Solex for Solo

[Drone_Dude]

I love what I have seen, Ive brought the app, full faith that it is the business!

 

[SteveReno]

I love what I have seen, Ive brought the app, full faith that it is the business!

Welcome to the club.

 

[SteveReno]

Update.

Hmm I guess it should be select instead of start.
It only works sporadically. I can hear it click but it doesn't activate most of the time.
It seems to be more reliable early in the flight. Not sure if it's my tablet.

If you add a check in that square box, should make it easier, then just tap "Select" then shots should start..

 

[Kelly Schrock]

Well, I would try it on the ground first.

Yes, definitely on the ground. Just park the Solo somewhere with the camera on and facing straight ahead, carry the controller/tablet with you, walk out in front of it, and mark a spot on the ground where you appear in the right marker. Then walk to the left marker (the same distance in front of the Solo both times), mark the ground there, and measure between them. Then walk to the middle point between points A/B and measure the distance from that spot to the camera. Then put those values in, and it will calculate the viewing angle.

 

[Kelly Schrock]

View attachment 4652
If you add a check in that square box, then should make it easier, then just tap "Select" then shots should start..

Note that it will only activate if you're flying. I actually chased this for a bit, then realized the guy having trouble with it was trying to start a smart shot while he was parked.

 

[Chardia]

Hi Kelly, thanks for sending the update through. Can we as a matter of urgency put an address search bar in the google maps section of geofence. at times I have to find rather hard to find places to fly, and it is so much easier and time efficient to pre-fence an area before leaving the office where I have great internet speeds, then just load them up when I get to the site and about to fly, but without an address search bar, it takes me ages sometimes to locate an address based on only a satellite map with no street names or other POI's. How does that sound to you?

 

[Deleted member 7413]

I've been giving that some thought, and getting close to going ahead and putting it in! I didn't include it at first, but I think it opens up the possibility for some cool things.

Thanks,
Kelly

Hi Kelly,
That would be awesome. Thanks for considering it and look forward to it, hopefully soooner than later :-(
Cheers....Sam

 

[Don H.]

Note that it will only activate if you're flying. I actually chased this for a bit, then realized the guy having trouble with it was trying to start a smart shot while he was parked.

Thanks Kelly,

It took me a few tries to figure that one out too. Then I removed the props and spun up the motors and it worked.
I bought a new Samsung Galaxy Tab A yesterday and loaded it with Solex and the 3dr apps. So far, on the ground everything looks good.
Hopefully I'll get to try it soon.

 

[Kelly Schrock]

Hi Kelly, thanks for sending the update through. Can we as a matter of urgency put an address search bar in the google maps section of geofence. at times I have to find rather hard to find places to fly, and it is so much easier and time efficient to pre-fence an area before leaving the office where I have great internet speeds, then just load them up when I get to the site and about to fly, but without an address search bar, it takes me ages sometimes to locate an address based on only a satellite map with no street names or other POI's. How does that sound to you?

That's a good idea. I'll take a look at putting this in place.

 

[Dfyffe]

Kelly Schrock

Testing, 1.2.3

Solex 1.2.3 is en route to your devices! Here's what's in this update:

. Remote Commands!

This feature will get one of 2 reactions: "Great!" or "What?" It's going to be of use to some, and probably of NO use to others. It's a way to map a command line on the Solo itself to a button in the app, so you can click it and run some custom command on the Solo. On the main menu, you'll find a "Remote Commands" item. Click that, and you'll find a screen for creating and maintaining Commands that you can run on the Solo.

For example, let's say you have something you do on your Solo via the command line to some special device you've attached to it or something. This feature lets you specify that command, name it something, set a color for the button's border, and then click that while you're flying to get the command to run (as opposed to, say, SSHing into the Solo from a terminal and running it manually). That's basically it.

You can display the command's output, log the command's output to a file on your Android device (still displays the result), or ignore the output. Once you've logged some output, you can read it by clicking the "logged output" button in the editor for that command.

There's an example command in there to play with. Just connect your Solo, hit "Run" from within the editor, and see the output.

. Spoken Recording status

The periodic voice prompt can now speak to tell you whether you're recording or not.

. Remember Camera mode

Someone pointed out that when they restart their camera, it comes up in the default mode for the CAMERA, not Solex's last selection. For example, suppose you were in Picture mode in Solex, but your camera is set to start in Video mode. When you power down to switch batteries or something, it comes up in Video mode, and you might not notice until you hit the "take a picture" button and realize it's in video mode again. This update makes it so the camera mode is switched to the last-used mode automatically. (Thanks Scott Manthey for the suggestion)

. Small camera UI updates

To make it a little more obvious which mode you're in, the shutter button changes to something else when you're in picture mode vs video mode.

That's it until the next update.

What? Great! ;-) Here is one thing I think is cool. I don't know the app is updated. i have it on my phone and tablet. I looked at my phone this morning and it said Solex was on 1.2.3. I said great, I'll go upgrade my tablet, but there was no update in the play store. I checked the app and it said i had version 1.2.3! What? It updates automatically without me asking on 2 devices. That is too cool and too handy. I love that!

 

[Kelly Schrock]

What? Great! ;-) Here is one thing I think is cool. I don't know the app is updated. i have it on my phone and tablet. I looked at my phone this morning and it said Solex was on 1.2.3. I said great, I'll go upgrade my tablet, but there was no update in the play store. I checked the app and it said i had version 1.2.3! What? It updates automatically without me asking on 2 devices. That is too cool and too handy. I love that!

Yes, that's a great feature of Google Play. If you have it set to auto-update (the default), it just does it automatically unless it has to update an app that has updated permissions settings.

 

[Dronie]

I love this app too..

Feature Request: (If this is even possible) give us a way to stream video live. Like I said, may not be technically possible with what you have to work with but thought I would ask.. seems as though the Solex app is where this enhancement would have the best chance.

Thanks,

 

[Vegasrobbi]

I purchased Solex, first flight went great. Solo connected right away unlike the 3DR app which sometimes I have to wait and wait and reboot. Could have been coincidence too.

I've been flying Solo since release and it still beats my Phantoms. My H is close but Solo's smart shots are better. TBH optical tracking never seems to work right but adding functionality to GPS follow is welcome.

I purchased a second Solo from BB, the GPS upgrade and run 11" props, my Solo is awesome. I'd like to see an aerial camera option, maybe the session. My flight times have increased with the larger props and replacement cheap batteries keep it flying longer.

I dislike(hate) the GO app I call it Stop. The H app is weak. Overall I like the Solo app and if Solex improves it I'm in.

 

[Deleted member 7413]

I purchased Solex, first flight went great. Solo connected right away unlike the 3DR app which sometimes I have to wait and wait and reboot. Could have been coincidence too.

I've been flying Solo since release and it still beats my Phantoms. My H is close but Solo's smart shots are better. TBH optical tracking never seems to work right but adding functionality to GPS follow is welcome.

I purchased a second Solo from BB, the GPS upgrade and run 11" props, my Solo is awesome. I'd like to see an aerial camera option, maybe the session. My flight times have increased with the larger props and replacement cheap batteries keep it flying longer.

I dislike(hate) the GO app I call it Stop. The H app is weak. Overall I like the Solo app and if Solex improves it I'm in.

Would you be kind enough to share what cheap batteries you use (to get longer flights) and what 11" props you use as well? Thanks...Sam

 

[mecummings.cr]

First of all thanks for all the great upgrades to Solex... we have an amazing developer that has produced an excellent solution for the Solo community. I was using one of my Solos today to perform a survey mission setup in Mission Planner and noticed after it came home and landed that when I took off again I was getting some pretty obvious signs of a potential motor pod failure. I tried to check the motors one at a time using Mission Planner 1.3.41 build APM:Copter solo-1.3.1 (739206cc) and the option to turn on each motor one at a time no longer activates the motors. It just makes the copter beep.

1. Would it be possible to add a motor diagnostic tool to Solex? Something that would allow you to easily activate each motor one at a time (obviously with props removed) to check for any obvious irregularities? A tool that would diagnose the motor pod prior to flight would be ideal but even just something to turn the motors on and off and ramp them up and down would be of some help in listening for audible issues with the motors.

2. What are the possibilities Solex could be programmed to automatically place Solo into a failsafe mode that in the event of an in flight motor pod failure the copter would be able to use the other 3 functional motor pods to get it on the ground? I saw this in a video about Athletic Quadcopters where they snipped off portions of the props to simulate damage.

Thanks for all the many great updates to Solex!

Best,
-Mike

 

[SARDG]

2. What are the possibilities Solex could be programmed to automatically place Solo into a failsafe mode that in the event of an in flight motor pod failure the copter would be able to use the other 3 functional motor pods to get it on the ground? I saw this in a video about Athletic Quadcopters where they snipped off portions of the props to simulate damage.

Thanks for all the many great updates to Solex!

Best,
-Mike

I think Kelly addressed this in an earlier post and said that Solo won't fly (controlably) with 3 motors. I think he called it a CRASH. Kelly can chime in again though, or you can check some of his old posts.

 

[Vegasrobbi]

Would you be kind enough to share what cheap batteries you use (to get longer flights) and what 11" props you use as well? Thanks...Sam

My batteries had seen better days, Best Buy has new Solo batteries for $49.

I've been running APC 11x 4.5MR props (reamed), they are quiet and Solo is more stable. With a new battery cruising at 15 mph I can get 18 minutes, that's with gimbal and Go Pro rolling. In a hover I get about 15 minutes.

 

[mecummings.cr]

I think Kelly addressed this in an earlier post and said that Solo won't fly (controlably) with 3 motors. I think he called it a CRASH. Kelly can chime in again though, or you can check some of his old posts.

Even if Solo were spinning (as shown in that video on Athletic Quadcopters) due to a failing motor pod, at least if you could perform a somewhat controlled descent to a safe crash/landing point that would be very beneficial. Obviously it's better to lose the copter/camera and hit a safe point on the ground vs the copter dropping uncontrollably into a more vulnerable object. Perhaps it's just not technically possible with Solo.

 

[healthyfatboy]

The problem with trying this on Solo is its just too big and heavy. Those quads that run these advanced algorithms are generally small and light so you can do more with them that isnt necessarily possible on a larger quad.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

The solo, or any substantially sized quad, will not maintain controllable flight with three motors. Physics wins, you lose.