I see from your pics , you have labelled some wires as 12V and some as 5V, are these from the PDB?
currently i have connected all the output wires to below of the PDB and i suppose i am getting 5V output per motor.
Just want to make sure that i am not missing anything from the PDB side wiring.
On that drone I was using OPTO ESCs so had no BECs on the arms, which is why I used the 5V from the PDB. The 12V was necessary for my FPV transmitter. That drone is not the Emlid drone, itās a Pixhawk drone, about 80% the same though. Iām hoping the lag on the wifi wonāt be so bad, so I wonāt need FPV equipment, then the 12V wouldnāt be used on the Navio+ drone.
As you have ESCs with BECs (non-OPTO) you have more than enough 5v outputs. Iām not sure though if the PDB output is cleaner, because it appears to have some small SMD ferrite cores on there (I presume the bigger cubes on either side are filters). Maybe somebody who is an expert at electronics could clarify. Hobby King documentation is always limited, even for their popular devices.I donāt think there will be much difference, especially with digital video (Pi Camera).
Anyway you have the option to try both sources as you have a good PDB. Then just remember to disconnect all the ESC power lines so there is only ever one 5v source active.
I was a bit delayed on the Linux wireless networking, a total pain. Iām trying to build a mesh network with multiple drones and the ground station all talking to each other without requiring a master. Once that is out the way (or I give-up on a mesh and use the GCS as an access point/hub) Iāll be completing all the documentation and tests.
Hi Tony,
Writing back after some time now , I finally received all the components and was busy setting up the quad.
I finally managed to setup it up entirerly , and i am able to ARM the ad from APM planner 2.0.
the SBUS to CPPM works fine and the throttle now starts the quad.
but the issue i see is that the qaud only has a lift of left had side and right hand side does not lift
I am not sure what could be the case here, if you got any idea/info as how to debug this please share.
Thanks,
Deepak
Hi,
yes you should calibrate the ESCs, no matter if it is the reason for your problem or not.
If you built a conventional X or + quad, it would be hard to build it so much out of balance that one side would not lift.
I hope you get your problem solved!
Hi,
I verified all of these, but still face the issue, i can see that the quad gets a lift that the back side , but the front side never lifts.
The front side is bit heavier that the back side, but its not that heavy.
Check motor turning directions and motor connection order. ( Yes they are in correct order)
Check your props, are they all mounted with the right side facing up? ( used 3 blade props, they are all facing properly)
Check your ACC calibration in APMplanner, is the horizon level in the main flight screen? If the ACC is not calibrated correctly, it will try to reach what it thinks is level. ( ACC is calibrated properly, i can see in APM Planner animation that on ground level its horizontal.)
Do not move the quad during startup of the software ( Tried this as well)
I had a couple of questions
I am using the stabilize flight mode ,i ARM the quad from the APM Planner , is there a way to ARM the quad using the radio controls, i see that that if we hold the throttle to down and rudder to left for 5 mins it should ARM and the motors should start spinning , is this the same for Navio+ as well?
are there any other methods to debug this issue ?
Thanks,
deepak
Arming is throttle down and rudder right. Disarm is down and left.
Did you calibrate the ESCs?
Check the channel out values for channel 1-4. Are they all increasing when you raise the throttle (props off or quad tied down) and are they more or less the same?
Are all motors turning freely?
Other things I can think of are electrical problems, like a broken cable connection or a cold solder joint.
Finally i got the drone to take offā¦
The issue: I had wrongly mounted 2 of the 3 blade props , which was hard to notice.
Well now the issue is behind me and the drone now hovers , but does not stand still in one place , this might require some more tuning.
Thank you all for all the inputs which helped me make my first drone assemble and take off.
as i work on to stabilize and make it more reliable , i would need more inputs.
Some of the other questions i had:
I am glad it was a minor error.
The quad will not stay in one place in stabilize mode. Stabilize just keeps the quad level, or at the attitude commanded by the TX stick position.
It will always drift with external influences.
You get GPS assisted flight with loiter or poshold mode.
If it always drifts in one direction, there were two methods to tune level flight. I do not know if they are still valid in the latest APMcopter versions, because I did not use them for a while.
The first way to do it, was to hold the arming sequence for 15sec untill the LEDs startet to flash red blue continously. Then you must lift off and fly in one place with as little movement as posibble for 30sec. Land and disarm. The correction values will be saved. During the next flight, hover should be more stable. This is the method I used. For the other method you have to assign a function to CH6 and trim the copter with the TX trim buttons. I can not remember the procedure, I never really used it.
Yes 2 bladed props are more efficient then 3 bladed props. But to get the desired thrust with a limited maximum diameter, like on a miniquad, you have to add blades or blade pitch. Pitch only works to a certain point and you want as little blade pitch as possible on a multirotor.
Some peoplle also prefer 3 bladed props, because they cause a higher frequency vibration compared to two blades. The higher frequency is less prone to cause the jello effect in cmos camera sensors.
Happy flying!
Looks great! Yes an easy mistake to make. Some props can also be shaped so that itās almost impossible to see from the design which way is up. Usually the writing should be on top (if itās only on one side).
I settled with this 3x6045 propeller arrangement after finding out how bad the 2x5030 props were. With 3x6045 you should be hovering around 40% to 50%/āhalf-stickā. With 2x5030 props it would hardly lift off the ground.
As I was nearing the end of my initial bag of props I purchased when I first got my drone, Iāve purchased a few other prop types in the interim. I want to see if there is a better configuration before ordering my next batch. Maybe the 2x6045 gives enough thrust with less amps. Iāve got one of those Turnigy thrust stands to get test results, but also have to make test flights as the most efficient prop is not necessarily the most fun! I didnāt do that test yet because it means screaming motors and props in the house.
Maybe a few more seconds/minute of flight time could be squeezed out. But thereās always a trade off. I think we have something in āracingā mode with these props and that was fine for me so far. That was the goal for me anyway. Itās probably the smallest and fastest you can get with a full APM (next gen) flight controller (and even Pixhawk is similarly sized).
One outstanding improvement I wanted to make to this design is the addition of vibration isolation for the GPS mount, but itās hard to find an M3 vibration stand-off (female to male M3 with about 1cm rubber block in the middle). As I never had issues with the GPS Iāve left it near the bottom of my to-do list.
Regarding hovering, some of the things which affect it are:
GPS signal quality and interference. I canāt see the GPS on your photo, presume it was removed for convenience. Then ensure the GPS is rock solid when mounted, because if it falls out of position the drone will get confused and drop out the sky like a dead fly.
Auto-tune. Set one of the swtiches to enable auto-tune mode and follow instructions (including videos) on the APM web site how to do that.
Test GPS hold/loiter with above. If you still have problems upload the telemetry logs to DIY Drones forum and somebody will usually analyze it for you.
What you should expect is drifting of a meter or so horizontally (normal GPS accuracy) and less vertically (normal barometer accuracy). You can get a perfect vertical hold with the addition of a sonar sensor (my next project) and horizontal with either optical flow or RTK GPS correction (something Emlid/Navio are leading with and is documented on this site).
However adding a load more tech/boxes/cables/weight into the drone is going over the top for an FPV racer. Itās touching on requirements for a larger educational/photographic (less exciting) drone. Itās all a balance of size/weight/complexity which decides what style of vehicle you will have to play with.
One more tip from looking your photo; you could cable-tie back the two RC receiver antennas to the sides of the lower frame (at the back). They fit nicely between the stand-offs and there are plenty of holes in the frame to tie through.
I also tested with the full 3D printed X receiver stand and although it was light, I decided it was too big for my liking. So if you do get a 3D printed mount for it, I suggest just printing the one which holds the two PCB antennas in a V-shape. I had no signal problems with them cable-tied to the sides, so itās probably not necessary at all. Just donāt cable tie them to the arms of course, as that introduces vibration and increases the chance of damage from a crash.
Have fun with that! Iām working on some Windows 10 IoT software for the Navio and itās looking good. Thatās why I was absent for a while 
HI Tony,
My first flight experience!!!
I tried my first flight outside in ALT Hold mode and the quad was performing Ok as i was seeing a bit of drift and tried to control the quad , i am very new to the radio controls , i happen to push the quad in to a dry tree with branches, i quickly brought the quad down and did a quick inspection , all looked fine.
so i then tried to fly the quad again in ALT hold mode , i was able to fly the quad and navigate it in all directions , but then suddenly when the quad was at around 6 to 8 ft height (altitude) , i heard some snap and the quad fell down to ground with the battery side down.
well i was expecting some thing to go wrong as this was my first flightā¦ ā¦
Quickly disconnected the battery and checked the battery it looks alright.
came home and did by fist post mortem of the quad
1 blade of 2 of props snapped (broke) , this is probably the snap i heard , this was because in the earlier flight the quad was in the tree branches and it had actually cracked the blades of the prop, hence when i was doing this flight , the props could not hold the stress any more and snapped(broke) and my quad fell down to ground. ( need to order more props!!)
The fall impact cracked the power distribution board components and wire solders came out loose. ( need to order for a new power distribution board!!)
Rest of the stiff survived.
well for such a height fall i would say this was a decent damage
Now it looks like i need to redo almost 60% of my quad assembling again.
Thats the fun and learning part, enjoying it.
Overall well done, shame about the crash. Last time I crashed hard the red spacers bent, but the frame was still intact (itās really strong). Iāve ordered a load of those now.
Iām wondering about the PDB, why it would crack as it should be in a protective cage. Only difference I noticed to mine is you soldered the two big battery connectors +/- on top not below. The reason I put mine below was because there was too much pressure between the PCB and edge of the frame when on top. But thatās just a guess. Also make sure you still put the little black cover on top of the frame and screw the PDB down, else the battery would bash down onto it.
Whilst ordering bits you might want to try getting an FPV260 top and keeping the FPV250LH lower (hung) part. It fits fine, gives more flight stability and smoother descent. I noticed HK just got new stock in too.
I bin my props as soon as any white stress points appear. Usually after any kind of crash. Props are cheap (at least from Gemfan). There are new āunbreakableā (well almost) props but they donāt come in 3 blade (so far as I know), have much less efficiency and are more expensive. So all in all itās still just better to buy a big bag of cheap prop 
Have fun with that anyway! I canāt wait until this load of work I have to do at the moment is over and I can get back out flying. Will share lots of info soonā¦
