Typhoon H starts to spin in circles uncommanded

[Cheesenacho]

Hello all,

I'm helping a neighbor with his Typhoon H, older model, and he told me that after flying a short while, the drone starts to spin in circles, uncommanded and eventually is going to contact something.
Sure enough, I was flying it and checking out if it was going to behave normally and it started to do this.

Has anybody seen this, or know what could be causing it?

Thanks,

CN

 

[Pier2162]

Hi, welcome on the forum.
Did you and/or your friend perform compass and accelerometer calibrations before starting to fly?
Did you check in the ST16 hardware monitor if all sticks works properly and returns to their neutral position?
May be the potentiometers needs a cleaning, there are several discussion here about how to do.

 

[Vaklin]

The best way is to obtain a flight log and analyze it. All the rest are just assumptions.

 

[Cheesenacho]

Hello all,

I'm helping a neighbor with his Typhoon H, older model, and he told me that after flying a short while, the drone starts to spin in circles, uncommanded and eventually is going to contact something.
Sure enough, I was flying it and checking out if it was going to behave normally and it started to do this.

Has anybody seen this, or know what could be causing it?

Thanks,

CN

Thank you for responding.
I know that compass was calibrated because I did it but when I selected accelerometers, it didn’t do anything. I took it that they were already cal’d.
Maybe that was an error.

I checked the sticks and they worked fine and returned to their positions. I thought possibly a bad potentiometer provided an uncommanded flight input. This drone is effectively new. Flown twice in 6 years and the second flight ended in damage due to flying in circles uncommanded.

I am still not sure what happened. It took off, hovered fine, followed my flight commands, and then did this weird flying in ever enlarging circles. I had a helluva time getting it down and killing the motors.

Maybe I should try a cal on the accelerometers?

Would it let you take off if they needed cal?

 

[Steve Carr]

It took off, hovered fine, followed my flight commands, and then did this weird flying in ever enlarging circles.

When you say it was flying in circles I thought you meant Yaw. But now I realize you're seeing it doing what is called Toilet Bowl effect. That may very well be from having older firmware installed.
You can check to see if it stops the TB by flying in manual mode (turn off GPS while in the air). Obviously something you would only do if you are experienced in flying in manual mode and there is no wind.
Can you take a pic of the screen with both the ST16 and H turned on? Go to "About" in settings menu. You should see all the firmware versions displayed.

 

[Cheesenacho]

When you say it was flying in circles I thought you meant Yaw. But now I realize you're seeing it doing what is called Toilet Bowl effect. That may very well be from having older firmware installed.
You can check to see if it stops the TB by flying in manual mode (turn off GPS while in the air). Obviously something you would only do if you are experienced in flying in manual mode and there is no wind.
Can you take a pic of the screen with both the ST16 and H turned on? Go to "About" in settings menu. You should see all the firmware versions displayed.

Steve, I'm going to have to get back with you. The camera will not stay on now and I can't get the FW info fully. I just ordered a gimbal base as the slides for the camera appears to be sheared off.

Thanks,

CN

 

[Steve Carr]

I think the firmware versions for the H and the ST16 will still be displayed without the camera attached.

 

[Cheesenacho]

How is this?

 

[Vaklin]

I think the firmware versions for the H and the ST16 will still be displayed without the camera attached.

Only the ST16. The H version can be seen via GUI.

 

[Cheesenacho]

Only the ST16. The H version can be seen via GUI.

Where please? I went into About, and can only see blanks for the FW on the Aircraft.

 

[Steve Carr]

This is the screen you should see if everything is connected. If the H is not connected you should still see the ST16 firmware version.

 

[Steve Carr]

Okay, I missed your photo above. The ST16 has the current firmware. The autopilot should be displayed when it is connected even w/o the camera. Did you tip the H forward until the status light flashed orange?

 

[DoomMeister]

The firmware versions using the ST16 need the camera on and functioning as it is communicated via WiFi.

If you load the Typhoon H GUI software on a Windows 7 or 10 PC and connect the aircraft via USB you can find the AutoPilot firmware version there.

The toilet bowl effect is caused by a mismatch between the compass and GPS modules. This can be caused by a couple different things. The first being a bad compass calibration the second is taking off from a surface that alters the magnetic environment such as concrete with rebar.

You can do the accelerometer calibration indoors on a perfectly flat surface. Do not touch the aircraft until the calibration is complete.

 

[Cheesenacho]

Okay, I missed your photo above. The ST16 has the current firmware. The autopilot should be displayed when it is connected even w/o the camera. Did you tip the H forward until the status light flashed orange?

Yes I did and it found it and bound but something is wrong. I keep getting a wifi not connected…

 

[Cheesenacho]

The firmware versions using the ST16 need the camera on and functioning as it is communicated via WiFi.

If you load the Typhoon H GUI software on a Windows 7 or 10 PC and connect the aircraft via USB you can find the AutoPilot firmware version there.

The toilet bowl effect is caused by a mismatch between the compass and GPS modules. This can be caused by a couple different things. The first being a bad compass calibration the second is taking off from a surface that alters the magnetic environment such as concrete with rebar.

You can do the accelerometer calibration indoors on a perfectly flat surface. Do not touch the aircraft until the calibration is complete.

That helps…this drone has really given me some issues. I’m a Bebop 2 pilot and used to it.

I may try your suggestion above unless I can get the camera to connect somehow. No luck so far… thank you!

 

[Cheesenacho]

Only the ST16. The H version can be seen via GUI.

OK, it took a bit but the drone FW did finally come up in the Typhoon GUI. I'm attaching a snip here. It is v1.35

 

[Steve Carr]

Since the firmware is current that would suggest @DoomMeister is on the right course of action. A discrepancy between the compass and GPS.

 

[phoonflyer]

Hello all,

I'm helping a neighbor with his Typhoon H, older model, and he told me that after flying a short while, the drone starts to spin in circles, uncommanded and eventually is going to contact something.
Sure enough, I was flying it and checking out if it was going to behave normally and it started to do this.

Has anybody seen this, or know what could be causing it?

Thanks,

CN

Seen it!?! lol I only have 2 drones and this is my favorite to look at but not fly. Even though Ive flow it about 100 times. There are a few reasons as stated before as to why this might happen but i cannot emphasize enough what Steve said. Youve got to learn how to fly this bird without gps which means taking it up and switching off the gps (preferably on a windless day) Getting control and landing. If you dont it will toilet bowl again! Ive relocated the compass antenna, my firmware is up to date and mine still does it. Not every flight. but if i fly it multiple times a day in different places it will invariably get wonky. Might be the FC but like i said I dont fly this nearly as much as my other for the aforementioned reason and its size draws alot of attention! Also, your battery may be old and doing some nutty stuff with its voltage. This was my experience when I first bought mine, used about 3 yrs ago. Definitely check that out with the flight logs. Your best bet when it happens (because trust me it will) is altitude and gps off. Finally you mentioned that it hasnt been flown much. Id suggest leaving it out in the open for about 20-30 minutes after it says it has enough sats to fly. My first flight I literally took it out of the bag at a park next to a chainlink fence. It flew fine until i brought it back and well the rest is history Goodluck

 

[Cheesenacho]

Seen it!?! lol I only have 2 drones and this is my favorite to look at but not fly. Even though Ive flow it about 100 times. There are a few reasons as stated before as to why this might happen but i cannot emphasize enough what Steve said. Youve got to learn how to fly this bird without gps which means taking it up and switching off the gps (preferably on a windless day) Getting control and landing. If you dont it will toilet bowl again! Ive relocated the compass antenna, my firmware is up to date and mine still does it. Not every flight. but if i fly it multiple times a day in different places it will invariably get wonky. Might be the FC but like i said I dont fly this nearly as much as my other for the aforementioned reason and its size draws alot of attention! Also, your battery may be old and doing some nutty stuff with its voltage. This was my experience when I first bought mine, used about 3 yrs ago. Definitely check that out with the flight logs. Your best bet when it happens (because trust me it will) is altitude and gps off. Finally you mentioned that it hasnt been flown much. Id suggest leaving it out in the open for about 20-30 minutes after it says it has enough sats to fly. My first flight I literally took it out of the bag at a park next to a chainlink fence. It flew fine until i brought it back and well the rest is history Goodluck

Well, that is eye-opening! I appreciate you explaining this. I mean, it's not my drone, and I'm trying to get it functional for my neighbor, and it's fighting back!

Thanks!

 

[steveoui]

Hello all,

I'm helping a neighbor with his Typhoon H, older model, and he told me that after flying a short while, the drone starts to spin in circles, uncommanded and eventually is going to contact something.
Sure enough, I was flying it and checking out if it was going to behave normally and it started to do this.

Has anybody seen this, or know what could be causing it?

Thanks,

CN

compass and accelerometer calibrations