FT Aura 5 Lite

Laszlo

New member
Litterbug,

Happy Easter and thanks for your reply. The plane is a 40" wingspan, foamboard, high-wing, 2-aileron, profile v-tail of my own design. I used 2 transmitters for the setup and tests - a Spektrum DX5 (no mixes, no dual-rate, no exponential, no subtrims, nothing programmable) and a DX7. With both transmitters the Aura was doing all the mixing for the v-tail. It also was doing the servo reversing, subtrims, etc. There was never any problem with binding the rx to the tx.

I tried doing the no-computer setup, but button accessibility was an issue so I used the Config Tool. I reversed the left aileron to account for the mechanical setup of the servos on the wing and everything was fine there. No matter what combinations of reversals (left, right, neither, both) I used for the ruddervators, at least one surface was always out of whack. The best I could get was the no-gyro mode worked correctly, but the rudder in the 3- and 6-axis mode moved the wrong way. But when I reversed the rudder at the tx, all was well. This was the same whether I used the DX5 or DX7.

So I had what looked to be a completely functioning system - it bound to either tx, the controls all moved in the correct direction in all modes - no gyro, 3-axis, 6-axis and take-off assist, the subtrims were correct for all surfaces and the modes switched correctly according to the correct tx switch. All the settings remained correct even through power cycles. In 3- and 6-axis stabilization mode, when I moved he plane I could hear the servos respond and could see the control surfaces move in the correct direction. In 6-axis, the more I displaced the plane, the more the surfaces moved. In short, everything worked correctly and the plane was ready for its maiden flight. I even did some short taxiing in my basement.

So while I appreciate your kind offer of helping me make sure that everything is correctly hooked up, I'm pretty sure I had that nailed. But thanks anyway.

What I do need help with is what happened next. I was unhappy with that rudder reversal on the tx, so I decided to keep experimenting with the config to see if I could get rid of it. I saved a copy of the acf file so I could get back to where I was in case I broke the config. Then I changed the v-tail type to see if I could get rid of the tx reversal. After a half hour of switching reversals and stuff, it wasn't working, so I decided to just live with the tx rudder reversal for now and re-loaded the saved config file and cycled power. The ruddervators did not move correctly. After another hour of trying to get them to work, I decided to do a factory reset of the Aura and then reload the config file. I followed the instructions in the FT video using the conversion file and then reloaded the config file. Still no joy. So I tried converting again and this time I got the same problem the OP had - the infinite sensor calibration with the flashing blue light. The device is not dead because I can bind it to either tx and I can connect to it with the Config tool. I was able to convert it again, update the firmware to 1.16 and convert it again and bind it again.

What happens now when I power on with the transmitter already on - the rear control surfaces move once, then settle to their neutral positions. The receiver's orange LED comes on indicating that it is bound to the transmitter (if I turn off the transmitter the light goes out). The blue LED blinks 6 times, pauses, blinks 6 times, pauses, repeats the cycle until power is removed.

So that's what I need help fixing. How to get it to finish the sensor calibration so it can continue booting up. It went from ready to maiden to a brick with no hardware changes at all. The only thing that changed was loading a previously working config file, resetting it to factory default and upgrading the firmware, none of which should have bricked it. I've tried powering it on while propping the plane level (according to a spirit level I put on top of the fuselage), I've waited hours for it to complete and nothing makes a difference. So any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Gotcha...... I am going to play with one of my birds/boards to see if I can figure anything out for you. I have two which have been moved between a few planes but have never gotten one "stuck" like that......


Digging.....

Is it possible for you to post your config file so I can load it on my aura board? I can move my servos to the other ports to simulate v/a tail since Both my auras are currently in builds. I have a RMRC Anaconda which is an A-Tail that I could also move one of my boards to....

1681061288000.png
 
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LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
I have been able to get into a weird mode at least once already. After changing the tail type to V-tail and wrote it to the aura, I found that I needed to completely power down the Aura (remove battery and USB) to get it to work correctly in the configurator and for the servos to move. It also did not seem to change the mixes for me....
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
My board seems to have recovered fine after a hard boot and re-reading the config. I had to manually configure the servo mixes on the servo tab as it was showing Custom rather than the L./R. V-tail Type A.

To reverse the rudder output via the mix, You would invert the rudder mix scale for both port S4/S5.

So I guess the thing now is trying to figure out how to unstick your brick. I would do another hard reset and reset to defaults. After the reset/convert, restart the config tool before plugging it back in to make sure that EVERYTHING is starting clean. I have a feeling the configurator and the aura board are getting out of sync in some aspect which is causing things to get wonky.

I have upgraded my Aura 5 from v1.14 to V1.16 with no change in behavior. I am using sbus for my radio protocol rather than auto, not that it should matter.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
After trying to write my original config (saved in v1.14) back to the board, My board is now in a weird state. I am going to reset and manually reconfigure the board.

Nevermind that, I forgot to move my servo connectors back. D'OH! It did go back to normal after a hard power reset (usb/batt), Restarting the configurator, and re-reading the config from the board
 
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LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
First things first, I would reset the config on the board to factory (reset/convert).
After that completes, Unplug the aura and shut down the configurator.
Plug the aura in. All the lights may be doing their dance after first reboot. Wait till that stops.
Start the configurator and try to read the config from the board.


It does seem that resetting the board and/or re-flashing old settings may take one or two boots before it has truly finished the reset process. You may need to do another complete power cycle and restart of the configurator.
 
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Laszlo

New member
Thanks for all your attention. I tried everything you said to try and it made no difference. The Aura is well and truly stuck at the sensor calibration while coming up. I hope that you can't reproduce it because then yours will be trashed, too. Anyway, I've attached a zip file that contains the configuration that was working before everything went to hell and the configuration after the conversion/reset. I don't think they'll reveal anything new, but there they are. Again, thanks for your efforts and have a good weekend.
 

Attachments

  • L'Avion Pompidou.zip
    337.5 KB · Views: 0

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
I was able to write and flash both files to my aura successfully. I tried a few combinations of sequences which sometimes would cause the FC to do a fancy light show for a while, but I think that was if I flashed with my battery unplugged and it couldn't autodetect the RX on first boot. As soon as I plugged my battery in, it would get out of the fancy flashing light sequence and finally go to just a solid teal light. But in every case, my aura came back.

The FTA5 Converted.acf file looks to be configured like a standard airplane with 2 aileron servos, a rudder, and elevator
The L'Avion Pompidou.acf file looks to be configured as V-Tail.

I'm scratching my head at this point.

If you ever do get it out of the hung state, I can probably help get the mixing resolved.

LitterBug
 

Laszlo

New member
Yeah, L'Avion Pompidou is my v-tail design. FTA5 Converted is the configuration that I read back after conversion. It's the factory defaults.

I'm kicking the wall :)
 

Laszlo

New member
I received a reply from Flite Test last night. It seems that they have been having IT problems and are working through a backlog of support issues. So no resolution yet, but it's in the queue to be looked at. No reply whatsoever from Flex Innovations, not even an acknowledgement of the multiple e-mails that I've sent to their support people. More later as everyone gets back to me.
 

Laszlo

New member
The Flite Test support folks told me to mail it in and they are sending me a new one. They will test the blinking blue one to see if they can determine what the problem is and how to fix it. When they update me I will post the results here for anyone else who may have this problem in the future.
 

Laszlo

New member
So I have received the replacement, installed it in the plane, programmed it with the config file and everything is working. Maiden next week. For the moment there is still no word on the cause or a fix.