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  4. Starling 2 - failure when entering offboard mode in Starling 2

Starling 2 - failure when entering offboard mode in Starling 2

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Starling & Starling 2
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  • Hector GutierrezH Offline
    Hector GutierrezH Offline
    Hector Gutierrez
    Contributor
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Hello,
    After fresh IMU and gyro calibration, and with successful check of VIO (via VOXL portal) Starling 2 is able to arm in position mode and fly in position mode rather well. However, as soon as switching to offboard mode (in this case to test follow_tag) flight becomes unstable: drone starts to very quick climbing straight up in the vertical direction.
    It seems this kind of failure (drone starts climbing up fast straight in the vertical direction) seems a relatively common failure mode when going to offboard mode. Are there any suggestions of what can be causing this ? VIO has been tested multiple times and looks solid. Drone is able to arm in position mode.
    Please let me know your suggestions. Thanks.

    george kollamkulamG 1 Reply Last reply
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    • Hector GutierrezH Hector Gutierrez

      Hello,
      After fresh IMU and gyro calibration, and with successful check of VIO (via VOXL portal) Starling 2 is able to arm in position mode and fly in position mode rather well. However, as soon as switching to offboard mode (in this case to test follow_tag) flight becomes unstable: drone starts to very quick climbing straight up in the vertical direction.
      It seems this kind of failure (drone starts climbing up fast straight in the vertical direction) seems a relatively common failure mode when going to offboard mode. Are there any suggestions of what can be causing this ? VIO has been tested multiple times and looks solid. Drone is able to arm in position mode.
      Please let me know your suggestions. Thanks.

      george kollamkulamG Offline
      george kollamkulamG Offline
      george kollamkulam
      Contributor
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      @Hector-Gutierrez have you seen this is any other mode? I observed something similar in position mode, but no additional sensor calibration was done. I was manually trying to descend, but the Starling2 kept climbing. At first I thought it was pilot error (likely due to the spring loaded throttle stick), but later it became clear that the climb was not commanded. @Moderator

      Hector GutierrezH 1 Reply Last reply
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      • george kollamkulamG george kollamkulam

        @Hector-Gutierrez have you seen this is any other mode? I observed something similar in position mode, but no additional sensor calibration was done. I was manually trying to descend, but the Starling2 kept climbing. At first I thought it was pilot error (likely due to the spring loaded throttle stick), but later it became clear that the climb was not commanded. @Moderator

        Hector GutierrezH Offline
        Hector GutierrezH Offline
        Hector Gutierrez
        Contributor
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        @george-kollamkulam : the problem with the drone shooting straight up in position mode seems related to bad estimation of altitude. In particular, if you are flying indoors (no GPS signal accessible) GPS needs to be eliminated from the altitude estimation since the lack of GPS signal in the sensor fusion seems to cause the problem.
        IN summary, if you are flying indoors and experience this problem, try disabling GPS in PX4 by setting the parameter SYS_HAS_GPS to "disable" in QGroundControl. That seems to have resolved the issue for us - at least for now.

        george kollamkulamG 1 Reply Last reply
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        • Hector GutierrezH Hector Gutierrez

          @george-kollamkulam : the problem with the drone shooting straight up in position mode seems related to bad estimation of altitude. In particular, if you are flying indoors (no GPS signal accessible) GPS needs to be eliminated from the altitude estimation since the lack of GPS signal in the sensor fusion seems to cause the problem.
          IN summary, if you are flying indoors and experience this problem, try disabling GPS in PX4 by setting the parameter SYS_HAS_GPS to "disable" in QGroundControl. That seems to have resolved the issue for us - at least for now.

          george kollamkulamG Offline
          george kollamkulamG Offline
          george kollamkulam
          Contributor
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          @Hector-Gutierrez thanks for the suggestion. However, I have now seen this unstable behavior in all modes (manual, altitude, position and offboard), both indoor and outdoors. I suspect that qvio is failing and trying to reset mid flight (Error: Not stationary was observed multiple times on the qvio_overlay page on VOXL portal). I don't think the GPS is even being used (QGC reports 100 HDOP and 0 satellites). The only mode where the UAV is controllable is Manual, but the qvio error is still present.

          @Alex-Kushleyev would you be able to share some insight into what could be happening? How can we resolve this issue?

          Thanks,
          George

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