Side to side oscillation with stock mount

[Daniel Rodriguez]

Lurker and first time poster here, I've had my SOLO about a week and a half now and have run into an issue of side to side oscillation. The first 5-6 flights were smooth as can be with the stock mount, but all of a sudden my Solo developed a side to side oscillation that is very noticeable in both streaming and GoPro video. If I pull the drone up into a hoover facing me I can see the go pro swinging side to side rapidly as well; any thoughts on this? Has this happened to anyone else?

I've done trouble shooting from replacing blades, to re calibrating the level and GPS, to removing and inspecting the mount and nothing changes. There was also no crash or anything of that nature to cause this.

I understand that the gimbal would probably fix the vibrations (I have the gimbal) but am concerned because the oscillation wasn't there in the first place and I don't want to stick a four hundred dollar gimbal on as a bandaid for a potentially catastrophic problem.

The attached link shows one of my first flights with no oscillation followed by the first flight that I noticed the side to side movement (look at the edges of the frame). At this point all of the flight videos shake as they do in the second half of this vid.

Second flight begins at 2:05

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[pyrate]

You set that thing down pretty hard, might check and see if one of the rubber isolation balls came lose

 

[Maddog]

Wow- I have never seen anything vibrate that badly!
Good decision on your part not to install the gimbal yet- it won't fix that much vibration.

I agree with Pyrate that the hard landing might have damaged something. I would send a trouble ticket into 3DR from the Solo app so they can review the flight logs.

Even if the camera mount were damaged, I don't think it would cause that vibration.

P.S.- stay "out of the weeds" when flying. Small particles of dirt, dust and debris can get sucked into the motors and grind your bearings to dust pretty quickly.
To put that into context, 3DR recommends replacing motor bearings at 60 flight hours. That's not a lot of time but the motors spin pretty fast!

And welcome to the forum! Let us know what you find out.

 

[pyrate]

what is your theory?

 

[Maddog]

what is your theory?

We were typing at the same time- you talkin to me? Or Daniel?

 

[RichWest]

You set that thing down pretty hard, might check and see if one of the rubber isolation balls came lose

That or the HDMI cable is some type of bind...

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

Thanks for the input fellas! I didn't think I set it down that hard, and it was also wet soil (been raining a lot in Texas) but looking at the video I guess i did in hindsight.

What do you mean the HDMI is in a bind? I've taken the mount off and inspected it and everything looks intact. Even if the hard landing did damage something though wouldn't it be obvious? Like something broken and rattling around? I'm leaning towards maybe a bad or unbalanced rotor.

Thanks for the welcome! Hopefully I can get this resolved and will keep it out of the weeds as much as possible.

 

[RichWest]

What do you mean the HDMI is in a bind?

Since you're using the fixed mount there will be some vibration seen. It is strange that you started with little to none and then shaved the ground prior to landing. Then when you started the motor in tail end of the first clip (1:27) the vibration was there even prior to taking off. The HDMI cable is exposed on the fixed mount, so maybe it got tugged, was just making a guess based on what you wrote and then the video.

Sure, it could be a motor and actual sounded like it in the second clip. Did you crash?

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

@Rich West those were actually two different flights about two hours apart. And yeah I know there will be vibration with the fixed mount, however the difference is significant which is why I am concerned.

I couldn't tell any auditory differences but I have only had the drone less than two weeks so I am not quite tuned into the sound. No crashes, just normal conservative flying.

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

Is there some kind of maintenance document on how to take apart the solo? I know there is one for the HDMI cable, but couldn't find any others

 

[RichWest]

Is there some kind of maintenance document on how to take apart the solo? I know there is one for the HDMI cable, but couldn't find any others

I know there are various videos on aspects of Solo, maybe the FAQ has some links... Solo FAQ | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

If not this would be important info to add to the FAQ.... @Acroduster

 

[Maddog]

Also, there are several videos on YouTube that cover Solo disassembly.

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

@RichWest Thank you!

@Maddog I am old fashioned and like me some maintenance manuals

 

[pyrate]

Maintenance Manuals
WOW blast from the past

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

@pyrate, mechanic?

 

[pyrate]

Navy
PMS schedules

 

[Ken Jupiter]

I am a new Solo owner and perhaps I am looking at the problem incorrectly, but are you saying the Solo is vibrating/oscillating at the same frequency as what appears in the second video? Seems like a high frequency for Solo's mass. Is the thumb screw that holds the standard mount tight?

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

@Ken Jupiter yes, the Solo is vibrating at that frequency and causing the side to side motion, granted, the motion observed in the video is exaggerated compared to the motion in the drone since the GoPro sticks out from the body a few inches.

Hard to visibly discern the vibration in the drone, but you could see it easily in the GoPro

 

[erikgraham]

It looks to me like your GoPro mount is loose. Make sure all the screws on the mount are nice and snug. If that's not it then isolation balls. That's my guess.

 

[Daniel Rodriguez]

No they are tight, I've taken it completely off then back on twice now. The little rubber balls could just be weak I suppose