Like many of you, I'm planning on keeping my solo in the air for as long as possible. Inevitably the battery cells will take a dump. Without a viable OEM equivalent replacement on the horizon yet, it has many of us experimenting. Stanordave has demonstrated flying the solo on aftermarket packs which offers promise to the solo staying aloft. However, many of you, myself included REALLY enjoy the benefits of a battery management system on board a battery pack.
I pulled a Solo smart battery apart last week, and thoroughly inspected it's components; the boards specifically in this case. I got to thinking about it, and wondered "Why cant the BMS board sit inside the solo body"? The battery connector on board the solo could then be deleted, and in its place, a custom 3d printed (or modified original) battery tray with common a XT60 connector, as well as a 5 JST-XH balancing connector put in place of the fancy molex connector. With the system arranged as such, the solo will always be able to read individual cells, and offer up battery info to your controller. On top of that, the system would then use industry standard battery packs and connectors. Of course, securing the pack would also need to be addressed, either by way of a 3D printed battery bay cover that uses the Solo's battery tray securing methods, or something else such as a velcro strap.
Radio interference shouldn't play a role either, as the circuit boards would be in roughly the same place they otherwise would be with an original battery pack.
I'm looking for feedback, tell me why you think this wouldn't work, tell me ways we could improve this idea. Most importantly, lets discuss as solo owners, how we can develop a long term solution for power to our solos.
I've got 5 best buy returned solos on their way to me. I'll be trying to get all of them air worthy first, but if any one of them proves to be grounded, that one will become my development solo to attempt this mod on. If it works on the ground, I'll swap the guts as necessary into a functioning package to test it in the sky.
I also know, there are a few folks on the forum trying to use Arduino to communicate battery info to the solo. If that happens, it opens up the doors to higher capacities, and new battery chemistries such as the recently revealed "Glass" battery, that will hopefully prove to be a gigantic step forward in battery technology.
I pulled a Solo smart battery apart last week, and thoroughly inspected it's components; the boards specifically in this case. I got to thinking about it, and wondered "Why cant the BMS board sit inside the solo body"? The battery connector on board the solo could then be deleted, and in its place, a custom 3d printed (or modified original) battery tray with common a XT60 connector, as well as a 5 JST-XH balancing connector put in place of the fancy molex connector. With the system arranged as such, the solo will always be able to read individual cells, and offer up battery info to your controller. On top of that, the system would then use industry standard battery packs and connectors. Of course, securing the pack would also need to be addressed, either by way of a 3D printed battery bay cover that uses the Solo's battery tray securing methods, or something else such as a velcro strap.
Radio interference shouldn't play a role either, as the circuit boards would be in roughly the same place they otherwise would be with an original battery pack.
I'm looking for feedback, tell me why you think this wouldn't work, tell me ways we could improve this idea. Most importantly, lets discuss as solo owners, how we can develop a long term solution for power to our solos.
I've got 5 best buy returned solos on their way to me. I'll be trying to get all of them air worthy first, but if any one of them proves to be grounded, that one will become my development solo to attempt this mod on. If it works on the ground, I'll swap the guts as necessary into a functioning package to test it in the sky.
I also know, there are a few folks on the forum trying to use Arduino to communicate battery info to the solo. If that happens, it opens up the doors to higher capacities, and new battery chemistries such as the recently revealed "Glass" battery, that will hopefully prove to be a gigantic step forward in battery technology.