ESC Calibration

#1

Calibrate ESCs (X6B Receiver)

The calibration seems to work – following the calibration video.
However when I disconnect the battery and reconnect the motors do not spin up.
When I redo the calibration the motors spin up. Again when I disconnect the battery and reconnect the motors do not spin up.
I tried moving thr/ail to right/left — maybe an arming issue?
I also leveled the pixhawk thinking the motors might not spin if the controller was not level.
I also tested calibration with one esc/motor with the same result … no spin up when battery reconnected
If I missed a topic on this, let me know. If not, I can use some guidance on next steps to fix this.
Tom Perillo

#2

How are you arming?
Have you tried re-calibrating the IMU?
Have you tried the Mission Planner Motor Test?
Try the Mission Planner esc calibration instead.

#3

Hi jax200
I am somewhat of a newbie with drones so your suggestions are appreciated and will take me a while to research and try.
Thanks

#4

Hi Tom

Can you possibly upload a short video of your attempt, e.g.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8n2esMhBXXSVd2Hq5 ?

Your video would help provide useful info as to what’s going on, e.g. the ‘state’ of the LEDs: https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-leds-pixhawk.html#:~:text=LED%2FBuzzer%20Meanings&text=Flashing%20blue%3A%20Disarmed%2C%20no%20GPS,launch%20modes%20require%20GPS%20lock.&text=Flashing%20green%3A%20Disarmed%20(ready%20to,disarming%20from%20the%20armed%20state

Other than this, have you tried the ESC Calibration using Mission Planner, i.e. attached image?

image
image.png1918×628 273 KB

And what version of Mission Planner are you using?

Kelly

#5

I have noticed in the past that the (Mission Planner) ESC Calibration worked fine, while the non-Mission Planner method failed.

I also noticed when using the (non) Mission Planner method to calibrate, it seemed to fail when I rushed through the process, e.g. pressing the safety switch too early, pulling the remote control throttle, to minimum, too early, etc.

Please let me know how you go.

#6

Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the guidance and suggestions. I hope to have a video by the end of today. Hope you will be able to see what I might be doing wrong.
Thanks,
Tom

#7

Here is the video. ( https://photos.google.com/direct/AF1QipOCT3DcUJ7KDMOlzQGoO2HiaGmXKpxuuenxUPdWMbT05ygnBavZdkM2DNCbt5vWXQ )The calibration seems to work. I am thinking I need to do something with a battery setting so pixhawk will go into an armed state. Or maybe there is something else keeping it from going armed. I did calibrate the accelerometer and mission planner show the pixhawk being level. Also to answer Jax’s questions, I have not set up a switch for disarming at this point. Just wanted to test the electronics first. I did try the motor test and the motors spool up.
Thanks again for any suggestions.
Tom Perillo

#8

Tom, the link does not work for me.
You might have mistaken my comment. There is no disarm setting. To manually arm, you simply pull the throttle stick to the lower right corner. To disarm, move it to the lower left. If this does not work, either you need to conduct a radio calibration, or something is amiss with the radio controller. Of course you could try arming with code.
The positive Motor Test indicates the escs are working correctly.
Let’s see how it goes.

#9

Hi Jax,
Thanks for the details on arming using the Throttle stick. I have tried that and still get a disarmed message in Mission Planner. I think you are on the right track in suggesting that I focus on arming. When you say “arm with a code” I am guessing that means using a python code. Or is there something in Mission Planner that can generate an arm code?

X6B ESC Calibration
#10

If you have taken the Programming Course you would know… You might consider it.
Try recalibrating your radio with MP, and ensure your have the transmitter configured correctly.

#11

Hi Kelly and Jax,
Thanks for your help with my questions. The motors now spin up when advancing the throttle. Not sure what changed. However the controller now disarms spontaneously at different intervals. Until I get some more data, no need for you to invest anymore time with this.
Thanks Again

#12

This might help.

https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/set-motor-range.html

#13

Thanks Jax

closed #14

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