Solo with Mission planner + many more questions

[Anttler]

I purchased a Solo on a whim the other day. I have been building drones using Ardupilot and APM V2.1 and noticed this used the Pixhawk and figured that it would be wicked versatile. I have a lot of accessories for my other 3DR auto pilots. RDF900 radio, GPS, pitot/static system. Anyway I have quickly noticed that this system can't use many of them. I figured I'd plug it into mission planner, plug in the RDF900 and have a long range stable drone for fairly cheap. I have a stable drone, but long range and mission planning seem to be a hack vs. a standard expansion options with this drone. As I read a bit more I am wondering if the Iris would be a better option for me. Here are some questions.

1. Does Solo work well in full auto mode with mission planner? If so once in auto mode do you need to switch out of auto mode from the base station or will the RTH button, pause button, orbit button, all work from the control box to switch modes out of "auto."

2. What range? I have long range with my fixed wing drone and the RDF900, but with a quad the need for that much range is not as necessary because of flight time and the ability to land vertical. Yet I'd like a mile.

3. What is the least expensive way to get 1 mile reliably out of this system?

4. Would Iris+ better suite my needs? I can sell this for the same price I paid and a second hand Iris+ would be less expensive.

5. Has anyone had success with a two axis gimbal similar to this with the Solo? I really don't want to put out $400 for a 3 axis gimbal. If not what beside the 3DR 3 axis gimabal have people used fairly glitch free?

Any help would e greatly appreciated. Just looking for a versatile camera platform. Thank you for you're time

 

[Troiano27]

There's a lot more experienced solo people then me, and I'm sure they will chime in soon as well.

While I've never connected my solo to mission planner, it can be done. I believe you connect your lap top to solos radio via wifi and the controller acts as the radio receiver/transmitter as opposed to the stand plug in unit the Iris uses.

But for this same purpose many use their android based tablet and an app called Tower. It's kind of a tablet version of mission planner. Theirs a great YouTube video tutorial, that a member made here. (I'll find and link after I've posted this. It can do almost all the same things mission planner does. But again, you can still use mission planner, just connect via the solo radio.

As far as longer ranges go, there are a few modifications some are doing. I myself picked up the fplvr long range antenna for my solo. Works great. Many users getting more the. A mile plus with that antenna. Some users have changed out their wifi cards, for more powerful ones. I have bought the new cards, but haven't installed them yet. I will most likely install the new one in the radio first and not the solo. There are also antenna amps some are using. I had a little no range quad (discovery pro) with a UHF system, and really I have no need to venture further then a mile.

Edit: link to fplvr antenna many consider the best antenna for solo
https://fpvlr.com/store/product/solo-v-2-long-range-kit-10-5dbi/


As far as the gimbal goes, I think it's awesome and wouldn't even think of going back to a 2 axis one. Solo has been marketed with the theme that it's upgradable and expandable. Supposedly there are companies working on third party hardware, and a gimbal for other cameras, but as of right now, unless,you can make your own modifications, the 3 axis is the only available.

 

[Troiano27]

Link to great tower tutorial

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[Burkeam]

1. Does Solo work well in full auto mode with mission planner? If so once in auto mode do you need to switch out of auto mode from the base station or will the RTH button, pause button, orbit button, all work from the control box to switch modes out of "auto."

2. What range? I have long range with my fixed wing drone and the RDF900, but with a quad the need for that much range is not as necessary because of flight time and the ability to land vertical. Yet I'd like a mile.

Welcome to the board.

Jumping in to try addressing some of you questions. Other should add more benefit to this thread.

Not sure of the previous 3dr offering but believe you will ultimately like the solo if it does fit your needs

. Mission Planner (MP) works great. The only issue I have is not being able to do a simple mid-flight resume. MP will be overridden automatically by buttons on the controller. This can also be a bummer as your mission is accidentally aborted if your not careful. You then need to return home, put in a fresh battery and restart the mission. Be careful to time you mission appropriately for the conditions. Windy day will diminish flight times greatly. I'm also waiting to see what happens as my six batteries get some life on them. We'll see in 2016

You will find several conversation and suggestion on the range mode.
-Wifi channel selection - I believe this has been incorporated into a 3dr update a few months ago.
-Antenna- DBS or FPVLR. I'l sell you my DBS at 50% off as I think it is a POS with no customer support. I really like the performance of the FPVLR. I've never got to a mile in town but pretty sure I'd get close over a farm field.
- New wifi card- I di this which helped a bit. With this mod my 3DR antennas were as good as the DBS
- amps- I have never played with amps but might consider doing so.

hope this helps a little

 

[erikgraham]

Here are some questions.

1. Does Solo work well in full auto mode with mission planner? If so once in auto mode do you need to switch out of auto mode from the base station or will the RTH button, pause button, orbit button, all work from the control box to switch modes out of "auto."

Yes.
Hitting the FLY button or the RTH button on the Solo controller will override the auto mission. If using Tower (rather than Mission Planner) you can resume the mission from where you left off by hitting the Auto button in the Tower app, at which point the Solo will return to the last WayPoint and resume (careful, it will take a direct path).

So for example, you could start an auto mission in Tower, interupt it with the Solo controller (or Solo app), do a smart shot, then switch back to Tower and hit the Auto button to resume. I haven't tried this in Mission Planner, but i assume it would work in the same way (i.e. resume from last waypoint). Personally, I use the Solo app on an iPad mini, and simultaneously connect with an Android phone running Tower. The Solo app shows me the live feed and gives me access to the excellent smart shots. The Tower app shows me where the Solo app is on the map and provides better telemetry. So yes, that's both apps and both devices connected to the Solo at the same time.

Just note that unlike earlier 3DR drones, there is no Auto button on the controller. To initiate an auto mission you must do so from within Mission Planner or Tower (or APM) software.

2. What range? I have long range with my fixed wing drone and the RDF900, but with a quad the need for that much range is not as necessary because of flight time and the ability to land vertical. Yet I'd like a mile.

Your mileage will vary depending on how many Wifi signals are in your area. I use the stock antennas and can go out more than a mile in open clear wifi free locations - but I never do.

For long range missions I use Tower and create an auto mission. There is a param you can change so that the Solo does not abort the mission if it losses contact with the controller.

3. What is the least expensive way to get 1 mile reliably out of this system?

See second paragraph of answer to number 2. Otherwise get some FPVLR antennas.

4. Would Iris+ better suite my needs? I can sell this for the same price I paid and a second hand Iris+ would be less expensive.

I have a couple Iris+ drones and the Solo is a much better product. The Iris+ is ready to fly - kinda. It was really more targeted at the DIY drone enthusiast. For example, if you want to use a 3 axis gimbal and a GoPro on an Iris+, you'll very likely need to configure software, hardware, and calibrate the gimbal yourself. It can be time consuming and hard to get right. Also, you'll need to crack open the shell and wire the gimbal yourself. Its so much easier to install the Solo gimbal.

Also, I've found the Solo is MUCH more durable in the event of a crash - not that I ever crash... ;-)

5. Has anyone had success with a two axis gimbal similar to this with the Solo? I really don't want to put out $400 for a 3 axis gimbal. If not what beside the 3DR 3 axis gimabal have people used fairly glitch free?

In my opinion, if you aren't going to get a 3 axis gimbal, it's almost not worth getting a gimbal at all. Even a finely tuned Tarot 2D exhibits noticeable yaw jitters unless you are really careful and skilled with the sticks. If you are really smooth on the sticks (especially the left stick yaw, and you fly in manual (no GPS) letting the drone drift, then you can eliminate yaw jitters, but you are really limiting yourself in what you can do.

Some folks have gotten feiyutech gimbals working, and I'm sure some others (anything should be possible if your not afraid of soldiering and lots of software configuration and tuning), but no matter what you do, none of those gimbals will integrate with the onboard computer in the Solo, so the quality of your smart shots will not be as good.

Any help would e greatly appreciated. Just looking for a versatile camera platform.

If your looking for a versatile camera platform, the Solo is your best option. Spring for the gimbal and save yourself a little t of time and hassle trying to get a cheaper gimbal working.

 

[Anttler]

Yes.
Hitting the FLY button or the RTH button on the Solo controller will override the auto mission. If using Tower (rather than Mission Planner) you can resume the mission from where you left off by hitting the Auto button in the Tower app, at which point the Solo will return to the last WayPoint and resume (careful, it will take a direct path). ..

Thanks! I used tower and it ran the mission fine. As advertised used the pause button to take it out of auto mode. Perfect.

As I started to program the missions a few questions came to mind. What is the best speed for battery life in a on wind situation? Do you know the default speed, or where I could find that? Is there a way to set a RTL command dependent on battery level?

 

[Troiano27]

If you haven't taken the time to watch the video posted above, I highly recommend it. Explains all those things in nice detail.

 

[Tex Mackay]

Hi All,

So just to confirm,
While in auto and executing a mission in mission planer, (with a Solo) If I need to pause the mission so as to return and replace a battery, NOT to use the controller buttons,
use RTL in the UI in mission planer yes? And then land, swap battery power up, take off and then click resume in MP?
And same for tower, So using the controller buttons cancels the mission with no hope to resume.. ????

 

[mecummings.cr]

In doing a little bit of research on the battery swap question I found the following. (Text Copied Below For Reference)

http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/parameters.html?highlight=resume

I checked the default parameters on my Solo copter using Tower and found it was set to (0 = Resume Mission) but have never attempted to use this capability. When I initiate a pre-planned survey that I have produced in Mission Planner I typically load it to the copter directly from my laptop as perhaps I'm a bit overly careful but don't fully trust the Tower App to get all the Mission Planner parameters correct. Then I will download the mission from the copter to the Tower App in my phone (Galaxy S7). Then I initiate the mission using Tower rather than the laptop just because it's easier to carry around my phone to monitor the copter's progress and I can also take over manual flight with the 3DR controller sticks in the event of any hiccups with the autopilot (which I have never had to do so far).

At this point where I am not clear is with the procedure to pause the autonomous mission, land the copter, do a battery swap and resume the mission. Can this be done in the Tower App (how would it determine the intermediate landing point) or is it best to take manual control with the sticks, land, swap battery, take off manually and then resume the mission again or resume the mission on takeoff? The intermediate landing points, in my opinion are best defined based on where the copter happens to be located when the battery is getting low. You could pre-define some points but I wouldn't want to trust Tower to make that determination and end up running the battery too low trying to get to a landing point... seems easier for me to just intervene when the battery gets low, land, swap the battery and continue. If you were running a rather long mission (i.e. a roadway segment) you also wouldn't want to waste time flying all the way back to the start point to do a battery swap.

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions. This option to resume will save a tremendous amount of time not having to split all the flights up into pieces when trying to cover a larger area.

Here is the relevant text form the link above:
MIS_RESTART: Mission Restart when entering Auto mode
Note: This parameter is for advanced users
Controls mission starting point when entering Auto mode (either restart from beginning of mission or resume from last command run)

Values
Value Meaning
0 Resume Mission
1 Restart Mission

 

[mecummings.cr]

Hi All,

So just to confirm,
While in auto and executing a mission in mission planer, (with a Solo) If I need to pause the mission so as to return and replace a battery, NOT to use the controller buttons,
use RTL in the UI in mission planer yes? And then land, swap battery power up, take off and then click resume in MP?
And same for tower, So using the controller buttons cancels the mission with no hope to resume.. ????

Hi Tex... did you ever get to try out the mid mission planner battery swap (for lack of a better way to call it)? I'm looking to fly a long stretch of pavement and need to use multiple batteries and was trying to figure out how to do the battery swap. Thanks for any ideas you might have. -Mike