User Manual

USER GUIDE
87
8.1.3 PID Tuning
The “High Perf Mini Quad” model type includes default PID gains and settings that are tuned for 250mm frames
and smaller. Adjusting the Basic Pitch/Roll/Yaw gains may be sufficient to get a high performance tune, but if
you find that this doesn’t provide the performance you require, a full PID tuning process is detailed here.
This process is designed to push your model to the edge of instability. Moderate pilot skills and a safe area are
required. Be careful!!!
Important: The Vector uses a “PID” inner/outer control loop, similar to other advanced flight
controllers. However, it’s important to remember that numeric PID tuning values are NOT interchangeable
between flight controller types!
Step 1: Proportional Gain (3D Mode)
In either the OSD stick menus or the software, zero out the Integral and Derivative components of the Inner
Pitch and Roll fields. Leave the Yaw PID gains at their defaults.
Once you have only Proportional Gain set for the Inner Pitch and Roll axes, perform a series of test hovers in 3D
Mode, increasing your Inner Proportional gain for these axes until you start to see oscillations manifest
following a sharp tap on the control stick. These oscillations should be small and rapid, petering out in less than
one or two seconds. If the oscillations last longer than this, reduce the Proportional gain until they no longer
do.
Multishot Note: For frames configured for 4 and 8kHz Multishot, these small oscillations may be so small and
rapid that you might not notice them visually. Instead, listen for when your motors start to sound “twitchy”
when responding to sharp control assertions. There may only be a couple of discrete oscillations before the
system re-stabilizes. Disabling Pitch/Roll Expo in the MicroVector for the duration of the tuning process can
help make these oscillations more visible. Note that releasing the stick so that it bounces on its gimbal springs
will introduce an impossible control command that does not constitute a valid tuning perturbation.