Intero Aero UAV RTF flight issue

[AVerm9]

Hi

I had the following issue in the first two flights out of the box -

1) In manual flight mode the drone, without any input from my end, flies off in different directions on its own. I have not updated the firmware and have not performed any calibration.

2) In GPS hold mode, the moment I switch from manual to GPS hold mode it rises up in altitude on its own without any throttle input upto a certain altitude (approx 10ft). Is there a minimum/maximum altitude the GPS hold mode requires?

I saw other posts with similar flight unstability issues, would be great if you could provide a fix and reason for the same.

Thanks

Ambika

[idata]

Hi Ambika_Verma,

Thank you for your interest in the Intel Aero drone.Could you please provide the output of the command get_aero_version.py?Regards,Alexandra

[idata]

Hi Ambika_Verma,

I would recommend you to do a software update on all the components and do a frame reset/calibration as mentioned in the setup documentation. In manual mode, the drone is expected to drift as it is not using the GPS or barometer. https://github.com/intel-aero/meta-intel-aero/wiki/02-Initial-SetupRegards,Alexandra

[AVerm9]

Hi Alexandra,

Thanks. I did the software update and calibration as suggested in the initial setup.

I now have much more controlled and stable flight.

Another question I had was regarding the GPS hold flight mode. When I switch to GPS hold it does maintain its position to a decent amount but the altitude does not seem to be fixed (I end up having to control the altitude manually as the drone drifts a lot even if I leave the throttle at 50%).

Any advice for this issue? Would adding an ultrasound or lidar sensor help in better altitude control?

Thanks

Ambika

[idata]

Hello Ambika,

Thank you for your reply.I found this guide you could use for altitude and position hold using PX4Flow : http://www.instructables.com/id/Intel-Aero-Drone-Altitude-and-Position-Hold-Using-/Adding a lidar sensor would indeed help as well if you don't have a PX4flow sensor or don't want to buy one. You can set up the optical flow using a lidar sensor from here: https://github.com/intel-aero/aero-optical-flowHope this helps.Regards,Octavian

[idata]

Hi Ambika_Verma,

Could you please tell me if there is any GPS shadowing by objects in the environment?Also, how many GPS satellites are you using?Regards,Alexandra

[AVerm9]

Hi Alexandra,

I fly the drone in an open field so I do not expect any gps shadowing to happen.

In qgroudcontrol it shows 10-13 satellites on average.

Thanks

Ambika

[idata]

Hi Ambika,

Could you tell me what is the output of the command get_aero_version.py ? If you use ardupilot do you see the same behavior?Also, please make sure the GPS antenna is in the correct direction, and all the trims on the flight controller are centered.Regards,Alexandra