Autopilot Firmware Upgrade from 1.3.1 to 1.5.3

[Bilge]

P2P...thanks

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[tonyb]

The auto email rarely works right. Their system sucks. Use the chat function on their support website to get in touch with them directly. Tell them you submitted a ticket via the app and got no response. They'll look for it and get the ball rolling faster. I highly suggest you do not tell them about installing 1.5.2. I'm confident it had nothing to do with a hardware IMU failure, but don't give them any excuses. They may balk at the fact that you already replaced the pixhawk yourself though. I suspect they do not have spare pixhawks lying around to send you as a replacement. They might say "congrats, you fixed it yourself, bye"

Thank you Pedals2Paddles!
Will see what they say. If they don't replace the Pixhawk 2.0 Cube will give me an excuse to try out the green Pixhawk 2.1 Cube if/when my spare 2.0 cube fails..

 

[tonyb]

Others on here have tried to get internal replacement parts from 3DR with very little success. Think about it... many consumers may (and many more, likely will) do more harm than good inside. 3DR just has no way to judge the competency of the user - and then that becomes a liabilty risk.

I remember one poster didn't own a screwdriver. Of course, if your gimbal wasn't pre-installed, you should now own one, anyway!

Hey SARDG,
I can assure you that sometimes I know what I am doing. I built three model planes and five multirotors, so have all the tools i need. The only reason I got the Solo was the price I just could not pass it up @ $299 for the package with gimbal and extra battery and props. Solo is a fun bird but I prefer something else for work. I was disappointed that IMU failed only after short amount of flights.

 

[SARDG]

Hey SARDG,
I can assure you that sometimes I know what I am doing. I built three model planes and five multirotors, so have all the tools i need...

Tony- You may be the smartest RC guy in the world - and if you told me you were, I'd be happy to believe you. But 3DR has no way to verify individuals' skills around the country and around the world. They can only assume that that they'd be throwing parts at problems that may not even exist, improperly installed by people with no skills, only to continue to have the same 'problem'... and then stand in line for more parts and additional service for their non-functioning bird.

All this doesn't even address the poorly serviced Solo falling from the sky and injuring someone after user service.

Wouldn't be a particularly smart business strategy to start sending out parts based on users' perceived problems. Of course, folks may question 3DR's business strategies anyway.

 

[tonyb]

Tony- You may be the smartest RC guy in the world - and if you told me you were, I'd be happy to believe you. But 3DR has no way to verify individuals' skills around the country and around the world. They can only assume that that they'd be throwing parts at problems that may not even exist, improperly installed by people with no skills, only to continue to have the same 'problem'... and then stand in line for more parts and additional service for their non-functioning bird.

All this doesn't even address the poorly serviced Solo falling from the sky and injuring someone after user service.

Wouldn't be a particularly smart business strategy to start sending out parts based on users' perceived problems. Of course, folks may question 3DR's business strategies anyway.

I do see your point.

And I am not the smartest, I am just an average guy who likes to tinker a lot.
In this case it's not throwing more parts at the problem. It's already fixed. I am just hoping they can exchange the broken part. If not so be it, I will get the Pixhawk 2.1 and better motors.

Does anyone know if there are better ESCs available?

 

[SARDG]

I do see your point.

And I am not the smartest, I am just an average guy who likes to tinker a lot.
In this case it's not throwing more parts at the problem. It's already fixed. I am just hoping they can exchange the broken part. If not so be it, I will get the Pixhawk 2.1 and better motors....

Let us know. I think I remember one poster on here actually talking 3DR into an internal part - once... so it can happen.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

I miss the old days of 3DR. I could call them and say "hey, this component blew up. I'm not sure if it's my fault or something defective." They just sent me replacements and said "be more careful next time please".

 

[tonyb]

I miss the old days of 3DR. I could call them and say "hey, this component blew up. I'm not sure if it's my fault or something defective." They just sent me replacements and said "be more careful next time please".

Good ol' days...

From what I read on this forum, your Solo had IMU failure at least twice...Do you think they're just poorly made to begin with, or is there something else that could affect it?
I only had a couple of flights before getting 1.5.2 firmware and it seemed to improve the landing but not much difference from the stock 1.3.1 and then after landing and changing the battery got the IMU failure...

For the Pixhawk 2.1 cube from the proficnc would it work with gimbal? Green Cube for Solo (No delivery till late February) - Pixhawk2

 

[richnat]

From what I read on this forum, your Solo had IMU failure at least twice...Do you think they're just poorly made to begin with, or is there something else that could affect it?

Have you seen how P2P flies his machines? I think that explains a lot of it!

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

The two IMU failures I had were not after anything extraordinary. One was after a single flight. The other was after several. It isn't a overly common problem. Other than anecdotal experience on the forum, I have no data to suggest one way or another.

 

[tonyb]

Have you seen how P2P flies his machines? I think that explains a lot of it!

I would like to check it out can you post any links?

I was not flying exactly slow myself...although I could not reach 55mph 3DR claims. Is it limited in 1.5.2 firmware? I could only get it a little over 40mph.

 

[BigTulsa]

From what I've read the initial run of 'The Cube' for the solo had some hardware glitches, which prompted Philip (Rowse) to start the 2.1 project to replace both the old PH1 once 3DR stopped producing them, and the 2.0 which is the version in the Solo. The difference between the new cube and old is that the Solo had specific firmware built from the Arducopter branch. The 2.1 will be user Arducopter master. The Green Cube..I have no idea what firmware it will be using.

 

[pyrate]

the green cube is so you can plug it into a stock solo and run master

 

[Jubalr]

the green cube is so you can plug it into a stock solo and run master

But with master you would lose gimbal smart functions until they are merged, correct?

 

[pyrate]

My understanding is no
since ardu is the flight controller software, but the two onboard computers will still be in play and that is where smart shots live, all you are gaining is more firmware features
Just like updating to the 1.5.2 is only a firmware update

 

[Jubalr]

My understanding is no
since ardu is the flight controller software, but the two onboard computers will still be in play and that is where smart shots live, all you are gaining is more firmware features
Just like updating to the 1.5.2 is only a firmware update

Understood and what I thought, but you can run the FWs on the existing Solo PH2. So in a Solo, it would be adding the heated IMUs for cold weather. Anything else? Guess I need to read up on it some..

 

[pyrate]

the only difference as I understand it, between the green for solo 2.1 and the standard DIY 2.1 is that the solo one has a higher output on the PPM or PWM cant remember.
this is specifically to address that esc issue that Philip talks about on solo.
So that is the big concern with just putting a standard black 2.1 in a solo, and or using the solo 2 cube in a DIY outside its eco system. Doing it the way you did it is how you use the standard 2.0

 

[tonyb]

So using green Solo 2.1 cube on Solo should be pretty much plug and play using Arducopter master and in theory it should not interfere with gimbal or controls from Solo App such as flight modes and etc. as long as we don't mix standard black 2.1 cube with solo green 2.1 cube. Is that correct?

 

[pyrate]

As I understand it, yes put the green cube in your solo, Update to master
use your controller and app as normal

 

[pyrate]

Plus its sexy