KK2 Auto-level - is it actually a bit rubbish ?

[CurryKitten]

I've had a KK2 board since the original 1.0 release, and at the time it was such a step up from the original KK board it was unreal.  My first video I made I did lots of nose-in LOS flying, and taking my hands of the radio and waving as my Tricopter miraculously didn't crash by itself.  At this point, self-levelling wasn't even wirth bothering with.  There was no method of adjusting the calibration, and it self like you were flying through treacle.

Fast forward now to firmware 1.6, and the big revelation of self-levelling working since 1.4 - but is it actually any good.  I've recently been using 3 mutli's which have been new builds or rebuilds, and I'm flying all of them 99.9% of the time in manual mode.

I'm finding that in self level there can be what I'd call a 'drift', where you start out nicely level, you fly around for 5 minutes, and then suddenly 'level' according to the KK2 is pitched forwards... then after a while it'll correct itself and the world is happy again.

I've also found that in my mini-quad, no matter how much I turned up the gains, the full stick movement in self-levelling hardly gave anything.

I've used manual mode both for flips/loops, and really nice stable slow flying - I can take my hands off the radio and do a little dance if I like, it'll hold in the position I put it in.  Its works brilliantly - whilst I find that auto-level seems to have to work harder to level, and seems to require more effort to get right (before it then drifts out again)

So, is it just me - is anyone flying solidly self-levelling, and if so have you tried manual.... your thoughts please

[Loopdreams]

I never really tried it properly either as I always flew in manual and then I got a CC3D.  I've seen videos where it looks to be working pretty well, though.

[Granpaw Jonah]

I'm really interested to read your post ( I've no experience with the kit you're talking about....soz.. ) as I've been falling out with my gyro recently and am planning to ditch it and just fly myself. I just don't get the stability I was expecting, evident in my footage...my FPV 'plane is the only aircraft I always have to adjust trims in flight. I wonder if as we get more experienced we're better off without it?

[Flyn]

Are kk2's actually crap? - yes!

They're great for cheap disposable platforms but if you want anything with precision forget it.

I ditched mine for a multi wii pro. Much better!!

[FPVSteve]

GJ you probably notice the trim issues more because you have a closer view of what's going on when you're flying FPV than LoS

[CurryKitten]

Are kk2's actually crap? - yes!

They're great for cheap disposable platforms but if you want anything with precision forget it.

I ditched mine for a multi wii pro. Much better!!

I think self-level is crap, but in manual mode, I think the KK2 is fantastic :)  I don't want to get into a which Flight controller is better thing.  But just the fact you can adjust all on the screen whilst on the field, puts it leaps and bounds ahead of many others.  Trouble is with multiwii is that I wouldn't know which one to buy, which board is good/bad/etc.  There's something to be said for an FC with a fixed HW config, it'll at least give the same sort of results.

[Loopdreams]

Yeah, I can't find it now but I think that the most impressive low level quadcopter video I ever saw (anyone know? it was in a park, really, really low through dozens of tiny gaps at full chat) was flown with a KK2, although the chap said he was moving to CC3D which was partly what convinced me to give it a go.  And I've been very impressed.

[dirtyharry]

The self level on my tri drifts the same , if you fly for any length of time in one direction with a bit of gutso it won't level off fully afterwards . Was told by the gurus its vibration.... the camera footage is silky smooth and my previous board ( KK+ with autolevel) works AOK.

May go multiwii one day but the kk2 is just so cheap and easy to use and does what I want from it ,I can't really grumble .

[gtv]

Hi must disagree, I love my KK2, I fly all the time in auto level, no drift at all. My max flight time so far has been around 20mins. if you read the info, they say if it drifts after a while its down to vibration. I am running 1.6++ as I like to lost model feature. I only use manual when I am doing loops and rolls.

[RogerD]

My KK2 holds quite nicely. It does indeed drift a little but not much. They key is the calibration - you must do this when the machine is truly "airborne" level - i.e. balanced and in the air - which is of course near impossible. So people calibrate on the ground with shims under the legs.

Thing is, in the controller, there is an auto level trim that allows you to correct this, then you never need to calibrate again.

For £30 i think it's pretty great. Does not compare to my Naza-M lite - but then it doesn't have the same sensors.

[CurryKitten]

I'm glad you guys are having success with it.  Just to clarify - it's calibrated, I do calibration on the ground, and then do the acc trim by repeatedly hovering, and checking for movement and then landing and  adjusting... repeat until solid. At this point it doesn't drift - I could leave it hovering in my garden for the length of the battery - and aside from wind it would stay put.  The drift comes after I fly around, and it's not always there, not always the same , and after a while it recovers. I don't think I'm particularly aggressive with it, but I also I tend to think if I had serious vibration issues I'd see it in the camera.

If it works for you, then cool - but I'd like to suggest that manual isn't just for rolls/loops, I get the feeling that people think it is, and aren't getting the best out of the board - it's really solid for gentle flying as well,  if you want it to be.

[Brod]

KK2 is a great board,had hundreds of successful flights,aggressive and slow stuff.
if you want selflevel buy a naza,otherwise stick it in manual and enjoy.

heres one of mine from last night,1.5 Acro firmware,flown all manual mode.

sunny night fpv,too nice to stay indoors..

[CurryKitten]

KK2 is a great board,had hundreds of successful flights,aggressive and slow stuff.
if you want selflevel buy a naza,otherwise stick it in manual and enjoy.

Spot on I think.  Lovely flight.. although I kept expecting to see a Bond girl pop up, so was disappointed there.  Lovely tree tunnel - I like the added danger of the fact that there are about 1 million stinging nettles to wade through if you have to go and get your quad back :D

[Brod]

 ;D aye,cant beat a bit of Bond.....the oldies anyway...

only had my sandals on so thought the same :laugh: