Fly a mission with the solo flying backwards?

elib · May 2, 2017

I want to have my solo fly fully auto and keep the camera pointed straight behind the whole time. I'm going to chase it with a fpv wing as close as possible.

Before anyone cries this is on private property with someone at the controller of the solo, I just don't want them to have to be repositioning the solo constantly. Any ideas?

Some people are using pixhawk based wings with a rear pointing camera but I have a solo already. Some way to mount the gimbal backwards?

Joe Horn · May 2, 2017

By "fly fully auto" do you mean a Solo app "Multi-Point Cable Cam" smart shot? If so, it's easy, since saved MPCC's can be flown in either direction. Just record an MPCC with the camera facing forwards, then re-fly that MPCC backwards (right-to-left in the Solo app), and the camera will nicely be facing backwards as Solo flies the programmed path.

Alternative (not as easy): Record an MPCC along the intended path, but each time you save a waypoint, rotate Solo 180° first. Then rotate it again, fly to the next waypoint, and repeat. When you re-fly that saved MPCC path, the camera will always be facing backwards, since its position was stored that way.

hackbard23 · May 2, 2017

you can´t place the gimbal backwards, if solo rolls left, gimbal rolls to the opposite direction....
this will cause the gimbal to roll also left when it is pointing backwards, resulting in full tilt to one side.

you can check this by unscrewing your gimbal with cables connected and solo turned on - than hold solo and gimbal in hand and roll your solo

Maddog · May 2, 2017

hackbard23 said:
you can´t place the gimbal backwards, if solo rolls left, gimbal rolls to the opposite direction....
this will cause the gimbal to roll also left when it is pointing backwards, resulting in full tilt to one side.

you can check this by unscrewing your gimbal with cables connected and solo turned on - than hold solo and gimbal in hand and roll your solo

No, you can't but Solo will fly the mission backwards with the camera pointed "behind" it.

Andru · May 2, 2017

This will solve your problem?

RichWest · May 2, 2017

If you're talking mission planner, I believe there is a setting for orientation of the bird. Can't remember what though....like a wp adjustment.

andrew.baker.142 · May 3, 2017

Or you can just mount the camera facing backwards on the fixed mount.

Pedals2Paddles · May 4, 2017

In an auto mission, there is no good or easy way to do this. You would have to use the CONDITION_YAW command to repoint the yaw opposite the heading after every waypoint. Which would also make using splines impossible. This would be unreliable and messy. Your best bet is a MPCC smart shot. You can set the yaw to do whatever you want.

elib · May 4, 2017

I was hoping to use mission planner as when we fly in a group all of the 2.4ghz rc links gives my solo fits and the range goes way down. If it loses connection during a MPCC it will RTH I'm sure.

Can a MPCC keep running or will I have to "restart" the loop? My dream would be to have it follow a predetermined path until the batter is low then RTH. I guess using MP wouldn't achieve this either. I had just planned on lots of waypoints to get the timing right.

The solo gimbal doesn't have an Internal IMU? I guess I'm more familiar with the iris+. Im almost positive you could reverse the gimbal in that and have it work. Would have the advantage of 900mhz telemetry control to avoid 2.4g.

And finally fixed mount? Really? The idea is to get good video worth posting online. The non-gimbal solo shots I've seen were pretty bad.

Pedals2Paddles · May 4, 2017

It will continue with smart shots the same way it continues with missions. For either to continue when the controller connection is lost, you have to set parameter FS_THR_ENABLE to 2 for continue in auto.