Hi all, I'm a new Movi M5 user, but have been using for about 3 months now. It has been perfectly fine until today. I have two different payloads for the Movi that I have set up recently - one is a heavier camera (about 1.6kg) and one is a lighter payload (about 1.2kg). I have set up the CG and marked their positions on the gimbal cage for easy swapping between the two payloads on the move. This also means that their stiffness settings have to be autotuned separately and noted down. Today after running the heavier load on the Alta 6, I swapped to the lighter one, shifted the tray to the marked balanced position and changed the stiffness values on the Movi Windows app. What I did not do is to go to Systems tab and click Write Settings. I thought by changing the stiffness values in the app, the Movi would remember it after disconnecting. When I powered on the Movi, it went crazy and spinned quite fast in Yaw and Pitch directions. It probably made about two loops in pitch direction. I quickly switched to kill mode and checked the condition. After setting the stiffness values correctly, the Movi still won't function well anymore. The tilt axis oscillates crazily without any sense of control. I have checked all the wiring, did connectivity test - the wires are all still ok. In the app, I find that all the status are good, except that in the Attitude Chart, Roll is drifting steadily, while Pitch and Yaw values are dead at either 180 or -180 or 0. This explains why tilt would oscillate crazily - it has no readings. Funny thing is, when I click Reset Controller, it will reboot and at the initial phase of startup, I can see reasonable values in all Pitch, Roll and Yaw. But once initialisation is complete, Roll drifts (doesn't correspond to actual movement), Pitch and Yaw go dead. Has anyone faced this issue? I stay in Singapore and sending back to Quadrocopter would take too long. I have a project demo by this Friday. Please help! P.S. I have submitted this issue to Freefly support email and am waiting their reply.
Hi Shane. First, what controller are you using? Spektrum? Mimic? Do you still get drifting\oscillation if you turn it off and go into Majestic Mode? Second, are you set to Aerial or Handheld in the app? And which Software\Firmware version are you running? Third, have you tried doing an Auto-tune again? Or just put in your old settings? You said you checked all the connections, which I assume means you took the cover off the back and made sure the connectors are seated. Just in case, here's a document that might help: https://freeflysystems.zendesk.com/...on-my-MōVI-is-limp-but-the-other-motors-work- If you get it sorted, please report back what the solution is. Would love to know what Freefly Support suggests. There are a bunch of Expert settings that could help reduce oscillations, including the Output Filter, Gyro Filter, Hold strengths, etc. I would start from the beginning, perfectly balance the camera by hand, and then Autotune again.
Hi Graham, 1. I'm using TBS Crossfire on SBUS. I have it setup in Airborne mode, so in Majestic (lock mode I suppose), tilt would be uncontrollably oscillating. Roll attempts to be level even if I push it to give disturbance. Yaw also attempts to stick to one direction but not accurate 2. It's in airborne mode as mentioned above. I'm running 4.02, the latest one. 3. Tried autotune and it does not help. With Tilt stiffness as low as 1, it will oscillate uncontrollably. I have already seen that article, which actually encouraged me to open up all motor connections and check. All look intact and connected. Freefly has responded to my request and currently looking into it. I will post back here when it is solved. Is it normal for the Chart angle readings to be that way? Nobody else had the same issue before? I've balanced the camera quite well - it's not perfect but it would stay in most positions I set it to.
Hi Gary, Yes I've tried Default Settings too. It doesn't solve the problem. Basically, in Remote mode, both roll and yaw feel like I'm actually controlling the angular velocity, not the angular position. I think this is because the controller is not receiving the feedback input from the IMU, making it unable to know which position to stop at. Tilt will give erratic oscillations even with stiffness value 1.
When the Tilt Stiffness is set very low, like at 1, it can cause the Movi to act very strange. 0 is off, but 1 applies some tension, but not enough to do much, so it goes wacky. Usually you bring your Stiffness up. Not sure about your exact settings but what if you come up to 60 or 100? One other thought I had: what if you switch it to Handheld instead of Airborne? Usually that affects the Pan, though. What's your Heading Assist set to?
Your video is helpful. I think your Stiffness settings are really low. 0 is off, 1 is next to nothing, and 10 is super low. I use a heavier setup than you on an M15, and I don't do Aerial work, but I would think your values would be much higher. If you set them too high, they'll oscillate and vibrate from too much tension, but what happens if you go up to 50 or 60 across the board, Pan Tilt and Roll?
I just tried setting 45 to all three axis. I don't dare to go higher as it might damage the camera. Roll and Pitch are not oscillating but tilt is really crazy and swinging the camera about. I also changed to handheld mode but it does not make any difference.
I've seen the video.. unless I missed out something. This gimbal has been working perfectly until yesterday. I've gone through the tuning process before, at least when it was normal. Also, I did not disassemble anything nor have I tried inverted mode. Thanks for the help though, Graham!
Copy that. Definitely, don't damage your camera. One thing I noticed: Your Radio is configured to MAP REMOTE TILT to 2. On mine, it's -3 or 3, depending on how you want your joystick to respond, normal or reverse. I have a Spektrum controller on DSM2 radio, though, not SBUS, so maybe that's different. It's possible you have a bad IMU or motor, but these are the basic troubleshooting things I can think of. I assume it's helpful for the Freefly support team to know this stuff, too. Sorry I can't be more helpful. I'll watch your video again and see if anything jumps out.
Tilt is set to Channel 2 because I fly multi-rotors in Mode 2 which has elevator controls on channel 2. So to make it feel like controlling a multi-rotor, pan is mapped to Channel 4 (yaw) and Tilt is set to Channel 2 (pitch). Thanks Graham!
Thanks, that what I figured, after watching your video and radio charts again. Did you hear back from Freefly?
Hi all, A quick update: I sent the MoVI back to Freefly about two weeks ago and they have fixed it under warranty. They also found that the GCU was shorted and caused the issue. Thanks all!