Help for this shot would be appreciated.

[so low still grounded]

Hi folks would appreciate some direction from the experienced folks on planning this.
I want to do an orbit shot that is 1.46 km radius at 556 m height on a calm day, is this possible on one battery? So “roughfly” diameter 4.5 km what should my speed be? Any suggestions? if solo get low on power it will come home directly so if my solo height is 570 m. should be ok right? what else should I plan on.

 

[Acroduster]

It will be very close - making that loop on one battery should be comfortably doable, but it's the altitude that gives me pause. The key is: what is your takeoff elevation? If you're taking off at 500m altitude near the path of the arc - at 17 to 20 mph, you should be OK. Taking off much lower (as in, where the pin is on your map), or well away from the path of the arc, I don't think you will have enough battery.

 

[jimloss]

Diameter is 1.46 X 2, or 2.92 km (1.81 miles).

Height is 556 meters (1824 feet).

The circumference will be 2 X 3.14 X 1.46, or 9.17 km (5.7 miles).

You have to factor in both height and length. Other factors are distance from orbit, distance from home (you will lose connection) and the mountain you are circling (it will block signal and may get in the way of an RTL).

I don't know how long it takes to ascend to or descend from 556 meters. I don't think Solo can be this quick, but at 90 seconds minimum each, that's at least 3 minutes of your flight time right there.

Assuming you have 13 minutes of flight time with gimbal and camera, that leaves you with 10 minutes for the orbit if you fly at average speed, maybe 19 kph (12 mph).

You have to fly 9.17 km (5.7 miles) in 10 minutes. That's 55.02 kph (34.19 mph). At that speed, you won't get good video and you also won't get 10 minutes of flight time.

I don't think it can be done.

 

[so low still grounded]

thanks guys much appreciated. so if I stepped the radius down to 700 meters. To the base of the mountain at sea level. Fast assenting to 550 m It should be doable on average battery life time @ speed of 22 km/h ? so that I am not pushing factors and looking for trouble. Would that be reasonable?

 

[jimloss]

thanks guys much appreciated. so if I stepped the radius down to 700 meters. To the base of the mountain at sea level. Fast assenting to 550 m It should be doable on average battery life time @ speed of 22 km/h ? so that I am not pushing factors and looking for trouble. Would that be reasonable?

Still with the assumptions of 13 minutes of flight time and 3 minutes used for ascending and descending, assuming you are positioned directly below the orbit path so that no travel distance is needed to the orbit path, and assuming you have 10 minutes remaining for your orbit:

2 X 3.14 X .7 = 4.4 km circumference

4.4 X 6 = 26.4 kph speed needed to complete the orbit if you do indeed have 10 minutes of flight time available at this speed.

You are getting closer to doable.

Try to remove some of the variables:
Need to understand how many minutes of flight you will have in orbit. Can the 3 minutes of travel time to/from orbit be measured and/or reduced so that this is a known time? Can you position yourself closer to the orbit altitude and path to reduce this travel time? Is 13 minutes of flight time about average for you? At what speed?
Can you position yourself with the controller so that you won't lose the link between your controller and Solo?

Remove the variables and the orbit time will be known and speed for orbit can be calculated. Right now it's a guess that you will need 26.4 kph speed in orbit and you still need to deal with the connectivity and RTL concerns.

 

[so low still grounded]

thanks jimloss. Truly much appreciated folks. the game changer is connectivity. I can get to 500 m from the orbit centre sea level and do an orbit one left, half a km “500m” on one battery and one right on another battery both at an altitude of 120 m this should give me an amazing shot. If I lose connectivity solo will come home safely either way both sides. That should do it. safe all round. i want to do an arc centre because the perspective is beautiful not the same as a cable linear shot, which would be easier. The remaining issue which I have no idea on is speed, flight speed to get a decent scene. This is an ALL new ball game for me trying to workout speed and distance to get time factor correct. Just so much to get right. I don’t mind pulling the reigns back for the right reasons.

 

[Maxheadspace]

You have to fly 9.17 km (5.7 miles) in 10 minutes. That's 55.02 kph (34.19 mph). At that speed, you won't get good video and you also won't get 10 minutes of flight time.

I don't think it can be done.

Not to mention the Solo would have to fly sideways for the entire flight.

If you track altitude, position, angle well, flying multiple missions would probably return good results, plus you wouldn't have to fly them as fast. A good linear editor should be able to merge them smoothly.

Have you thought of doing it with photos (again, multiple flights) and then using a stitching program to create a 3D photo model?

 

[andrew.baker.142]

I would plan on a max of 10m/s flight speed.
Also remember you can "practice" the flight near home to ensure your battery will last. The only variable would then be winds at the actual site on the day of the flight.
Breaking the flight into segments with battery to spare would be the best thing to do.
Learn how to use Mission Planner (or the Tower app). That is the perfect tool for a flight like this.

 

[DJMc]

Apologies, edited my post to delete the misinformation I was spreading - really considering the effect of wind and gust on drift in flying an inward looking circular autonomous flight started to hurt - more speed less haste!

 

[Maddog]

All I know is somebody posted a vid where they climbed from sea level to 1000' in Mexico. He came right back down but did not have enough battery to make it all the way.