iOS Update with Multi Point Cable Cam, Save & Load Cables, Time Lapse & Free Look

[RichWest]

I just want more detail than the marketing material.

Ed there's tons of info...ArduCopter is a subset of ArduPilot - ArduPilot | Open source autopilot

To get to the point of Solo, which is a branch of ArduCopter, you'll need to dig into the Solo GitHub branch - GitHub - 3drobotics/ardupilot-solo

Everything is absolute regarding autonomous flights, which MPCC is. Mission Planner, Tower and others use the GPS coordinates to find the defined waypoint. Further it's more efficient.

Relative waypoints would be a mistake waiting to happen, imho. Say for example the bird is turned 10 degrees off position, you've just made a calculation mistake. Those 10 degrees adds up to a large offset at 100'.

Thanks for the detailed video. It appeared to hit the mark at every turn.

Seems MPCC is everything I would have hoped for...game changer. #fly3dr

 

[Ed Beck]

Ed there's tons of info...ArduCopter is a subset of ArduPilot - ArduPilot | Open source autopilot

To get to the point of Solo, which is a branch of ArduCopter, you'll need to dig into the Solo GitHub branch - GitHub - 3drobotics/ardupilot-solo

Everything is absolute regarding autonomous flights, which MPCC is. Mission Planner, Tower and others use the GPS coordinates to find the defined waypoint. Further it's more efficient.

Relative waypoints would be a mistake waiting to happen, imho. Say for example the bird is turned 10 degrees off position, you've just made a calculation mistake. Those 10 degrees adds up to a large offset at 100'.

Thanks for the detailed video. It appeared to hit the mark at every turn.

Seems MPCC is everything I would have hoped for...game changer. #fly3dr

THANK YOU!

 

[erikgraham]

Ever since I have the SOLO, I had the problem of flip During landing reported for lot of you. Always land without problems, but never use the AUTO land, always manual. Why do they happen?

Well lets be clear. The language can be a bit confusing.

Auto
When the Solo is doing all the flying (including an Auto mission, or Auto landing). In Auto, the solo uses GPS and its other sensors to fly to way points, or do things like an Auto landing.

For some reason, the few times I've allowed Solo to *Auto* land, its exhibited bad behavior. Usually hopping/bouncing on the ground, which could easily lead to a flip.

Fly
For those of us who flew 3DR before Solo, this used to be called "Loiter." This is a mode where the Solo uses GPS to hold its current position, uses the barometer to maintain altitude, uses the compass to maintain heading, and uses the IMU to stay level. This is the easiest mode to fly around in because as soon as you let go of the sticks, the Solo will stay in that spot (it will loiter in place).

Manual - before the Solo, this was called "ALT Hold." In this mode the drone does not use GPS to hold its position. It will drift with the wind. It does use the baro to hold its altitude (thus the original name "Alt hold"). And it keeps it self level (using the IMU). For the record, there are additional manual modes (like stabilize, sport and acro).

Then there is "Landing Manually"... this can be confusing because we don't mean that you switch to Fly:Manual (aka Alt hold) and then land. We mean that you stay in the GPS assisted Fly mode (aka Loiter), and then land yourself (manually) using the sticks on the controller to set the Solo down gently (keeping the left stick down until the motors shut off). This manual landing is still done with the benefit of GPS in Fly mode to help you fight the wind and keep your position.

The reason why a lot of us land "manually" while in Fly mode, is because Auto Landing seems to lead to so many accidents and tip overs.

There are folks (mostly old timers), who will tell you that you should always take off and land fully manually. These guys really mean that you should be in a true manual mode like Fly:Manual (aka Alt Hold). I used to recommend that myself. It avoided sudden accidents caused by gps glitches. But I don't recommend that anymore. The Solo has enough redundancy built in, that even if you lose GPS near the ground, it won't shoot off like older drones did.

So to sum it up, to "land manually":
- Keep your Solo in FLY mode.
- Reduce altitude slowly until the Solo is on the ground.
- Keep the left stick down until the Solo detects it is on the ground and shuts off the motors. It may take 3 to 5 seconds.

To take off "manually":
- Keep you Solo in FLY mode.
- Push up on the left stick.

 

[RichWest]

Afternoon's cable cam was pretty amazing, all were 3 WP which I ran manually and in auto. Very impressed with accuracy for both hitting the spot and altitude changes. Using the camera straight down to confirm accuracy.

So how many "A" points can we place?

 

[pyrate]

from what I read unlimited

 

[ibrew]

So to sum it up, to "land manually":
- Keep your Solo in FLY mode.
- Reduce altitude slowly until the Solo is on the ground.
- Keep the left stick down until the Solo detects it is on the ground and shuts off the motors. It may take 3 to 5 seconds.

Eric,
I've had this problem, the first time it happened actually, when landing as you suggested. When the solo should've recognized ground and shut off the motors (i.e. It was on the ground), the props quickly accelerated and it proceeded to backflip. This happened faster than I could respond, it was not gps signal related, and it was not an erroneous user input. Support sent me new props. It's happened twice since then, both full auto, once during RTH & once during a FLY landing. It's happened ~ 1 in 5 auto landings, and the only time is has not done it is under full manual landing with no gps.

I've never intentionally attempted to flip my solo before, but I've seen it take a lot of wind and quick turns during tower missions and hold its level way better than I would expect. I concede that there may be a hardware issue that's causing the solo to not register the ground, but the way that it's responding to the error can only be a software glitch.

 

[RolandS888]

Google play says the app isn't compatible with my lg g3?? Anyone have this issue?

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Yes, same for me.
Why would an android 5 device now be incompatible with the Solo app?

 

[mcneely19]

Yes, same for me.
Why would an android 5 device now be incompatible with the Solo app?

Must be a glitch.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[erikgraham]

Eric,
I've had this problem, the first time it happened actually, when landing as you suggested. When the solo should've recognized ground and shut off the motors (i.e. It was on the ground), the props quickly accelerated and it proceeded to backflip. This happened faster than I could respond, it was not gps signal related, and it was not an erroneous user input. Support sent me new props. It's happened twice since then, both full auto, once during RTH & once during a FLY landing. It's happened ~ 1 in 5 auto landings, and the only time is has not done it is under full manual landing with no gps.

I've never intentionally attempted to flip my solo before, but I've seen it take a lot of wind and quick turns during tower missions and hold its level way better than I would expect. I concede that there may be a hardware issue that's causing the solo to not register the ground, but the way that it's responding to the error can only be a software glitch.

Well if it's not a bad IMU or another hardware failure, then it has to be something your doing with the sticks - even though it doesn't seem like it. Maybe in the last foot or two you aren't bringing it in with enough "conviction". I should have said above that while I bring the Solo in gently, once it's near the ground, I bring it down fast. Full down on the left stick.

I don't like hovering gently close to the ground. Too much turbulence from the props. Too much craziness in the baro reacting to air. Once I get close, it's a pretty firm landing.

So the only thing I can think of or suggest is that maybe your being to gentle in the last few inches of your landing.

 

[RichWest]

Well if it's not a bad IMU or another hardware failure, then it has to be something your doing with the sticks - even though it doesn't seem like it. Maybe in the last foot or two you aren't bringing it in with enough "conviction". I should have said above that while I bring the Solo in gently, once it's near the ground, I bring it down fast. Full down on the left stick.

I don't like hovering gently close to the ground. Too much turbulence from the props. Too much craziness in the baro reacting to air. Once I get close, it's a pretty firm landing.

So the only thing I can think of or suggest is that maybe your being to gentle in the last few inches of your landing.

Spot on Erik!

No flight controller can register the ground without a sonar of sorts. Ground effect further disturbs the equilibrium of the FC, then add wind. To perform an auto landing in varied conditions, you'll need a sonar integrated into the FC.

When we land manually, we tend to land fast. We can see the ground and adjust our rapid descent. We "stick" the landing....or maybe we should.

 

[Gary Burch]

Mistake guys. It does not turn my gopro on before flight. I was seeing the red light for charging. You still need to turn the camera on before firing up the solo.

 

[SurfnSkate81]

Wondering how much power it is sucking off the Solo battery to charge the GoPro? I'd be happy for the GoPro battery not to charge if it meant getting a couple extra minutes flight time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ed Beck]

Mistake guys. It does not turn my gopro on before flight. I was seeing the red light for charging. You still need to turn the camera on before firing up the solo.

I saw the same thing.

 

[RolandS888]

Wondering how much power it is sucking off the Solo battery to charge the GoPro? I'd be happy for the GoPro battery not to charge if it meant getting a couple extra minutes flight time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

About 15 seconds of flight time, i dont know why they bothered turning it off in firmware. Its not until the 4th flight of the day that you remember that the gopro isnt charging and you need to stop and charge.
I will be looking at a hardwire mod to get my gopro charging again soon.
Turn off GoPro charging?

 

[SurfnSkate81]

Checked your link to Turn off GoPro charging, excellent numbers. I should have paid more attention in school instead of staring into space.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Maddog]

I thought these instructions were pretty clear describing the new features. It was posted to their blog (you should subscribe) the same day as the new release: Releasing Solo 2.0, Our Biggest Update Yet: Multipoint Cable cam; Free Look; airspace information | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology

That's another "issue" I have with 3DR- information is posted here, there and everywhere. Didn't even know about THIS blog.

I did some research and there are about 227 blogs dealing with 3DR, Arducopter, pixhawk, tower, mission planner, mission impossible, picatinny, DBS, FPVLR, etc. I never know where to look.

 

[Maddog]

Well lets be clear. The language can be a bit confusing.

Auto
When the Solo is doing all the flying (including an Auto mission, or Auto landing). In Auto, the solo uses GPS and its other sensors to fly to way points, or do things like an Auto landing.

For some reason, the few times I've allowed Solo to *Auto* land, its exhibited bad behavior. Usually hopping/bouncing on the ground, which could easily lead to a flip.

Fly
For those of us who flew 3DR before Solo, this used to be called "Loiter." This is a mode where the Solo uses GPS to hold its current position, uses the barometer to maintain altitude, uses the compass to maintain heading, and uses the IMU to stay level. This is the easiest mode to fly around in because as soon as you let go of the sticks, the Solo will stay in that spot (it will loiter in place).

Manual - before the Solo, this was called "ALT Hold." In this mode the drone does not use GPS to hold its position. It will drift with the wind. It does use the baro to hold its altitude (thus the original name "Alt hold"). And it keeps it self level (using the IMU). For the record, there are additional manual modes (like stabilize, sport and acro).

Then there is "Landing Manually"... this can be confusing because we don't mean that you switch to Fly:Manual (aka Alt hold) and then land. We mean that you stay in the GPS assisted Fly mode (aka Loiter), and then land yourself (manually) using the sticks on the controller to set the Solo down gently (keeping the left stick down until the motors shut off). This manual landing is still done with the benefit of GPS in Fly mode to help you fight the wind and keep your position.

The reason why a lot of us land "manually" while in Fly mode, is because Auto Landing seems to lead to so many accidents and tip overs.

There are folks (mostly old timers), who will tell you that you should always take off and land fully manually. These guys really mean that you should be in a true manual mode like Fly:Manual (aka Alt Hold). I used to recommend that myself. It avoided sudden accidents caused by gps glitches. But I don't recommend that anymore. The Solo has enough redundancy built in, that even if you lose GPS near the ground, it won't shoot off like older drones did.

So to sum it up, to "land manually":
- Keep your Solo in FLY mode.
- Reduce altitude slowly until the Solo is on the ground.
- Keep the left stick down until the Solo detects it is on the ground and shuts off the motors. It may take 3 to 5 seconds.

To take off "manually":
- Keep you Solo in FLY mode.
- Push up on the left stick.

Well said! Interestingly enough I have never had a problem with Solo when auto landing. I used to do it a lot just to see how accurate Solo was. Now I land manually just for practice.
Before I got Solo I practiced landing with my Syma X8C hundreds of times- now, Solo is ridiculously easy.

 

[Rich]

Well lets be clear. The language can be a bit confusing.

Auto
When the Solo is doing all the flying (including an Auto mission, or Auto landing). In Auto, the solo uses GPS and its other sensors to fly to way points, or do things like an Auto landing.

For some reason, the few times I've allowed Solo to *Auto* land, its exhibited bad behavior. Usually hopping/bouncing on the ground, which could easily lead to a flip.

Fly
For those of us who flew 3DR before Solo, this used to be called "Loiter." This is a mode where the Solo uses GPS to hold its current position, uses the barometer to maintain altitude, uses the compass to maintain heading, and uses the IMU to stay level. This is the easiest mode to fly around in because as soon as you let go of the sticks, the Solo will stay in that spot (it will loiter in place).

Manual - before the Solo, this was called "ALT Hold." In this mode the drone does not use GPS to hold its position. It will drift with the wind. It does use the baro to hold its altitude (thus the original name "Alt hold"). And it keeps it self level (using the IMU). For the record, there are additional manual modes (like stabilize, sport and acro).

Then there is "Landing Manually"... this can be confusing because we don't mean that you switch to Fly:Manual (aka Alt hold) and then land. We mean that you stay in the GPS assisted Fly mode (aka Loiter), and then land yourself (manually) using the sticks on the controller to set the Solo down gently (keeping the left stick down until the motors shut off). This manual landing is still done with the benefit of GPS in Fly mode to help you fight the wind and keep your position.

The reason why a lot of us land "manually" while in Fly mode, is because Auto Landing seems to lead to so many accidents and tip overs.

There are folks (mostly old timers), who will tell you that you should always take off and land fully manually. These guys really mean that you should be in a true manual mode like Fly:Manual (aka Alt Hold). I used to recommend that myself. It avoided sudden accidents caused by gps glitches. But I don't recommend that anymore. The Solo has enough redundancy built in, that even if you lose GPS near the ground, it won't shoot off like older drones did.

So to sum it up, to "land manually":
- Keep your Solo in FLY mode.
- Reduce altitude slowly until the Solo is on the ground.
- Keep the left stick down until the Solo detects it is on the ground and shuts off the motors. It may take 3 to 5 seconds.

To take off "manually":
- Keep you Solo in FLY mode.
- Push up on the left stick.

I'd agree with all of this, EXCEPT to turn off the motors once on the ground, don't only hold the left stick down and wait for the landing detect to shut off the motors, but INSTEAD hold the left stick FULLY DOWN and to FULLY to the LEFT, as this will give the kill the motors command to the Solo.

This helps by removing the decision to shut off the motors from the Solo software algorithms trying to decide if a landing has occurred or not, and giving a positive command to kill the motors without any ambiguity.

 

[Johnny Baer]

So the day has finally arrived!

Who has tested and what is your initial impression?

Tested a 5 point cable cam (admittedly it was quick and I didn't pay attention to all the details) and it worked perfectly as far as I could tell. I'm doing another this morning to survey a 20 acre tract of pine timber after a controlled burn yesterday - with camera at 0° tilt. Oughta be interesting since i don't think the devs had this application in mind. LOL

 

[Alan Murphy]

Orbit does not work on the Android version???????

I'm with you... mine does not Orbit nor does the camera feed the Samsung Tab4... says disconnected and searches for another wifi.