While practicing FPV flying today the ground jumped up and gave my quadcopter a really big hug

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

While practicing FPV flying today the ground jumped up and gave my quadcopter a really big hug. A really big, HARD hug. It ended up right-side-down with its RX antennae torn off and motors spinning (or at least trying to). By the time I run close enough to it to turn of the motors the damage had been done.... 2 ESCs got hot enough to discolor the thermal paper RTFQ uses for the stickers. One started melting its clear heat-shrink tubing. I think I may be replacing 2 motors also. (sad face)

 

From looking at the video, what would y'all diagnose the problem to be?

[G+_Armando Perez]

:( Can it be repaired?

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

Sadly, crashing is part of flying. :(

[G+_Seth Leedy]

Is there not an easy way to stop them from striking the ground automatically ?

Like a distance measuring sensor that upon sensing anything, because the ground is close, auto pilot to hover and only accept commands other than down. Turn off the auto pilot or sensor to land.

 

Is that feasible ?

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Wayne Hobbins That's exactly what happened. The sound of the spinning blades made it easier to find, though :)

 

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ Indeed it is! I've prepared by ordering extra parts, so my grounding won't be too long :)

 

Seth Leedy I have a barometric pressure sensor on the flight controller that I thought would help regulate altitude, but I haven't figured out how it's affecting flight. I can tell it's doing ~something~, but I don't know how to fly effectively with it on.

 

Armando Perez Yes, indeed it is. If I have to replace everything but the screws, it will be repaired!! :D

[G+_Ben Reese]

Darren Kitchen? is also doing a FPV Quadcopter build and he was just explaining some of the failsafes that might be available. I know very little about the flight controllers or if what he was showing off is compatible with what you've got. Sounds like if communication is lost, you've got 2 acceptable options: kill power and drop out of the sky; or reduce power to drop slowly. A hard drop and breaking an arm or 2 sounds bad, but burning up ESCs and motors sounds even worse.

[G+_Jeff Brand]

If you're using the FlipMWC 1.5 then you would need to enable the BARO setting (ideally controlled by switched channel.) If not enabled by default, it has no effect. If enabled then it will attempt to hold altitude. It worked pretty well on mine.

 

If you've been tinkering with config, maybe you enabled Acro/Horizon mode or put in crazy PID values without knowing it?

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Ben Reese, I'll take a look at what Darren Kitchen is doing. Even if he's working with different flight controllers I should learn something. Thank you.

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Jeff Brand I tried flying with BARO switched on but it didn't react like I was expecting (was hoping it would hold altitude like my Phantom does). I'll keep working with it. Hopefully I can figure out what it's doing. If you know of a site that explains it well, please share.

Also, I'm not touching the PID settings. Won't be going down the rabbit hole for a while :)

[G+_Jeff Brand]

What happened with BARO on? Did that immediately result in the ground hugging? In my one experience with it, there was a slight bobbing in altitude. It also slid sideways from the wind (unlike a Phantom) since it doesn't have a GPS position hold.

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Wayne Hobbins Thanks for that link. I have been tinkering with failsafe settings. I believe failsafe was set to keep the motors spinning at 1200. I'm not sure if that setting kept the motors spinning upon signal loss or if it was due to motors already being armed when the signal was broken.

In any case, I'll be testing that setting using your instructions. Thank you!

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Jeff Brand When I turn on BARO (while in flight – am I right in thinking throttle needs to be >50% before engaging BARO?) I can hear the react swiftly with the slightest throttle input, but the copter doesn't maintain a constant (within 2 meters) altitude when I move forward (as I was hoping). The copter doesn't try to crash when I turn on BARO, it just doesn't react like the Phantom (which is what I expected). Without GPS I don't expect any sort of position hold; I'm just looking for altitude hold with the BARO.

:)

[G+_Mr ROKnBOK]

Wayne Hobbins I've been flying in Angle mode. I'll switch to Horizon and try the Baro again. Also, I didn't realize it automatically switched out of Baro when throttle dips below 50%. That would explain some of what I've been experiencing. 

Thanks for the info. You've been a great help!