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TIPS and TRICKS

MOBULA7 UPGRADE: Betaflight 4, PIDS and Filters

17/6/2019

16 Comments

 
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The Happymodel Mobula7 uses a F3 based flight controller and since Betaflight 3.4, these boards have not had full functionality of F4 and F7 boards due to smaller memory size for firmware storage. However in this article I will cover how to upgrade to the performance edition of Betaflight 4.04 kindly compiled by UAVTech (his in depth YouTube Channel is here). This special version adds the key performance functions at the cost of typically irrelevant features like servo control, acro trainer, camera control etc. In this article I will show you where to access this firmware and then I'll show you the filters that suit brushless whoops best as well as some good starting PIDs. 
This is the seventh and likely final article in my series of HappyModel Mobula7 upgrades, many of which can be used for the Trashcan too. Also to come are:
  • Swapping to a much more durable frame​
  • Improving the battery connector for more power
  • converting to run 'props out' 
  • Long term propeller upgrade recommendations​
  • Converting your 1s batteries into a true 2s battery
  • receiver range improvement​
All links will be updated here when completed. Many of these I've completed the work and am testing at present - it's starting to feel like a more complete little quad now. If you're looking for my review of the mobula7 including setup it can be found here
Betaflight 4 Performance edition for F3 boards
This is the final version of Betaflight you can use and I strongly recommend you use this version rather than the one on the Betaflight configurator to get full performance functionality otherwise you will miss out on features like:
  • Gyro Lowpass2
  • Launch Control (optional - OFF by default)
  • Dynamic Lowpass Filters (Dyn_LPF) (ON by default)
  • D-term Minimum (D_min) (ON by default)
  • Throttle Boost (ON by default)
  • iTerm Relax (ON by default)
  • RC Smoothing - Filter (ON by default)
  • TPA Mode - D-term ONLY option (ON by default)
Download the custom file below at the GITHUB source. SKIP THIS STEP FOR THE EACHINE TRASHCAN
For FRSKY built-in receiver
betaflight_4.0.4_crazybeef3fr_performance.hex
File Size: 679 kb
File Type: hex
Download File

For Flysky built-in receiver
betaflight_4.0.4_crazybeef3fs_performance.hex
File Size: 646 kb
File Type: hex
Download File

Filter setup
I'll keep this simple and will recommend the community preset for 'brushless' whoop (credit again to UAV Tech). Filters are customised to the higher RPM (hence frequency that these small motors run and resonate at. This is more important than the PIDs Copy/paste below into your CLI:

set gyro_lowpass_type = PT1
set dyn_notch_min_hz = 150
set dyn_lpf_gyro_min_hz = 150
set dyn_lpf_gyro_max_hz = 750
set dyn_lpf_dterm_min_hz = 150
set dyn_lpf_dterm_max_hz = 250
set dterm_lowpass_type = BiQUAD
set dterm_lowpass2_hz = 0

Alternatively you can enter into the Betaflight GUI as per the screenshot below. Note: I recommend these settings for all brushless whoops including the Mobula7, Eachine Trashcan, Emax Tinyhawk etc.
Picture
Recommended PIDs
I've seen no need to change the PIDs that are also recommended in the community presets. Once oscillations are taken care of PIDs are more of a 'feel' thing. I've been happy with these PIDs, they are certainly better for me than default:

set vbat_pid_gain = ON
set anti_gravity_gain = 5000
set p_pitch = 33
set i_pitch = 85
set d_pitch = 35
set p_roll = 28
set i_roll = 78
set d_roll = 32
set d_min_pitch = 18
set d_min_roll = 16
set d_min_boost_gain = 30
set d_min_advance = 0

And again with the screenshot if you'd prefer (click to embiggen):
Picture
Picture
My Diff All
If you want to use or review betaflight exactly as I run it on my own Mobula7, I have attached my "Diff All" file below:
quadifyrc_mob7_beta_4.04_performance_diff_all.txt
File Size: 2 kb
File Type: txt
Download File

Summary of software improvements
Wow. Not since I've flown my NFE silverware brushed whoop have I enjoyed so much control. I'm not a great pilot but even flying at night in poor lighting conditions I felt fast and largely in control. Flight was predictable and I was able to put the quad where I wanted practically all of the time. Below is a DVR of me flying at night in my backyard. There's no wind which is a welcome relief. This flight was done with a 75% throttle limit on a 2s 300mah battery and low rates (about 300 deg/s max on yaw, pitch, roll). I hope you enjoy these settings as much as I do.
And this will round out my series of Mobula7 upgrades. It's been fun tinkering with this very popular brushless quad for the last few months and these software settings finally connect all the hardware improvements and customisations I've made over this series. Click here to see all of them
Thanks for reading, if you found this article useful please feel free to like or share, the facebook links below directly link/like this article. Links are affiliated and help me buy the bits I need to produce this type of content. If you are looking for quads or parts check out my coupons and discounts page which I keep updated with only the parts and quads I like at a proper discount.

​My favourite parts for the mobula7/trashcan:
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Propellers: Gemfan 1635 These props have stood the test of time and are still the best in 2020. Consider the 4 bladed 1636 if you want more control
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Frame: Mobula7 V2. I prefer the performance of this frame over the v3 and it is stronger than the V1
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Batteries: GNB 2s 300mah are simply the best batteries for this quad. 4 pack is great value or buy indivually here
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Battery holder: Rubber band These are the perfect size for your mobula7. 
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Happymodel XT30 Plug Pigtail If you want to go to XT30, this cable includes a capacitor and is very cheap
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Happymodel EX1102 Brushless Motor Larger 1102 sized motors that will fit your mobula7 that will give you better power and speed. I'd recommend 13500kv and a 1mm shaft for the mobula 7. Standard 0802 replacement motors are here
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$2 E6000 glue. This glue has some flex and is perfect for plastic frames. Think of it like am improved hot melt glue. Make sure you have some in your tool box.
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FRSKY XM receiver. If you can't handle the barely adequate range of the SPI receiver, this supersmall receiver will greatly reduce your range on FRSKY
16 Comments
jack
5/7/2019 10:46:10 pm

FInally good PIDs for me:D Thanks!
On my Mobula7 (frame v2, some vibrations due to gyro or props), after upgrading to official BF 4.0.2 my motors were very hot after 1 minute of slow flying. I set some PIDs, with D as low as I could (below 25,27 were oscilations) and some filter testing but problem was still exists.
With much lower "P" (as you show), and higher "I" now motors are still warm, not so hot like before.

profile 0
set vbat_pid_gain = ON
set iterm_rotation = ON
set p_pitch = 35
set i_pitch = 85
set d_pitch = 28
set f_pitch = 60
set p_roll = 35
set i_roll = 85
set d_roll = 25
set f_roll = 60
set p_yaw = 45
set f_yaw = 100
set d_min_roll = 16
set d_min_pitch = 18
set d_min_boost_gain = 30
set d_min_advance = 10

rateprofile 0

set throttle_limit_type = SCALE
set throttle_limit_percent = 90

Reply
Quadify RC
29/7/2019 04:40:10 pm

Glad that it worked for you. I think the filters may actually me more beneficial than the PIDs since they are more tuned for the higher frequency that these tiny motors operate at - try them as well in case you haven't already.

Reply
Kakao
30/7/2019 06:16:43 pm

Hello, can you post this for BFL 4.0 for the F4 boards?

Reply
Kakao
2/8/2019 05:56:25 pm

THANK YOU!

I had terrible washouts before which are now gone. I tried multiple PIDs before but no improvements. I guess the vibrations were the issue and this helps a lot!

I flashed BFL 4.0.4 and did all these things. Works great!

My setup:
Crazybee F4 Pro FC
0803 16000KV motors
V3 frame
EOS2 + 200mW VTX combo
Gemfan 3blade props
Props out
GNB 2s 350mAh HV battery

Reply
Quadify RC
7/8/2019 08:58:45 am

My pleasure. Glad to hear it worked well even with the V3 frame and the heavier battery. Happy flying!

Reply
Jace
2/9/2019 08:14:44 am

LED strip doesn't seem to work in this version of the firmware

Reply
Quadify RC
9/9/2019 12:47:22 pm

Probably not - most 'unnecessary' features needed to be stripped to make room for the flight performance goodies. Simply not enough memory for it all on a F3 processor.

Reply
BrinkFPV
29/10/2019 04:29:01 pm

Hello JACE

They do work on F3 boards. Needs to be set via CLI

https://github.com/betaflight/betaflight/issues/8090

Full LED support has been removed for F3 flight controllers starting with Betaflight 3.5 because the F3 processor is out of flash space. So 3.5 had no LED support at all, but in 4.0 some basic support was added back in for F3's. There are two modes (controlled by ledstrip_profile) that will work:

First is a single color "race mode":

set ledstrip_profile = RACE

set ledstrip_race_color = ORANGE
Allowed values: BLACK, WHITE, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, LIME_GREEN, GREEN, MINT_GREEN, CYAN, LIGHT_BLUE, BLUE, DARK_VIOLET, MAGENTA, DEEP_PINK
Next is "beacon mode" that flashes a selected color and pattern:

set ledstrip_profile = BEACON

set ledstrip_beacon_color = WHITE
Allowed values: BLACK, WHITE, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, LIME_GREEN, GREEN, MINT_GREEN, CYAN, LIGHT_BLUE, BLUE, DARK_VIOLET, MAGENTA, DEEP_PINK

set ledstrip_beacon_period_ms = 500
Allowed range: 50 - 10000

set ledstrip_beacon_percent = 50
Allowed range: 0 - 100

set ledstrip_beacon_armed_only = OFF
Allowed values: OFF, ON

Reply
Quadify RC
29/10/2019 08:42:57 pm

Nice information, thanks for sharing!

Scott
23/12/2019 07:54:27 pm

I am not able to get my LED on my Mobula7 working. It was working before on my old 3.5.7. Just flashed the Performance Edition of 4.1.1 EA3. Tried the CLI commands and it is off. Does overclocking through the LED off?

Tyler durden
9/11/2019 06:55:58 pm

I used this tune but updated to the latest 4.1 performance edition and flashed JESC (cost. 5$) and now have rpm filtering and wow it flies amazing, highly recommend trying it if you have the time.

Reply
Quadify RC
11/11/2019 11:36:40 am

Yeah that is defenitely the way to go now. It was always about getting the filters right rather than pids to make micros and bigger quads fly better and now rpm filtering does this flawlessly.

I'm going to choose a toothpick and whoop style quad to do this on and will write and article up. I need to by me some JESC licences for sure.

Reply
MICHAEL LABUSCHAGNE
18/12/2019 10:08:59 am

hi there .. i have trashcan and upgrade to bf 4.1 and jesc upgrade but for some reason no matter what i do my motors remain scorching hot and quad sometime unpredictable especially roll after back flip power loop type move my quad seems to bee extremly twitchy.. running standard pid and filters by j bardwell..really strange cause except for hot motors my eachine reddevil does the same actually causing huge crashes...2s on trashcan and 3s very bad on reddevil...very desperate but very frustrated...please help..

Brennan
12/11/2019 05:20:26 am

Are you running the filter settings above with RPM enabled, or did you you make any tweaks?

Reply
Robert Moore
24/1/2020 09:23:53 am

Tyler how did u flash jesc?

Reply
Alec Moffat
14/3/2020 04:42:32 am

Did we loose led with 4.1? Did you use the same setting in 4.1 as 4.0?

Thanks in advance.

Reply



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