Intel Aero Flight Troubles

[JLy]

Hey Guys new to the forum here

Just got the Aero RTF and have a few questions:

1) Flight in GPS (position) mode. This mode seems highly unstable and I have crashed multiple times while using it. Somehow "manual" mode seems better, although i haven't been able to successfully get the drone to hover.

This is what happens: After I enable the drone, it will start to ramp up the props, and lift off the ground (maybe 4 to 6 inches high). A second or two later it will violently drift one way or another ultimately crashing back into the ground. I have tried to get it to stay in one spot - something doesn't seem right here. I have verified using QGroundControl that the drone has a GPS lock, and I have also re-calibrated all of the sensors.

2) What is the best way to monitor battery voltage? I have already completely drained my batteries twice, simply because I have no way to monitor them!

3) How warm are the motors supposed to get during flight? After about 5 minutes of "flight time" (the drone bouncing up and down off the ground) they were extremely hot to the touch.

4) Lastly, I have tried to connect the drone via USB to monitor it in QGroundControl. For some reason I am only able to connect using WiFi - any suggestions for getting the USB to work? Is there other software that is preferred? I am hoping to use this drone to fly in a precise manner.

[idata]

Hello jonly,

Thank you for your interest in the Intel® Aero Ready to Fly Drone.I'll be needing more time to come up with all the information that you are interested in.As soon as I have relevant information I'll post it here.Thank you for your patience.Have a nice day.Regards,Andres V.

[JLy]

Thank you Andres - I will await your reply

[JLy]

I am attaching a link to one of our demo flights - you can see with no feedback from the controller, the drone is flying out of control on all 3 axis'. This is extremely frustrating as I am anxious to take the drone on a flight but I do not feel confident that it will not crash. In order to keep it stable we have make constant adjustments to the controls.

[idata]

Hello jonly,

I have some information that I think you may find useful. 1. Flight in GPS (position) mode. This mode seems highly unstable and I have crashed multiple times while using it. Somehow "manual" mode seems better, although i haven't been able to successfully get the drone to hover. We had a similar issues, and what we did was that we began to calibrating (https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-Setup# calibration https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-Setup# calibration) the drone with the USB cable method instead. So I would suggest you to try doing the same, instead of calibrating the drone wirelessly. Please make sure that while doing this, the batteries are fully charged. 2. What is the best way to monitor battery voltage? There is no way to monitor the batteries, but they should last around 15 minutes (24 minutes while hovering), depending on the application and workload. 3. How warm are the motors supposed to get during flight? They should not be extremely hot. Please check the battery connections if you suspect that they get extremely hot. Also, stop all operation is this happens. Provide further information if abnormal heating occurs. 4. Lastly, I have tried to connect the drone via USB to monitor it in QGroundControl. Could you please tell me why do you want to use the USB connection instead of the wireless connection? Is this issue present only when trying to connect to QGroundControl? If you have another update or question, don't hesitate to contact us. Have a nice day. Regards,Andres V.

[JLy]

Andres,

1. As I have stated I cannot connect with a USB cable to properly perform the calibration. Please advise.

3. The motors get hot to the point I am unable to touch them after less than 30 seconds of flight. Now I have one motor that completely shut down mid flight, causing the unit to crash into the ground. The motor will not spin and gets very hot and makes a loud beeping noise. I am now unable to fly this product as I fear it will randomly crash into the ground potentially breaking or worse injuring someone.

4. I am trying to connect with USB so that I can perform the necessary calibrations. This issue is present when using QGroundControl.

Overall I am very disappointed with the quality of this product. I believe that all things considered we were shipped a faulty unit - unstable flight, self-crashing, overheating motors, motors shutting off mid flight, unable to connect with USB, the list is endless. I am working for a fortune 500 company and we're looking to scale and buy hundreds of these, so far not a good start.

Please contact me immediately regarding getting a replacement model that is able to fly with assurance. I can send you my order and personal information via a direct message.

[idata]

Hello,

The Flashing section from the Intel Aero Wiki (https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-setup# flashing https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-setup# flashing) provides all the necessary steps to flash the different parts of the drone. This along a proper calibration (https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-setup# calibration https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-setup# calibration) ensures the device will work as expected. Have a nice day. Regards,Andres V.

[HLuo5]

oh my god, I met same situation today, now I am really unconfident to put aero in position mode, have you solved the crashed problem yet?

[idata]

Hi Huibean,

Which software version are you using? You can use aero-get-version.py to print out the information via the Linux terminal. The latest software can be found here: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27399/Intel-Aero-Platform-for-UAVs-Installation-Files?v=tAlso, follow the Initial setup to flash all of the RTF components such as the FPGA, Flight Controller, Bios and OS. Once everything is up to date, follow the Calibration procedure. https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-SetupRegards,Jesus

[HLuo5]

I think that the gps module orientation cause that problem, maybe first crash has changed the gps orientation with 180 degrees and I don't realize that, and the second day I fixed the gps orientation it perform good in position mode with ardupilot firmware, below it's result with aero-get-version.py

huibean@huibean-CherryTrail:~$ sudo aero-get-version.py

BIOS_VERSION = Aero-01.00.13

OS_VERSION = Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS"

AIRMAP_VERSION = unknown

FPGA_VERSION = 0xc2

AeroFC firmware version = unknown

[idata]

Hi Huibean,

The GPS module orientation would cause the behavior you were experiencing. I'm glad you are up and running now. Regards,Jesus