Tower questions

[Brian Mowry]

I've used Tower a few time and never had this problem, however I've always made my last waypoint a Return to Home. Once it goes into RTH, I can take control by pressing the FLY button if I don't want it to land.

 

[Michael Mahler]

Del, I agree 100% that it should be in the manual but not all of the modes I I can put the Solo into from Tower are there.

 

[J R]

Del, I agree 100% that it should be in the manual but not all of the modes I I can put the Solo into from Tower are there.

Michael,

I've also had a hard time finding good descriptive info on Tower. Raybro seems to come up with some really good stuff.

Ray? Any hidden links you've tripped across?

Jerry

 

[timzee]

I've used Tower a few time and never had this problem, however I've always made my last waypoint a Return to Home. Once it goes into RTH, I can take control by pressing the FLY button if I don't want it to land.

Thanks for that Brian. I assume you're referring to "Return to Launch"? Does that return to the launch point then land? If so, does Solo use the elevation of that last waypoint to return to the launch point before landing. In some ways I'm thinking that it might be just as effective to make sure that last waypoint is where you want it to land then set it as a Landing waypoint. Obviously pretty much two ways to accomplish the same thing...

On another point, do most of you guys have the Solo app running at the same time as Tower?

 

[timzee]

I have assigned B button to manual and that is how I interrupt a mission if needed and it has never failed to work. I also always let Tower Append the mission with a take off and landing waypoint but don't use them. I always take off and land manually.

IOW with takeoff and landing points added automatically by Tower, you just take off manually (left stick up e.g.) then at some point while aloft, switch to auto and Solo says "Oh yeah, I'm already up in the air so I guess I'll just head to the first waypoint in this current mission that's been loaded and continue on from there?". Ok, ok... it doesn't actually say that, but that's the logic if's using?

 

[Michael Mahler]

I don't think it is recommended but I keep the Solo App running as well so I can get the Full Screen Video. I haven't figured out how to get that in Tower.
<https://3drobotics.com/kb/tower-best-practices/>

 

[J R]

I don't think it is recommended but I keep the Solo App running as well so I can get the Full Screen Video. I haven't figured out how to get that in Tower.
<https://3drobotics.com/kb/tower-best-practices/>

Michael,

Yeah, I run them simultaneously as well for the same reason. Have you played with moving the camera around in the Tower video screen with your finger yet? That's going to take some real finger skill!

Jerry

 

[Francisco Cobos]

I'm thinking that I might program the last waypoint to land, then try to press Fly to take control when it starts to land At least that way if it doesn't hand over control, hopefully it will just go ahead and land.

That's exactly what I did in my two test flights.

 

[Michael Mahler]

Have you played with moving the camera around in the Tower video screen with your finger yet? That's going to take some real finger skill!

Yes, didn't think much of that. Did you notice that the paddle on the control didn't work when Tower was active.

 

[J R]

Yes, didn't think much of that. Did you notice that the paddle on the control didn't work when Tower was active.

Intermittent for me. On some flights it worked on others I didn't. It might have to do with how we power up and what app we open first. I haven't sorted it out yet. I won't be using the "finger camera control" very much!

Jerry

 

[Brian Mowry]

Thanks for that Brian. I assume you're referring to "Return to Launch"? Does that return to the launch point then land? If so, does Solo use the elevation of that last waypoint to return to the launch point before landing. In some ways I'm thinking that it might be just as effective to make sure that last waypoint is where you want it to land then set it as a Landing waypoint. Obviously pretty much two ways to accomplish the same thing...

On another point, do most of you guys have the Solo app running at the same time as Tower?

Yes, "Return to Launch" and yes it does return to the launch point and land just as if you were to push the Home button on your controller. It will climb to the height you have specified in the settings if it is below that. If it is above that it will just return home and land. Of course you can push the FLY button after and take control back if you didn't want it to land.

Setting the last waypoint as a landing waypoint will pretty much accomplish the same thing but it is still in the Autonomous flight and still difficult to take control back. Setting the last waypoint to RTL or RTH then Solo breaks out of the autonomous flight and goes into RTL or RTH, then you can push the FLY button if you wish to keep Solo in the air. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Troiano27]

I have a general Tower question. I've added Mapbox as my map provider. So now I can cache maps for offline. But what I wondering is....

Is there a way to update map location without being connect to solo? I've only just started playing with the tower app. I'd like it to simply update to my current location, so that I can play around making a practice mission. Can't seem to figure out where to push a button and it just load the map of my current location of the tablet. Which is a Samsung Galaxy tab 4.

Thanks.

 

[timzee]

Yes, "Return to Launch" and yes it does return to the launch point and land just as if you were to push the Home button on your controller. It will climb to the height you have specified in the settings if it is below that. If it is above that it will just return home and land. Of course you can push the FLY button after and take control back if you didn't want it to land.

Setting the last waypoint as a landing waypoint will pretty much accomplish the same thing but it is still in the Autonomous flight and still difficult to take control back. Setting the last waypoint to RTL or RTH then Solo breaks out of the autonomous flight and goes into RTL or RTH, then you can push the FLY button if you wish to keep Solo in the air. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks Brian-- appreciate the input. I think doing as you suggest-- setting the last waypoint as a landing waypoint-- sounds like a good way to fly Tower missions. I'll give it a try!

 

[Danbo]

Can't you program the last waypoint in Tower to "land". I haven't had the joy of setting up and executing a mission yet, but I am looking forward to it. Still reading and learning. Whoops.....someone already said that.

 

[nuggetz]

Why is everyone so wigged out about letting solo land itself? In my tower missions I usually just hit return to home when the solo has arrived at its last waypoint. I tap return home and I let solo land. Your mileage may vary of course depending on your location / GPS reception but in my case I've always flown solo with good GPS reception so return home / auto land has not been a problem for me

Sent from my SM-T237P using Tapatalk

 

[J R]

Why is everyone so wigged out about letting solo land itself?

Nug,

I'm not wigged out about it, I've tried it a few times. It's actually a pretty cool feature. I just started out doing it manually with my other bird and I'm more comfortable doing so. Also, I think take-offs and landings are more prone to accidents. I just like to be in full control of the bird during those procedures. I've actually started doing the take-offs and landings "manually" in manual flight mode when conditions are favorable. To each his/her own.

Jerry

 

[timzee]

Tried flying a Tower mission the other day and when activated Solo took off like it was trying to break a speed record! Never saw that before. I don't see any options to control speed from within Tower. Is that something one has to do by adjusting a parameter? Really need to slow it down to be of much use. (Tower 3.2.0).

 

[J R]

Tim,

Here's a "Change Speed" example:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Jerry

 

[timzee]

Tim,

Here's a "Change Speed" example:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Jerry

Ah--- so that's the trick. Thanks much.

Am I correct in that if one doesn't change the speed that in the current version of Tower the default speed is FAST? Can you change the speed more than once in a mission? For example, speed up to a more distant waypoint, then slow down, then perhaps speed back to home base?

 

[J R]

Ah--- so that's the trick. Thanks much.

Am I correct in that if one doesn't change the speed that in the current version of Tower the default speed is FAST? Can you change the speed more than once in a mission? For example, speed up to a more distant waypoint, then slow down, then perhaps speed back to home base?

Tim,

I'm not entirely sure what the default is but for me it was "Rocket Speed"! Scared the crap out of me the first couple of flights. What I do know is that the performance settings in the Solo app have no impact on the speed of a Tower Mission. I have used multiple Change Speed Waypoints on missions. Another thing I noticed is that setting the change speed waypoint to the first waypoint does not appear to work. I usually put my bird in the air manually, above and forward of me, make the first waypoint at the default height just in front of my Home Point. The second waypoint is always my change speed waypoint (15 is tolerable for me on most flights).

Jerry