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Hi all,
my pypilot:
rpi 4. 4Go
pypilot HAT
motor controller High power . for a hydrolic pump
I have my pypilot working
I set the remote control, I can engage and stand by with it
no rudder feedback for now on the moter controller.
I am testing at the dock
I engage the pilot => I feel the wheel is "hard" held by the pilot
I clic to change direction a few degree
=> the wheel move a bit and then the pypilot_hat beeps the message "overcurrent_fault starboard"
or "overcurrent_faut port" depending on the direction I chose.
what is going wrong ?
thanks for your advises.
regards
Gildas
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Hi, have you try to adjust the servo.max_current parameter? Default value is 4 amp I think, and surely too low if you are operating with the high power controller and probably a rather powerful motor. This parameter is adjustable by parameter tab in the opencpn Pypilot plugin or by the web app.
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thank you I will try that I left all the default parameters so far, as I did not find other advises in the wiki.
I may try on the boat before end of the week.
regards
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Hi
I tried with 6.5 A , and did the same test,
it looks like the wheel turns a bit more but not that much and I get the same error.
I am a bit afraid to set more Amp without beeing sure of the correct value and the consequences
the hydraulic Linear drive on my boat is LS 40 ST from LECOMBLE and SCHMITT
according to the manuel a protection of 25A is recommended
if I can find all the parameters for this type of hydraulic that would be great
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The motor controller is equipped with this overcurrent mechanism not only for reasons of emergency response, but also to deal with lack of end switches: it will happily kick in when the wheel reaches the end of its travel. Given the 25A protection recommendation, I'd be surprised if 6.5A would be enough, and I'd try 15A easily.
Setting the limit too low will result in dangerous siituations under sail. I've had that in the past; boat would start turning and not turn back because of this error occurring, resulting in an inadvertent gybe. Personally I would set the limit so high that it only kicks in at the end of travel. Some caution advised not to damage the setup mechanically, but if it would not be able handle this, it would not be fit for a boat anyway.
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Yes, you should increase the limit until it only triggers at end of travel.
You arent going to damage the motor controller by setting it to 15 amps or so, but it's possible that it could blow the fuse.
If you have the high power motor controller, it can certainly supply enough current.
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yes I have the high power motor controller with a 30 A fuse on it.
so far I do not have end of travel switches , but do have rudder feedback I should connect hopefully soon
is there command I can use to move step by step like by 5° to make sure it can reach the end of travel ?
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with manual control yes. It is not specifically 5 degrees but is usually moving when you press the button and stops when you release it.
The max_current setting is basically a software fuse, so setting it too high will just cause the motor to draw a lot of current stalled at end of travel, and too low and it will trigger before reaching end of travel.
You can also potentially adjust the slew start speed to slow down acceleration to reduce the inrush current which might allow a lower max_current setting, but the tradeoff is slower response of the drive. It depends on the specific motor and boat.
