Best Procedure for PID tuning

[Joelhaas]

I have a naze 32 on a 250 race style quad.

Basically I want to get the most out of my PID tuning. I fully understand the P-I-D coefficients and what they do, I'm a mechanical engineer by training, but that doesn't give me the hands on to PID tuning procedure.

So how do I start? zero everything, bump up P until i like it and do the same for the rest? or something like that?

There must be a step by step of things to look for and how to optimize...

Can you lend a hand?

 

[AdamV]

These are the 3 best videos i've found on the subject:

I tinkered with cleanflight a bit, but was making very slow progress. Switched to betaflight, and was significantly happier with stock PIDS.

 

[Snarls]

PID tuning is a bit of an art. Everybody has their own preferred method. Regardless of what we tell you and what you read, it will still be trial and error.

Here is my method. first make sure you are tuning in acro mode only. Take the stock PIDs and zero the I gain and reduce the D gain by around half. Then play with the P gain to the best feeling you can. At low P values the copter will feel very loose and hard to calm down. At high P values the copter will oscillate and behave unpredictably. Generally the best P values are a little before the oscillations start. After finding a good P value move on to I gain. Increase I gain until the copter holds it's last input without drift. If you are in a hover it should just stay there pretty well if you let go of the sticks. If you are flying forward the angle of attack should not change at all when you let go of the sticks. I gain will make the copter feel locked in solid. Too much and you'll see low frequency vibrations, possibly like a boat floating on water, as well as some wobble during a fairly quick descent. After tuning I, move on to D gain and increase it only until the copter stops 'bouncing' back after a quick input. At this point you should have a decent tune, but you will probably end up going back to each gain to tweak some more as you fly more.

That is the method I generally use. It is a fairly basic explanation with the most ideal tuning circumstances, but it should get you somewhere. Here are some other resources to help you out.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2439428

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNzqTGEl2xQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Au6sEv6-o

 

[Joelhaas]

Sounds pretty good. I get that it takes tuning after but a procedure helps for sure. Thanks for that. I will try it.

Do you have ball park numbers of what these controls should be at?

U mentioned take D down by 1/2. I was at 23 by default should i drop to 11? My p is around 3.5 and i is like 0.03. By default.

This makes it feel wobbly and sluggish. I want to improve.