I was pleasantly surprised at how close the auto trim tuned my pids on my hex... for aerial photography flying, it truly puts the craft at a righteous spot in tuning. Thanks for another great instructional vid.

Another excellent addition to the APM series. Many Thanks.

Your videos have really helped me get started in all this, thanks so much!

Thanks for the link, sorted my issue , I will now auto trim and tune. You are a great source of information and as i stated earlier your videos are priceless. Thanks again will continue to watch out for your posts

love your vids man!!!!!!!! cheers from Italy!!!

Texts are sometimes seems to be complicated. Because you don't know the impact a change will make in action. Your videos make those confusions clear. I think thousands of multirotor beginners like me achieved success for the work you have done. Hope this will also inspire our future generations to build more technicality free flying machines.

Thanks so much, have done the auto trim...easy....now my X350 Pro flies like a dream!

Thanks for these helpful videos, much appreciated. At last a fine still day, managed to autotune in one shot, last time corrected wind drift so much it hit the battery limit before completion. Off-topic comment just in case anyone is looking to reuse parts from a CX-20/Nova - I put the APM and GPS on to a Chinese whitesheep 450 frame. I used Hobbywing esc's and cheap 935kv motors with DJI type props (to leave the existing ESC and motors in the old config in case I did find a frame). Different beast all together, not better or worse just different, for the extra weight I still get around the same flight times. As it is like a flat plate I find it hard to keep stable when decending unless it is slow or you keep moving to stay out of your own prop wash. Probably too much info but I didn't find out how easy it was to break the CX-20/Quamun Nova until I had read others comments (mine was a two foot high flip on battery fail during RTL) the orginal frame costs more than an aftermarket 450.

just came across this video , well done a nicely put together video with good info . I subscribe on the strength of this video alone ! cheers

Great! Thank you very much for posting this video.

ich mag deine videos, sie sind sehr hilfreich, danke schön

hi Mr.Bob thanks for the best info ever. Regards from AZ, USA

Thanks for the video. Exactly what I was looking for to sort out my nose happy, wayward apm cx-20. I've had trouble with loiter since I fitted a gimbal. I hope the auto trim will solve it.

Thanks for your Video very helpful

Sehr gute Serie, Glückwunsch!

Had a perfect dead calm morning so I ran autotune. Everything went as you outlined.. however the result was a quad that flys like a boat. Wallowing (slow oscillations) after control inputs. Up till now I've been using the standard PIDS. I'm flying a F450 3S, 4ah with 980 KV motors and 10x4.5 props. I'm going to try it again in a larger area were I don't have to reel it in.

thanks for this video ;)

Thx!

You're an inspiration Painless360. Great videos. You almost talked me out of installing an old, never used Arducopter 2.5.2 that I dug out of the garage as in your comments, you often imply that the technology is too dated. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a shot as I've got nothing to lose - I've already got the APM. Initial connection frustrations were overcome when I discovered that my micro USB cable was trashed. Now I'm well on my way. Cheers mate. One question... I've got a Ublox GPS module v2.0 and in all the videos, you mention GPS and I can see what looks like a GPS unit next to the APM, but I didn't see anything in the videos about the GPS setup. Is is just plug-n-play? Thanks again from downunder. PS. I've also got a Pixhawk GPS fc on its way for my next project, a Hexacopter.

Hi, I am having problem doing the auto tune setup . I have only six channel rc receiver,so there is now to get ch 7 and select auto tune.Any solutions for those who use 6 channel receiver and want to auto tune??

thanks bro problem solved..

Fantastic. Thanks. Can you use the sub-trim instead?

I just finished skimming these videos. I have to say that I got a Multwii Pro and feel like I made a HUGE mistake! For only a bit more money, this APM controller seems AMAZING! Just the autotune feature is worth the money!

Good day, Do you have a demo video of autotuning and autotriming of a fixed wing aircraft? Step by step?

Your videos are awesome mate! Big thumbs up from Australia! Just a quick one: I got a FS i6 running of course 6 channels into the APM 3.1 via pwm. I was planning on using the extra 2 channels for flight mode and perhaps gimbal control respectively. Is there a chance I can temporarily use the gimbal channel as a switch for the Auto tune and then once the auto tune is done I will get my channel back to control the gimbal? Would the APM save the autotune (PID values)? Cheers

Great video mate, Will the same setup work for Pixhawk too?

Hey painless, you have been super helpful to me so far, so I have another questions for you! I finished building a hexacopter with an APM 2.6. It hovers great, but if I make almost any stick input it goes crazy and crashes. I don't think I can get it 10 feet off the ground to put it in ALT hold to do the autotune without crashing it! What should I do?

Hi! I am vers disappointed how the APM 2.8 flies my copter. And I am familiar with electronics and PID adhjustment (job. hardware / software with STM32 ARM). The NAZA I have flies the same copter much more gently. With the APM 2.8 glichtes appear, aggressive climbing/falling for a few milliseconds and overall the copter is not very stable in wind. Do you think Pixhawk with the STM32 CPU is better?

please provide the link of 8/8 final of this series video asap :) thanks for sharing the video brother !!

Hi. Me again. I tried to do the autotune yesterday, but nothing happened. I assigned Autotune to channel 8 on 'SG' on my Taranis. (Channel 7 is already set up for RTL) I double checked that channel 8 was switching on the Radio Calibration page in APM Planner 2, and yes, it was. When I took the quad outside to do the Autotune, I went up to about 20', switched to Alt Hold, then flicked 'SG' and... no dance! Any clues?

Hello ! your apm video series is very nice ! I buy f450 with 920 kv motor and 30a esc with apm 2.6 and neo 7m gps can i do autotune with this esc ? Thanks

Great video ! Quick question : if you plan on using some auto-trimming, what if you realize in Mission Planner that your controls are not at 1500 at their middle position and you really need to change their subtrims on your radio, would that mean you need to 1) recalibrate your esc an 2) perfrom a tx calibration in MP afterwards ?

great videos, easy to learn! If I understood correctly after the autotrim and autotune I can setup back the loiter mode in MP and disable the autotune switch?

Hello I love your videos watched all that you had on the APM board.. Did you make one for us tri-copter people ? having trouble setting up Auto trim and Auto tune for my Tri-copter. .has anyone made setup for Tri-copters

First, Your videos are extremely helpful!!! I have an APM 2.8 and was wondering if there is a way to disarm quickly. Now it takes several seconds to stop the motors. I am new and once in a while I have an oops and flips over. I try to immediately disarm as the props are still turning and beating themselves on the grass. I have not hurt anything but it can't be good for the motors, escs ect. I am very excited about the APM even though it has been replaced with the Pixhawk. I am waiting for the Mini APM and my new FR SKY 9D plus to arrive. Again thank you for your videos. I have been following you since the days of my old NAZE32, which I boxed up for the APMs. Cheers

hey how are you thanks alot for your vids !! im having a small problem when im going on autotune for the PID on my S500 .. i dont know if im doing it wrong im doing it in alt mode and then swichong my autotune one like you said so the problem im having is that wen its doinf the left and right twitching for the autotune all is good and butter smooth but the moment it begins to do front and back it does it like 2 3 time and the flipa and crashes out of nowhere. .. its the 4th time i try and brack a prop or a arm or ... please help. .. and the thing that after it crashes and i repair i have to do a level calib again and the moment i fly a bit and i begin to go front and back few minits of flyghts then it flips and crashes !... and if lets say i fix it and its running smooth when im flying few minits later i begin to see that its chacking and flickering then i predict its gona flip i bring it down very quickly. .. please help

Hi painless360, i know this is an old topic but i just wanna ask if the auto trim and auto tune of an apm (i'm using a cx-20, btw) can be done indoors? does it have any effect when you auto tune indoor and then use it outdoor? the reason i asked you this is because i've done an auto tune indoor but when i flew my quad outdoor... the gps hold seems to be not holding its position. thanks in advance man... hoping to hear from you soon...

Can channel 7/8 be a knob akt pot. Or does it have to be a on off switch? For the auto tune to work? All the switchs on my transmitter are used an just have a unused pot. Or knob. Thanks best video on KZfaq for setting up apm saved me tons..

Hello, in regards to your explanation of autotune, I noticed there is a mode in the Mission planner called autotune. can you use this mode as well to autotune your craft?

Thank you so much for the videos. My quad tilts back on take off, so I haven't been able to get it off the ground. Is there a way to trim or tune it on the ground?

Hey Lee, This video is pretty old, I know Autotune is still a thing, but is autotrim? This is the first mention of it i have seen, but interestingly my drone does seem to need it. Also some say the autotune takes as long a 15 minutes, but i only get about 9 minutes of flight time? Anything i can do? This may be an issue. I have tried to run AT, and it did its thing for the duration of the flight, but didn't seem to finish before it RTL. Now it doesn't seem like it will go into AT at all?

Thankyou

Hi Painless360Great series of videos, just finished building my 1st tricopter using APM 2.6.Getting to grips with the tuning, but have an issue, have set up board as per the instructions, but cannot get the motors to fully stop when throttle set to minimum, they do not spin enough to lift the tri off the ground but will continue to spin.have tried setting trims to minimum but no change. Any suggestions ???Kenno 17.

I think my setup now has to be upgraded. . sunnysky x22 12 980kv.. carbon fiber 1047 Simonk 30Amp esc 5000mah 20-30 c bgc 2d gimbal xiaomi yi cam total weight with battery and all is around 1700 grams. . so which motor shud i go for emax 650 kv? or DYS ?

hello there.... great videos, very informative.... i have a quick question though for the autotrim feature..... Can i also trim the throttle to make my quad hover when i put the stick in the middle position? Would this be taken care of by the autotrim?

Should i perform auto-tune with all my load or minimize load as much as possible (eg: removing gimbal during auto-tune)? I've read on some discussions online says quad will be responsive on performing auto-tune when there is no load on? but wouldn't it be more sense to have everything on cause i'll be flying with load on most of the time. Can you give some input on this? Thanks.

Greetings! What is your f450 apm pids if I may ask? I'm having trouble stabilizing mine. Thanks!

While i have not tried the autotune yet, the documentation says: 6. When the tune completes the copter will change back to the original PID gains. 7. Put the ch7/ch8 switch into the LOW position then back to the HIGH position to test the tuned PID gains. You said in the video, once it stopped, it will run in new settings? So, which is which? Can you confirm this?

Thanks for the video . How about autotrim for Pixhawk ? Is it the same as A PM ?

Gidday painless great vids mate very informative,just a quick one is Autotune ok to use on large frames,say 900mm + with low kv motors in the 400 range 15" to 18" size props,weight 4.5 -5.0 kg range,thanks in advance,regards Steve

another question... can you do the autotrim on Alt. hold mode? as I'm really finding it hard to focus on keeping it stabilized while trying to hold it in the same height at the same time

hey its me again, I have seen many videos on youtube of pixhawk autotune getting a bit hyperactive and actually flipping copters over, My f550 is very twitchy and i am scared that a similar scenario will come about with me? are these videos just flukes or are my worries reasonable? Thank you very much for your help!

Hi. Thanks again for your great videos. Just wanted to ask you something....when you select the "autotune" on channel 7/8, do you have to connect a cable from ch7/8 of the receiver to the FC?

In autotrim first time do we start from stabilize mode?

Hi Painless, As you might remember, I have just successfully done the Autotrim to my X350 Pro. Is this also compatible with the Walkera Scout? Thanks again.

Hi mate great vids, helped out a lot from setup right through to flight just a quick question when I go into loiter or alt hold the drone climes very slowly and I have no joy when I try auto tune I follow your vid exactly but does nothing, doesn't twitch or anything when I flick on ch 7 any help pleasethanks

First off. Thanks for the video set. I build my first quad watching them using a 2.6 board. I have done an auto trim to get it somewhat stable and then wanted to do an auto tune afterwards to get it really solid. I have everything programmed properly and have reviewed the settings multiple times. My ESCs are calibrated (did them one by one) and it flies OK. I bring it up, put it into alt hold, then flip my ch7 to auto tune and it does nothing. I thought maybe it had to make very minor adjustments at first but even after letting it hover for 2-3 minutes still no "dance". Any suggestions? I'm using a FS Th9x Tx/Rx combo and have everything set as your video explains. Please help.

Great video's , thinking about getting a Apm board? , I have a spektrum dx6 (new model) could I set the autotune on channel 6 or will I need to get a 7 channel setup ?

To active channel 7 or 8 do we need to plug in a physical cable from Apm into Receiver and do a RC cal to active it too?

I know its outdated, but I'm running an apm 2.6 in a plane because the goal of this build was cheap and nothing else. Does APM 2.6 support autotune for plane as well? I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere and just assumed it didn't, this is the first video I've seen of an apm using it. Is it just for copter, though?

If you don't have enough battery left to complete the tune, can you land it as is, save the settings so far, replace the battery and then send it back up? Will it continue the tune from the where you saved it, thus completing the process quickly on lipo 2,or will it start the whole process again.? I'm concerned my 2200 3s won't last long enough to do it in one go.

hi, friend i really appreciate how you work hard and make videos to help people. i'm new to quadcopter scene i built my copter and someone build for me. now problem is that it sliding away going crazy i try to trim from my controller even trim is finish still it drift and one more problem is that i cant use manual mode so scared can u recomend me what should i do? i'll be very thankful to you.

Thanks for the great description. I am the last one to use APM 2.8?

How can I set all of the modes on two switches? I'd like stabilize, acro, loiter, alt hold, and rtl all at once, but I can't figure out how to set them on two switches.

Hi, I'm new to quad copter flying. So when I try to auto tune, flight is very unstable. Could I tune it with gimbal + camera on it?

Hello Painless360, I finally got my Turnigy i10 remote. I have it installed in my Quad and I have set up the 3 position switch on the right side to do the flight modes. I want to do the autoTune. Can you guide me a little on how to set up the ch 7 to respond to the auto tune? Do I just check it like I did with the other channels? Thank you Carlos

How susceptible is the APM 2.5 to variations in altitude on windy days? I was messing with a planned mission and my quad took off went to altitude. When it got to the location it was programmed to circle around a gust of wind came a long and the quad suddenly gained altitude. It tried to correct for the altitude change and almost crashed. It has also had an issue with altitude in RTL mode as well. Any Ideas?

Hello. As always, thank you for this videos. I have done the Autotune on my Pixhawk, it did it well. I read the documentation in Ardupilot webs too. But there are two things that I don't know how to resolve, so if you can help me, I'll be very happy. First, I read that I have to change the value for the attitude over throttle response to 0.9, because I have a large prop drone (12 inches on a 490mm quad), but I still see some strange behaviour like pendulum effect, sometimes during a stop when it's flying, and this is after running the autotune and changing the attitude over throttle value. The other thing is an oscillation when is landing or descending in a vertical line. Can you please help? How can I solve this?

Is it okay to use simple is checked in althold when activating auto tune ?

Hi Painles360. Thank you for this good video. I'm new on build-a-multicopter world and have some questions. What is difference of actual output from Auto-Trim and Auto-Tune? From what I learned, they're have same objective to stabilize the aircraft and Auto-Tune did something to P-I-D (Honestly, I still don't know what actually P-I-D setting do to the aircraft). I have searched on the ardupilot website but don't get satisfying answer :-(

At 65 Y.O. I guess I came into the hobby a bit late in life, all the how-to's are so old their validity is questionable, nobody seems to replace outdated information with current information, after several frustrating days and hours on each tiny, little tidbit I keep falling back to your "Painless" channel because at least you have a lot of info ( old or not) and have become, it seems, THE Guru to seek for so much, including but not all inclusively: Mission Planner, Ardupilot, Pixhawk and Taranis. This round it's AutoTune, Arducopter, MP, Configuring Pixhawk and the Taranis Taranis X9d+2019 SE /Pixhawk/Mission Planner 1.3.77 and (the brand new, just today) Arducopter 4.2.0 Auto tune seems such a straight forward config: Step 1a: in MP =Config/Extended Tuning/RC7 (or RC8) Opt/AutoTune - - Write Params Step 1b: in MP=Setup/Radio Calibration - - Check Switch Operation Step 2 : In the Taranis X9d+2019SE: Setup a switch for Ch 7 or 8. Inputs/I7 or I8/Input Name/Input Source Ok: Inputs/I7 or I8/Input Name/Input Source (I tried SA- and SD-) (There's a "Switch" line just under the "Modes" line I'm unsure to set it with anything or not) Problem submitted for solution: Can't get either SA- or SD- to activate the Radio 7 // Radio 8 slide in MP. I've tried: Setting inputs with and without mixes, included setting the name in the Outputs, Setting Mixes with both Ch 7 and Ch 8 as name ATune, Switch SA- and SD-, Logical switches with Special Functions to override Ch7 and CH8 (Just as with Modes) But I cannot get the Radio Calibration test to reflect Radio 7 or 8 switching. I have not tried sticking my tongue out while wearing my britches backward........yet Any idea what I missed? Thank you, btw, for all you've helped with so far.

Hi,i am looking to build a f450 quadcopter,as base frame has a pcb board for the esc,s and battery i was wondering can i add a Matek Mini Power Hub also to run leds of?Also where would i run it of the base frame pcb?Any info would be great.thx

Hi! In the Autotrim procedure, I understand that first you have to set de pitch, yaw and roll to 1500 using the trim buttons in the front of the transmitter, right? When the 25s flight has been done, am I supposed to set the trims again to neutral position or am I to leave them at the position I had set them at the first step of the procedure? Thanks!

I am using APM 2.8 with a DX6i. How do I get the channel 7 autotune to work with a 6 channel radio?

Can I somehow bind channel 6 to either alt. hold or autotune. I only have a 6-channel transmitter (spektrum DX6i) and I'm using PPM. The only option I've found is "Altititude hold kP" in the standard params, but I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Hi, thanks for posting. I am trying to bench test auto-tune first, but I am not sure how to do that?! I mapped channel 7 in MP to be Auto-tune. I power up my Pixhawk and arm it. After arming it, I increase the throttle to around 30%. After that, I switch to Alt-Hold. Once on Alt-Hold, I flip my channel 7 switch (SF on my Taranis) and I get a message on MP saying "Auto-tune stopped"??? Flipping the switch back doe not make the message go away?! Any ideas?! Thanks, G.

Very good this video. Can we try this on APM 2.8??

Excuse me, how can I use the Autotune with a Mod flysky i6 with 10 channel, FSiA6 receiver no PPM and flight controller Apm 2.6 ? Thank you.

I have a quick question for you or any of your subscribers who can answer... How do I get Terminal and all the other screen options for Mission Planner? I have an APM 2.8 and latest version of Mission Planner, but when I watch your videos and other youtubers, it seems I am missing a lot of available sub-menus for Mission Planner. Can you or anyone please help. Thanks a bunch!

I am under the impression that the Cheerson CX-20 uses the APM 2.5. Do you know if these work with the CX-20?

Hello sir I have a quad with specification 920kv motor 30a esc Dji f450 frame Fsi6 ts and rx 1045 propeller Currently iam using 11.1 2200mah 30c rating It gives me flight time of just 3min I want to build a li ion pack I got full confidence after watching ur video ur just awsome Pls suggest which is the best lithium ion cell and in which configuration should I arrange them thanks for reading

hy i have try setting up autotrim but the wind pick up & now i would like to get it back to the same setting i had before is there a way to do dat? thnx

I have a quadcopter and i'm using pixhawk, i calibrated esc like 3-4 times, but still all four motors don't rotate at same speed. I found out that the motor's rotation can be fixed by using mission planner. I tried, but couldn't figure out which one to change. Can you tell me how it can be done? And also its an informative video, will try this after my drone get up and running.

Morning..if I update my mision planner will this affect my quad?

HELP HELP HELP!!!!! spent all day setting it up and it flys but the gains are too high and the thing shakes like mad!! so i need to do auto tune but my version of APM Planner doesnt have the screen or option to enter that screen a 8:48. Its version 2.0.15 of the software :) please help lol

what should be the initial position of the trim buttons while doing the autotrim?

Hi can u please help when I try to select auto tune in mission planner the CH7 opt has no options in it it's just blank

after you disarm for autotune do you put the trim on the transmitter back to the middle?

What is a good radio for a Hexacopter S550

Should i perform autotrim or autotune on the APM if my quadcopter is moving towards its left?

Hello Painless First I enjoy your videos, they are very instructive. Now I'm on Chapter 7 and you're on channel 7 and 8 for the Auto-Tune but I have no channel 7 and 8 , I only have six channels , how do I solve this . Is there another way to do the Auto-Tune ? Thank you Greetings Henk

Hi, i'm having a small problem with my APM, it will only fly with full up and left trim on the right stick, is it possible to have that trim in place when I fly in autotrim? Will autotrim even fix this?

hi bro.. very pleased with ur informative apm videos. . thanks 2 u i got my apm flying osmm... but after 2 weeks I now face a new problem with altitude hold. . my quad jumps up and down when I use the barometer. . it also effects loiter mode.. but no effect in position hold mode... i tried replacing foarm inside the apm 2.6 hardcase but no use .. tried giving it an external cover and even tried resetting it to defaults and programmed it from the beginning. . please help me .. my setup.. .dji f450 frame sunnysky x2212 980kv carbon fibre 1047 simon k 30A 5000mah 3s 20c apm 2.6 with external gps and power module flysky fs-th9x my quad is flying superb in stablise mod... i have been trying hard to find a solution but found none working. . hope ull help. .. thanks in advance. .

hey.can u help me...i forgot how to connect the receiver to the apm 2.5.and how to arm..:-( i have orange rx dsm2

I am a beginner at apm and quadcopter too .... so what should I do first which videos to watch ??? What martial to buy ?? Help me guys plz :D :D

Is it safe to adjust the trim using the Tx or best to use the autotrim feature?

ahh right thank you, i have a turnigy i6 that has plenty of switches and dials

Hello your videos have been the most help to me for Auto Trim and Auto tune I need your help and advice my tri copter has 2.8 APM with power module .Ch 7 is used by servo .ch 8 is used for 5 volts input to servo. how can I set up . my radio is Futaba 8J.

I was working on this tonight, it was dead calm. I ran it for about 5 minutes and it was still going left/right, never did finish the routine. Is there a way I can do it in less time, I only have seven minutes on my battery time and I used the first 1.5 minutes playing with Auto-Trim.

Can i do auto trim when i'm in alt-Hold ? /\/\ax2206