As far as what happens with a controller connection loss in flight, taking off in GPS (FLY) and later switching to Manual is the same as taking off in Manual with Solo already having a GPS lock.
Flying Solo in obstructed areas?
- Thread starter XperienceVisuals
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Don't mean to state the obvious, but if you haven't downloaded and/or read Solo's user manual, you probably should -- although some of the nuances of specific scenarios are not covered, most of the basics are.
Here's a link to the manual: Solo User Manual | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology
If you have GPS when you arm your motors for that flight, the Solo will return to that spot with RTH as long as it has a GPS lock when you ask it to do that. So you can take off manually after arming the motors.
You can do that. In the app go to settings then to advanced settings. There, turn on advanced flight modes. Once solo and the controller are on and connected you can go into the app, Solo settings.
From there you will see the advanced flight modes. To use one you need to link it to the A or B switch on the controller. You can then use it when you want to.
I have Fly: Manual linked to my B button so I can quickly switch if I lose GPS.
From there you will see the advanced flight modes. To use one you need to link it to the A or B switch on the controller. You can then use it when you want to.
I have Fly: Manual linked to my B button so I can quickly switch if I lose GPS.
you really should familiarize yourself with the manual on this product. Not knowing things can put your expensive drone in danger not to mention hurt people.
You have to map one of your buttons, most use A to fly manual. This is done in the solo APP under settings
You have to map one of your buttons, most use A to fly manual. This is done in the solo APP under settings
Thanks for your concern. I have read the manual. I just haven't wanted to fly in manual mode just yet. Thought I would pick the brains of all the smarter and more experienced here and see if everything works as expected. Given how things have been for Solo so far, I didn't want to take anything for granted.
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No need to fear manual mode. Take the solo up in a hover about 10' on a calm day and switch to manual. You will be hard pressed to see a difference in the Solo as it will just sit there unitl you move it or a breeze moves it. See below.
Thanks. I will give it a try soon. By the way, your avatar is familiar to me but I can't place it exactly. What is it from?
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I saw an Inspire at the beach and was thinking man that thing is fast. Then I remembered that I had mine set on turtle while I learn. Last night I went manual and pushed my performance up to rabbit. DANG. scared the heck out of me at first. got used to it after awhile and lost my inspire envy
What about flying under bridges, etc? Manual mode is the only way to go I assume, but I'm scared that if I'm under the bridge, and the connection is lost, the drone will just fly up trying to RTH and crash and fall into the water.
The particular bridge I want to fly under is very small, and over a small creek. So, it's not like a highway bridge over a river or anything. Should I avoid the idea all together to be safe?
I mean, I think the whole point of a drone though, to a videographer, is to capture unique shots. If you can't control different/complicated shots such as going under a bridge, then the drone is pretty limited.
The particular bridge I want to fly under is very small, and over a small creek. So, it's not like a highway bridge over a river or anything. Should I avoid the idea all together to be safe?
I mean, I think the whole point of a drone though, to a videographer, is to capture unique shots. If you can't control different/complicated shots such as going under a bridge, then the drone is pretty limited.
Does NOT matter what mode you take off in,...
If you have a gps fix before takeoff it WILL RTL. REGARDLESS of what mode you are in at the time.
If you takeoff (in manual) WITHOUT a gps fix, but get a gps fix during flight, it will still RTL, However it will return to where it found the 3d gps fix not from where you started.
Hope this helps clear it up a bit!
Like the latest firmware by the way, tried to "break" it this afternoon. Just couldn't make it do anything wrong!
If you have a gps fix before takeoff it WILL RTL. REGARDLESS of what mode you are in at the time.
If you takeoff (in manual) WITHOUT a gps fix, but get a gps fix during flight, it will still RTL, However it will return to where it found the 3d gps fix not from where you started.
Hope this helps clear it up a bit!
Like the latest firmware by the way, tried to "break" it this afternoon. Just couldn't make it do anything wrong!
You would more than likely loose the gps fix under the bridge which would mean it would go into land mode. Maybe look at the RTL / fail safe parameters and choose land instead of RTL.
Question is, is it better to land and get wet or go up, hit the bridge and probably break something then get wet?
Pretty keen to try it to if I am to be honest, have been eying up a smallish local bridge..... I think the trick would be at one end or the other so the solo can "see" you, then you should maintain control on the way through, if it fails ages on the other side as you climb, it should only be for a short time. Manual is the only way to go for sure!
Right, but I thought in Manual mode, GPS is disabled so if you went under a bridge, it wouldn't matter?
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Correct, if flying in manual it wouldn't matter what GPS signal you had at the time. But if you let it lock on GPS before taking off you will still have the option to RTL if needed, even if in manual mode.
So, if you take off before GPS is locked, you're good? While you're flying, it won't try to get GPS?
Nope, re-read my post above, the fail safe system is actually VERY robust, same as Pixhawk. The thing that is most important is if you have a gps fix at the time of the fail safe.
There are two fail safe modes that operate a bit different to each other.
Let's assume you have a gps fix before you takeoff, flying in manual under a bridge and you have a Comms failure. The solo will go into land mode. This scenario is not effected by the gps lock at the start or no gps lock.
Now we try a very small bridge and we start without a gps lock, as we are flying to bridge about half way to the bridge we obtain a gps lock, we then fly under the bridge, we loose the Comms link. The solo still has GPS fix so it wil come to a stop then climb and RTL. CHANCES ARE YOU WILL LOOSE GPS if you are still under the bridge.
The critical thing is to make sure you don't loose the link between controller and solo while you are under the bridge. If you do it in manual it does not make a difference if you loose GPS or not. If you loose the Comms link THEN the behaviour of the fail safe changes.
So now we try a bigger bridge, a bridge that we will definitely loose GPS. We do it in fly mode. Ie we need GPS, so under the bridge we loose GPS, that is when it will go into land mode because it can not navigate anymore. So if we select manual mode (I always have manual on button A) then we regain control and can fly out.
Hope this clears it up!
There are two fail safe modes that operate a bit different to each other.
Let's assume you have a gps fix before you takeoff, flying in manual under a bridge and you have a Comms failure. The solo will go into land mode. This scenario is not effected by the gps lock at the start or no gps lock.
Now we try a very small bridge and we start without a gps lock, as we are flying to bridge about half way to the bridge we obtain a gps lock, we then fly under the bridge, we loose the Comms link. The solo still has GPS fix so it wil come to a stop then climb and RTL. CHANCES ARE YOU WILL LOOSE GPS if you are still under the bridge.
The critical thing is to make sure you don't loose the link between controller and solo while you are under the bridge. If you do it in manual it does not make a difference if you loose GPS or not. If you loose the Comms link THEN the behaviour of the fail safe changes.
So now we try a bigger bridge, a bridge that we will definitely loose GPS. We do it in fly mode. Ie we need GPS, so under the bridge we loose GPS, that is when it will go into land mode because it can not navigate anymore. So if we select manual mode (I always have manual on button A) then we regain control and can fly out.
Hope this clears it up!
Ok, thank you for your advise and help. This is a small bridge off a bike path, I think I should be fine as I will have a clear view through the bridge so the controller and Solo will remain in connection with one another (comms). I plan to fly quickly through it, so it should only be a matter of seconds. But, I will be surrounded by trees, so I don't know what I should do in case things go haywire, lol.
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