Quadcopter KK2.1 - Help on solder/connect LED up. see last post

Crowdedlight

Crowdedlight

New Member
Hello All.

I'm a newbie to Quadcopteres and are in the process of building my first.

It all seems good but i'm stumbled into an odd problem.

As the video below will show, then my motors doesn't completely sync with low throttle.
They start out syncing but then after some time with me not touching the sticks 1 or 2 motors just starts spinning up. Then when I raise the throttle not all motors end up at the same speed.


I've calibrated the ESC and according to the sound the calibration went though fine.
It's not the same motor each time and I only experience this at low throttle. Some times it's 2 of the motors other times it's 1. The odd part is that in the beginning it all spins perfectly synced as it should.

Could vibrations cause the sensors to misread and make 1 or 2 motors spin faster?
Have noticed I can feel quite some vibrations on the KK2.1 board. Working on putting some foam under it to eliminate some of the vibrations.

Or could motors/ESC be faulty? Even though they work fine with higher throttle?

Would it help if I flashed ESC with SimonK? (not sure how to do it though)

Is it because I've haven't tuned the PI settings? (A bit lost in those settings atm.)

Could it be the KK2.1 Board? Heard some others with the new board had similar issues.
Will it help to update the KK2.1 board? (Think I know how to do that ;) )

Parts in the build:

Turnigy MultiStar 30 AMP ESC
Turnigy D2830/11 1000kv
KK2.1 FC
HK6S Transmitter / Reciever
Zippy Compact 4000 Battery

I would be very grateful if you could help me or had some ideas of what could be wrong. I've tried to search for an answer but can't find anything useful to my issue.

Best Regards
Crowdedlight
 
W

wickedCircuits

New Member
Hey Crowdedlight,
I'm pretty new to quadcopters as well, about to build my first, but I think you're heading the right way in your diagnostics. I would try flashing the ESCs with the SimonK firmware if you have the atmega flashing tool. This likely isn't the cause of your issues since its random motor/esc combos that are doing it, but I've heard the SimonK firmware is loads more responsive than stock. Second, updating the firmware on the KK board would probably help the most, though, because its the one piece thats connected to all of the motors.
I think tuning would be the next step after flashing firmwares.
Another thing that could contribute is noise in the system. If there is a loose connection, either on your control board or somewhere between the battery and ESCs, this could generate noise in the system, which can cause all sorts of electronic interference.


Hope some of this has helped and best of luck!

-wicked​
 
Crowdedlight

Crowdedlight

New Member
Hey Wicked

Thanks for your suggestions. They have been helpful! :)

I'm going to flash the ESC with SimonK when the flashing tool reaches me. Have been watching some videos and it look like the same "misbehavior" disappears after flashing with SimonK.

I've been wondering if it is better to mount the KK2.1 board with glue and then place it into the foam box it came with and glue that onto the quad. Seems like alot of ppl do it to minimize the vibrations. (It's mounted with nylon screws atm)
Not sure how great it sticks on, but I could imagine that it would hold the card in place under flying. After all it's not that much force appearing in the center of the quad.

There could be some noise. Everything is connected with plugs (no soldering) and every connection is taped. Not sure what else I can do to stop noise. (Not that strong in the electronics yet ;) )
And I also found out that the prop adapters wasn't that great in quality and just ordered some new ones that mounts with screws.
 
Crowdedlight

Crowdedlight

New Member
Thanks for your suggestion. Haven't really decided what way I will mount it yet. How do you use those Rubber dampers to mount the card? Like use them to connect the plate where the FC is placed to the rest of the quad?
Or can you get some small enough to mount them directly into the quad?

EDIT:

Can anyone help me with how to connect LED's up to a quadcopter?
I'm wondering where to solder/connect the led's to the power? Or do they need a battery of their own?

Have been thinking about getting these: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...mp_with_Aluminium_Heatsink_EU_warehouse_.html

But how to connect them up?
 
Last edited:
W

wickedCircuits

New Member
Crowded,
Yeah, you can get those vibration dampers in different sizes, i believe. The ones I linked you are for a 9mm hole.

for the LEDs, they typically need was less power than the battery packs put out, so you would need some sort of voltage regulator. Many ESCs come with a regulator/battery bypass circuit that you can power things off of.
Wherever you are pulling power for your flight board, you can typically get low voltage power there as well.
That particular LED you linked can only handle 2.5 to 3 vDC, so you would either need to hook up a couple in series to use all the available power, or cut the power down to 3vDC​
 
Crowdedlight

Crowdedlight

New Member
Thanks for your answer.

Have been researching some more and ended up with buying 12V LED strips which can run directly off the main battery.

So now i'm just waiting for the parts to get here to try and power it up :D
 
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