PIDs and stabilization

Ok so took the red quad out for a test flight ......since I changed my quad type from zmr250 to generic it is now flying yay ....but .
The quad is not smooth in flight ...... very jittery ........ I had it in a hover about 3 ft off the floor and noticed it wobbling quite a lot ...not alot of wobble where it's out of control but enough to c it shaking .....I can still control the quad ok but it also likes to drift quite a bit .... ...i punched the throttle and got it to about 12ft and still there is the wobble ...throttle isnt very quick either ......I fly in stabilised so it auto levels as I'm still a noob ....... so is this now a pid setting causing it to act like this ?
 
Sparliff said:
Ok so took the red quad out for a test flight ......since I changed my quad type from zmr250 to generic it is now flying yay ....but .
The quad is not smooth in flight ...... very jittery ........ I had it in a hover about 3 ft off the floor and noticed it wobbling quite a lot ...not alot of wobble where it's out of control but enough to c it shaking .....I can still control the quad ok but it also likes to drift quite a bit .... ...i punched the throttle and got it to about 12ft and still there is the wobble ...throttle isnt very quick either ......I fly in stabilised so it auto levels as I'm still a noob ....... so is this now a pid setting causing it to act like this ?
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I think its pid setting now. This is where the fun comes in. Start with some pid video instruction. Rcreviews is good and so is painless 360. There is some vids out there that demonstrate oscillations like you have. It will help guide you through pid adjustments and maybe make recommendations to raise P or I or decrease etc. but this is basically where experimenting with pids starts. Its where i am now with my zmr 250 clone. Mine is only good in horizon mode which is the same as rate mode or acro mode I think. The first two modes jitter and oscillate all over. I havent corrected it yet and have just been flying horizon and turning up rates so I can do quicker flips and rolls.
 
I'll have a mess around with it tonight after work but I'll try and get the other quad flying b 4 I mess with that..... at least if I can get the second quad in the air I'll b happy but we r making progress finally
 
So the green zmr is flying and the same oscillations r happening that the red zmr has .... I have looked at a couple vids for pids and want to get confirmation on this .

P is to stop oscillations or cause them depending on what the setting .

I is to level the quad quicker or slower depending on setting and also if wind plays a part .

D is to make the quad more solid while performing maneuvers rather than sluggish or sloppy.

Am I right in those theories or am I way off ..... kinda need to know b 4 attempting to adjust .
Also what do I need to adjust in librepilot as there r quite a few settings to mess with
 
Sparliff said:
So the green zmr is flying and the same oscillations r happening that the red zmr has .... I have looked at a couple vids for pids and want to get confirmation on this .

P is to stop oscillations or cause them depending on what the setting .

I is to level the quad quicker or slower depending on setting and also if wind plays a part .

D is to make the quad more solid while performing maneuvers rather than sluggish or sloppy.

Am I right in those theories or am I way off ..... kinda need to know b 4 attempting to adjust .
Also what do I need to adjust in librepilot as there r quite a few settings to mess with
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Not exactly correct, the I is time based, so if the copter is out f level for lets say 400 ms it will apply 300 ms worth of correction, the D is mainly to pickup where P and I have failed, and not always needed for multirotors>

Fast ocilations and difficulty controlling throttle means P is likely too high
too long to level means P is likely too low

Slow oscillations and a hard time hovering in a reasonable area means I is likely too high
drifting that gets worse over time means I is likely too low

D is a little harder to diagnose, if P and/or I are too high, D can help reduce the wobble if you lower it
If D is too high you will have latency (lag, or delay) from the quadcopter reacting to your stick inputs
 
That's why I like the Naze 32 boards so much. The default settings that Timecop built into them are so good that often you don't have to make any adjustments. I know with my 250, I calibrated it, bumped up the RC and yaw rates a bit and that's it. Flys smooth and no oscillation or wobbling, even on punchouts and quick descent
 
I have a naze 32 board but got it as a backup .... if I can't get these quads to fly it going to do my head in ...it's been a month already ..... dronin is the next test so fingers crossed
 
So I tried droning on both quads and there flying .... hovering ok ... but like to drift a lill ..... and seem a lill slow when auto leveling but there flying lol ..... the drift I can sort out with trims that's no problem but what do I need to adjust for increasing the leveling out speed
 
So took the quads out for a proper fly ...had the red 1 in the air for about 5 mins then it just dropped like the power had been cut ... any ideas .....the other day it did the same ...... could it b a glitch with the program set up at the time I did the auto tune ?
Then the green 1 went up .... tried with fpv omg that poop is hard ..... put the goggles on and thought the quad was right in front of me .... nope it was about 80ft in front of me hahah there going to take alot of time to get used to lol .
N e way yesterday when I said that the quads were yawing on its own I thought trim ..... well in today's flight they were yawing both left and right on there own at random times so using the trims didn't help ........ any ideas on the red quad just dropping out of the sky and any ideas on the new yaw issue ?
 
Well I've set up both quads exactly the same way but the red quad dropped from the sky and the green 1 didnt..... someone said look at the deadband setting so I'll try that at somepoint..... and I had only been in flight for about 5 mins if that with a fully charged battery .... I get about 14 mins flight time
 
Sparliff said:
Well I've set up both quads exactly the same way but the red quad dropped from the sky and the green 1 didnt..... someone said look at the deadband setting so I'll try that at somepoint..... and I had only been in flight for about 5 mins if that with a fully charged battery .... I get about 14 mins flight time
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You get 14 min? What battery are you using? I get about 4-6 min with a 3s 1500mah. Sometimes 3.5 if i do high speed laps with flips and rolls and altitude climbs.
 
Sparliff said:
2200 3 cell ...turnigy I think
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I don't know that much about batteries, but I do know that the more aggressive you fly the shorter the battery time. Are you hovering or zipping around? What I mean is, are you flying basically the same way with both quads?

Oh, and I have no idea why you would get such a difference in flight time between the two quads if they are the exact same set up and same weight, other than what I stated about flight aggressiveness. Unless for some reason your motors are not the same efficiency, but I'm totally spit-balling, so we need smarter people to give us some input.
 
What I was saying it that after about 5 mins the red quad would stop all together and drop from the sky ..... the battery still had life in it as I'd then use it on the green quad ..... I just wanted some ideas as to y the quad was dropping out of the sky ..... it's not a battery issue ..... and yeah I zip around when flying .... casual flying as I'm still kinda new at this but I don't just sit there and hover for the whole battery
 
When it drops, see if your fcb is still powered and that you rx is powered. I forgot what fcb and rx you have but mine have lights on them to indicate they are powered and working.
 
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