homeleash cause a config error
« on: June 17, 2022, 01:14:00 pm »
Hi all!
Today I made the first takeoff.
I found very difficult to hold altitude and position using the sticks of the joypad.
For example, throttle in neutral position make lift the quadcopter very fastly.
I need a gps assisted flight control and tried to set the sw position4 on homeleash.
Also flight planner causes a config error (this is the real setting i need to take photos of vegetation).

Can you help me to solve it?

Thank you in advance

I post a screenshot and the settings file.

Re: homeleash cause a config error
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2022, 08:08:07 pm »
A joystick may be better than a joypad because it allows small throttle changes.  I forget whether GCS allows you to use the mouse to move the on-screen joystick, but that sounds a bit difficult to hover with.

I wonder if there is a way to "trim" the throttle joypad so that it is less than half throttle.  Adjust the trim for hover.  This will drift to less power and a descending hover as the battery discharges during flight.

You could experiment with the settings to find which one causes the error, but you don't need GPSAssist added to any GPS flight mode (such as HomeLeash).  That may be the problem.  I suggest VelocityRoam GPS flight mode as it is the mode that allows normal steering.  HomeLeash back stick is always toward home and left stick is always left circle around home (if I recall).

Once you are flying, any altitude stabilized flight mode / thrust mode has center stick to mean "keep this altitude", BUT and a very big BUT, you must manually hover with a reasonable hover throttle setting for several seconds before this, so it can learn what position hover throttle is.  If you trim the throttle down for manual control, you will have to trim it back up to 50% to use altitude stabilized modes.  When flying, a short blip up or down will be at a controlled speed (you set the speed in the settings) not full power if you are using AltitudeVario (thrust mode) or any GPS flight mode (flight mode).

It might be possible to hold the drone down with a string, apply center throttle for a few seconds, then switch to an altitude stabilized mode and release the drone.  It may jump up a ways but I am guessing that it will eventually learn and reduce to hover.  Of course this may not work, so it is up to you if you want to try it.  At least be flying a self leveling mode (or VelocityRoam GPS mode) with a way to cut the motors off (zero throttle cuts motors off by default).  To get it down if it gets too high, you can stop the motors to let it fall, and restart the motors before it hits the ground.  There needs to be a setting to skip this learning period and just use say 30%.

What version of LibrePilot are you using?  16.09?  I think that the task of removing this learning period is simple, so I might be able to make you a custom firmware that uses AltitudeHoldSettings->ThrustLimits->Neutral for this.  So you would take off in Manual thrust (climbs quickly) and quickly switch to some altitude stabilized mode and it would stop climbing and go into hover.

One more point.  You probably want to configure it so that low throttle on the joypad is not zero.  That way when you blip down it doesn't fall and tumble, but comes down level at a controlled rate (for altitude stabilized modes you set this rate in configuration, using a value in meters per second and it never climbs or descends faster than that, with normal stick, the speed is proportional to stick).
« Last Edit: June 17, 2022, 09:53:01 pm by TheOtherCliff »

Re: homeleash cause a config error
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2022, 12:07:58 pm »
Thank you very much for your detailed answer!
I'm using a 16.09+r782-g8c101ad on win 10 laptop. Now i'm working on a Debian 11 computer and can't do any trial.
I will look for a location where drone can move around freely. The gps position move on the map (google satellite is not displayed) more than 20 meters around even if it is steady on the ground. I suppose my gps is a fake M8n.
As soon as possible i will post the results of my trials.


 

Re: homeleash cause a config error
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2022, 07:56:41 pm »
I'm using a 16.09+r782-g8c101ad on win 10 laptop. Now i'm working on a Debian 11 computer and can't do any trial.
+r782 is a recent "next".  If you are up to a bit of configuring, you can get the latest next (r796, maybe higher since we are actively updating next to make it easier to build) to build on Linux.  Ubuntu is the #1 target, so Debian should also work.

Some links leading up to building from source code.  Warning: This may or may not go smoothly.  You may need to find some correct package versions or use the ones supplied in your system update function.
https://librepilot.org
https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LPDOC/pages/2818105/Welcome
https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LPDOC/pages/57671696/Linux+-+Building+and+Packaging

I will look for a location where drone can move around freely. The gps position move on the map (google satellite is not displayed) more than 20 meters around even if it is steady on the ground. I suppose my gps is a fake M8n.
All GPSs do that (drift 20 meters randomly all over) when sitting stationary on the ground.  That is the picture that a PositionHold hover will make when hovering for that time.  That is a good visual image of why you cannot trust GPS to stay exactly in the same place except for short times and why you must give a large safety zone when making waypoint flights that are low enough to hit things (example: trees).

Actually, the picture when sitting stationary on the ground is the inverse of the picture that PositionHold hover will make when hovering for that time.  If the stationary GPS position drifts north, the drone will fly south so that it keeps the same numeric coordinates.