How to pilot a quad in the safest condition in case of fly away ?

[SanKouKai]

How to control a quad in the safest condition in case of fly away ?

Hi, this is my first time on this forum and i'm a newbie in the quadcopter world !

First of all sorry about my English.

So, I just finished (and crashed) my first quadcopter. And even if I tried, before flying, to get the the maximum of information about flying safe (For me and other people), this crash push me to be more worried about safety.

I'm now very afraid about "Flyaway" my drone, more because I don't want to hurt any people than losing the quad.

I Have three question :

1 : Can a flight controller "Freeze" or "Bug" so it won't obey to any signal from the receiver and just continue to send signal to the escs and flyaway until there is no more battery left or hits something or someone.
2 : Can a Receiver "Freeze" or "Bug" so it won't obey to any signal from the transmitter and keep sending signal to the cc3d and flyaway...
3 : Finally can a ESC make turn a motor even if he doesn't receive any signal from the flight controller ...

In case if the flight controller bug or freeze, I imagine a cutoff for the cc3d that I can activate from a switch on my transmitter (I hope it's clear enough), I didn't illustrate the motors :



Also, i'm aware about the fail-safe mode that can be programmed on the receiver or flight controller, I just want to push the examples to the extreme, just to be sure.

Maybe some people would said that i'm a safety freak but after this crash, the only think I want is a Total control of the drone even if it breaks. I prefer that the quad fall right now on the ground when I feel I can't control it, instead of falling on the head of a person, a child or anything else.

I hope I will receive the answer I need to continue in this great hobby.

Thanks.

 

[jaskoller]

I'll try to help a little here. In the event of a flyaway the cause is usually because your receiver has lost your transmitter's signal. So adding a switch from the same transmitter will most likely not work as that switch signal will not be received by the quad. Now, you can get another transmitter and use a wireless buddy box so if you lose signal you can grab the other transmitter, and HOPE that the transmitter still has a signal. This is an extreme solution and I wouldn't really think it's a viable option as you need two transmitters, two receivers and the wireless buddy box module (and you are just guessing/hoping that the other transmitter has a better signal).

The failsafe in your system should do what you need. Now, if your concern is that you are worried that your piloting skills are really the issue and you want a way to stop momentum/action of the quad when you have flown past your threshold of safe piloting skills and are now out of control, I would use the autolevel function in that particular situation. For example, when I was learning "nose in" flying on my tricopter there were a few times that I would get disoriented in flight and panic, to gain immediate control of the tricopter I would just flip my autolevel switch and the copter would right itself, I'd gain my bearings and continue to fly. I hope this makes sense. Not having information on your quad or setup I'm not sure I can help much more than that. I hope this all makes sense.

 

[jaskoller]

I guess I didn't answer your question completely. YES you could put a "power off" switch in your system, but why not just chop the throttle???? Providing you still have signal I would assume it would be much easier to throttle down completely than have to worry about a switch when you are already in panic mode. Just my 2 cents.

 

[razor02097]

Safety starts with the pilot. Equipment can only do so much. Use a receiver with a failsafe mode instead of a switch. The chances of the switch failing and sending your quad to the ground is greater than the chances of a failsafe not working. Set failsafe mode to cut the throttle. Anything else IMO is increasing the chances of the quad crashing into something or someone. You could set a switch to disarm the board which is fine, go ahead and set that failsafe to disarm the board too. You basically want it to fall out of the sky with as little ballistic trajectory as possible. This will minimize the chances of it hitting something. Crude drawing alert...



Location of where you fly is more important than anything. Don't fly over things you can't risk damaging. Keep your equipment in good condition and periodically check it for damage or loose hardware. Make yourself a checklist of things to do before you take off. Invest in good equipment. The radio is one thing that you won't crash. Stick with good brand stuff like Hitec, FrSky, Futaba, etc.

 

[SanKouKai]

I guess I didn't answer your question completely. YES you could put a "power off" switch in your system, but why not just chop the throttle???? Providing you still have signal I would assume it would be much easier to throttle down completely than have to worry about a switch when you are already in panic mode. Just my 2 cents.

Hi Jaskoller,

Thanks for your answer,

The "Power off" switch would be in case if i still have signal between transmitter and the receiver but the CC3D freeze and it doesn'T respond to the signal send by the receiver, and CC3D continue to send signal to the escs (Like a computer would bug and continue to open windows indefinitely and I couldn't do nothing because computer can'T take information from keyboard).

In these case, I could cut the power directly to the cc3d with my transmitter, thats what I wanted to expose.

Also to respond to your other post, the situation I want to describe could happen even to an excellent pilot, The hardware just bug or freeze and the pilot can just watch his drone flyaway.

My equipment :

Frame : F450
Transmitter : Tactic TTX650
Receiver : Tactic TR625
Flight controller : ALI CC3D
ESCs : Simonk 30A
Motors : 980KV
Battery : 5000mah

 

[SanKouKai]

Safety starts with the pilot. Equipment can only do so much. Use a receiver with a failsafe mode instead of a switch. The chances of the switch failing and sending your quad to the ground is greater than the chances of a failsafe not working. Set failsafe mode to cut the throttle. Anything else IMO is increasing the chances of the quad crashing into something or someone. You could set a switch to disarm the board which is fine, go ahead and set that failsafe to disarm the board too. You basically want it to fall out of the sky with as little ballistic trajectory as possible. This will minimize the chances of it hitting something. Crude drawing alert...

View attachment 57773

Location of where you fly is more important than anything. Don't fly over things you can't risk damaging. Keep your equipment in good condition and periodically check it for damage or loose hardware. Make yourself a checklist of things to do before you take off. Invest in good equipment. The radio is one thing that you won't crash. Stick with good brand stuff like Hitec, FrSky, Futaba, etc.

Hi Razor02097,

Thank you for the answer,

This exactly the way i'm going, I have an excellent location and bought a Tactic Receiver TR625 and Transmitter TTX650 that have been recommanded to me by an other RC pilot, with a failsafe mode.

So if I well understood, the switch can be a good idea if i'm not afraid that it fail and the quad crash, no problem for me I can accept that.


But, sorry If I insist, could the receiver bug or freeze and not respond to the transmitter and continue to send info the the flight controller and I can just watch the quad flyaway ?

 

[razor02097]

Hi Razor02097,

Thank you for the answer,

This exactly the way i'm going, I have an excellent location and bought a Tactic Receiver TR625 and Transmitter TTX650 that have been recommanded to me by an other RC pilot, with a failsafe mode.

So if I well understood, the switch can be a good idea if i'm not afraid that it fail and the quad crash, no problem for me I can accept that.


But, sorry If I insist, could the receiver bug or freeze and not respond to the transmitter and continue to send info the the flight controller and I can just watch the quad flyaway ?

I see what you are saying.Most ESCs that lose signal will default to an "idle" state. You could test it by running a motor with prop removed then unplug the servo connector. The motor should shut off.

I actually like that idea of being able to shut down the flight controller manually. The drawing you made would indeed cut power to the flight controller Just make sure the switch you choose will work for your application. Some RC switches need the ground to be connected to the ground of the item you are switching or it won't work. The turnigy switch from hobbyking is like that.

 

[SanKouKai]

I see what you are saying.Most ESCs that lose signal will default to an "idle" state. You could test it by running a motor with prop removed then unplug the servo connector. The motor should shut off.

I actually like that idea of being able to shut down the flight controller manually. The drawing you made would indeed cut power to the flight controller Just make sure the switch you choose will work for your application. Some RC switches need the ground to be connected to the ground of the item you are switching or it won't work. The turnigy switch from hobbyking is like that.

I'm going to do some test with the ESC by unplug it as you said and I'll try to install the switch, do you have an idea of what sort of switch or brand doesn't need to be connected to the ground ?

 

[razor02097]

I'm sure there are many. Here is one on Pololu's website https://www.pololu.com/product/2804

With a SPDT relay you should be able to connect it so powering the relay turns off the flight controller. That way you aren't draining power from the battery with the relay during flight.

 

[Flynn]

I'm not the most experienced gut when it comes to signal loss but from my own personal experience flying, I would not go cheap on the receiver. I'm a Spektrum guy. I've been at a couple of larger events where there was 30-40 people flying. I would experience dropouts when I was using the small orange park receiver, the one with the 2 short antennas. I've never had a problem with the Spektrum receivers. I've flown my ElectroHub for a while now and never had any problems with it. Best of Luck!

 

[SanKouKai]

I'm sure there are many. Here is one on Pololu's website https://www.pololu.com/product/2804

With a SPDT relay you should be able to connect it so powering the relay turns off the flight controller. That way you aren't draining power from the battery with the relay during flight.

Thanks for the link ! I'll try with this one, + it seems that omron (Japanese) is a good brand for relay and electronic in general.

 

[SanKouKai]

I'm not the most experienced gut when it comes to signal loss but from my own personal experience flying, I would not go cheap on the receiver. I'm a Spektrum guy. I've been at a couple of larger events where there was 30-40 people flying. I would experience dropouts when I was using the small orange park receiver, the one with the 2 short antennas. I've never had a problem with the Spektrum receivers. I've flown my ElectroHub for a while now and never had any problems with it. Best of Luck!

I've tactic TTX650 and Receiver TR625 recommanded by a RC pilot. Seems that the technology is reliable.