0.7: Troubleshooting, Repair, and Maintenance

Troubleshooting is the process of finding out the cause of a problem through a series of testing various guesses. You probably troubleshoot every day without knowing it! Think of all the steps you take when your TV remote, computer, cell phone, or other appliance stop working. You might turn it off and on again, test new batteries, or find out something was stuck. Similarly, you may need to troubleshoot your drone from time to time.

For CoDrone EDU, you can prevent most issues by following the pre-flight checklist you learned about in a previous lesson.

The new propeller can be pushed onto the shaft of the motor. Be sure it’s fully inserted, so it doesn’t detach during flight. Make sure that the replacement propeller’s rotation is correct, and perform a quick flight check.

If the propeller is in good condition, but you are experiencing drift or a motor not spinning, you may need to replace the motor. Use this visual guide to inspect your motors. A damaged motor may cause damage to the drone when taking off.

Take note of which motor is in which position. You will need to remember this when you replace the motor. Always replace a motor with the same color wires.

There are many other common issues that you may encounter while using CoDrone EDU. Before frantically alerting your classmates, teacher, or coach, always ask yourself if you’ve followed all the basic checks you’ve learned about so far.

• Are my batteries fully charged?
• Am I aiming the antenna at the drone?
• Is my controller in the right state for piloting?
• What speed am I on?
• Did I pair correctly?
• Did I remember to clean my propellers and check my motors?
• Should I replace anything?
• Did I trim my drone?

Challenge yourself to come up with your own troubleshooting checklist and flow chart that you can follow. With practice, you will become in expert in troubleshooting your drone and controller.