Stepper/servo GO TO endstops without microcontroller

April 16, 2025, 4:50 am

≫ Next: How to clean up EKF VELZ and/or CTUN.CRt

≪ Previous: GPS for Yaw testing

$

0

0

Hi,
I’ve built a rover with pixhawk 4 flightcontroller with ardupilot and want to expand its functionality.

Currently would like to make a raising mechanism with a single motor and a hinge.
First in it’s basic form to be able to go max up and max down. Controlled by two relays. Relay 1 - Go max up, Relay 2 Go max down.
Then I’d like it to be able to set specific height. (maybe by controlling how much time the relay is ON?)

If possible I’d like to evade using a microcontroller like arduino or raspberry. Research tells me that it’s possible but would it complicate things more than with a microcontroller?

1) Stepper: My initial plan was to use a stepper motor, TMC2209 driver, threaded rod and nut. The driver has integrated stall detection so hopefully no need for mechanical endstops. It also has an “Integrated Pulse Generator” so this might be of help too to ditch the microcontroller. Unfortunatelly ardupilot does not support controlling stepper motors so they do it with relays and microcontrollers.

2) Servo: Ardupilot supports servos. Do you think I could do the same functionality with a 360 servo?

What would be a proper way to tackle this problem?

Thanks!

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

---

How to clean up EKF VELZ and/or CTUN.CRt

April 16, 2025, 7:34 am

≫ Next: Only One Engine Thrusting in SITL with Dual Engines

≪ Previous: Stepper/servo GO TO endstops without microcontroller

$

0

0

Hi all,

We’ve been doing some tuning on our very large (>400kg) quadrotor platform and looking at enabling AltHold.

Prior to these higher risk tests we want to make sure that the EK3 is accurately understanding the vehicle states (POSZ, VELZ, ACCZ primarily).

Vehicle configuration:

Flight controller
Cubepilot Orange Plus

Firmware
Arducopter v4.5.7

Vehicle
QUAD X

Sensors
Dual GNSS: 1x HERE4 blue, 1x HERE4
1x downward facing Benewake TF03 LIDAR

Other notes
Heading is being derived from moving baseline from the dual GPS
EK3 altitude source is set to GNSS due to very poor barometer data (down to size of platform/airflow/location of FCC)
EK3_RNG_USE_HGT is set so that we can use LIDAR for altitude reference in EK3 to hopefully mitigate GNSS altitude drift.
EK3 primary is using IMU[2] instead of [0] due to higher magnitude vibrations in IMU[0] and [1].

Problem description:
Before moving further with developments in AltHold and Loiter we want to make sure the EK3 is accurately representing what is happening to our vehicle. We’ve messed around a lot with different sensors and configurations to optimise our altitude estimations and we’re onto a good combination now. (The blip at 03:07 is due to us hitting a safety restraint)

We’ve also managed to quite severely filter the accelerometers to reduce the relatively low frequency (due to platform characteristics). The size of the platform means that setting the INS_ACCEL_FILTER down to below 5Hz feels acceptable due to the very slow dynamics.

The problem that we have is that our VELZ (or VD or climb rate or CRt or whatever you want to call it) still looks very noisy and is not reflecting reality as well as we’d like.

The magnitude of the noise isn’t totally unreasonable and early tests in althold have shown it tracking the desired climb rate reasonably well, but it definitely seems to struggle with small changes in the setpoint vertical velocity.

I’m primarily trying to understand if there’s anything we can do to clean this signal up. I understand that the GNSS is being used as the primary VELZ sensor in the EK3, and this also shows some of that noise, but in the ‘fused’ output from the EK3 it seems to have even more noise still.

I’ve tried some tests where I mess around with EK3_ACC_P_NSE, EK3_VELD_NSE, INS_ACCEL_FILTER, all of which didn’t have a significant impact on the output from the EK3.

The vibration levels are high, but by what I’ve read online, they are not of ‘unsafe’ or particularly bad levels.

My questions:

1. Can the GPS VZ be improved? It almost looks like it’s suffering from vibrations. Does anyone know if the HERE4 units use their internal IMUs to generate the VZ output?
2. Are there any parameters that will significantly alter the VZ output from the EK3? So far I haven’t found that any of the noise parameters had much of an impact on the velocity output and I’m wondering if this is normal…
3. Is any of this actually a problem? I may be striving for perfection here in a scenario that is actually workable. We’ve seen a huge improvement in the quality of our data in recent hardware and configuration upgrades and maybe the magnitude of noise in the VZ is actually tolerable or within the expected magnitude.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Here is the log file that all of these images have been pulled from.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Only One Engine Thrusting in SITL with Dual Engines

April 16, 2025, 8:41 am

≫ Next: Questions About Motor Test and Wobbling

≪ Previous: How to clean up EKF VELZ and/or CTUN.CRt

$

0

0

I am mentoring several students who created a FDM for a blended wing with two pusher motors. We have not been successful in getting both motors to provide thrust in SITL, and we want to simulate mixing of thrust vectoring and aerodynamic yaw in SITL. Is there a way to get this working? What do you rocommend?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Questions About Motor Test and Wobbling

April 16, 2025, 10:11 am

≫ Next: Analog OSD isn't centered

≪ Previous: Only One Engine Thrusting in SITL with Dual Engines

$

0

0

I’ve been dealing with some weird wobbling while flying, almost like a circular kind of wobble. It mostly occurs when it is hovering, and I think this might be why. Here’s a video of what happens during a motor test:

For some reason, if you can’t see the video, basically when I click “test all motors” instead of starting all of the motors at the exact same time, it spins them in a very fast sequence going from motors 1,4,2,3. I don’t remember exactly how it is supposed to look, but is this an issue? If so, how do you fix it?

If this isnt the issue, what steps could I take to reduce the wobbling?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Analog OSD isn't centered

April 16, 2025, 12:23 pm

≫ Next: Convenient FC Flight Control for Swarm Drones

≪ Previous: Questions About Motor Test and Wobbling

$

0

0

Hello, is it possible to center the OSD graphic relative to the center of the monitor, so that the crosshair is perfectly centered on the screen?

I am using a Holybro Micro OSD V2.0 board (connected via Telemetry 2 port to the Orange Cube+), RUSH TANK MAX SOLO VTX 2.5W image transmitter and a Skyzone Steadyview X image receiver.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Convenient FC Flight Control for Swarm Drones

April 16, 2025, 1:48 pm

≫ Next: Motor 3 stuttering on quadcopter

≪ Previous: Analog OSD isn't centered

$

0

0

Hi.. I am currently taking up swarm quadcopter technology for my graduation project and want to collect appropiate drones. There are some challenges for drones. They need to communicate both each other and ground control station . I picked pixhawk 6c and some other components for instance there is a video recorder and raspberry pi 4 to image processing, could you all suggest I am open to all kinds of ideas. Should I use telemetry or can i handle the communication with wifi module within the raspberry pi 4 ?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Motor 3 stuttering on quadcopter

April 16, 2025, 8:02 pm

≫ Next: Mission planner not letting me delete waypoint [SOLVED]

≪ Previous: Convenient FC Flight Control for Swarm Drones

$

0

0

I tried 2 flight controllers, 3 motors same problem.

I am using firmware 4.5.7. First flight controller was a SpeedBee F405 mini stack. It was flying ok for a couple of flights. I had an analog VTX and camera onboard. I decided to fly FPV. Could not get the VTX to power on and off. VTX is a HolyBro Atlat micro HV. Cannot change VTX power either. So I flew with the VTX set at 200 mW. Lost video three times leading to a crash each time. Then motor three started to stutter when I arm. Trouble shoot involving testing the speed controller, changed motors. No luck. Motor tests in Mission Planner and QGround Controller had same issue. So I bought more motors and another speed controller.
In the meantime I have a brand new MicoAir 743 AIO. Replaced the flight controller to the MicoAir. Same issue. Pulled the flight controller and installed into another quad with a different set of motors. Same problem with motor 3 (front left).
So I flashed iNAV 8.0.1 on the flight controller. All the motors are working just fine.

So what can I do to solve this issue with Ardupilot? Resources on Ardupilot online is thin. Not a ver popular software so I am at wits end.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Oh I am using 1303 5,000 kV motors and 1303 5,500 kV motors spinning 3" to 4" props. I tried 2 cells and 3 cells. The 1303 5,000 kV setup was flying for a while on 3" prop and 3 cells.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Mission planner not letting me delete waypoint [SOLVED]

April 16, 2025, 8:24 pm

≫ Next: R1M camera lag too much

≪ Previous: Motor 3 stuttering on quadcopter

$

0

0

After import list of waypoint as KML file, i cant manage to delete these red waypoint appears on the screen, right click and the DELETE WP option being white out. Even exit Mission Planner and when i came back it still there. What can i do now?

2 posts - 1 participant

Read full topic

---

R1M camera lag too much

April 16, 2025, 9:52 pm

≫ Next: Pre arm check message

≪ Previous: Mission planner not letting me delete waypoint [SOLVED]

$

0

0

I use R1M camera with latest firmware from October 22, I check latency as follows, I point the camera at the monitor with a stopwatch so that I can see the mk32 display through it, then I take a photo, the difference between the stopwatch on the monitor and on the mk32 is on average 350ms, according to the documentation it should be about 150ms, what could be the problem? Sorry for the errors in the text, I use a translator

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Pre arm check message

April 16, 2025, 10:44 pm

≫ Next: Point gimbal to height

≪ Previous: R1M camera lag too much

$

0

0

I just connected a new build to Mission Planner and I read a Pre-arm check error message:

Check F8_THR_VALLUE.

I believe it is wrong. It should say:
Check FS_THR_VALLUE.

What should F8 refer to? I would,t know.

Maybe I am getting old.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Point gimbal to height

April 17, 2025, 1:15 am

≫ Next: 5KM Laser Rangefinder EO/IR Camera with UHD Thermal Imaging

≪ Previous: Pre arm check message

$

0

0

Hi Guys,

I need to point my gimbal towards a fixed height point while the copter performs a vertical flight.

The gimbal is just a servo mounted on it’s side with a tube attached to the servo wheel. I then configured the servo on channel 12 as “Mount1Pitch”. This has the effect that if I pitch the drone the servo respond, which makes sense as it is in “RC Targeting” mode and is stabilized by the FC.

But what I want is for it not to respond to drone pitch but rather point to a given height. Using MP I switched to “GPS Point” mode and then on the map clicked and selected “Point Camera Here”. When prompted for a height, I picked some large height value much higher than the drone. I expected the servo to move but nothing happens.

Most likely I am completely misunderstanding how this should work, has anybody done something like this before and have some advice for me?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

5KM Laser Rangefinder EO/IR Camera with UHD Thermal Imaging

April 17, 2025, 2:36 am

≫ Next: Is this adaptive notch filter at work?

≪ Previous: Point gimbal to height

$

0

0

The Storm Eye-30IE-HTM50 is Yangda latest 3-axis gimbal camera with a 30x optical zoom camera, a UHD 1280x1024 thermal camera, and a 5 km laser rangefinder.

Its AI Auto-Identification delivers precise detection and stable tracking of vehicles and humans. Developed on FOC (field-oriented control) technology, The Storm Eye-30IE-HTM50 gimbal drone camera ensures crystal-clear video footage in any scenario. It provides invaluable insights for missions like inspection or object monitoring.

High-Performance 3-Axis Gimbal With 360-Degree Rotation

Powered by a sophisticated, high-sensitivity sensor, this high-performance 3-axis drone gimbal offers a control accuracy of ±0.02°. It stabilises video across yaw, pitch, and roll axes for precise target tracking, delivering crystal-clear footage every time.

30x Optical Zoom Capability

This UAV camera offers a clear HD 1920x1080 resolution, with 30x optical and 12x digital zoom.

Ultra-High-Quality Thermal Imager

With a UHD 1280x1024 resolution, 50mm lens, 25Hz frequency, and 8x digital zoom thermal sensor.

Target GPS Coordinate

The cutting-edge location algorithm calculates a target’s distance up to 5000 meters while precisely determining its longitude and latitude.

Auto- Identity: Auto Detection And Tracking

Based on cross-correlation, tracking and object miss-recapturing algorithm, the Storm Eye-30IE-HTM50 30x EO/IR triple sensor zoom camera can realise continuously stable object tracking on daylight and thermal imagers.

Monitor Target Movement Status Via GCS

The pilot can use the LAUNCH GCS to monitor the target’s movement status, such as real-time updated GPS coordinates.

Fast Deploy And Simple Gimbal Control

The 3-axis EO/IR drone gimbal supports YDPORT quick attach and release mechanism.

MAVLINK compatible

The Storm Eye-30IE-HTM50 drone gimbal is compatible with drones powered by PX4 and Ardupilot, making integration relatively convenient.

Size & Weight

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Is this adaptive notch filter at work?

April 17, 2025, 2:41 am

≫ Next: Unable to update signed bootloader

≪ Previous: 5KM Laser Rangefinder EO/IR Camera with UHD Thermal Imaging

$

0

0

I have just rebuilt my SR Merlin after stupid mistake.
The first 20s hover test showed a bad oscillation in the tail boom at about 2Hz . I tried a few more short hover tests when the oscillation suddenly stopped. A few more tests since have not shown the problem.
Is this adaptive notch filter at work or do I heed to look further? All motors and props are balanced as good as I can get them.

Hover test. Rebuilt Mk4.

3 posts - 2 participants

Read full topic

Unable to update signed bootloader

April 17, 2025, 3:49 am

≫ Next: No heartbeat packets received on mission planner

≪ Previous: Is this adaptive notch filter at work?

$

0

0

I have Uploaded Signed Bootloader and firmware.
Hi , I am stuck at bootloader update process. I want to follow your solution given on Cubepilot.org. the difference is my board is CubeOrange Plus STM32h757 and Ardupilot - 4.5.7. I have got St-Link V2 and ESP32S3 DevicekitC-1 also. How can I use this to solve my problem.

I read your solution for bootloader update on Cubepilot.org(How to activate DFU mode on cube orange plus.)
I am sending the link of your solution.
How to activate DFU Mode on Cube Orange+ - #4 by sidbh - Cube Autopilot - Cubepilot
Please guide me for that.

Should I use the deviece marked in red Rectangle to connect Cube orange plus with ESP32s3?

3 posts - 2 participants

Read full topic

No heartbeat packets received on mission planner

April 17, 2025, 4:24 am

≫ Next: Holybro Kakute H7 mini v1.3 FC: CAM signal ignored at hwdef.dat?

≪ Previous: Unable to update signed bootloader

$

0

0

i want to interface STM32H743 dev kit with ardupilot mission planner. After uploading the orange cube bootloader in STM32H743VIT6 i am able to see virtual comport is assigned to my devkit. But whenever i tried to connect it to mission planner it show and error “No heartbeat packets received”.

Can anyone guide me on this it will be great. please find the attached images to get an idea of the problem i am facing.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

---

Holybro Kakute H7 mini v1.3 FC: CAM signal ignored at hwdef.dat?

April 17, 2025, 4:42 am

≫ Next: No 5V Output on GPS1 Port – Holybro Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard + Pixhawk 6X

≪ Previous: No heartbeat packets received on mission planner

$

0

0

Hi.

I have a Hawkeye 4K Thumb camera attached to a Holybro Kakute H7 mini v1.3 FC as this:

The board is documented here, being CAM documented as:
CAM: to camera OSD control

The hwdef.dat of this board is here, which includes this other which describes most of the signals (except CAM) and components:
https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/tree/master/libraries/AP_HAL_ChibiOS/hwdef/KakuteH7Mini/hwdef.dat.

I only want to do a very simple thing (not camera OSD control): have CAM signal normally high, and set it low with a momentary switch at the transmitter (using CH10), to start/stop video recording. If trying this to activate the buzzer (documented above at pin 80):

# buzzer
PC13 BUZZER OUTPUT LOW PULLDOWN GPIO(80)
define HAL_BUZZER_PIN 80

I can turn on the buzzer from the transmitter with a momentary switch assigned to channel 10 through RELAY1 as 80:
RELAY1_DEFAULT, 0
RELAY1_FUNCTION, 1
RELAY1_PIN, 80
RC10_OPTION, 28
SERVO10_FUNCTION, -1
but CAM signal seems ignored, or I cannot find its definition. What can I do to use CAM signal?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

No 5V Output on GPS1 Port – Holybro Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard + Pixhawk 6X

April 17, 2025, 5:59 am

≫ Next: There is a problem with the 40kg drone flying at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour

≪ Previous: Holybro Kakute H7 mini v1.3 FC: CAM signal ignored at hwdef.dat?

$

0

0

Hi all,

I’m using a Pixhawk 6X flight controller mounted on the Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard Bundle Holybro Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard | PX4 Guide (main)

I’ve connected an mRo u-blox GPS to the GPS1 port (10-pin GH connector), but I’m not getting 5V on the VCC pin (measured between pin 1 and GND = 0V). The GPS is not powering up. From the signals pins i am able to read 3.3v.

Things I’ve checked:

• GPS is connected correctly to GPS1 (wiring verified)
• I’m powering the Pixhawk via PM02D power module from a 6S battery
• Signal line shows 3.3V, but VCC is 0V

Do I need to set a specific ArduPilot parameter to enable 5V power to GPS1 on this baseboard? Or is this something controlled in hardware?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

There is a problem with the 40kg drone flying at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour

April 17, 2025, 6:29 am

≫ Next: D800 360 lidar, Raspberry Pi, Mavlink, Missionplanner

≪ Previous: No 5V Output on GPS1 Port – Holybro Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard + Pixhawk 6X

$

0

0

There is a problem with the 40kg drone flying at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour
Today, I attempted to fly a 40kg drone at a speed exceeding 100 kilometers, but encountered serious issues

When the flight speed exceeds 100 kilometers per hour, releasing the brake results in a significant decrease in altitude. The last time there was a posture collapse.
Viewing the data, the motor output is close to the minimum output when a crash occurs.

Uploading: ff205c6cbd23b7624935ace384793d9.png…
Uploading: ff205c6cbd23b7624935ace384793d9.png(1)…
Uploading: 642d8f857b3f2522c7369fb81ab3d74.png…

Uploading: 642d8f857b3f2522c7369fb81ab3d74.png…
Uploading: a38c46af2acf16256118a72c12a5102.png…
Uploading: ff205c6cbd23b7624935ace384793d9.png…

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

D800 360 lidar, Raspberry Pi, Mavlink, Missionplanner

April 17, 2025, 6:41 am

≫ Next: Esc calibration issue with Arducopter 4.5.7

≪ Previous: There is a problem with the 40kg drone flying at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour

$

0

0

Right now I use 3 lunar rangefinders (I2C) connected to my Mateksys H743-SLIM V3 for obstacle avoidance (front left, right).

On mission planner I noticed inconsistent behavior from the rangefinders. Sometimes they show up/sometimes not, slow response time when they showing measurements distance etc.

Because of this, I want to connect a new D800 360 lidar to the already existing raspberry pi on my drone, to have the pi make the calculations for a more solid and consistent lidar output for obstacle avoidance.

I’m not that experienced to attach devices to my Pi on the drone and sending this info to mission planner. Is there anybody who can guide me in the right direction (links, videos, documentation) I’m willing to learn.

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Esc calibration issue with Arducopter 4.5.7

April 17, 2025, 8:59 am

≫ Next: I need to stabilise my gliding bomb yaw and pitch axis using 2 wings

≪ Previous: D800 360 lidar, Raspberry Pi, Mavlink, Missionplanner

$

0

0

Hello all,

I’m using cube orange+ flight controller with Tmotor Air 40 escs and Emax eco 2 1300 kv motor everything newly bought. I have been using tmotor air gear 450 propulsion earlier with cube orange for last 3 years and was calibrating using throttle stick high method but with new system facing issues for esc calibration.

Initially even at 30% throttle motor 4 was spinning at just 10% and others at 26-27%

I have tried calibration in Arducopter 4.5.7 using ESC_calibration value to 1 & 2 but now motor 1 & 4 are now at 10% only in stabilize flight.

Is anyone facing same issues with new firmware?

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic