Pull Solo guts out and mount on bigger frame.

[wsalopek]

Read thru a thread here (thanks Erik):

Putting Solo's guts in an FPV racing frame.

About pulling Solo guts (all but probably the esc's and motors) and mounting on a smaller/racing-type frame.

I'd like to do the opposite...wondering if anyone has tried. I'm thinking a large-ish quad, maybe 13-inch props using 4S batteries (for Solo voltage compatibility?), or 6S and bigger props if I can.

Right now I have a Phantom P3P, a Solo (on the way), and a Pixhawk / DJI F550 with a Taranis radio.

Having to stay familiar with all that is sometimes not easy, and even dangerous (several apps to remember...getting switches confused...firmwares to update, etc).

I'd love to be able to use the same controller / app etc on two or more different frames...the Solo and a bigger brother...the bigger brother's job would be to lift a bigger camera...micro four thirds probably...I don't know how hard it will be to get Solo's GoPro gimbal control, to control a bigger gimbal in the same way, to be able to do Smart Shots, etc...I don't know, maybe it'll just work.

Also heard a rumor that 3DR might be releasing a big brother to Solo? Any more word on that? But even if it IS coming, it'll probably be $1500 or more...

Anyway, any thoughts?

Thanks...

--

Bill

 

[STMPNGRND]

Read thru a thread here (thanks Erik):

Putting Solo's guts in an FPV racing frame.

About pulling Solo guts (all but probably the esc's and motors) and mounting on a smaller/racing-type frame.

I'd like to do the opposite...wondering if anyone has tried. I'm thinking a large-ish quad, maybe 13-inch props using 4S batteries (for Solo voltage compatibility?), or 6S and bigger props if I can.

Right now I have a Phantom P3P, a Solo (on the way), and a Pixhawk / DJI F550 with a Taranis radio.

Having to stay familiar with all that is sometimes not easy, and even dangerous (several apps to remember...getting switches confused...firmwares to update, etc).

I'd love to be able to use the same controller / app etc on two or more different frames...the Solo and a bigger brother...the bigger brother's job would be to lift a bigger camera...micro four thirds probably...I don't know how hard it will be to get Solo's GoPro gimbal control, to control a bigger gimbal in the same way, to be able to do Smart Shots, etc...I don't know, maybe it'll just work.

Also heard a rumor that 3DR might be releasing a big brother to Solo? Any more word on that? But even if it IS coming, it'll probably be $1500 or more...

Anyway, any thoughts?

Thanks...

--

Bill

SpektreWorks is doing this and they are a group of engineers originally from 3dr. The price though is about $7k.

There are other ways to do this but you need strong knowledge of coding/arduino to spoof the smart battery communication to use the appropriate batteries for a larger frame/payload. The current carrier board also exposes the additional pwm channels 6,7,8 however not channel 5. So, you could create new firmware for a hex6 frame as well. Writing firmware for other platforms is discussed here you just have to use the modified repos for solo.

Another option would be to use the soon to be available PH2 from proficnc for which you make your own custom carrier board or strip all the solo components and wire you using standard jumper wires.

 

[wsalopek]

SpektreWorks is doing this and they are a group of engineers originally from 3dr. The price though is about $7k.

There are other ways to do this but you need strong knowledge of coding/arduino to spoof the smart battery communication to use the appropriate batteries for a larger frame/payload.

Stmpngrnd,

Thanks for that.

Not being a "coder", I'd be looking at a straight hardware adaptation...I mean, if I had to stay below a certain size/weight (and battery) to do that, then that's what I'd have to do...and afterall, I'm not looking to lift a heavy DSLR and lens, just, say, a micro four thirds camera.

So as far as batteries are concerned, I can see 3 options:

1) Keep using the Solo battery and stay within it's C rating (by-the-way, I can't find the C rating...anyone know it?).

2) The Solo is actually QUITE heavy for it's size...I'm thinking I can build a frame that will accomodate an MFT camera/lens and stay in a weight range that is below or similar to the current Solo.

3) If I do need more battery capacity, I see two possible ways to accomplish that (given as, like you say, the Solo will apparently not operate with anything other than a real Solo battery, or what it THINKS is a real Solo battery)

a) Add on some extra ma's...I've seen some folks do this with a Phantom, where they simply "wire in" 1 or 2 extra lipos, increasing the available mah's for a given flight...not saying this is elegant or easy, but on the other hand, it's not that hard either: Dual Battery Mod

b) Could I wire two Solo batteries in parallel? So I'd have the same voltage, but be dividing the amp draw between two batteries? By doing that, I'd stay WELL BELOW the C rating of the batteries (again, assuming I'm building a frame that is the same/similar weight of the current Solo).

As far as the ESC's and motors go...

I had first been assuming I'd be replacing the esc's and motors, but I'm wondering now if I'll really have to do that.

--

Bill

 

[STMPNGRND]

Stmpngrnd,

Thanks for that.

Not being a "coder", I'd be looking at a straight hardware adaptation...I mean, if I had to stay below a certain size/weight (and battery) to do that, then that's what I'd have to do...and afterall, I'm not looking to lift a heavy DSLR and lens, just, say, a micro four thirds camera.

So as far as batteries are concerned, I can see 3 options:

1) Keep using the Solo battery and stay within it's C rating (by-the-way, I can't find the C rating...anyone know it?).

2) The Solo is actually QUITE heavy for it's size...I'm thinking I can build a frame that will accomodate an MFT camera/lens and stay in a weight range that is below or similar to the current Solo.

3) If I do need more battery capacity, I see two possible ways to accomplish that (given as, like you say, the Solo will apparently not operate with anything other than a real Solo battery, or what it THINKS is a real Solo battery)

a) Add on some extra ma's...I've seen some folks do this with a Phantom, where they simply "wire in" 1 or 2 extra lipos, increasing the available mah's for a given flight...not saying this is elegant or easy, but on the other hand, it's not that hard either: Dual Battery Mod

b) Could I wire two Solo batteries in parallel? So I'd have the same voltage, but be dividing the amp draw between two batteries? By doing that, I'd stay WELL BELOW the C rating of the batteries (again, assuming I'm building a frame that is the same/similar weight of the current Solo).

As far as the ESC's and motors go...

I had first been assuming I'd be replacing the esc's and motors, but I'm wondering now if I'll really have to do that.

--

Bill

As far as weight goes here is a break down of Solo components:

Chassis/Shell - 290.5g
Battery tray w/ gps - 62.2g
Brain w/ all wires - 201.9g
Motor Pod - 85.5g x 4 = 342g
gimbal w/gopro - 319g
Battery - 491.1g
LED covers / screws - 27.3g
accessory harness - 8.9g (removed mine)
thin hdmi ribbon - 3.1g
TOTAL 1742.9 grams

There is really not a whole lot you an build as far as a larger frame and beat the 300ish grams of the Solo Chassis. A typical frame for 15in props like a Tarot 650 or similar all run between 500-1000 grams including motor mounts and landing gear.

Where the weigh penalty lays is in the motor pods, stock battery and the companion computer...not so much in the actual chassis. Many forget that Solo is carrying around a fairly large pcb with the imx6 computer, wifi card, accessory port and pixhawk2.

I've spent a quite bit of time on conversion concepts this summer. Followed many paths but ultimately ended up designing a custom carrier board to solve the battery limitation as well as gain the efficiency advantage that helis have as this conversion is not for a multi rather a single rotor...but currently neck deep in adapting the firmware. Pretty deep down the rabbit hole on this one LOL In the end it may just be a Pixhawk 2 running with an intel edison however

 

[PdxSteve]

So as far as batteries are concerned, I can see 3 options:

1) Keep using the Solo battery and stay within it's C rating (by-the-way, I can't find the C rating...anyone know it?).

1-2C Battery Charger Interface | 3DR Solo Development Guide

3) If I do need more battery capacity, I see two possible ways to accomplish that (given as, like you say, the Solo will apparently not operate with anything other than a real Solo battery, or what it THINKS is a real Solo battery).

The battery just needs to report the proper parameters to solo using the smbus standard, just like your laptop battery and cell phone/tablet battery do

a) Add on some extra ma's...I've seen some folks do this with a Phantom, where they simply "wire in" 1 or 2 extra lipos, increasing the available mah's for a given flight...not saying this is elegant or easy, but on the other hand, it's not that hard either: Dual Battery Mod

http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/dual-battery-mod.57463/
Been tried. Won't gain you more than a few minutes. Added 2nd 5200mah battery in parallel, gained a whopping 3.5 minutes

b) Could I wire two Solo batteries in parallel? So I'd have the same voltage, but be dividing the amp draw between two batteries? By doing that, I'd stay WELL BELOW the C rating of the batteries (again, assuming I'm building a frame that is the same/similar weight of the current Solo).

See same as above, but more than that, the solo reads the battery data from the smart chip in the battery. So you can only use one, and the firmware must be programmed to tell solo it's capacity. Yes you can use larger lipos, but have to reprogram the firmware to tell it the new capacity or it will still think it's 5200 mAh.

 

[dml931]

1-2C Battery Charger Interface | 3DR Solo Development Guide

The battery just needs to report the proper parameters to solo using the smbus standard, just like your laptop battery and cell phone/tablet battery do
Been tried. Won't gain you more than a few minutes. Added 2nd 5200mah battery in parallel, gained a whopping 3.5 minutes

See same as above, but more than that, the solo reads the battery data from the smart chip in the battery. So you can only use one, and the firmware must be programmed to tell solo it's capacity. Yes you can use larger lipos, but have to reprogram the firmware to tell it the new capacity or it will still think it's 5200 mAh.

Thanks for this, I was about to head down this path until these issues were pointed out. My reason was for extensions in flight time.

So what's the best mod to do on a solo that would increase time? Motor swaps? Better props? If bigger battery isn't going to gain that much, what other options are there?

 

[CheapoHeli]

Thanks for this, I was about to head down this path until these issues were pointed out. My reason was for extensions in flight time.

So what's the best mod to do on a solo that would increase time? Motor swaps? Better props? If bigger battery isn't going to gain that much, what other options are there?

Things I think would work.

Reduce speed/fly smooth
Weight reduction
The solo does seem to work hard to hold a hover and I bet there's a better option for props but sacrificing speed.
Reduce electrical load.

All I can think of in theory never tried anything but I do find the solo to be lacking desired flight time by about 5 minutes.

 

[Thx1138]

buy more batteries cheapskates