Multiple problems ending in crash.

[Anttler]

Today I was going to film a bike event in my home town. I got in front of the group (over a two miles of bikers) and started Solo. 8 minuets later it finds GPS, as the last bikers ride by. I have been having GPS problems and support has not given me any help. Recalibrate, factory reset, yada, yada. Any way I shut down and drive ahead a few miles to the front, same bloody thing it find lock after 9 minuets... last rider rolls by. Try three, say thing find lock after 8 minuets. This time I drive ahead about 4 miles and start the Solo, this time it takes a little over 5 minuets and I get a lock. I take off and the first riders start coming by, I try and record. The Gopro will not start recording. I try a couple of times, no luck. Getting live feed, but the camera will not start recording. I decided to fly back and recycle the Gopro on and off to see if I can get it to work. When I land the Solo will not shut down, I hold the down stick for quite some time and the props continue turning. I take my hand off the stick to press A,B, Pause. I press them and as I do the Solo jumps up about 2 feet off the ground hovering. I am now holding the A,B,Pause buttons with Solo in the air. As soon as I release the thee buttons the drone drops to the ground and cracks an arm.

I am tired of these GPS problems. I have rarely gotten the 2 minuet GPS lock, and 10 minuets is not uncommon. I have also has a lot of problens with Gopro and it working, not uncommon to have it fail to start recording even though I follow best practice for starting the systems. The Gopro turning on with the Solo has helped the recording to be more reliable. Yet now I have a broken drone, and no video. I am sure that 3DR will blame this on pilot error. I'll send the logs, but not holding my breath.

 

[alx]

There really could be something wrong with the hardware (GPS.)
For now, that is the best thing to do, dl log files and send it to 3DR. They will know if it's pilot error or not.

 

[Greg Parker]

Why did you not send it back to 3DR some time ago?

 

[Rusty Jones]

Cracked arm, from 2 ft?

 

[alx]

Cracked arm, from 2 ft?

well, depending on the angle of the fall, it could've been leaning on one side, that one unlucky arm possible....

 

[Anttler]

Cracked arm, from 2 ft?

Maybe a bit less than 3 feet. It rolled as it fell and hit the ground (concrete) that arm first. The bird is 4 pounds.

 

[Anttler]

Okay so I am just going to purchase a new shell and the GPS V2 shield for the Solo. I am also considering getting the M8N GPS again. I am not sure if anyone has had any better luck with that GPS. I know folks said after 2.0 update the M8N didn't help much. I also know that folks have said that the M8N will use GPS or Glonass satalites that are to near the horizon causing a good lock, but inaccurate position. Does anyone have input on that front. Next I will have the bird apart and am considering the WIFI card upgrade at this point. The ALFA antenna and firmware upgrades has provided me with good range and clear video yet if the Microtik wifi card will improve range and connectivity, now would be a good time to upgrade. This is all very frustrating as I will be using time and resources I was hoping to put in my fixed wing drone to an already overpriced drone I purchase because it is marketed as good to go out of the box.

 

[aidanlou]

I definitely feel your frustration as I also have issues pretty regularly (though not the same ones).

My recommendations:

Firmware and stuff: Make sure the quad, controller and app are all up to date. What phone are you using? What GoPro? If it's a 4 I think the camera firmware should be 3.something. Not sure about the older cameras but this causes issues and is super important.

GPS: if you have the rev A board, try the new shield (I will let you know if it works when I get mine) otherwise try the cardboard trick which is somewhere on youtube. Software updates have made it quicker for me but that also helped early on and I am still using it. Also, make sure you aren't under tree cover/near tall buildings/in a steep canyon type thing. The more sky you can see with your eyes, the more satellites the antenna will see.

GoPro: I know others don't agree with this, but I leave the GoPro off and let it turn on when solo turns it on. I don't know exactly why this helps, but it seems to lead to fewer incidents of the GoPro freezing and the settings being accessible as opposed to locked. If your camera is up to date, try reflashing the firmware--GoPros are finicky sometimes.

Landing and stuff: the kill button combo has always seemed kinda slow and subpar IMHO. I would try landing in manual mode, especially if you are having GPS issues since if the quad is having GPS issues it can be kinda jumpy and think it is moving when it isn't etc. This could cause something like the hop you described at the end though it only helps so much.

As far as additional hardware goes, I don't think you really need the WiFi cards since the issues you described shouldn't be strongly affected by signal. Additional satellites can be helpful in obtaining a lock but the original Solo GPS antenna is pretty sensitive and the consensus seems to be that it can provide a more reliable lock given adequate GPS conditions/given it's functioning properly.

Also, what's the fixed wing drone? I've been wanting to make one.

 

[Anttler]

I definitely feel your frustration as I also have issues pretty regularly (though not the same ones).

My recommendations:

Firmware and stuff:
GPS: if you have the rev A board, try the new shield (I will let you know if it works when I get mine) otherwise try the cardboard trick which is somewhere on youtube. Software updates have made it quicker for me but that also helped early on and I am still using it. Also, make sure you aren't under tree cover/near tall buildings/in a steep canyon type thing. The more sky you can see with your eyes, the more satellites the antenna will see.

GoPro: I know others don't agree with this, but I leave the GoPro off and let it turn on when solo turns it on. I don't know exactly why this helps, but it seems to lead to fewer incidents of the GoPro freezing and the settings being accessible as opposed to locked. If your camera is up to date, try reflashing the firmware--GoPros are finicky sometimes.

Landing and stuff: the kill button combo has always seemed kinda slow and subpar IMHO. I would try landing in manual mode, especially if you are having GPS issues since if the quad is having GPS issues it can be kinda jumpy and think it is moving when it isn't etc. This could cause something like the hop you described at the end though it only helps so much.

As far as additional hardware goes, I don't think you really need the WiFi cards since the issues you described shouldn't be strongly affected by signal. Additional satellites can be helpful in obtaining a lock but the original Solo GPS antenna is pretty sensitive and the consensus seems to be that it can provide a more reliable lock given adequate GPS conditions/given it's functioning properly.

Also, what's the fixed wing drone? I've been wanting to make one.

Firmware has been up to date on everything. The connections just seem flakey, I expected more out of 3DR with the commercial drone. I have had better luck with AMP 2.6 anyway that's my fixed wing. AMP 2.6 with a foam board and carbon fiber rod twin boom airframe. I use 3 2200MAH batteries with a short range FPV and gopro. RDF 900 radio set for mission planner when I use it for a mission. I get around 25 min flight time at 35kts airspeed. I used Ed's construction techniques from Experimental Airlines YouTube channel. Plus so far that's only cost me under a grand.

 

[aidanlou]

Funny, I have a genuine and a knockoff APM 2.6 and I've never gotten either to work. Glad it works for someone.

I definitely had a lot of issues with Solo in the beginning but over time they've pretty much been resolved. Where are you located? I'd be happy to take a look at your Solo and see if it can be fixed.

 

[fpvsteve]

Okay so I am just going to purchase a new shell and the GPS V2 shield for the Solo. I am also considering getting the M8N GPS again. I am not sure if anyone has had any better luck with that GPS. I know folks said after 2.0 update the M8N didn't help much. I also know that folks have said that the M8N will use GPS or Glonass satalites that are to near the horizon causing a good lock, but inaccurate position. Does anyone have input on that front. Next I will have the bird apart and am considering the WIFI card upgrade at this point. The ALFA antenna and firmware upgrades has provided me with good range and clear video yet if the Microtik wifi card will improve range and connectivity, now would be a good time to upgrade. This is all very frustrating as I will be using time and resources I was hoping to put in my fixed wing drone to an already overpriced drone I purchase because it is marketed as good to go out of the box.

Here is how you can fix your GPS plus how to get the most out of the m8n
Get the maximum out of your 3DR Solo GPS - Hackster.io

 

[Anttler]

Funny, I have a genuine and a knockoff APM 2.6 and I've never gotten either to work. Glad it works for someone.

I definitely had a lot of issues with Solo in the beginning but over time they've pretty much been resolved. Where are you located? I'd be happy to take a look at your Solo and see if it can be fixed.

I'm in the Detroit area. I used some 2000PSI epoxy and it seems to have worked well. The shell is on order and will be here soon. I don't want the liability associated with a repaired arm if something goes wrong. Though the repair looks good and it seems strong already, adhesives today are incredible.

 

[aidanlou]

That would be a little far to travel from LA.

But yeah, epoxy is crazy. I'm partial to the epoxy + wire or epoxy + fiberglass combo.

 

[Ed Beck]

One comment on the GoPro. I take the battery out stick it back in before attaching it to the gimbal. It's given me enough problems that I finally settled on doing that each time. I've heard of other people on the board who do the same.

 

[Ketch]

One comment on the GoPro. I take the battery out stick it back in before attaching it to the gimbal. It's given me enough problems that I finally settled on doing that each time. I've heard of other people on the board who do the same.

I have a thought on all the unexplained crashes (not pilot error) I read about and it is this: the Solo involved is almost always flying a Gopro, I wonder if some intrinsic wifi conflict develops between the gimble, Gopro , and Solo. The reason I wonder this is I fly a solid mount vertical camera with no connection to the Solo and have had no problems using Tower or without Tower. I haven't flown that many missions, and perhaps my turn is coming up, but still wonder about the unexplained crashes.

 

[PdxSteve]

Wifi on gopro should always be off. It's not used. Solo uses the connector on the gimbal that plugs into the back of the gopro for control, and hdmi for video feed. With no gimbal, just hdmi for video feed.

 

[pyrate]

Has 3DR seen logs on your bird?
something just don't sound right.

 

[Ketch]

Wifi on gopro should always be off. It's not used. Solo uses the connector on the gimbal that plugs into the back of the gopro for control, and hdmi for video feed. With no gimbal, just hdmi for video feed.

I see, it was just a thought.