Open Solo 3 - Mag/Level problem

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Hi All

I am using pretty resourceful and will search and search for errors/issues and can normally work things out for myself, this time I am stumped. Here goes:

I have 3 solos , two run open solo 3 an one is still on the last 3DR version 2.42 from memory. I have a carbon fibre mount that holds a Nikon J5 with rc6 used as a tilt that I fly successfully on the 2.42 drone. I have made up a concept mount (aluminum ) for one of my Open Solos and use rc6 for tilt and rc7 for a shutter servo, works fine but does not fly well, all over the place, if I put my fixed mount (solo gopro fixed mount with a bigger frame (aluminium) to hold the Nikon J5) its worse. I do a compass and level callibration each time I change mounts and reboot.

If got the better of me and I put my carbon fibre mount on the open solo 3 bird , re-calibrated the compass and levels, rebooted, no errors or warnings and flew, flies much better but a bit all over the place when you hover. I had a quick look at the auto analysis of the log (bin 10) in mission planner and it mentions compass/ satellites etc. I looked at a log from my 2.42 version bird and the compass is better but same number of satellites.

I don't think its a problem with open solo 3 just me not knowing what to change to make it better. Here is a link to a log from open solo3 with the carbon fibre mount I always use on my 2.42 bird

http://www.robertpower.com.au/solo/10.BIN

My 3rd bird is on open solo and it uses the standard gimbal and flies fine. I know this thread is a bit long winded but as you can see I have tried everything that I can think of within my knowledge range. I'm guessing open solo 3 might need a tweek on my bird as the payload is also a bit heavier than the standard gimbal and gopro. Just for refernce my 2.42 bird with my carbon gimbal and Nikon J5 gets around 16 min of flight time so even though it is slight heavier it still has good flight time.
 
Is anyone able to look at my log file and give me some ideas ? I am a bit nervous about leaving my other bird on 2.42 as it works but would like all birds on open solo once I sort this out,

a big thank you in advance

Rob
 
Thanks for the reply Saijin_Naib, I will check when I get back home, currently away working. I have never really checked that, as it all worked ok on version 2.42, you thinking it might be causing a problem with 3.0.0 ?
About the only thing I can think of currently.
 
I'm thinking there may be motor pod health issues. Logs will tell that tale but I'm away from a computer with MP on it.
 
About the only thing I can think of currently.

Hi Saijin_Naib, finally home, always traveling or work. See 2 images below, the balance point is the edge of the white sticker right of the arrow.

This flies fine on my 2.42 bird with the same mount and camera, hopefully this might help, I am still struggling to work out why

solo_cfg_1.jpg
 
Update to my problem. I put the standard gimbal and go pro on this drone and it flies perfect, no issues at all, no shaking.

So I got solo 3 out, its a open solo 3.0.0 birsd and put my camera on it and gues what, the same thing, shakes. Can't be motor pods as its a different bird.

My conclusion is there must be something in open solo 3 that deosn't like the extra weight of the camera. I am not sure how to work this out and if a setting can be made but as per my initial post, it flies perfect on my 2.4.2 solo, no problem at all, maybe 3.0.0 is more sensitive.

Interested to hear anyone's thoughts on this, my knowledge of config changes is not good, the fact it flies well on 2.4.2 is a mystery to me.
 
Hi Rob. The only parameter I see from your log that concerns me is BATT_CAPACITY. Yours is set at 3624 and mine is set at 5200.
 
Thanks Carpy, i have not changed anything on the config except enabling rc6 & rc7, what does your finding mean ?
It's the capacity of the battery in mAh when full.
Yours should definitely change to 5200. However, without looking at the code, I can't tell you where it's used and what for. I'm guessing but since capacity is hard to calculate it is used in planning or maybe to figure out the percentage of battery left.
 
The battery should really never actually be reporting 5200mah. It will always be something less. The smart battery monitors its own real capacity and report that. So if yours is always 5200, then you actually have a broken battery or the battery monitor configured wrong in ArduCopter.

There is nothing different about 2.4.2 and Open Solo that would cause this problem you're having. I suggest you do a parameter reset (in the Solex FW menu), reboot, and start your calibrations over.
 
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The battery should really never actually be reporting 5200mah. It will always be something less. The smart battery monitors its own real capacity and report that. So if yours is always 5200, then you actually have a broken battery or the battery monitor configured wrong in ArduCopter.

There is nothing different about 2.4.2 and Open Solo that would cause this problem you're having. I suggest you do a parameter reset (in the Solex FW menu), reboot, and start your calibrations over.

Pedals2Paddles

Is the parameter reset in Solex the same as sysid_sw_mrev in mission planner and setting to 0 and then a reboot?

I have done this and redone the settings, levels, compass etc, the weird thing is it does on both my open solo 3.0.0 drones but not on the 2.4.2 drone. If I fit the gimbal and gopro to the 3.0.0 they fly fine, no shaking at all
 
A parameter reset is a great idea. Don't forget to look at your BATT_CAPACITY parameter after the reset--it is a default parameter and should be 5200 after the reset.
 
A parameter reset is a great idea. Don't forget to look at your BATT_CAPACITY parameter after the reset--it is a default parameter and should be 5200 after the reset.
It shouldn't be 5200. On boot, the smart battery sets the capacity, which will only be 5200 on a brand new never used battery the first time you turn it on. If your battery is always reporting 5200, your battery is malfunctioning.
 

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