Havnt touched my Solo in over a year. Looking for advice.

eric.dundas · Oct 9, 2017

Hey all, like the title states, I haven't touched my solo in over a year, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I purchased Solo in July 2016 and did the updates out of the box. Since then, I used it a few times and put it away. The last I heard about 3dr is that they were going to be getting out of the consumer market. I have been browsing/ reading for the past hour or so and am completely overwhelmed with all of the information that I'm finding.

I have searched, and will continue to search once I post this thread, but hopefully you guys can provide some guidance. I'll admit, I was never into the technical aspects of the drone/ programming (most of it looks like a foreign language to me), so I feel that now that there is no longer 3dr support for it, I'm extremely lost.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out exactly what I would have to do in order to get my solo up and running to the best of it's ability given all of the updates that were most likely released while it was sitting in it's bag. I have been checking out Solex and it seems like that is the best bet but am clueless as to the actual steps that I would need to take in order to get it functioning correctly.I used to use my Nexus 7 (2013) tablet to run the Solo app, will this run Solex correctly?

Also, I have been trying to understand what the Green Cube is, I see that it is a piece of hardware which addresses a voltage issue that 3dr solved using software. Would it be irresponsible to run 3rd party software without the green cube?

As you can probably tell, I'm quite lost when it comes to all of this. Any help is much appreciated!

mike_kelly · Oct 9, 2017

Solo has always used the ArduCopter flight controller software. But 3DR had to modify it to solve the ESC problem you mention. This stuck Solo at the version of ArduCopter available when 3DR exited the building with Elvis. With the hard work of the people passionate about Solo they have come up with solutions that will allow Solo owners to get back on the ArduCopter train with all the new features added since 3DR Solo was stuck. But it requires a new flight controller, the Green Cube, which solves the ESC problem. With the Green Cube the normal ArduCopter currently available can be used, but without the Green Cube the latest ArduCopter can not be used.

There are a few updates to the original version of ArduCopter that is on your Solo and you can use Open Solo to update it. But it will not bring mainstream compatibility with the current and future ArduCopter development without the Green Cube or some other even more technical solutions.

I wrote a little blog entry about it that might give you a summary:
mike_kelly's blog - RC Groups

eric.dundas · Oct 9, 2017

Got it. So basically, in order to make sure that I do not have the ESC problem, and in order to use all of the features that are offered in the the newest ArduCopter/ Solex, I should upgrade to Green Cube. This would be done by following the process found here: documentation/green_cube_install.md at master · OpenSolo/documentation · GitHub

If I chose not to upgrade to Green Cube, my two options would be; 1- Fly it as it is (using the old firmware and Solo app) or 2- Upgrade to ArduCopter (which version?) and use the latest version of Solex. I would just not be able to use all of the new features and potentially run the risk of experiencing the ESC problem.

Is this correct?

Awesome write-up by the way!

pyrate · Oct 9, 2017

all depends on what you want to do with it. If you are happy with what it has done for you so far, just upgrade to open solo (stock) and have fun. GPS was the biggest flaw. and you can put a Here GPS on it for pretty cheap and that thing will make all the GPS issues away plus add a better compass.
Now if you want to keep building on what you have then yes go green cube.

User Name · Oct 9, 2017

Regarding the Green Cube, you should consider the features that it adds/enables (through being able to run the latest Arducopter) and consider if they're important to you. The stock Solo is still a very capable setup for it's intended purpose, you can still (and probably should at this point) use Solex with it. And while it's not impossible, the chances of encountering the ESC problem in normal operation seems fairly remote.

Not trying to dissuade you or anyone from upgrading the flight controller to a Green Cube, but just saying that it's not like it's mandatory if your use of the Solo is within it's general design purpose.

Personally, I would say the single best bang-for-the-buck upgrade is a new GPS, the mRo one or the Here (Here is cheaper but needs to be mounted externally, mRo is ~2x the cost all told but mounts inside just like the stock GPS. It turns using Solo from continually lowering your safety margin (ok, looks like it's not going to get a GPS fix, I'll take off and hope to get one once I get above the trees) to walking back from turning it on and saying "Holy shoot, I have 18 satellites already, let's go!"

RichWest · Oct 9, 2017

User Name said:
Regarding the Green Cube, you should consider the features that it adds/enables (through being able to run the latest Arducopter) and consider if they're important to you. The stock Solo is still a very capable setup for it's intended purpose, you can still (and probably should at this point) use Solex with it. And while it's not impossible, the chances of encountering the ESC problem in normal operation seems fairly remote.

Not trying to dissuade you or anyone from upgrading the flight controller to a Green Cube, but just saying that it's not like it's mandatory if your use of the Solo is within it's general design purpose.

Personally, I would say the single best bang-for-the-buck upgrade is a new GPS, the mRo one or the Here (Here is cheaper but needs to be mounted externally, mRo is ~2x the cost all told but mounts inside just like the stock GPS. It turns using Solo from continually lowering your safety margin (ok, looks like it's not going to get a GPS fix, I'll take off and hope to get one once I get above the trees) to walking back from turning it on and saying "Holy shoot, I have 18 satellites already, let's go!"

Took the words right out of my mind....yours were better though...

I say fly what you got, it worked when you put it away...right?

eric.dundas · Oct 9, 2017

I can't say thanks enough for all of the great info, guys! I was afraid when I started reading that it would be a headache to get this thing up and running (flying) again. I think I'll go with updating to the latest compatible version on Open Solo and download Solex.

If I fall in love with Solo again while flying in Cayman, ill strongly consider the gps/ green cube upgrades.

Thanks again!

mike_kelly · Oct 9, 2017

Sounds like a good plan.

Just to get it stragiht you can't use any of the new features of the latest ArduCopter without the Green Cube.

You can get the last updates available for the original Solo but they are more fixes than the feature additions with the recent versions of ArduCopter which the original Solo can not run without the Gren Cube.

The original Solo is stuck with about 3.2 version of ArduCopter when the latest version is 3.5.3 with many newer features.

User Name · Oct 9, 2017

eric.dundas said:
I can't say thanks enough for all of the great info, guys! I was afraid when I started reading that it would be a headache to get this thing up and running (flying) again.

I'm with ya! The amount of knowledge and sharing here and elsewhere reinforce my decision to buy the Solo, even if it didn't quite work out according to plan (3DR's plan...).

I too haven't flown my Solo much, I actually don't think I've flown a single time this year, work and life haven't given me the time... but I look forward to trying out the latest features from Open Solo and Solex as soon as I can. I might do the Green Cube at some point, but honestly, the stock (well, upgraded GPS) Solo does pretty much everything I'm interested in doing.

Like Rich said, if it worked for you when you put it away, it will work just the same now.

Dobie Ardmore · Oct 10, 2017

eric.dundas said:
Hey all, like the title states, I haven't touched my solo in over a year, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I purchased Solo in July 2016 and did the updates out of the box. Since then, I used it a few times and put it away. The last I heard about 3dr is that they were going to be getting out of the consumer market. I have been browsing/ reading for the past hour or so and am completely overwhelmed with all of the information that I'm finding.

I have searched, and will continue to search once I post this thread, but hopefully you guys can provide some guidance. I'll admit, I was never into the technical aspects of the drone/ programming (most of it looks like a foreign language to me), so I feel that now that there is no longer 3dr support for it, I'm extremely lost.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out exactly what I would have to do in order to get my solo up and running to the best of it's ability given all of the updates that were most likely released while it was sitting in it's bag. I have been checking out Solex and it seems like that is the best bet but am clueless as to the actual steps that I would need to take in order to get it functioning correctly.I used to use my Nexus 7 (2013) tablet to run the Solo app, will this run Solex correctly?

Also, I have been trying to understand what the Green Cube is, I see that it is a piece of hardware which addresses a voltage issue that 3dr solved using software. Would it be irresponsible to run 3rd party software without the green cube?

As you can probably tell, I'm quite lost when it comes to all of this. Any help is much appreciated!

Just get the updates and fly it. I would definitley do the GPS shield mod, and most definitely buy a pair of ALFA -7Db antennas.

Maddog · Oct 10, 2017

mike_kelly said:
Solo has always used the ArduCopter flight controller software. But 3DR had to modify it to solve the ESC problem you mention. This stuck Solo at the version of ArduCopter available when 3DR exited the building with Elvis. With the hard work of the people passionate about Solo they have come up with solutions that will allow Solo owners to get back on the ArduCopter train with all the new features added since 3DR Solo was stuck. But it requires a new flight controller, the Green Cube, which solves the ESC problem. With the Green Cube the normal ArduCopter currently available can be used, but without the Green Cube the latest ArduCopter can not be used.

There are a few updates to the original version of ArduCopter that is on your Solo and you can use Open Solo to update it. But it will not bring mainstream compatibility with the current and future ArduCopter development without the Green Cube or some other even more technical solutions.

I wrote a little blog entry about it that might give you a summary:
mike_kelly's blog - RC Groups

Excellent blog Mike! You obviously put a lot of work into that- thank you!

mike_kelly · Oct 10, 2017

Thanks Maddog, Nice to know someone got something out of it. I'm trying to introduce Open Solo to the RCGroups gang.

User Name · Oct 10, 2017

mike_kelly said:
I'm trying to introduce Open Solo to the RCGroups gang.

Hopefully Cold Iditarod doesn't catch wind of that!

mike_kelly · Oct 10, 2017

Maybe some, like me, will come hang out over here. There are 500,000 of us!

RichWest · Oct 10, 2017

User Name said:
Hopefully Cold Iditarod doesn't catch wind of that!

Shhhh...you're not supposed to say his name....Swiper no swipe, Swiper no...

User Name · Oct 11, 2017

RichWest said:
Shhhh...you're not supposed to say his name....Swiper no swipe, Swiper no...

My bad... I fixed it...

Saijin_Naib · Oct 11, 2017

mike_kelly said:
Thanks Maddog, Nice to know someone got something out of it. I'm trying to introduce Open Solo to the RCGroups gang.

I went to RCG to read up on the Solo thread. Forgot that it had turned into a complete shitstorm and gotten locked :\

Ah well, I spend most of my time here now haha.

Gemboo · Oct 14, 2017

eric.dundas said:
Hey all, like the title states, I haven't touched my solo in over a year, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I purchased Solo in July 2016 and did the updates out of the box. Since then, I used it a few times and put it away. The last I heard about 3dr is that they were going to be getting out of the consumer market. I have been browsing/ reading for the past hour or so and am completely overwhelmed with all of the information that I'm finding.

I have searched, and will continue to search once I post this thread, but hopefully you guys can provide some guidance. I'll admit, I was never into the technical aspects of the drone/ programming (most of it looks like a foreign language to me), so I feel that now that there is no longer 3dr support for it, I'm extremely lost.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out exactly what I would have to do in order to get my solo up and running to the best of it's ability given all of the updates that were most likely released while it was sitting in it's bag. I have been checking out Solex and it seems like that is the best bet but am clueless as to the actual steps that I would need to take in order to get it functioning correctly.I used to use my Nexus 7 (2013) tablet to run the Solo app, will this run Solex correctly?

Also, I have been trying to understand what the Green Cube is, I see that it is a piece of hardware which addresses a voltage issue that 3dr solved using software. Would it be irresponsible to run 3rd party software without the green cube?

As you can probably tell, I'm quite lost when it comes to all of this. Any help is much appreciated!

Take it out and fly it!

Keep an eye on the batteries that set for a year. Some are failing now.

If you want to upgrade it a little?

New props are excellent
MrO gps is great
New WiFi cards help with range and WiFi interference in electronic noise areas.

Props are easy and cheap. Be sure to glue in the center nuts the after the first time yo fly. This way you can spin on props fast and not have to worry about two in the wrong rotation.

Gps takes less than 5 minutes to install. Buy the shielding material it’s great too.

The gps paper card shield you can make yourself is good and free. If you want a quick fix.

The WiFi cards will requires about two hours of getting to know your solo. It will have to be taken fully apart. Computer boards, all four motors, pulling the motor wires out of the legs. It’s almost rocket science. Only two hours tho. Defiantly worth it when your drone is a mile out and still has perfect signal and video.

Gimbal cable vibration cancellation is a good idea once your in your drone. A little soft foam helps a lot.

Make sure everything is charged up fully before flights

Get a good android tablet for FPV flight

Use the solo training app until you can’t stand it anymore