KDS Flymentor first look.

[Seebodener]

Originally Posted by Kepler

Have done some more flying with the Mentor now. The occasional connection issue does exist but a re powering a second time gets it started OK. I only had it not connect once out of about 10 connections. Personally, if it doesn’t effect the flight, i can put up with that.

So back to the flying. Worked on getting the position hold mode working better. Basically once I had the gain set to 100% I could get the model to hold position reasonably well and got to a point that it would stay within about a 2 metre circle for around a minute without touching the sticks in quite calm conditions. Not too much difference to how the Helicommand handles this mode.

At 100%, the stability is very solid with the model returning to a flat hover like a spring when centring the sticks after a big input. Trim holds very well and although there is no actual documentation on the trimming process, it seems that you uses your trims as normal to reduce drift to a minimum. Also the trim seems to hold OK between Mentor on and off.

In relation to circuits, I set the stick priority to max (Mentor has control only close to stick centre) slow circuits are fine but as you start to go quicker and bank the model over, the mentor is constantly fighting you to keep the model straight. Turning down the gain helped this and gave the model a more natural feel. I am yet to test inverted and emergency recovery however, I see no reason why this wont work fine.
...

Hi Kepler,
thanks for your excellent work on the Flymentor.
Would it be possible to provide us noobs with some screen-shots of your software settings ?

cheers Seebodener

[Dan_555]

I flew using Flymentor today for the first time but am having some difficulty trimming it. It seems that setting the trim on the transmitter doesn't help much at all, no matter how much trim I set it would always want to go left. Inspection on the ground revealed that the swash was clearly tilted to the right but as soon as I got it in the air it would still tend to go left...does trim only have an effect when set up through the software? Also horizontal mode doesn't seem to work like I had expected...it certainly wouldn't do anything to save me if I were to loose orientation at any point as the heli seems to just continue in the direction of the last stick input. I tried increasing the gain but it didn't seem to have an effect. I was hoping to use this for a large AP heli to make flying at a distance easier and safer but it seems it would be useless for this, unless I am missing something in the set up process? Maybe it needs to be trimmed perfectly to return the heli to a level hover?

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Dan_555

I flew using Flymentor today for the first time but am having some difficulty trimming it. It seems that setting the trim on the transmitter doesn't help much at all, no matter how much trim I set it would always want to go left. Inspection on the ground revealed that the swash was clearly tilted to the right but as soon as I got it in the air it would still tend to go left...does trim only have an effect when set up through the software? Also horizontal mode doesn't seem to work like I had expected...it certainly wouldn't do anything to save me if I were to loose orientation at any point as the heli seems to just continue in the direction of the last stick input. I tried increasing the gain but it didn't seem to have an effect. I was hoping to use this for a large AP heli to make flying at a distance easier and safer but it seems it would be useless for this, unless I am missing something in the set up process? Maybe it needs to be trimmed perfectly to return the heli to a level hover?

Your heli need to be mechanically correct and flying B4 you install ANY stabilization system.

Need to look at your setup and install, also if vibration is causing your issue even Helicommand will not function correctly if subjected to vibrations,

My Flymentor has been in the air 6 times so far with no issues, granted I needed to retrim when I switch battery pack due to the fact there different weights

nightflyr

[Dan_555]

Your heli need to be mechanically correct and flying B4 you install ANY stabilization system.

Need to look at your setup and install, also if vibration is causing your issue even Helicommand will not function correctly if subjected to vibrations,

My Flymentor has been in the air 6 times so far with no issues, granted I needed to retrim when I switch battery pack due to the fact there different weights

nightflyr

Thanks Nightflyr, you say you have to re trim when switching battery packs...can this be done without any issues through the radio or does it need to be done through Flyementor's software? I will double check all my mechanical set up and ensure everything is perfect before my next test. In hindsight I wish I had gotten a 7ch receiver instead of a 6 for this bird as not being able to turn Flymentor on/off with just a flick of a switch makes set up a bit more time consuming

[Seebodener]

Originally Posted by Dan_555

Thanks Nightflyr, you say you have to re trim when switching battery packs...can this be done without any issues through the radio or does it need to be done through Flyementor's software? I will double check all my mechanical set up and ensure everything is perfect before my next test. In hindsight I wish I had gotten a 7ch receiver instead of a 6 for this bird as not being able to turn Flymentor on/off with just a flick of a switch makes set up a bit more time consuming

Maybe Kepler´s setup of the Flymentor can help you, because he setup the Gaer-switch in combination with the Flight Mode Switch to turn the Flymentor off.

https://www.helifreak.com/showpost.p...7&postcount=17

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Dan_555

Thanks Nightflyr, you say you have to re trim when switching battery packs...can this be done without any issues through the radio or does it need to be done through Flyementor's software? I will double check all my mechanical set up and ensure everything is perfect before my next test. In hindsight I wish I had gotten a 7ch receiver instead of a 6 for this bird as not being able to turn Flymentor on/off with just a flick of a switch makes set up a bit more time consuming

My rig trims up fine through the Tx, not understanding why you should be having troubles
.
nightflyr

[Dan_555]

I went over all of my mechanical set up and flew the heli with all stabilization turned off...it seems to be set up almost perfectly: trim is spot on and it hovers itself for a few seconds hands free. However as soon as I switch into horizontal mode its like the trims are completely reset and again it wants to go way to the right and back and I am constantly fighting it to keep it in a hover. Its almost as if something is off with the sensor...does this unit only have the ability to sense motion left/right and forward/back in position mode...is it only capable of sensing tilt in horizontal mode? Does the sensor have to be exactly square with the heli? Also vibrations are very minor right now so I can't imagine that would be affecting it...my cheapo g401b tail gyro is having no problems. I'm starting to wonder if I simply have a bad sensor

[nightflyr]

Mine will pull the same way, I just retrim to get it to level hover in Horizontail mode, I just land and readjust it out

nightflyr

[Leandro]

I got my flymentor yesterday and today I made the first flights. Under position mode it stay stable but in balanced mode is a kaos its always trim to some side. I will try again before the nightfall to try to improbe the configuration.

[Leandro]

Ok this time was everthing perfect, I think the problem is give some time to the flymentor when switching between the flight modes. In balance mode the only drifting problem was by the tail rotor but the stability was perfect like the CP2 with a clear horizont.

[Dan_555]

I am still failing miserably at trying to get this thing to trim out in balance mode. I was able to at one point trim it so it was holding its position reasonably well (just about as well as with Flymentor turned off) but as as soon as I landed and took off it is again way off. Again got it trimmed close but the same thing happened after landing and taking off: the trim was way off...not only that but it needed trim in the exact opposite directions as before. Any ideas on what could be going on here?
Thanks
Dan

[Leandro]

I think the triming isn´t really necesary, at the begining I trim a little in the balanced mode but after that I centred all the trims wile flying and it work perfect. So I think is a problem of initialization time., so I will try to decipher that tomorrow step by step.

[nightflyr]

It may be..and i'm just taking a shot in the dark here.....that the KDS need time to "wake up" and get to working, I know that Helicommand needs 8 -10 seconds for the ground lock to kick in.

may need to get your bird up and work your sticks till it "wakes up" like I said ..a guess at best

nightflyr

[Dan_555]

Thanks nightflyr I will try this tomorrow and see what happens, although I've kept it in a solid hover just above the ground for minutes trying to set the trim. I'm not starting from a completely level surface, could this throw off the sensor? I just made an aluminum mounting bracket for the sensor, hopefully it will provide a more solid mounting surface as I suspect it might have been shifting around just slightly in flight. I have the sensor mounted upside down, can't imagine this would be a problem? Also maybe it is my servos...they are super cheap SG-90s from xheli.com and don't center very well...when I release the sticks from extreme inputs I can clearly see the arms overshoot center before actually centering.
Thanks
Dan

[Kepler]

I agree with nightflr. I find that its important not to fight it. Let it get settled and then it requires very little trimming if any.

[slumberjer]

Yup this happen to me too..FM are too sleepy and take a sometimes to really wakeup. 2-3 times restarting the system..let it hover and settling for a while..then the system really kick in. Well this is pretty new system. A lot of buzz here and there..but it's working..but I think I had enough of this system. I'm going to put this on sale..

[Dan_555]

I'm not certain I'm fully understanding exactly what you guys are suggesting...do you mean just take off with the trims set the exact same as I would with Flymentor off, hover it and it will eventually center itself? Either way I won't get a chance to try this for another week or so now...test today didn't go well at all. I took off and immediately noticed the trim was even farther off than it usually is with stabilization on and was fighting to keep it in a hover when it suddenly gave full down elevator and smashed the heli into the ground before I could react. Luckily the only damage was a bent flybar and another dead servo (not sure if the servo failed in the air causing the crash or failed as a result of it...I'm really hoping it was the servos fault this time.) Either way I am done with these HXT900/TP90s as I've had quite a few fail recently on me...got some MG90s on the way and I'm hoping they solve the unpredictable trim problem as well.
Thanks for all your help!
Dan

[nieda113]

Hi,, since my FLYM gyro sems to be defective i wonder if the gyro is interchangeable between differnet FLym processors.
Are the gyros and processors are coded ? so that the set delivered only works with the gyro that came in the set?
regards JV

[kgfly]

You folk might find this interesting: https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=160443

If it is true perhaps it might explain why some have more success than others with Fymentor ?

[nieda113]

Hi, i do experience a problem that is now permanet.
After Flym has initialized all seems normal. If i shake the gyro the tail servo reacts.
If i tilt the rudderstick to left or right position the tail servo does not react. I checked the servo directly on the rudder output of the receiver and it works fine.

What could cause that problem?
BYE