Is this the GPS Firmware Bug? Yikes!

GaryN · Jun 27, 2015

At about 1:45 minutes into this Youtube video a Solo, apparently being flown by a 3DR employee seems to takes on a mind of its own, resulting in a close quarters crash, and almost some injuries.

Is this the so called 'firmware' or 'GPS' bug I've heard of?

Best,
Gary

1013D · Jun 27, 2015

Can't see the log file, or the controller. She might have been commanding it to go right, thinking it would go left since it was pointing at her.

No way to know just from the video

Earldgrayjr · Jun 27, 2015

Agreed. No way to know. If I had to guess, it looks like stick movement to me.

David Weston · Jun 27, 2015

ok,,and so? When,,,who??? Geez,, c'mon. 1000 good experiences and you pull up an unknown, whatever?? I can find plenty of P3 fails,,,but we don't put them here. If you have a legitamit bitch,,then say so or send your log files to 3DR. We are all trying to learn from each others experiences,,not just a non-descript youtube fail. Man up!

thefrog · Jun 27, 2015

Seems my GroPro 4 causes GPS signal interference, at least running GPS test app on my Galaxy S6 edge I can see number of the satellites dropping from about 20 to 6 as soon as move S6 close to the Solo belly with GoPro recording running. When I turn off GoPro and Solo, sat count went back to 19-20 gradually within 10 seconds. This can be S6 problem, as the GPS antenna inside the phone is just very tiny.
Can you guys try this with other phones so we can see if this is a S6 fault or some GoPro issue?

Raybro · Jun 27, 2015

As soon as that guy with the camera comes up it veers lt. Possibly produced some interference with the Solo??? That on had a gimbal too. dang.

Dirby · Jun 27, 2015

you have to turn your Go Pro wifi off.

Raybro · Jun 27, 2015

Dirby said:
you have to turn your Go Pro wifi off.

Right. But did you see the guy that came up with the video camera? As soon as he approached the Solo, it veered off to the left. Was his camera using wifi or possibly a satellite feed? Guess we'll never know the cause.

erikgraham · Jun 27, 2015

thefrog said:
Seems my GroPro 4 causes GPS signal interference, at least running GPS test app on my Galaxy S6 edge I can see number of the satellites dropping from about 20 to 6 as soon as move S6 close to the Solo belly with GoPro recording running. When I turn off GoPro and Solo, sat count went back to 19-20 gradually within 10 seconds. This can be S6 problem, as the GPS antenna inside the phone is just very tiny.
Can you guys try this with other phones so we can see if this is a S6 fault or some GoPro issue?

You are supposed to turn the wifi on your go pro off. It interferes with the Solo

thefrog · Jun 28, 2015

Thanks for noting this, GoPro's Wifi was of course OFF - noted this in the quick start guide and double checked.
Have a look at the following SOLO GPS test, somewhat unscientific, but this could be caused by GPS interference from GoPro or even SOLO itself: If the interference was the cause, the weakest satellites could be lost - like under the canopies. If this will be fixed by firmware it will mean the loiter mode - GPS position hold - in the wind will become really poor. Could be more likely a hardware issue. In each case I have no issues like this, all flights in wide open space and even if something like this happened briefly I haven't noticed.

rrmccabe · Jun 28, 2015

I will test this today on my S5. Its raining today so I am grounded

Raybro · Jun 28, 2015

rrmccabe said:
I will test this today on my S5. Its raining today so I am grounded

Rich,
I programmed the B button for manual mode. Gotta do some practicing. If I go from manual back to fly mode, will it have to obtain a GPS lock again? Or does it maintain a lock and just ignores the GPS input?

Jubalr · Jun 28, 2015

It is maintaining the lock regardless of whether you are using it. as long as it is powered on it is looking for and tracking GPS sats. You will be able to go directly to fly or pause from non GPS modes.

DodgeP · Jun 28, 2015

Not looking for a debate but real life scenario's. In most of the "crashes" that I've seen videos of, people have been under trees, too close to houses, large objects, etc which is already asking for trouble. In the video posted by Frog, I'm not sure there is any way on earth I would be flying in an area like and NOT expect a problem. I mean the take off area looked good but then the turn around and heading under the trees, between the truck and boat, etc. I wouldn't be flying in a space like that in anything other than full manual mode and slow, slow, slow.

I also don't think the pause button could be in a better place. The key is to remember to hit it and not panic once you feel like you've lost control.

rrmccabe · Jun 28, 2015

As said above the GPS lock is never lost. You are just not using GPS for horizontal. I have my B button set to manual as well. When I go back to fly mode its instantly on.

I often pop up about 200' and hit manual and check the winds aloft. I just hit manual and watch the direction and how fast. Hitting the fly button is like putting on the brake. As soon as you do it then it knows to hold to GPS location if sticks are centered.

And @DodgeP I agree about the pause. At first I thought it was stupid when I watched the video but its actually cool.

Sarah B · Jun 28, 2015

It happened to me, yesterday, like I said on another thread. Everything was fine, but then the Solo went berserk and flew--quite fast--into a bunch of flowers. I didn't think to hit the Pause button, but I pulled back on the right stick, and nothing. There was no control at all.

Is this simply what one has to expect from a Solo when satellites are lost? I'm used to yellow lights on the rears of Phantoms when satellites are lost, but the Phantom can still be controlled. But for the Solo to simply veer off in whatever direction it wants to? Losing the equipment becomes secondary. What if the propellers slice up someone's face? You could get sued and lose your house.

rrmccabe · Jun 28, 2015

Sarah B said:
It happened to me, yesterday, like I said on another thread. Everything was fine, but then the Solo went berserk and flew--quite fast--into a bunch of flowers. I didn't think to hit the Pause button, but I pulled back on the right stick, and nothing. There was no control at all.

Is this simply what one has to expect from a Solo when satellites are lost? I'm used to yellow lights on the rears of Phantoms when satellites are lost, but the Phantom can still be controlled. But for the Solo to simply veer off in whatever direction it wants to? Losing the equipment becomes secondary. What if the propellers slice up someone's face? You could get sued and lose your house.

Sarah, unless you had wind equal "flew--quite fast" this is not what you can expect from loss of GPS unless there is a bug when it goes from GPS to manual. Maybe this is part of GPS bug they have been talking about.

My gut instinct is when you have take off behavior like this the Pause button is not going to work. Pause is more for when I am being stupid and need to rethink or catch my breath.

Raybro · Jun 28, 2015

rrmccabe said:
As said above the GPS lock is never lost. You are just not using GPS for horizontal. I have my B button set to manual as well. When I go back to fly mode its instantly on.

I often pop up about 200' and hit manual and check the winds aloft. I just hit manual and watch the direction and how fast. Hitting the fly button is like putting on the brake. As soon as you do it then it knows to hold to GPS location if sticks are centered.

And @DodgeP I agree about the pause. At first I thought it was stupid when I watched the video but its actually cool.

Thanks for the info. The last time I flew manual was with my little $60 Syma. Atti with the P2.

Sarah B · Jun 28, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Sarah, unless you had wind equal "flew--quite fast" this is not what you can expect from loss of GPS unless there is a bug when it goes from GPS to manual. Maybe this is part of GPS bug they have been talking about.

My gut instinct is when you have take off behavior like this the Pause button is not going to work. Pause is more for when I am being stupid and need to rethink or catch my breath.

It happened so fast, I can't honestly say I know what happened, but I assumed it was loss of satellites. I was doing not-terribly-precise, figure-eights in my backyard, a few feet above the ground, when the Solo pitched violently from side to side, and then darted away. It was unexpected, and lasted for maybe two seconds. My brain wasn't quick enough to think about Pause or anything else. I just instinctively pulled back on the right stick. But the Solo continued moving forward.

The Solo's behavior wasn't attributable to wind. That I do know.

rrmccabe · Jun 28, 2015

thefrog said:
Seems my GroPro 4 causes GPS signal interference, at least running GPS test app on my Galaxy S6 edge I can see number of the satellites dropping from about 20 to 6 as soon as move S6 close to the Solo belly with GoPro recording running. When I turn off GoPro and Solo, sat count went back to 19-20 gradually within 10 seconds. This can be S6 problem, as the GPS antenna inside the phone is just very tiny.
Can you guys try this with other phones so we can see if this is a S6 fault or some GoPro issue?

So you are saying its causing issues with the GPS on your phone or your Solo? I guess I am confused as you are testing Phone GPS (via the app) but holding your phone near the solo.

I did test my Hero 4 around my phone. It did not drop sats when turning on or pressing record. I did not have the Solo involved.

However if I was testing phone satellites I would expect them to change when I got it near something if its running or not. What does your test do if you are 20 feet from Solo? Lets hope your Solo is never that close to your phone when flying