HoverGame drone does not work in manual mode

[ArianRF]

Hello,

I have assembled the hovergame drone per the NXP online hovergame instructions.

Everything looks correct and I can see the communication between the QGroundControl, the FMU and RC unit. However, the drones does not respond to the RC when in manual mode. I do see the icons of RC moves in the QGC when I move them but the drone does not respond.

Also, the RC RSSI icon in  QGC does not show any value and cliams not connection.

Any idea?  

Regards,

Nader

[Andrew_M]

So silly question first.  Did you arm the drone and are the motors spinning at all?

[ArianRF]

Hello Andrew.

Yes, I did and the motors spin in "altitude" and "mission" and "hold" flight mode upon "arming". However, in the "manual" flight mode, I get the following message:

Also, the in the window of QGC, I see the "RC receiver" has error and no "RC RSSI data":

However, The RC kill switch (SWD4 linked to Channel does work and when I activate it, the motors all stop spinning. In "mission" and "Altitude" flight mode also, the RC joysticks do some work on speed on the motors but just  does not look right. I hope this information helps.

Regards,

Nader

[ArianRF]

Hi @Andrew_M 

Any idea what the problem could be? Please let me know if you need more information.

Also, does it matter if I use QGC from Windows or do I need to run it from Linux?

Cheers,

Nader

[Andrew_M]

So I have a few things to suggest.
1) Check the RC receiver connection to the FMU. If the kill switch works this likely isn't the issue....but worth verifying.
2) Go through the R/C transmitter setup, check the firmware, and verify the configuration. You may also want to reset the transmitter to start fresh.
https://nxp.gitbook.io/hovergames/userguide/radio-controller-setup
3) Try a USB connection to QGC instead of the Telemetry connection and see if it behaves differently. (without the props of course)
4) If it's still giving you problems you may need to pull the log files. At this point, I'd suggest visiting the Dronecode discord for the help you need. Try the #getting-started or #general channel first. There is also a #hovergames user group there.
https://discord.gg/gtEFxHD7

[ArianRF]

Hi @Andrew_M 

Here are my answers:

1) The RC connection looks is partially there. The kill switch works and I see the movement of icons in the QGC during the calibration and after. Also in "Mission", "Altitude" and "Hold" flight mode the drones seems respond to RC partially.

2) Done. A few times. Still same. The QGC always shows this RC receiver error

Also, the RC firmware does not get updated. It claims that it can't be downgrade to earlier version. See below:

3)Done. No change. 

4) I will post it on the dronecode discord. Here is the log file:

Thanks

Nader

[ArianRF]

Hi @Andrew_M 

The drone works in manual mode now. The problem was using the QGC in Windows. Once I used the QGC in virtual machine / linux, it started responding.

However, now, there is another problem. The telemetry radio is not working on the Linux and I need to connect the FMU to my laptop vis a USB cable. Then the QGC sees the drone and I can apply the command thru QGC. Any idea?

Thanks

Nader

[Andrew_M]

Glad you are making progress!   
For the next problem, there are a few things to check
1) did the Telemetry radio get attached as a USB device to the VM? (This is usually in the virtual machine configuration but it highly depends on which VM software you use.)
2) Did your linux user get added to the dailout group?   This is required for access serial ports.   If it didn't, run through the "Before installation" for linux setup here: https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/master/en/getting_started/download_and_install.html

3) Does the device show up in linux.   Run the command lsusb to see if it's listed.  If you aren't sure, run it again with the radio unplugged to see if one disappeared

4) Does the radio show up in QGC at all?  Can you add it in connection manager?

5) Try running through these troubleshooting steps to see if it helps - https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/master/en/troubleshooting/vehicle_connection.html

[ArianRF]

Hi @Andrew_M 

Please see my answers below.

1) did the Telemetry radio get attached as a USB device to the VM? (This is usually in the virtual machine configuration but it highly depends on which VM software you use.)

No. It is directly connected. However, I connected the FMUK66 directly to the USB port and it sees it:

When only the telemetry was connected: 

hovergames@hovergamesvm:~/Desktop$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 80ee:0021 VirtualBox USB Tablet
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

When I connected FMUK66:

hovergames@hovergamesvm:~/Desktop$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 1fc9:001c NXP Semiconductors PX4 BL FMUK66 v3.x
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 80ee:0021 VirtualBox USB Tablet
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

2) Did your linux user get added to the dailout group?   This is required for access serial ports.   If it didn't, run through the "Before installation" for linux setup here: https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/master/en/getting_started/download_and_install.html

I did follow and run the "before installation" part.

3) Does the device show up in linux.   Run the command lsusb to see if it's listed.  If you aren't sure, run it again with the radio unplugged to see if one disappeared

No. It does not. See the answers to 1.

4) Does the radio show up in QGC at all?  Can you add it in connection manager?

No it does not. If I don't connect the FMUK66 to the laptop via USB, it only shows the summary and firmware section on the QGC:

5) Try running through these troubleshooting steps to see if it helps - https://docs.qgroundcontrol.com/master/en/troubleshooting/vehicle_connection.html

Neither "LinkManagerLog" nor LinkManagerVerboseLog" responded.

The strange thing is the Linux does see FMKU66 from the same USB port but does not recognize the telemetry radio.

Cheers,

Nader

[ArianRF · Accepted solution]

@Andrew_M 

Under Devices-->USB-->USB setting, I added a "FTDI FT230X Basic UART" and that established the connection. The lsusb shows it as:

Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0403:6015 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd Bridge(I2C/SPI/UART/FIFO)

The problem is solved. Thanks @Andrew_M .

Cheers,

Nader

[Andrew_M]

Glad I could help!