Failed! please check thruster 1 and frame setup!

Blue Robotics Software QGroundControl
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i have built an rov using pixhawk and raspberry pi3b and followed all the instruction in software setup and all the sensor calibration…But when i go to motor tab in QGC and click on auto detect it displays “failed! Please check thruster 1 and frame setup!”…But i already setup the frame with bluerov2?vectored…And when i want to tilt the servo camera motor it just keeps on going without stoping and also the thrusters just keep on spinning without stoping even if i disarm the vehicle…how can i solve this? any help will be appreciated

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Hi @ChairmanAlex, welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

That message indicates that when it tried to spin thruster 1, the vehicle didn’t move the way that it expected it to. The auto-direction detection functionality assumes all the thrusters have been connected to the correct places in the Pixhawk, and that the vehicle is in the water, and it tries to determine if any of the thrusters are configured backwards in the firmware. That’s necessary because the thruster windings aren’t consistent, so it’s not known which way they’ll spin by default.

That’s unexpected. It may be worth resetting to the default parameters from the Parameters page.

Also, are you using our Basic ESCs for controlling your thrusters? Other ESCs are often not bidirectional by default, in which case the 1500us “stopped” signal that ArduSub sends by default for all the thrusters may be interpreted as a mid-range throttle signal by ESCs that are configured as single-directional. If that’s the case you’ll either need to get different ESCs, or reconfigure/flash new firmware onto your existing ones to make them bi-directional. This comment may be worth a read :slight_smile:

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Am not using the Basic ESCs because they are not available in my country

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am using quadcopter ESCs which are not labeled…but i will try to flash them to be bidirection

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hi Eliot!! i hve reprogrammed the ESCs and now they are working fyn…they come blank with locked micro controller so i used the pads directly from ESC board with arduino to upload the firmware…many thanks for ur steps

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I have tried all the methods like frame setup , connection and firmware update but still the GCS is showing thruster 1 failed.
The ESC are also working perfectly fine. Kindly suggest any alternative

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Hi @Bibxi123 -
Did you perform the auto-motor direction test with the vehicle floating in the water? If it is static on a table, it will always vail setup, as no motion results from running the thrusters.
You don’t have to use the auto motor setup, you could check each thrusters direction and adjust the parameter if it is reversed from what it should be - I typically do this by “bumping” the appropriate joystick in manual mode while observing the rotation direction. Best of luck!

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Hello @tony-white,
I’m running a 8-thruster configured rov with navigator & continuous power supply.
firmware version: 4.1.1
version: blueos 1.1.1
navigator mounted at yaw270 degree instead of roll90.

issues that I’m facing:

  1. thruster auto detection is continuously FAILING at thruster-1 itself. message is showing to check thruster-1 & frame setup.
  2. rov not moving straight or back, rather in an arc.
  3. stabilize and depth hold modes are not working properly.

I’ve thoroughly checked the ESCs and connections to the navigator. Everything is fine. Thrusters orientation and combinations are all correct.
And yes, I was doing thruster auto calibration while the ROV was inside a water tank.

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Hi @Bibxi123 -
Sorry for the delayed response!
Our software team has confirmed that the auto-detection should work, even with the non-standard Navigator mounting orientation.
To clarify, Thruster 1 responds to controls in manual mode without issue? You should be able to manually configure that motor’s direction…
It is not expected that in Manual mode, the ROV drives straight forwards or backwards, as no active compensation is being done to accomplish this - typically operators run in Stabilize or Depth hold mode by default, with Manual mode helpful for checking motor function or wiggling out of a tricky situation at depth.
How does the ROV behave in Stabilize or Depth hold mode? If the accelerometer and compass have been calibrated poorly, or if the thruster mapping / install location / motor direction is incorrect, the vehicle may “go crazy” when armed?

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