Arducopter flips on takeoff

[DannyV]

Good evening all,

I know there are tons of these "flipping on takeoff" threads, but none have solved my problem. I've checked motor location, motor rotation, propellar rotation, calibration, fc (ardupilot 2.8) mounting direction, compass direction, ESC calibrated automatically and manually (one at a time), and weight centered. But yet, its nearly off the ground and already tipping sideways! If anyone has any idea of what is going on, please help!! I've seen threads talking about logs, but I'm really new to this so I don't understand anything about downloading logs or how to read them. I also don't know the language used in terminal and how to communicate with the board through the terminal. I have tried, clicked connect and I just get a bunch of gibberish that makes no sense and just continues to run on forever! Thanks in advance guys!

-Dan

 

[Wildwelder]

Is it trimmed peoperly? Props on correctly? I know these are obvious questions but I dont know your experience level.

 

[DannyV]

Is it trimmed peoperly? Props on correctly? I know these are obvious questions but I dont know your experience level.

When you say trimmed, what do you mean? I have my trims on my transmitter set to "0" and tranmistter calibrated. As far as doing an auto trim or auto tune, I haven't been able to get it in the air.

 

[Wildwelder]

Try moving the trim on the right stick. Centered isnt always perfect thats why theyre there. Try adjusting the trim so it wont roll on takeoff.(opposite the way it wants to roll). I hope this helps

 

[DannyV]

Try moving the trim on the right stick. Centered isnt always perfect thats why theyre there. Try adjusting the trim so it wont roll on takeoff.(opposite the way it wants to roll). I hope this helps

Thanks wildwelder, I'll give it a shot! What I've noticed is, when I try to take off, it begins to tip and will flip if I give it more throttle. If I try to correct it by counter acting which way it's tipping, then the next time I try to takeoff, it just tips in that direction instead. It's a never ending battle!! But I will definitely try what you reccomended! Thanks again, will post after trying tomorrow!

 

[DannyV]

Try moving the trim on the right stick. Centered isnt always perfect thats why theyre there. Try adjusting the trim so it wont roll on takeoff.(opposite the way it wants to roll). I hope this helps

so i tried using the transmitter trims and failed miserably! if i trim it to counter act the right tipping motion, it tips to the left and vice versa.....i'm about ready to give up! i've been trying to get this thing to fly for about a month now.....

 

[Wildwelder]

When you plug in the battery, is the quad somewhat lvl? Thats when it records what "lvl" is.

 

[DannyV]

When you plug in the battery, is the quad somewhat lvl? Thats when it records what "lvl" is.

yes, i try to find the most level area for potential takeoff

 

[Jackson]

I also don't know the language used in terminal and how to communicate with the board through the terminal. I have tried, clicked connect and I just get a bunch of gibberish

What PC and OS are you using?

 

[DannyV]

What PC and OS are you using?

I'm running Windows 7....I'm frustrated to the point I'm about to give up with this apm fc. Any advice?

 

[Wildwelder]

What quad/ transmitter is this anyway? Prob shouldve asked that first

 

[DannyV]

What quad/ transmitter is this anyway? Prob shouldve asked that first

hobby kings sk450, apm 2.8, devo 7 tx and rx.

 

[Wildwelder]

Theres been another thread on this quad. http://quadcopterforum.com/threads/sk450-problems-with-copter-and-hobbyking.5922/

Little different setup but has a cpl vids in there

 

[DannyV]

Theres been another thread on this quad. http://quadcopterforum.com/threads/sk450-problems-with-copter-and-hobbyking.5922/

Little different setup but has a cpl vids in there

thank you, i'll check it out. i feel like i've tried everything!!

 

[Jackson]

I'm running Windows 7....I'm frustrated to the point I'm about to give up with this apm fc. Any advice?

Are you saying you've never been able to access the APM software?

 

[DannyV]

Are you saying you've never been able to access the APM software?

I've been able to set up and calibrate everything in the apm. I haven't been able to use cli in the terminal tab. It'll say "initializing apm", "barometer calibration complete" and "ready to fly." But after that it's just a bunch of gibberish. I haven't been able to fly my quad yet because it just flips on takeoff and I can't figure out why. I've tried everything!

 

[kookoocachoo]

I once got loctite in my motors and it made them a bit screwy. You could check for that if you used any. I scraped it all off one but it was still operating funny. I just replaced them.

 

[DannyV]

I once got loctite in my motors and it made them a bit screwy. You could check for that if you used any. I scraped it all off one but it was still operating funny. I just replaced them.

I could open them and see if there's anything inside interfering with their function. But my quad flew fine with my ok 2.1.5 board. I just haven't been able to fly it since I installed the apm 2.8. Thanks for the advice!

 

[DannyV]

Here's a video of what my quad does...bare with me, it's in a basement because it's raining out. I'm also going to attempt to attach a video of what happens when I open the terminal. If anyone can let me know if this looks normal please! I'll also add pictures of how my quad is set up.

 

[RENOV8R]

I have no experience with APM or Ardupilot whatsoever, but it sure looks like your flight controller is just not doing it's job. Have you tried flashing the latest firmware and starting from scratch including all calibrations?