Home Forums Everything about the Tricopter LR Tricopter LR – First impressions

Viewing 15 posts - 91 through 105 (of 105 total)
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  • #62473
    swissfreek
    Participant

    Servo current is a tricky thing as it depends greatly on the load and movement requested and isn’t constant, but for a servo this size, 2A constant/3A peak will be fine, even with a VTX and the board.

    The only way I’d see a potential issue is if you were running a relatively powerful VTx (like a Unify Pro at 800mW, which draws about 600mA) and an HD/FPV combo camera like the RunCam Split, which also draws ~600mA. But these days most cameras and many common VTxs can take battery voltage.

    #62476
    ineedtubesIT
    Participant

    Ok thanks,I guess I’ll try to use the fc then.
    Hoping not to fry that beatiful fc though 😀

    #62519
    ineedtubesIT
    Participant

    Hello,
    does anybody know how to fix the servo from permanently making noise while I’m not giving any command?
    It centers fine and moves with no problems but if I don’t give input to the yaw it makes noise and gets very hot.
    As far as i know servos do that when there are some obstructions,but this doesn’t seem the case.

    Anything I should try to fix this?

    Thanks!

    #62523
    swissfreek
    Participant

    No, it’s a digital servo. That’s what they do.

    #62524
    ineedtubesIT
    Participant

    The problem is that it got very hot,touching the servo case would almost burn my fingers,how can that be normal?
    Does your servo become that hot aswell?

    #62525
    swissfreek
    Participant

    Sorry, I missed the getting hot part. No that’s not normal. Have you flown it previously? Is it possible there’s a broken tooth that is jamming the works? That did happen to mine after a crash. The broken tooth wasn’t on center so it kind of did the same thing you say yours is doing.

    #62526
    ineedtubesIT
    Participant

    No,I’ve never flown it.

    Just centered and inserted in the motor mount.
    As i said,it moves freely on both sides and reaches the right angle.

    The only odd thing that I observed is that if I go full (yaw) left it returns centered but if I go full right it returns a bit right from the center.
    If I don’t go fully to the right/left it centers perfectly.

    I’m using betaflight,not dRonin. (my Fc is not supported in dRonin)

    I’m running out of ideas..

    Edit:
    I’ve been trying to hover now and the servo isn’t getting hot anymore..now the fight against tail wobble begins,wished they added tailtune to betaflight…

    #62542
    jsphpl
    Participant

    This is my first flying RC model ever and i’m already loving it. Besides a couple of hours of training in the simulator, i have zero experience with aiRC. The Tricopter LR just let me have fun flying it from the very beginning. Ran servo calibration & autotune today under pretty windy conditions and after that, had a surprisingly easy maiden flight. I can’t compare it to other copters or anything, but all i can say is that the handling is really good, even for a bloody novice like me.

    At some point, i got ahead of myself flying too fast & too far, then lost orientation (flying line-of-sight) and, of course, crashed. That was when i realized that the shitty cable ties that come with the kit (which annoyed me during the build because they are so weak) probably saved the servo and tilt mechanism: One cable tie on the tilt mechanism and one on the servo tore entirely, the other one slipped off the servo. So, whether intentional or not: great job there, David! Also, the folding mechanism is great, it likely saved one of the front props. The other prop lost both tips (see image), but the tricopter still maintained its great handling, letting me finish the battery even with the broken prop.

    Also, i especially like the compact form factor when it’s folded up. I didn’t twist the ESC cables, as recommended in the build video, but rather desoldered them from the ESCs once mounted, cutting them as short as possible. This turns out to also prevent the cables from being snipped when folding back the arms. And it looks much tidier.

    Verdict: Can’t wait to get airborne again tomorrow.

    Setup:
    – “Stock” frame, FC, ESCs, motors & props as recommended/shipped by David with the kit
    – No cam/VTX
    – 5Ah S3 battery
    – FrSky R-XSR RX

    Next Steps:
    – Practice line of sight flying
    – Order more spare props (and maybe some more of those great, shitty “safety” cable ties)
    – Build an OpenLager data logger
    – Check out FPV at some point

    #62544
    swissfreek
    Participant

    Glad it’s working out for you. A Tricopter v2.6 was my first multirotor back in 2013 which got me back into RC after a ~10 year hiatus (and I had never really learned to fly back then anyway). They really are sweet machines. And yes, the zip ties are supposed to break. David calls them “mechanical fuses”. There was a time when even the motors were held on with zip ties. You could crash out in the field and all you needed was spare zip ties to put it back together, unless you broke a boom or prop.

    Anyway, good to hear other people still enjoying tricopters, too!

    #62545
    jihlein
    Participant

    “wished they added tailtune to betaflight…”

    This is exactly why I renamed the mode ServoCal. Tailtune does not tune the yaw PID values, it simply calibrates the ADC servo fdbk so the servo angle can be internally calculated. Tried to clear up this misunderstanding. 🙂

    #62552
    swisseagle
    Participant

    I own 1 Tricopter mini ( v1, with the naze board, no feedback servowire), and 1 Tricopter V4 with the F3FC, servo feedback, running Triflight.
    How does the LR version with the kakute FC and dronin compare to the previous tricopter v4?
    Somehow I feel that if I replace the motors, shorten the arms and use a new LiPo I could get a higher endurance Tricopter as well.

    what are your thoughts?

    #62575
    pamera
    Participant

    Hi Guys,

    I’ve updated my tricopter with the latest firmware based on this topic after I did the auto tune and the servo cal. I had two fly wit the it but on the second fly my servo stopped working and the tricopter started to spin. I could land it and i ended with one damaged prop so nothing horrible happened but my servo still not working. It was my first crash and it wasn’t a big crash. Anybody had similar problem?

    #62576
    swissfreek
    Participant

    Your servo stopped working in flight? Or after a crash? If the trickster has one weak point, it is that servo. The gears may be metal and upgraded, but it’s still vulnerable to breaking teeth or bending shafts if forced.

    If it didn’t happen after a crash, but just happened while you were flying, the only other thing that comes to mind for me is that it possibly burned out? Do you notice it getting hot? Is it possible your tail servo PWM is set too high? Does the hinge for the tail move freely (as in, it isn’t tight or binding).

    With the copter powered off, gently try to move the tail by hand. Don’t force it, but see if it feels like it’s mechanically stuck. If that’s the case then most certainly there’s a broken tooth or bent shaft pin in there jamming things. If not, you might still have a broken tooth, just not on center, so you might crack the case open and check the gears.

    #62577
    swissfreek
    Participant

    @swisseagle, I suspect that if you took a V4, cut the booms a little shorter, put on the new motors and 8″ props, it would probably fly *just* about the same. It will still be heavier because it has a more substantial structure and battery tray, but I bet the difference wouldn’t be that bad unless you were really trying to scream around. That said, with the integrated board and wiring down the booms, my guess is that cutting down the size would probably almost be enough of a pain in the ass to not be worth it, at least for me. Then again, if you just replaced the motors and props, without shortening the booms, I bet you’d already be pretty dang close, and that would be fairly easy to do. Personally, I love how compact the LR is, and it’s going to look even better once I shorten the stack a little and slam the top plate down to 30mm instead of 40.

    #62578
    pamera
    Participant

    It stopped working during the flight because i lost yaw control. I use 270hz like in the setup video. The tail rotate freely. I had dozen flight before without any issue. Maybe after the dronin update i tuned poorly and the servo is overheated and burned. :/ I gonna test the servo with a servo tester and if it doesn’t work i gonna replace it.

    Edit:
    Regarding to this post maybe we should use this servo with 250hz instead of 270?

Viewing 15 posts - 91 through 105 (of 105 total)
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