneuvering shooting some aerial footage the same day. My determination was to fly short flights to avoid overheating, however I didn't get any warnings. Let me know what you guys thinks. I have balanced to my best abilities and leveled all the motors and such. Anyone have any ideas what to do next. let me know.
David, I took a quick look at the GPX files, and the only thing that jumped out at me was that the copter's pulling a lot of current trying to stay airborne. Have you weighed the copter in its airborne configuration (all cameras/batteries installed)? It looks from the GPX file like it's underpowered. It's pulling 70-80 amps just at hover, which seems like too much. This can be because it's too heavy, or because of some motor problems, or even a wiring problem (like using low-grade power leads). But nothing else jumps out at me otherwise. Others will undoubtedly offer a more informed analysis.
Thanks Steve, All my components are standard option which I purchased from Quadrocopter. I am flying a 5d mmii with zoom lens 16 - 35mm.I am flying the 3 axis gimbal with radians. It's pretty standard stuff. Nothing else. I assume thats what many others are flying with no problem