Solved Tiny Whoop Kit Issue

[brewsparks]

Hi all. I have been flying fixed wing planes for several years, but I am brand new to quads. I bought one of the tiny whoop kits a few days back and I am having a lot of trouble getting it flying. The problem I am having is when I try to take off, the quad starts spinning to the left. If i give it a little right rudder to correct the spin, it flips over. I have tried setting it to Angle mode, but as soon as I arm the drone, the motors spin up and it starts flipping around. I have double checked all of the motor connections and the props to make sure they match the assembly instructions. I have also used Betaflight Configurator to flash the controller with the hex file and loaded the dump file from the product page(i figured out I need to type save from the CLI after the dump file load). I am using the Radiomaster TX16S that I use with my fixed wing models, and I believe I have all of the channels mapped correctly. Happy to post screen shots of anything to help trouble shoot.

Thank You.

 

[Foamforce]

Hi all. I have been flying fixed wing planes for several years, but I am brand new to quads. I bought one of the tiny whoop kits a few days back and I am having a lot of trouble getting it flying. The problem I am having is when I try to take off, the quad starts spinning to the left. If i give it a little right rudder to correct the spin, it flips over. I have tried setting it to Angle mode, but as soon as I arm the drone, the motors spin up and it starts flipping around. I have double checked all of the motor connections and the props to make sure they match the assembly instructions. I have also used Betaflight Configurator to flash the controller with the hex file and loaded the dump file from the product page(i figured out I need to type save from the CLI after the dump file load). I am using the Radiomaster TX16S that I use with my fixed wing models, and I believe I have all of the channels mapped correctly. Happy to post screen shots of anything to help trouble shoot.

Thank You.

Motors could be in the wrong position, spinning the wrong direction or props are on backwards. Could also be the board is installed upside down, or the orientation of the board is set wrong in Betaflight.

Go into Betaflight motors tab. Override the warning and then use the sliders on the bottom to individually spin up each motor. Make sure their direction matches the direction shown on the configuration tab. Make sure each motor is moving air downward.

If that checks or, go to the tab where it shows your drone movement. Make sure when your tilt it left, that it tilts left on the screen. Same with pitch and yaw.

 

[brewsparks]

Motors could be in the wrong position, spinning the wrong direction or props are on backwards. Could also be the board is installed upside down, or the orientation of the board is set wrong in Betaflight.

Go into Betaflight motors tab. Override the warning and then use the sliders on the bottom to individually spin up each motor. Make sure their direction matches the direction shown on the configuration tab. Make sure each motor is moving air downward.

If that checks or, go to the tab where it shows your drone movement. Make sure when your tilt it left, that it tilts left on the screen. Same with pitch and yaw.

I have double checked the motor positions and verified they are spinning the correct direction using the Motors tab. I also verified that the RC controls were mapped correctly using the preview on the Receiver tab. I did notice that when I plugged the battery in to test the motors, the model on the Setup tab no longer updated. It looks like it is no longer getting updates from the gyro and accelerometer. This happens if I plug the battery in while it is connected to USB and if I plug the battery in first, then connect the USB.

 

[Bricks]

Do you have Gyro turned on in BetaFlight and do you have your fight modes setup?

 

[LitterBug]

Board rotation may be set incorrectly. That can cause all sorts of fun. make sure when you move the quad that it follows exacly your movements on the display.

 

[brewsparks]

Do you have Gyro turned on in BetaFlight and do you have your fight modes setup?

Yes, both the gyro and accelerometer are on.

I only setup angle mode. When I activate angle mode it starts flipping around as soon as I arm the motors.

 

[brewsparks]

Board rotation may be set incorrectly. That can cause all sorts of fun. make sure when you move the quad that it follows exacly your movements on the display.

This is the strange thing. When the drone is only powered by USB, the orientation on the setup tab is correct. The display follows the quads movements correctly. If I plug in the battery while on usb, the display model no longer moves, or it very laggy.

I tried turning on the artificial horizon line in the OSD, it does the same thing. Either frozen or super laggy.

 

[Bricks]

Using the correct battery voltage for the board? Check over all solder joints for a bridging some place or cold solder joint. Is this an AIO board or a stack?

 

[brewsparks]

Using the correct battery voltage for the board? Check over all solder joints for a bridging some place or cold solder joint. Is this an AIO board or a stack?

It is an all in one board. The crazybee F4 Lite. I am using the 1s battery that came in the kit.

 

[Foamforce]

You’re plugging a 1s battery into it right and it’s fully charged?

Could you post close up pictures of both sides of the flight controller? Maybe we can spot something.

The symptoms you describe really sound like motors or props reversed, but I don’t know what to make of the issue with plugging it in at the same time as USB. I have a Mobula 6, which uses the same board, and it works as expected.

 

[luvmy40]

It has been a while since I set my Guardian Gremlin up, but I ran into some new to me issues as it was my first quad build. I can't remember exactly what the setting is labeled, but it is basically a min/max threshold on the input/output of the channels. I had them set too close and things did not work as expected. Someone here who really knows Betaflight, hopefully knows the setting I am referencing and can clarify my foggy memory.

 

[DaveM]

Hi all. I have been flying fixed wing planes for several years, but I am brand new to quads. I bought one of the tiny whoop kits a few days back and I am having a lot of trouble getting it flying. The problem I am having is when I try to take off, the quad starts spinning to the left. If i give it a little right rudder to correct the spin, it flips over. I have tried setting it to Angle mode, but as soon as I arm the drone, the motors spin up and it starts flipping around. I have double checked all of the motor connections and the props to make sure they match the assembly instructions. I have also used Betaflight Configurator to flash the controller with the hex file and loaded the dump file from the product page(i figured out I need to type save from the CLI after the dump file load). I am using the Radiomaster TX16S that I use with my fixed wing models, and I believe I have all of the channels mapped correctly. Happy to post screen shots of anything to help trouble shoot.

Thank You.

Do all of the motors spin freely? No hair or thread jamming the motor?

When you initially plug into BetaFlight, on the first screen, when you move the Whoop, first in pitch, then roll and yaw, does the image on the screen match the movements in real life?

Next, in the Modes tab, look for turn over on crack (Turtle Mode). Make sure this is off when you try to fly.

Next, are you flying normal or reversed? Look at the Motors tab and see which of these is checked. Then, ensure the props are in the correct orientation for the rotation. You said you used this wizard to check motor order and motor direction. For this to work, the props have to be on the correct motor for Normal or Reversed, the motor order has to be correct and each motor direction has to be correct.

I’m bummed you flashed Betaflight. The tune that Jesse created for the Tiny Whoops is superb. You said you backed up the file? If you restore a dump, remember it overwrites EVERYTHING.

 

[brewsparks]

Do all of the motors spin freely? No hair or thread jamming the motor?

When you initially plug into BetaFlight, on the first screen, when you move the Whoop, first in pitch, then roll and yaw, does the image on the screen match the movements in real life?

Next, in the Modes tab, look for turn over on crack (Turtle Mode). Make sure this is off when you try to fly.

Next, are you flying normal or reversed? Look at the Motors tab and see which of these is checked. Then, ensure the props are in the correct orientation for the rotation. You said you used this wizard to check motor order and motor direction. For this to work, the props have to be on the correct motor for Normal or Reversed, the motor order has to be correct and each motor direction has to be correct.

I’m bummed you flashed Betaflight. The tune that Jesse created for the Tiny Whoops is superb. You said you backed up the file? If you restore a dump, remember it overwrites EVERYTHING.

Sorry for the delay, I was traveling for work. Yes, I have verified that the motors all spin freely and in the correct direction. When I plug the board in and only power it via USB (no flight battery connected) the roll pitch and yaw all appear to match the movement of the drone. If I plug the battery in first, then connect USB, the model on the front page does not move, or its movement is jerky.

 

[brewsparks]

I was able to do some more trouble shooting today. I made a couple of screen captures from betaflight configurator showing the output from the sensors. The first video is the out of the sensors when the battery is connected first. The second video is when the USB cable is connected first. You can see when you connect the battery first, the gyro no longer outputs any data, and the accelerometer data is all over the place. Has anyone seen the behavior before?

When the battery is connected first:

When USB is connected first:

 

[DaveM]

I was able to do some more trouble shooting today. I made a couple of screen captures from betaflight configurator showing the output from the sensors. The first video is the out of the sensors when the battery is connected first. The second video is when the USB cable is connected first. You can see when you connect the battery first, the gyro no longer outputs any data, and the accelerometer data is all over the place. Has anyone seen the behavior before?

When the battery is connected first:

When USB is connected first:

This is odd. Either a motor is shorting or you have a motor plugged in backwards. Is this a Tiny Whoop purchased from Flite Test? If it was purchased from
Flite Test, please open a Customer Support ticket and ask for this issue to be forwarded to me, Dave Messina.

This is odd. These are really nice micro’s. And, the tune Jesse Perkins has on these Whoops make them very easy to fly.

Dave

 

[brewsparks]

This is odd. Either a motor is shorting or you have a motor plugged in backwards. Is this a Tiny Whoop purchased from Flite Test? If it was purchased from
Flite Test, please open a Customer Support ticket and ask for this issue to be forwarded to me, Dave Messina.

This is odd. These are really nice micro’s. And, the tune Jesse Perkins has on these Whoops make them very easy to fly.

Dave

Hi Dave,
Yes, it is a Flite Test tiny whoop kit. I opened a ticket back on the 23rd and have been working with Eddie to resolve the issue. The motor connectors look like they are keyed, so I don't think I have any of them connected backwards. I am able to spin each of the motors using the "Motors" tab in betaflight.

 

[DaveM]

Dave,

Hi Dave,
Yes, it is a Flite Test tiny whoop kit. I opened a ticket back on the 23rd and have been working with Eddie to resolve the issue. The motor connectors look like they are keyed, so I don't think I have any of them connected backwards. I am able to spin each of the motors using the "Motors" tab in betaflight.

Looking back over your posts. Can you calibrate the accelerometer in BetaFlight? You mentioned you think the gyro or acceleratormeter are not functioning. If that's the case, we will want you to return the Whoop for a replacement. What makes you say you feel these are not functioning?

Are you using the same data cable when you connect to BetaFlight? You probably know that if you use a charging cable, the Whoop will not connect.

Here are some additional ideas:

In the Motors tab. Is "Reversed" checked or unchecked? This will dictate which way the props should spin. In or out. The diagram will update to match the requirement. Then you need to change the motor resource and motor direction in the wizard.


Would you please go into BetaFlight and look through modes you have set and see if you have set Turtle mode? It's called something like flip on crash. If it is on, look at what switch is activating it and turn it off. Of course you can see which switch controls which AUX on the Receiver tab. My apologies if I'm being too basic in my suggestions.

I really want to get this resolved for you. The Tiny Whoop flies very nicely. Jesse has done a great job of selecting components and the tune is ideal. Unlike a lot of micro drones, you won't be ping ponging between the ceiling and floor.

 

[Liam B]

I had the same issue as you waaaaay back in the day when the whoops were just coming out. I ended up being a motor issue actually. Swapped all my motors and the issue went away!

 

[brewsparks]

I had the same issue as you waaaaay back in the day when the whoops were just coming out. I ended up being a motor issue actually. Swapped all my motors and the issue went away!

This board exhibits the same behavior ( bad gyro and accellerometer data) even when the motors are disconnected.

 

[brewsparks]

Dave,

Looking back over your posts. Can you calibrate the accelerometer in BetaFlight? You mentioned you think the gyro or acceleratormeter are not functioning. If that's the case, we will want you to return the Whoop for a replacement. What makes you say you feel these are not functioning?

Are you using the same data cable when you connect to BetaFlight? You probably know that if you use a charging cable, the Whoop will not connect.

Here are some additional ideas:

In the Motors tab. Is "Reversed" checked or unchecked? This will dictate which way the props should spin. In or out. The diagram will update to match the requirement. Then you need to change the motor resource and motor direction in the wizard.


Would you please go into BetaFlight and look through modes you have set and see if you have set Turtle mode? It's called something like flip on crash. If it is on, look at what switch is activating it and turn it off. Of course you can see which switch controls which AUX on the Receiver tab. My apologies if I'm being too basic in my suggestions.

I really want to get this resolved for you. The Tiny Whoop flies very nicely. Jesse has done a great job of selecting components and the tune is ideal. Unlike a lot of micro drones, you won't be ping ponging between the ceiling and floor.

Hi Dave,
Sorry I took a while to get back to you. Your suggestions aren't too basic, I am new at this so checking one more time doesn't hurt. I am using the dump file posted on the tiny whoop kit product page, and the settings match what you describe here. I suspect there is an issue with the power supply on the board. The gyro and accellerometer seem to function correctly when the board is only powered by USB. It is only when I connect the battery that the issues come up. The order in which things are connected is a factor. If I plug the USB cable in first, then connect the battery, I am able to run the motors using both the RC controller and the BetaFlight GUI. It is when I connect the battery first that the issues pop up.

That said, I received the replacement controller board today. I installed it and hooked everything back up, and it flies nicely! Thanks for your help and patience.