Help needed with gains

[brett8883]

Hey guys I have been chasing this dream I have of being able to yaw the Mavic Pro slowly, smoothly, and consistently for many many months and I have a new theory and I need help from someone who has built their own quad be it FPV or whatever don’t think it matters.

I would like to know how one would set the initial yaw gain on a DIY drone. I have done extensive searching through the firmware and I can set the actual gains for the aircraft (not the “user adjustable gains” you see in the app) I can adjust the actual basic gains. And would like to recalibrate all the gains myself.

I notice that the yaw gain is very low compared to the other gains so I want to recalibrate the yaw gain from scratch and hoping someone can tell me how you would know when it’s just right. I turned it way up and the motors starting making a weird noise so I quickly landed and turned it back down. But am I looking for the highest setting that doesn’t cause that noise or oscillations on its own or how do you know?

Also if you know how to set the throttle (up and down gain) my Mavic sometimes wobbles when ascending and I know this is gain problem but not sure if that means throttle gain is too high or too low?

I know it’s probably called something else and a little different on every platform but I’ll be able to translate if could just give me the 101 on setting gains for a quad.

Thanks guys!

 

[Mossiback]

Have you tried adjusting the rudder EXP settings? You can set the curve so the yaw (rudder) movement is very slow at first. Position Menu / Advanced Settings / EXP.


EDIT: Set the Rudder Right/Left value lower than what is pictured. All 3 of mine are set at .25

 

[brett8883]

Have you tried adjusting the rudder EXP settings? You can set the curve so the yaw (rudder) movement is very slow at first. Position Menu / Advanced Settings / EXP.
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Yea buts it’s not that the controller input isn’t smooth it’s that it takes a certain amount of yaw input to get it going but that amount of yaw is too much once you get it started.

What’s interesting with yours is you have it so that it starts out super fast and then super fast and then only gets a little slower the rest of the way. Why do you have it like that may I ask? You virtually have one yaw speed maybe two: fast and a little faster.

 

[brett8883]

What I mean is you have the opposite of what you were describing.

 

[Former Member]

This is a great thread. I will update with my experience a little later.

 

[brett8883]

This is a great thread. I will update with my experience a little later.

Looking forward to it!

 

[Mossiback]

... you have it so that it starts out super fast and then super fast and then only gets a little slower the rest of the way. Why do you have it like that may I ask?...

You are right, I should have looked closer. What I posted was a screen shot from someone's write up, not my settings.

Still, if you set it opposite of the picture I posted, you can make it so the initial yaw stick movement will produce little actual yaw movement and will gradually get faster with more stick movement.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[brett8883]

My theory here is that the yaw gain is actually too low. I notice it more when it’s windy out but also notice it when flying forward. When trying to slowly yaw the aircraft it will get “stuck” so you give it a little more yaw on the left stick to get it unstuck but once it’s “unstuck” that amount of yaw is too fast and now your panning **** is ruined. I’ve even had it where a small amount of yaw right will make the drone actually yaw left first and then more yaw right on the left stick will finally make it yaw right but that’s too much.

The real basic gain for yaw is 40. The real basic gain for pitch is 90. The real basic gain for throttle is 70.

When you change the gains in the app it’s just a percentage of the basic gain. So for yaw 80% is actually 32. 120% is 48. Because the yaw gain is so low compared to the others adjusting yaw gain in the app does very little one way or the other. In contrast adjusting the pitch gain to 80% is an actual gain value of 72. 120% is 108. So it makes a bigger difference changing the pitch gain in the app then the yaw gain.

I changed the actual yaw gain from 40 to the lowest possible value of 20. It made the “getting stuck” issue worse. I turn it up to 100 and it solved the “getting stuck” issue and while it was more responsive it was much more consistent so I could control it better. However, it made my motors make a weird noise so I know that’s too high.

So right now I know the sweet spot is between 40 and 100 but after it made that weird noise I’m concerned about about making it too high so I was hoping somebody who knows about PID or tail gyro settings on a quad could explain how to know when it’s too high or just right.

 

[brett8883]

You are right, I should have looked closer. What I posted was a screen shot from someone's write up, not my settings.

Still, if you set it opposite of the picture I posted, you can make it so the initial yaw stick movement will produce little actual yaw movement and will gradually get faster with more stick movement.

Sorry for the confusion.

I appreciate it. I do know about EXPO and have mine set low but it’s not that I’m unable to input consistent input with the remote it’s that the aircraft doesn’t consistently respond to a low yaw input. I believe it’s because the Mavic doesn’t produce enough angular momentum when the motors are at a low speed.

I think it’s similar to when you are In too high a gear in your car and want to speed up just a little bit. Giving it a little more gas doesn’t do much so you keep pushing on the gas and then you get up to speed
and all of a sudden you are in too low a gear so it catapults you forward so you pull off the gas and that slows you down too much. Its like I can’t find the right “gear” when panning with the mavic if that makes any sense.

 

[Mossiback]

... it’s that the aircraft doesn’t consistently respond to a low yaw input. I believe it’s because the Mavic doesn’t produce enough angular momentum when the motors are at a low speed...

I think you may have something else going on. My MP will pan very gradually, starting slow then speeding up the rate as I increase stick movement and I have not noticed any sticking point. I will look more closely when I fly later today. I use MAS stealth props and my gains are set to 90. I do not recall my EXP settings since they have not changed in a long time, but I will record those when I fly.

 

[brett8883]

I think you may have something else going on. My MP will pan very gradually, starting slow then speeding up the rate as I increase stick movement and I have not noticed any sticking point. I will look more closely when I fly later today. I use MAS stealth props and my gains are set to 90. I do not recall my EXP settings since they have not changed in a long time, but I will record those when I fly.

I have the Mavic Pro with MAS stealth props and try hovering in place while panning at 6 degrees per second which is a common cinematography panning speed and to figure out how fast that is it should take 15 seconds to pan 90 degrees, 30 seconds to pan 180 degrees ect. I think you’ll notice what I’m talking about. It happens with any prop I try btw not just the MAS. In fact I think it’s better with them.

When I turned up the yaw gain it was much more consistent but I don’t want to make it too high if I’m going to hurt the motors.

 

[brett8883]

I think you may have something else going on. My MP will pan very gradually, starting slow then speeding up the rate as I increase stick movement and I have not noticed any sticking point. I will look more closely when I fly later today. I use MAS stealth props and my gains are set to 90. I do not recall my EXP settings since they have not changed in a long time, but I will record those when I fly.

I appreciate your help btw.

 

[Mossiback]

...What’s interesting with yours is you have it so that it starts out super fast and then super fast and then only gets a little slower the rest of the way. Why do you have it like that may I ask? You virtually have one yaw speed maybe two: fast and a little faster.

Yup. My settings are .25 for all three.