Retractable legs prototype on 3DR MFS page

[twitchyzero]

So i was looking up the new developement on the Pixpro camera attachment...i go to the Made for Solo page and see this...

Made For Solo | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology

check out the URL, small retractable landing gears are being tested by 3DR.

 

[SteveReno]

Retractable landing gear?
Lot's of stuff on that page, but no mention about any retractable landing gear.

 

[Soloing]

They should make the prop guards being the landing gear.

Down - landing gear
Up - prop guard

[emoji12] [emoji12] [emoji12]

 

[twitchyzero]

in the image link, the actually link says solo retractable small...evident by the image itself which does not depict the stock legs.

 

[PdxSteve]

I believe that's just this mod on hackster which some people have been adding since October RETRACTS!! - Hackster.io
This isn't something that can be done without modifying your Solo since 3DR didn't connect PWM6/7/8 or i2c to the expansion bay in the final production.

 

[XperienceVisuals]

Looked into this awhile ago and it is a very extensive mod. Includes complete disassembly of solo as well as 3d printing of parts and some very fine soldering to the pixhawk.

 

[Troiano27]

Frankly with the standard GoPro gimbal, I don't see the need for retractable landing gear. If the gimbal was able to turn 360°, then I'd say yes. Now,I understand in that photo, they are using the solo for a different purpose. But for filming that most of us do, it's just not necessary.

 

[Soloing]

When filming in 4k and doing right rudder turns, the left leg becomes visible. I find that really annoying, especially considering that the Solo is supposed to turn in a way so this doesn't happen! Maybe a future update will fix this!?

Thanks.

 

[Troiano27]

When filming in 4k and doing right rudder turns, the left leg becomes visible. I find that really annoying, especially considering that the Solo is supposed to turn in a way so this doesn't happen! Maybe a future update will fix this!?

Thanks.

You are correct. I combated this issue by installing a 4.35mm lens in one of my hero 4 blacks. Now I can film in 4K wide all day and never get a leg or prop in frame. And I don't have to defisheye anything.

 

[erikgraham]

You are correct. I combated this issue by installing a 4.35mm lens in one of my hero 4 blacks. Now I can film in 4K wide all day and never get a leg or prop in frame. And I don't have to defisheye anything.

Same. A GoPro lens swap is a much cheaper and simpler mod than retracts. But still, retracts would be nice.

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Remember
Any weigh added to an aircraft degrades the flight times and flight performance.
So if the factory gear are not in the way of the camera lens the retractable gear now become parasitic weight sucking valuable flight time and performance from your video opritunity.

If you are into sport flying your solo and want the best performance adding unnecessary "AKA retractable gear" drag and weight is not the answer and again depleting flight time and overall flight performance.

Retractable gear on a Solo is like installing training wheels on a skateboard. Unnecessary waist of time and money and is of no value on such a small airframe. The idea is to keep it light and fast for performance and greater flight times.

But if you're just out to show off the landing gear and hover in one place to watch them deploy and retract have at it..

 

[erikgraham]

Remember
Any weigh added to an aircraft degrades the flight times and flight performance.
So if the factory gear are not in the way of the camera lens the retractable gear now become parasitic weight sucking valuable flight time and performance from your video opritunity.

If you are into sport flying your solo and want the best performance adding unnecessary "AKA retractable gear" drag and weight is not the answer and again depleting flight time and overall flight performance.

Retractable gear on a Solo is like installing training wheels on a skateboard. Unnecessary waist of time and money and is of no value on such a small airframe. The idea is to keep it light and fast for performance and greater flight times.

But if you're just out to show off the landing gear and hover in one place to watch them deploy and retract have at it..

All fine points, but what if you want to add a sphere VR camera? Or just shoot in super wide on a GoPro? Or any number of custom camera rigs and gimbals that are possible with pixhawk?

 

[Rodney Johnson]

All fine points, but what if you want to add a sphere VR camera? Or just shoot in super wide on a GoPro? Or any number of custom camera rigs and gimbals that are possible with pixhawk?

First, are you talking a pixhawk being the FC for a large hex or octo or are you talking Solo.
With a large home built hex or octo running retractable gear is no problem along with many custom camera rigs as this is the norm on large copters.

IF your talking a stock Solo ,, A sphere VR? Seriously, how big do you think the Solo is. I have a 22 amp lipo for one of my hex's that is larger then the Solo. The solos max lift capacity is about .926 lbs and at that weight I guess you would be lucky to get a 10 min flight time at its max lift capacity.
You will need a bigger multi rotor. How much weight do you think the Solo can handle and still be flight worthy?
Six Gopros and mounting hardware will be in the range of 1.5 lbs and then you want to put aftermarket retractable gear and what ever else, sorry not going to happen it would fly like a pig, but you can try it.

If your going to shoot SW with a GoPro your better off modifying the front legs and sweep them back and out of the way. The more Crap you try mounting on the solo your asking for trouble and failure. The solo platform can only handle so large of props and larger props mean more power so larger motors and larger ESC and larger Lipo to keep it in the air. If you want to do all that your better off learning how to build your own large copter and even then you have limitations that you have to live by.
Everything that flys has a give and take calculation for best performance.

Take a .5 oz lead weight and tape it to a wing of a bird and see what happends. He won't fly well if at all.

 

[erikgraham]

First, are you talking a pixhawk being the FC for a large hex or octo or are you talking Solo.
With a large home built hex or octo running retractable gear is no problem along with many custom camera rigs as this is the norm on large copters.

IF your talking a stock Solo ,, A sphere VR? Seriously, how big do you think the Solo is. I have a 22 amp lipo for one of my hex's that is larger then the Solo. The solos max lift capacity is about .926 lbs and at that weight I guess you would be lucky to get a 10 min flight time at its max lift capacity.
You will need a bigger multi rotor. How much weight do you think the Solo can handle and still be flight worthy?
Six Gopros and mounting hardware will be in the range of 1.5 lbs and then you want to put aftermarket retractable gear and what ever else, sorry not going to happen it would fly like a pig, but you can try it.

If your going to shoot SW with a GoPro your better off modifying the front legs and sweep them back and out of the way. The more Crap you try mounting on the solo your asking for trouble and failure. The solo platform can only handle so large of props and larger props mean more power so larger motors and larger ESC and larger Lipo to keep it in the air. If you want to do all that your better off learning how to build your own large copter and even then you have limitations that you have to live by.
Everything that flys has a give and take calculation for best performance.

Take a .5 oz lead weight and tape it to a wing of a bird and see what happends. He won't fly well if at all.

Look. I'm not going to argue with you. Do a little research. Try googling "Epson and 3DR Solo"

Or go over to diydrones and check out some of the mods being done for the Solo. The solo uses a pixhawk (version 2) and is just as customizable as any of the older 3DR drones if your not afraid to crack it open and do some soldering.

The point is that there could be a variety of use cases for retracts, including a bunch neither you or I can anticipate. As I said previously, if all you want to do is remove the legs from your 4K video, then a lens swap on your GoPro is the easiest and most cost effective way to do that.

But if you've been around the 3DR community for any length of time, then you you really have no reason to get all high and mighty about retracts or any other mod people want to try. And there is certainly no reason for you to disparage people who are interested in giving it a go. This isn't DJI. It's 3DR. Tinkering and modding hardware and software just goes with the territory.

 

[erikgraham]

Look. I'm not going to argue with you. Do a little research. Try googling "Epson and 3DR Solo"

Or go over to diydrones and check out some of the mods being done for the Solo. The solo uses a pixhawk (version 2) and is just as customizable as any of the older 3DR drones if your not afraid to crack it open and do some soldering.

The point is that there could be a variety of use cases for retracts, including a bunch neither you or I can anticipate. As I said previously, if all you want to do is remove the legs from your 4K video, then a lens swap on your GoPro is the easiest and most cost effective way to do that.

But if you've been around the 3DR community for any length of time, then you you really have no reason to get all high and mighty about retracts or any other mod people want to try. And there is certainly no reason for you to disparage people who are interested in giving it a go. This isn't DJI. It's 3DR. Tinkering and modding hardware and software just goes with the territory.

First, are you talking a pixhawk being the FC for a large hex or octo or are you talking Solo.
With a large home built hex or octo running retractable gear is no problem along with many custom camera rigs as this is the norm on large copters.

IF your talking a stock Solo ,, A sphere VR? Seriously, how big do you think the Solo is. I have a 22 amp lipo for one of my hex's that is larger then the Solo. The solos max lift capacity is about .926 lbs and at that weight I guess you would be lucky to get a 10 min flight time at its max lift capacity.
You will need a bigger multi rotor. How much weight do you think the Solo can handle and still be flight worthy?
Six Gopros and mounting hardware will be in the range of 1.5 lbs and then you want to put aftermarket retractable gear and what ever else, sorry not going to happen it would fly like a pig, but you can try it.

If your going to shoot SW with a GoPro your better off modifying the front legs and sweep them back and out of the way. The more Crap you try mounting on the solo your asking for trouble and failure. The solo platform can only handle so large of props and larger props mean more power so larger motors and larger ESC and larger Lipo to keep it in the air. If you want to do all that your better off learning how to build your own large copter and even then you have limitations that you have to live by.
Everything that flys has a give and take calculation for best performance.

Take a .5 oz lead weight and tape it to a wing of a bird and see what happends. He won't fly well if at all.

https://www.hackster.io/dmoroni/retracts-55da12?ref=part&ref_id=11837&offset=1

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Look. I'm not going to argue with you. Do a little research. Try googling "Epson and 3DR Solo"

Or go over to diydrones and check out some of the mods being done for the Solo. The solo uses a pixhawk (version 2) and is just as customizable as any of the older 3DR drones if your not afraid to crack it open and do some soldering.

The point is that there could be a variety of use cases for retracts, including a bunch neither you or I can anticipate. As I said previously, if all you want to do is remove the legs from your 4K video, then a lens swap on your GoPro is the easiest and most cost effective way to do that.

But if you've been around the 3DR community for any length of time, then you you really have no reason to get all high and mighty about retracts or any other mod people want to try. And there is certainly no reason for you to disparage people who are interested in giving it a go. This isn't DJI. It's 3DR. Tinkering and modding hardware and software just goes with the territory.

Not getting High and mighty just the facts. I'm personally waiting for 3dr to start selling the V2 Pixhawk for a few of my other builds but I don't see that happening any time soon.
I like retractable gear but on a platform as small as the Solo I personally want more flying time and performance and you won't get that adding more weight, that's my point.
Im glad everyone is trying out new ideas that's what this is all about but on the flip side you have to look at practicality.
Again the solo can only lift so much and if you fly in higher altitudes your not going to have the performance of a lighter Solo.

But each is own right? I am performance driven and others are not.

PS thanks for the link.