I looked through the questions already answered, and I can’t find a solution. I have the drone built and have successfully bound the receiver and transmitter. I even updated the Pixhawk firmware successfully with Mission Planner.
My problem is that I unable to calibrate the ESCs and get the motors to respond. I have removed the UBEC lines in three of the motors as instructed in the video. When I plug in the LIPO battery I hear the beeps from the ESCs, and the lights on the Pixhawk come on; however, the big LED right behind the arrow flashes through a lot of colors and then just keeps flashing yellow twice. According to the Ardupilot website, that means ‘Failing pre-arm checks (system refuses to arm)’. Any suggestions on what I might being doing wrong?
It sounds like the ESCs are calibrated and the pre-arm check is failing because there isn’t a GPS lock. What do you see on the Mission Planner HUD? This is a normal issue when doing this indoors. Moving near a window and away from building obstructions might help. Also look at the MP Messages tab.
I took the drone outside well away from buildings and I still get the two flashing yellow lights. Mission Planner tells me “PreArm: 3D Accel calibration needed”. The transmitter is binded with the drone but no matter what, the motors do not respond to the throttle. The transmitter appears to be working fine when I move the gimbels around according to Mission Planner. I will go ahead and complete the 3d Accel calibration, but any suggestions on why no movement from the motors?
The motors won’t engage until you have completed the pre-arm check and pressed the safety switch off. Sounds like you are on the right track by re-calibrating the vehicle. Also, often magnetic anomalies at home might warrant re-calibration of the compass each time you are flying in the field.
Making progress… Completed the 3D Acceleration calibration. Now when I turn on the power up the drone and the R/C controller, and press the safety switch, the Pixhawk main LED turns as flashing blue for few seconds, then it begins flashing green. However, the motors still do not spin up when I increase throttle on the controller.
That did it. All four motors are now functioning. Only thing I noticed is that even when the throttle is in the lowest position the motors are spinning at a low speed. Is this normal?
Thanks @jax200 - that’s super helpful. I’ve managed to calibrate the GPS and compass now. The ESCs are still not calibrating, and after a single run of not having the yellow flashing light on the Pixhawk, it’s back to flashing yellow each time again - but it still feels like it is a small step in the right direction, so thank you!
Re getting the ESC to calibrate, it feels like it may be linked with a myriad of other oddities my drone is displaying (at least compared to what I’m seeing in the video tutorials), so I’ll create a new thread in case they all related.