Site Scan vs Drone Deploy

[Flying Squirrel]

FYI Escadrone has stopped producing for Solo.

I think 3DR has made it clear through their actions ... the company abandoned the retail market because they were unable to make any money. Now they owe money and so they are looking to SAS to bail them out. $13k for an unknown, unproven service linked to a failed product.

Guys we're not talking about a tangible asset that you can hop in, crank up and start plowing fields. Site Scan is a" ok what can we do to minimize the damage" concept. When 3DR figures out their used car sales methods are not working they will close shop and leave everyone high and dry. Solo has been relagated to the toy category. It's a great toy that works well. I liked Solo at $999 and I now love it at $379. Is Solo made for business? NO! But don't listen to me ... take a look for yourself at the Forbes article - old news - the rat leaving the ship, and the financials.

Just my 2 cents ... I love my Solo just as much as the next guy but the affair is over.

 

[Toby Lankford]

Hi all,
So I went to a SiteScan promo event today, and got a chance to see the Sony camera and gimbal up close and in action.

First thing I noticed was that it is a servo gimbal. This was done to keep weight down apparently. This does make the live feed during flight quite unstable, but hey, it's not designed for film-making. Kevin from 3DR assured me that it was still usable for inspection work with the longer lens.

Some photos are below (sorry for the quality).

View attachment 4521
View attachment 4522
View attachment 4523

Oh, and I found where all the lanyards were being stashed




View attachment 4524

I'm already heavily invested in Solo hardware (4 Solos), and I have a Pix4D licence. None of my customers use ESRI or CAD products, as they all use mining specific software. So now that I've seen that the gimbal is a bit underwhelming there's no reason for me to fork out for the SiteScan package. I'm going for a DJI Inpsire, or the Escadrone and I'll work out some way of hacking in a camera trigger.

I would love to get you setup up with a SOLOmapper. I am here in the states and offering the Escadrone solution. It makes the QX1 Software agnostic. Just go over to www.aerialvistaama.com/solo-mapper and give me a shout. Thank you

 

[Toby Lankford]

FYI Escadrone has stopped producing for Solo.

I think 3DR has made it clear through their actions ... the company abandoned the retail market because they were unable to make any money. Now they owe money and so they are looking to SAS to bail them out. $13k for an unknown, unproven service linked to a failed product.

Guys we're not talking about a tangible asset that you can hop in, crank up and start plowing fields. Site Scan is a" ok what can we do to minimize the damage" concept. When 3DR figures out their used car sales methods are not working they will close shop and leave everyone high and dry. Solo has been relagated to the toy category. It's a great toy that works well. I liked Solo at $999 and I now love it at $379. Is Solo made for business? NO! But don't listen to me ... take a look for yourself at the Forbes article - old news - the rat leaving the ship, and the financials.

Just my 2 cents ... I love my Solo just as much as the next guy but the affair is over.

They stopped producing the SOLOmapper in France because the SOLO's were sold mostly in the states. I am producing and servicing the SOLOmapper here in Texas and would be glad to get you started with a SOLOmapper. Thank you www.aerialvistaama.com/solo-mapper

 

[Flying Squirrel]

They stopped producing the SOLOmapper in France because the SOLO's were sold mostly in the states. I am producing and servicing the SOLOmapper here in Texas and would be glad to get you started with a SOLOmapper. Thank you www.aerialvistaama.com/solo-mapper

Producing HERE in the US - interest peaked - and where is support based?

 

[Toby Lankford]

In Amarillo Texas. Testing these and shipping these to the United Geological Survey Monday.

 

[Flying Squirrel]

So... tell me why I would choose to buy an escadrone setup for my existing Solo - a product that is no longer supported by the manufacturer, and no longer in production, when I have the option to buy a new, supported product... for rhe same amount of cash outlay.

I'm not being sarcastic here or anti-Solo. I was onboard from the preorder and I'm looking for an excuse to continue using Solo.

I have a have a job tomorrow that requires geotagging images and once again I will need to work through this ridiculous work flow because 3DR has reserved the functional version of Solo for Site Scan subscribers

 

[Toby Lankford]

So... tell me why I would choose to buy an escadrone setup for my existing Solo - a product that is no longer supported by the manufacturer, and no longer in production, when I have the option to buy a new, supported product... for rhe same amount of cash outlay.

I'm not being sarcastic here or anti-Solo. I was onboard from the preorder and I'm looking for an excuse to continue using Solo.

I have a have a job tomorrow that requires geotagging images and once again I will need to work through this ridiculous work flow because 3DR has reserved the functional version of Solo for Site Scan subscribers

That is a fair question. The fact is there are still thousands of SOLO's that are out there and that have just entered the market. This is still supported and the Pixhawk existed long before the SOLO and will exist long after. With this system it will be improved and will work with future drones running pixhawk. I have been developing with Pixhawk and ArduPilot since 2008. I am familiar with the system and we are going to get more functionality than in the long run. There aren't just a whole lot of things we can say are manufactured here anymore. This is a fair price for a capable system. With an owner having a SOLO it is half the cost of the enterprise system with the same functionality and your are not saddled with $7000 per year in subscriptions. Having the simplified workflow makes it comparable to other systems but with a 20MP SONY camera. And you can use it on a fixed wing or future multirotor. Thank you for considering our SOLOmapper.

 

[JoelNewman]

I think 3DR has made it clear through their actions ... the company abandoned the retail market because they were unable to make any money. Now they owe money and so they are looking to SAS to bail them out. $13k for an unknown, unproven service linked to a failed product.

This thread isn't about 3DR's business plan, there's plenty of threads about that on these and other forums. People (including me) are making money with the Solo, and will continue to do so whatever happens to 3DR. And that's all down to people providing useful additions and mods to what is a robust and useful airframe.

I would love to get you setup up with a SOLOmapper.

Thanks Toby, I'm the one you provided a quote for on Wednesday. I just wanted to check out the 3DR option before I confirmed with you

 

[Toby Lankford]

This thread isn't about 3DR's business plan, there's plenty of threads about that on these and other forums. People (including me) are making money with the Solo, and will continue to do so whatever happens to 3DR. And that's all down to people providing useful additions and mods to what is a robust and useful airframe.



Thanks Toby, I'm the one you provided a quote for on Wednesday. I just wanted to check out the 3DR option before I confirmed with you

Joel, Thank you. Give me a shout if I can get you setup with the SOLOmapper. It has a trigger on the tilt. It just takes a little getting used to, to make the shots you wish. Otherwise it works flawlessly for NADIR mapping photos. We look forward to working with you.

 

[SteveReno]

I like the product on the surface.

I like the DDMS on the surface. Not sure the Mission planner will drive the Solo. I signed up for the free service but would gladly pay $1,000 if it works. They will need to trigger the camera.

pix4d Does it all with the Gopro! Geo tagging info. is written in post to all images from the Gopro. Easy!... pix4d is rentible per month, this is what some are doing presently,

 

[Ørjan Sandland]

pix4d Does it all with the Gopro! Geo tagging info. is written in post to all images from the Gopro. Easy!... pix4d is rentible per month, this is what some are doing presently,

You can't just throw stuff out like that and not support it with more info . When was this feature introduced?

 

[SteveReno]

You can't just throw stuff out like that and not support it with more info . When was this feature introduced?

It's be available for Solo for several months for Solo.
No matter what info i can convey here, you need to check it for your self at there site,
Goto link below, & you will see 3DR Solo supported.
& if your really interested, then look for simple procedure to Geo-Tag your pic's
Simple right?

(Android) Pix4Dcapture - Getting Started
Hope this helps

also..
They should have a iOS ver. out soon for Solo ?

 

[Ørjan Sandland]

It's be available for Solo for several months for Solo.
No matter what info i can convey here, you need to check it for your self at there site,
Goto link below, & you will see 3DR Solo supported.
& if your really interested, then look for simple procedure to Geo-Tag your pic's
Simple right?

(Android) Pix4Dcapture - Getting Started
Hope this helps

also..
They should have a iOS ver. out soon for Solo ?

Last time I checked, the Android version for Solo was in beta. I used pix4dcapture only a few times - as I didn't like it much back then. I'm pretty sure it didn't geotag images 6 months ago, but i could be wrong.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

If you're using Mission Planner to Geotag the images, you the date/time on the GoPro is irrelevant. You feed it only the images that apply to the survey. And it processes them sequentially in the same order as the cam trigger messages in the log. As long as they are in order, it will work.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

I just downloaded the Android Pix4D app. I got this, which I thought was a relic nobody uses anymore. Pressing cancel or back just looped back to it. There was no other option but to force close the app. Done with that.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Off the top of my head, you check the boxes for use cam messages. I did not adjust the time offset, which I believe is not necessary with the GoPro.

 

[John Githens]

It's be available for Solo for several months for Solo.
No matter what info i can convey here, you need to check it for your self at there site,
Goto link below, & you will see 3DR Solo supported.
& if your really interested, then look for simple procedure to Geo-Tag your pic's
Simple right?

(Android) Pix4Dcapture - Getting Started
Hope this helps

also..
They should have a iOS ver. out soon for Solo ?

For anyone curious, I just downloaded the Pix4Dcapture app on my Nexus 7 tablet (Android 6.0.1) and attempted to SIGN UP FOR FREE. The 'Next' button remained grayed (or light greened) out with no options but to terminate the app. I explored the related folders and received an interesting message: Unfortunately Tower has Stopped. (The version of Tower I have installed was not running.) From that one might infer that Pix4Dcapture uses Tower for much of its functionality. Or it would. No hints of the problems I encountered on (Android) Pix4Dcapture - Getting Started. Given the 3DR Solo history, it would not be surprising if Pix4D cancelled further work on integration with the 'Solo (beta)' app (and any updates to the related Pix4D instruction webpages).