Gimbal strength.

[Bishamoten]

Hey all,

So I finally purchased a gimble! One step at a time. Anyway, I'm curious as it's inevitable that a crash will likely happen, those of you who've been through this already with their 3dr; how resilient is it to wrecks?

While I'm sure this depends on how hard it crashes, how and in what position etc, I'm curious how easily the gimbal is affected. How easy is it to knock it out of balance etc? I'm looking at this piece of equipment and for the life of me am trying to figure out being a majority plastic, why it costs as much as 2 car payments :/

 

[Adimuzio513]

I kinda thought the same and I bet honestly it being made to control GoPro has a big part in pricing. If you look close though all the hollow plastic is just there for looks and some minor protection. The arms and most of the parts that are functional are metal and honestly as well as solo itselfs plastic has been doing in crashes it may not be a bad thing that it's plastic. I definitley trust this gimbal in a rough landing more than my h3-3D as far as how it would hold up afterwards. I've not wrecked either so I could be wrong, I'm going off of what I've read about crashes between the two and p3 gimbals could even be more durable, I only own p2 h3-3D and solo to compare right now. That all said I think 400 was a bit steep maybe, but I still can't say I regret my purchase. Plus we won't have to buy another bird when hero 5 or other new add ons and options come out so its worth a few extra bucks in my mind.

 

[Maddog]

From what I've read here the gimbal does not survive crashes well.
It is a precision piece of equipment controlled by tiny motors- as such it doesn't have much protection.

I don't know why you say a crash is inevitable- I've never had one and most people on here haven't either. Solo has been known to "flip out" resulting in a crash but I think 3DR is resolving most of those issues.
I think (hope) most crashes in the future will be pilot error.

There's no shortage of drone owners who crash their drones because of stupidity.

Sorry for droning on....

 

[Adimuzio513]

I've not crashed either, but have had some close calls. I'm kinda overly cautious too, just remember manual is our friend. Practice manual as much as possible and practice switching it over cause it's faster than you think if GPS gives out and you'll want it to be more natural than my first fumble from pause to oh shit, to manual just barley saving solo from crashing when mine tweaked out early on.

 

[Maddog]

I've not crashed either, but have had some close calls. I'm kinda overly cautious too, just remember manual is our friend. Practice manual as much as possible and practice switching it over cause it's faster than you think if GPS gives out and you'll want it to be more natural than my first fumble from pause to oh shit, to manual just barley saving solo from crashing when mine tweaked out early on.

Yep- I have fly:manual programmed to my B button. I practiced with a Syma X5C, then the X8C for about 6 months before I bought Solo.
I wanted to be sure I could fly competently in case of GPS failure, solar flare, EMP, act of God, hole in the ozone layer........

 

[Bishamoten]

That I completely agree with. I've found it quite interesting that so many people have contemplated jumping ship so soon after the launch. It just goes to show you how much our society has changed. "Convenience" has taken over. We all want our desires to be granted as swiftly as possible, and without flaw. Nature does not work like that. This is my first drone so I may be ignorant as to how other drones operate and what promises where initially made from the company from the get go.

One of the biggest reasons I went with solo is because of its design. Adaptability, opensource so on and so forth. These days a large part of society expects things to be perfect right out of the box. When dealing with equipment, and technology nothing is perfect. Hell a quarter pounder at McDonald's is rarely perfect out of the box. Point is 3dr seems to be working hard to support what I'm assuming is dubbed their flagship model. Their customer service seems to be on point, and while not all the components and functionality where there on launch, they're still following through. With a product that has so much room to grow now and down the road. That notion may not Justify all they're price points. Who knows maybe metal affected fine compass too much. I do know, I do not want to drop another $400 on one anytime soon

 

[Maddog]

That I completely agree with. I've found it quite interesting that so many people have contemplated jumping ship so soon after the launch. It just goes to show you how much our society has changed. "Convenience" has taken over. We all want our desires to be granted as swiftly as possible, and without flaw. Nature does not work like that. This is my first drone so I may be ignorant as to how other drones operate and what promises where initially made from the company from the get go.

One of the biggest reasons I went with solo is because of its design. Adaptability, opensource so on and so forth. These days a large part of society expects things to be perfect right out of the box. When dealing with equipment, and technology nothing is perfect. Hell a quarter pounder at McDonald's is rarely perfect out of the box. Point is 3dr seems to be working hard to support what I'm assuming is dubbed their flagship model. Their customer service seems to be on point, and while not all the components and functionality where there on launch, they're still following through. With a product that has so much room to grow now and down the road. That notion may not Justify all they're price points. Who knows maybe metal affected fine compass too much. I do know, I do not want to drop another $400 on one anytime soon

I totally agree with your agreement.
Today, people want everything immediately and perfect.

3DR support is doing a great job- I think Solo has presented them with a learning curve too. They're working on fixing problems instead of ignoring them- and their customers.

Plastic for the gimbal was probably the best choice- pound for pound many plastics are stronger than metal and are easier to manufacture parts with. The motors seem to be a potential weak point if there is one.