Solex App for Android Rocks!

Kelly, I am enjoying Solex (thanks!), however I am experiencing the same problem that Don H. reported: After all calibrations are done, including with Solex, my Solo rotates 180 degrees after 'Start' in Selfie mode. I must manually rotate the Solo to focus on the start point. Any news or other insights to share? Frankly, I use MPCC mode and Solex for much of my work (Tower for other work), so the other Smart Shots are not that useful to me. But it would be nice from time to time to do a Selfie/Dronie. In my test today I used a Nexus 10 by Samsung (I also have a Nexus 7 by ASUS). Thanks.

There's been something weird going on with Selfie for some time now. It appears to be in the Selfie code on the Solo itself, outside the control of the application. I've had an item on my todo list for just building an in-app version of the Selfie shot to try and do it completely within the app, bypassing the defective Selfie code on the Solo. Some people report Selfie not doing anything, and others report it spinning around. On my particular Solo, I tried fixing the Selfie shot on the Solo, and ended up with a Selfie that turns to exactly North any time I run it. But that's specifically my Solo, and no one else has that (broken) code running on theirs. :)
 
There's been something weird going on with Selfie for some time now. It appears to be in the Selfie code on the Solo itself, outside the control of the application. I've had an item on my todo list for just building an in-app version of the Selfie shot to try and do it completely within the app, bypassing the defective Selfie code on the Solo. Some people report Selfie not doing anything, and others report it spinning around. On my particular Solo, I tried fixing the Selfie shot on the Solo, and ended up with a Selfie that turns to exactly North any time I run it. But that's specifically my Solo, and no one else has that (broken) code running on theirs. :)

Intermittent system problems can sure be difficult to troubleshoot. Even more so when "the problem" is perceived by several people over time from their own situation/context/background. At least I can say that in one location, with one configuration of equipment and software, I could witness one Solo rotate horizontally while hovering, but only immediately after touching 'Start' in Selfie mode on my Nexus 10. And I saw the same behavior 3 times in a row. However if I had tried a fourth time... the problem may not have appeared. Patience is a virtue when working with robotic systems.

So here's a speculation in which I have little confidence, but I will mention it anyway based on my experience using a Sony NEX-5N under a Solo for aerial mapping, where the camera records images in a variety of orientations over the course of a flight. The root cause appears to be the chip-level sensors used for the touch-screen display, and there appears to be no internal solution from Sony. So after a mapping flight, I examine each image in the collection and selectively rotate to have all images in the same orientation. Maybe "the problem" in Selfie mode is related to variations in thresholds (electronic and/or programmed) in "compass" calibration, or maybe there were some differences in the quality of manufactured electronic components across all of the Solos that were produced.

But I would lean toward the root cause in this case is related to software, as you have suggested. Something in the sequence of checks after pressing Start. The only other idea I had was that the behavior is as intended by a developer: Rotate Solo so the Operator must look at potential obstacles prior to a Selfie flight. :) Might have seemed like a good idea at the time, then 3DR's business situation changed, leaving some loose ends in the codebase.

Again, with a little extra time I can get results similar to (maybe better than) a Selfie Shot by using MPCC mode, so I'm not too bothered by the current Selfie problem.
 

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