Help with acro/air mode issue

[TraumaChaser]

ok, so I haven't really dove into solving this yet so I'm hoping somebody has some ideas on what might be happening. I don't know if I forgot something or if I screwed up a switch somehow that I didn't notice. Here's the issue-

I fly acro mode all the time, and usually fly in air mode unless I'm racing around stuff. Currently when I am in acro mode and air mode is off my quad controls more like it's in a angle mode or close to it. The drone doesn't like it at all and the yaw, pitch, and roll act very weird almost slow. Like I'll get to the middle of a roll or flip and it will just stop and stay there until you way over correct it. However when I turn on air mode it flies perfect. I'm wondering if somehow my endpoints are screwing up when air mode is off. It seems like it flies fine when I switch it to horizon mode which I've done a couple of times when I've lost control with air mode off. For instance if it stops in the middle of a flip I can sometimes switch it back to horizon mode and it will correct itself. Sometimes it doesn't.

I think I have a video but I'm really going to have to look for it. It's somewhere in like 100 Fpv vids lol.

It's been months since I looked in beta flight so I'm going to start there and make sure I have end points and switches set up right. I'm about 95% sure I do though. I seem to remember looking when i first took it for a test flight.

 

[theGreenOrange]

Could you be losing 2.4ghz transmitter for a second? Maybe one of the bands your radio is hopping to is crowded? That's kind of what it sounds like to me.

 

[theGreenOrange]

Wait, if it only does it in flips, that is probably just normal behavior of what air mode does, leaving PI controller on during low throttle. Non air mode will get weird coming off low throttle in maneuvers because the PIDs turn off then come back in when throttle is applied.

 

[TraumaChaser]

No cause it works fine when air mode is on. It's when it's off that it gets all mucked up. Not just doing flips any maneuver. It's not the PIDS i have already tuned it. I fly acro and air mode all the time. I'm well aware of what air mode does and what it feels like to fly both modes. If I can't figure it out I'll just do a black box review and see if something looks unusual.

 

[theGreenOrange]

That is a good idea. I wasn't saying your PIDs aren't tuned, just saying they turn off at low throttle when air mode is off.

 

[TraumaChaser]

That is a good idea. I wasn't saying your PIDs aren't tuned, just saying they turn off at low throttle when air mode is off.

Yeah thats deffinatley not the problem.

 

[raymonFPV]

The only thing airmode does is, is briefly increasing the min throttle for more control in zero throttle situations

 

[theGreenOrange]

Ramon, air mode keeps the P and I factors active while turning off D at low throttle. Not having air mode turns off all 3 at low throttle.

 

[raymonFPV]

Ramon, air mode keeps the P and I factors active while turning off D at low throttle. Not having air mode turns off all 3 at low throttle.

No man! with no airmode and zero throttle you don't have enough authority to have enough controle. with airmode on, if you do a roll for example with zero throtte, the min throttle is raised so you have the authority to roll... Joshua bardwell explained this also in a video I believe

 

[theGreenOrange]

Yes, this is true. But the PID controller is also affected. It is the I term, not the D term that is most affected, I was wrong on that.

 

[theGreenOrange]

That Josh Bardwell video is good, but that is not the only thing going on with airmode.

Betaflight Airmode - Oscar Liang

 

[TraumaChaser]

Ok here is the video. At about 3:09 on the timer I switch off air mode and that cool lookin trick is my quad freaking out and me somehow saving it. And the video is so bad because the only extra antenna I had was LHCP and had a RHCP on the rx lol. That's fixed now.

 

[theGreenOrange]

The video is interesting. You can see that on the punch out before the error, the current climbs to 87A. Then immediately following the hard roll right (a presumed electronic error) the current immediately goes to 0.1A within the first rotation and stays there throughout several rotations. So during the spin we know the FC isn't freaking out, it is basically doing nothing during the unwanted rolls. It's as if the FC received a strong Roll impulse, then nothing until your corrections come in a few seconds later at 6A quickly climbing to 30A. I don't know exactly what this means, except that to me it points toward a momentary loss of control signal from your radio. Are you certain that the issue is caused by switching to Air Mode? Could it be a coincidence?

 

[theGreenOrange]

What is weird is that I would think the PIDs would try to keep it level with the last good pitch if it lost signal. But without airmode active and at zero throttle the I term would drop out so maybe it wouldn't correct a static roll until a pitch/roll input or throttle above min throttle is applied.

Anyway, I sorry I don't have a solution other than leave air mode on.

 

[theGreenOrange]

Ah, with airmode off and zero throttle the PID controller wouldn't be active at all. It's air mode where the only the I term drops. So that's not such a mystery.

 

[TraumaChaser]

Yep only messes up with air mode off lol.

 

[theGreenOrange]

Did you give the large roll input, or is that part of the freaking out?

 

[TraumaChaser]

I only wanted 1 roll and to then land.

 

[theGreenOrange]

I think you will need black box data to diagnose further. Personally, I still suspect briefly losing radio has something to do with it.

 

[TraumaChaser]

Even if that's what it was there is no explanation that it only does it with acro mode on and air mode off.