Solo Calibration or Parameter Adjustments for Heavier Camera Payloads

jxo

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Hoping there is useful experience and instruction on whether a Solo can be adjusted (through Mission Planner and parameter changes or otherwise) to improve Solo stability when carrying cameras significantly heavier than a GoPro/gimbal.

I have been mounting a Sony a5100 mirrorless camera for the last 18 months with good results. All three drones I have been using were rock solid and stable even when the Sony was mounted upfront where the gimbal is mounted. I have since moved the mount back over the accessory bay to better center the weight. All three Solos worked well with this new camera mounting location. Stable and no drone shaking at all.

When I recently upgraded the firmware on those 3 Solos to Open Solo, all 3 drones started to shake and wobble significantly (and made a noticeable whining noise) but only when loaded with the Sony camera.

P2P came to the rescue here: Is it Possible to Revert to Stock Firmware from Open Solo 3.0?

He suggested reverting 5 parameter changes back to stock settings. This helped substantially but the drones are still not as smooth and stable as they once were with the Sony onboard when the drones were running the stock Solo firmware.

2 drones have mRo GPS, the other a mast mounted HERE GPS unit. All 3 have the stock cube (NO green cubes). Level and compass calibrations done repeatedly without issue.

Any ideas or suggestions on any further adjustments that may be worth trying? I have not yet summoned the courage to move the 5 P2P-suggested parameter changes to any values other than the original.

Thanks much.
 
Connect the drones to Mission Planner and pull a full set of parameters to a text file. I believe there is a copy of the standard parameter set available on the net. Compare for differences.
 
Connect the drones to Mission Planner and pull a full set of parameters to a text file. I believe there is a copy of the standard parameter set available on the net. Compare for differences.
See: params: modifications to roll/pitch rate loop gains · 3drobotics/ardupilot-solo@300dc7e

The parameter labels are not exactly informative. It is difficult, without a key of some kind, to determine which of the dozens of parameters are likely to affect flight stability in this case. It will turn into a blind, guessing exercise.
 
I need a decoder ring for the decoder ring. I am too stupid to figure this out. Any advice on sorting through and identifying the relevant parameters for flight/weight stability would be much appreciated.

Is AutoTune something worth considering?
 

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