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Naze32 rev 6 UART 2 troubleshooting

broschb

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I'm just exploring building a drone, and learning way more than I knew a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun to build a drone with the kids, and decided to give building a flone a try. I am learning just how out of date the recommendations provided are, including the outdated Naze32.

I am stuck on getting the bluetooth module to receive commands over the UART. I have tried UART1, UART2, and even configuring a SoftSerial, I can't get any commands to come over. I am able to connect to the bluetooth module over serial using a UsbTTY cable. I have verified the Baud and am connecting correctly. Is there any way to verify the rx/tx are working correctly? I have flashed several builds of cleanflight, and am now using the last supported build of beta flight for the Naze32

I would really like to get this working, and if the kids and I have fun look to build something on newer hardware. I am thinking if I get a receiver/transmitter and skipping the bluetooth module may be the next step, but I'm not sure if I would run into other transmission issues with the flight controller, with that as well.

Any recommendations on how to troubleshoot the UART communication would be appreciated.

Also any recommendations on entry level receivers/transmitters that won't break the bank would be appreciated as well.
 
Have you already bought everything for that build? I would steer you away if you haven't. The weight is going to make that build difficult to learn to fly, and more delicate in crashes.
I don't know anything about the Naze, I can't really help you there.
For a transmitter I would recommend the taranis QX7S and the receiver I like is the FrSky R-XSR


A kit like this is a cheap entry option that you can build yourself. There is some soldering required though.
 
I agree with RTK, there is a reason the hobby doesn't use Naze32 boards anymore, it's not that they can't fly, but they will never fly very well. If you like to tinker and be frustrated, then all is well, but if you want to get out and actually fly it leaves a lot to be desired. It really bothers me that these kinds of "projects" exist out there that have people spending good money after bad when they are new to the hobby and don't know any better. You can get started with something truly flyable in the 5 inch prop range for under $300 including goggles for FPV, and even less for Line Of Sight only (no goggles), but this is just plain garbage with absolutely no support. When I went to the "Flone" web page I was appalled at the parts they are suggesting, and this quad would never be anything more than dangerous novelty item. Like I said, it just chaps my grits that they would advertise this garbage, instead of an actually flyable quad for the same money, with much newer hardware and tons of support in the community.

In looking closely at the parts list I see issues right from the start...

1. Naze32 isn't supported anymore as far as Flight Controller firmware goes, and that means this thing would never do anything but hover and dangerously move around at best.

2. SimonK ESC firmware is ancient, and again, support just doesn't exist in the community anymore.

3. The are calling out a motor with a 3mm push on prop shaft, but call out 6" tri-blades with a 5mm mounting hole, so the use of an adapter is needed. These things are not toys, and we consider then whirling twirling ninja blades of death if not respected, and these specs are indeed a dangerous combination.

4. It is highway robbery to sell these pieces, at these prices, with the illusion of flying as the result, it's truly laughable.

We would be glad to point you in the right direction if you are interested, but please be very careful with this Flone project, the word Jalopy comes to mind.

IMHO
 
Thanks for the feedback and honesty @rtkDarling and @HighTechPauper.

I've learned so much starting this project, and unfortunately followed some outdated and poor recommendations. I started this as something to do with the kids to allow us all to learn and build something we can enjoy together, and I would definitely like to continue and finish this project as we are all really excited about this. But I want to make sure we are doing it in a safe way.

I like the idea of building this out as much as possible so we can learn, and building is half the fun of these projects for me. Is any of the equipment purchased so far usable, with upgrades as we get more into it? Based on what I have seen I'm thinking the motors may be the only part that isn't super dated, but I may be wrong there as well.

I am thinking starting with a Taranis QX7 for the transmitter with the recommended R-XSR receiver. Are there recommended ESC, Flight controller, and frame to keep the project moving without breaking the bank too bad? To start I'm just looking at line of sight flying.

Thanks again for all the help!
 
I would build it out just like it is, it is not worth "updating" anything on it. If the time comes that you get it to arm the motors and hover, it will be an easy task to remove the extra phone and the Bluetooth, and replace them with the R-XSR (or even a less expensive one like the XM or XM+) and fly it with the QX7 TX.

I know (just) enough to help you possibly, and my first question is, what are you using to configure the FC? There will be settings in it to let it know where to expect the control signals from the Bluetooth, though I am not 100% sure what those settings might be since it must "emulate" some control protocol and I am unfamiliar with this kind of "RX" setup.

Also, as a final statement on this "quad", since you need 2 phones to make it work, I would fear for the on board phones life expectancy so I hope you have something durable and cheap in mind that will work LOL ;)
 
Thanks @HighTechPauper for the flight controller I have used both betaflight and cleanflight, I have been able to flash the FC with the latest supported Naze32 build for each.

I am struggling to get the bluetooth module to receive any signal from UART2 I have also tried configuring softserial and see similar results. I currently have it wired to UART2 on the Naze which should be pins 3&4. Let me know if you have any recommendations on what to check.Screen Shot 2019-08-20 at 6.40.18 PM.pngScreen Shot 2019-08-20 at 6.36.53 PM.png

Since I am not able to get that working I was thinking of adding the R-XSR to try.

I am able to pair to bluetooth and have confirmed that it is configured on 115200.

I don't believe it needs both phones, the one on the drone was just to record video if wanted.
 
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Ok, first off, stick with Betaflight, Cleanflight is ancient. What rev of BF is the latest Naze supported?
Next, turn off MSP for Softserial one.
You are sure you have the BT TX going to the RX on UART2?
Did you get any doc with the BT module? If so can I see it or tell me where to download it from.
 
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The latest supported version is 3.1.0, I have that loaded on my FC
I verified TX is going into RX, and have even tried switching to validate
No doc with the bluetooth module, based on what I am able to tell connecting to it via serial on my pc it is a version of the HC-05 bluetooth module, see below for configuration of module. While connected I am able to send and receive commands including renaming the device("drone")Screen Shot 2019-08-20 at 10.05.34 PM.png
 
Just a little story to highlight my main concern with the Naze board...

When I got my first quad it had a F3 FC and was preloaded with BF 3.2.0 (newer than what you can run) and I would configure it and test it and it would work.
But then after just a few minutes the Receiver tab would stop showing my stick inputs. I would google and research and try different things, but nothing would work. So thinking I was making a mistake somehow I would reflash the FC and configure from scratch all over again, it would work, and then again after a few minutes it would stop again. It was driving me nuts for over 2 weeks, I went back and forth, reflash, configure, it would work, and then it would stop working without any changes to the config. A number of times I would start from scratch, and get as far as arming the quad, put on props and go outside to lean test and hover, and nothing would work. It was driving me mad to be honest, and having been a troubleshooter for 30+ years in the Telecom industry I couldn't find any common thread except time and replugging in the battery.

Initially I had wanted to get things working on the rev of BF it came with, thinking I would update it once I knew it all worked as advertised. But by this time I was so frustrated, and given my track record in my career of being able to isolate and reproduce issues, I was at a loss to understand what was happening. So after 2+ weeks of pulling out my hair I decided that, rather than go through all this just to have to update and start all over AGAIN, I would update the BF and at least once I figured it out I wouldn't have to deal with it for a while and could finally go fly.

So I updated to the latest (3.3.1 at that time) and configured from scratch (again) and guess what... it never failed! Went back to 3.2.0, kept failing within 15 minutes of testing, update to 3.3.1 again, and it would be solid as a rock.

The moral of the story for me was that 3.2.0 must have some issue with the firmware and I left it on 3.3.1 and never looked back again. Since then I have updated to the latest many times and never had an issue, though I admit the first rev 4 BF gave me big problems so I have stayed at 3.5.7 until BF rev 4 is more stable and better understood.

What I am trying to say here is that the BF rev could be the cause of all your trouble, and while there should be some CLI commands or configuration items that may straighten this out, much of that expertise has been lost to time.

After reconsidering all the info provided and reading fairly thoroughly through the Flone documentation, here are my thoughts...

I think your best bet to get this working would be to have the exact rev of Cleanflight Configurator and load the rev that worked for these people, but I just don't know where to get all this from. There is a group where all the "old hats" in this hobby reside called RCGroups, it is POSSIBLE that making a post over there might help to get some insight as to what you can do, but to be honest, I still think it is good money and time spent after bad.

It seems the ONLY big hurdle you are facing is getting the Bluetooth module output to be seen by the FC receiver input, but I fear this may be insurmountable.
 
I understand that using bluetooth to control the quad over the phone would be a fun project, but with bluetooth you have a limited range (distance-wise) so losing the quad if it went out of radio range would happen easily, unless you configured a failsafe in Cleanflight or Betaflight. I have been using a Frsky Taranus QX7 transmitter & R-XSR or XM+ receivers for a couple of years with no real problems and highly recommend that. I started off using FlySky FS-i6 transmitter with FS-IA6 or FS-IA6B receivers. They worked ok, but the range was limited so I switched to the FrSky combo mentioned above and never looked back.
 
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