Solo Cube (Pixhawk 2.0) modification for 5v PWM (safety, and ArduCopter compatibility)

[hackbard23]

the only difference i can see in PH2.0/PH2.1 are heated and vibration isolated IMU´s
and there are different IMU´s / CoProcessor

and of course the voltage option

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Impressive work. If I tried to do that kind of soldering, the whole thing would a pile of melted goo.

The stock Pixhawk cube can run ArduCopter 3.5.x just fine. So if you have made this modification, you can download the px4 file an flash the usual way. It will work just fine.

 

[cynfab]

What about the parameters? There are new ones for 3.5.x. Should any need to be changed from defaults provided in 3.5.x?
Level & compass calibration would probably be a good idea too.
How about the new/edited .py programs:
follow.py
pano.py
rcManager.py
buttonManager.py
multipoint.py
px_uploader.py
shotManager.py
zipline.py

Others?

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Oh ya, there will be all kinds of other things you need to do. I'm just merely answering the question if 3.5.x can be loaded on the stock cube. All those modified python files are still recommended and in many cases required. And you'll need to load the parameter files too.

 

[cynfab]

The stuff in GitHub - ArduPilot/SoloScripts
is a lot older than the stuff in
Open Solo 2.5-RC1 Beta

I assume we should use the later.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

The files Open Solo aren't going to be designed for this or as easy to find. The ones you listed before are the ones required, and will still work fine.

 

[cynfab]

Ok, sounds good.

 

[cynfab]

Got ArduCopter 3.5.3 installed on my 5V modded PixHawk 2.0.
It was a trial..... Mostly my fault. Probably flashed the PH 6-7 times during the course of 3 hours.
As I said, mostly my fault, FrankenSolo is not a normal Solo and I should have understood that when I started.
Found out that my smart battery simulator is not compatible with AC 3.5.x. They changed the way they get the battery voltage and because my simulator didn't support getting all 4 cell voltages, AC gave up on it and just beeped LOUDLY IN MY EAR till I shut it off. But it got installed, and I'll probably go back to the 3DR battery setup on FrankenSolo just because I don't have the time to rework the simulator code right now.
Got a $30 PixHawk 2.0 off fleabay. It is a Rev D cpu (date code 1548) and Ref F IMU whereas the one from FrankenSolo was Rev C CPU and Rev C IMU. Took about an hour to do the 5V mod.




The new PH worked fine before the mod, I hope it still works ;>))

 

[XevetS]

Got ArduCopter 3.5.3 installed on my 5V modded PixHawk 2.0.
It was a trial..... Mostly my fault. Probably flashed the PH 6-7 times during the course of 3 hours.
As I said, mostly my fault, FrankenSolo is not a normal Solo and I should have understood that when I started.
Found out that my smart battery simulator is not compatible with AC 3.5.x. They changed the way they get the battery voltage and because my simulator didn't support getting all 4 cell voltages, AC gave up on it and just beeped LOUDLY IN MY EAR till I shut it off. But it got installed, and I'll probably go back to the 3DR battery setup on FrankenSolo just because I don't have the time to rework the simulator code right now.
Got a $30 PixHawk 2.0 off fleabay. It is a Rev D cpu (date code 1548) and Ref F IMU whereas the one from FrankenSolo was Rev C CPU and Rev C IMU. Took about an hour to do the 5V mod.

View attachment 7041

View attachment 7042
The new PH worked fine before the mod, I hope it still works ;>))

Just set the battery monitor to 0 in mission planner the beeping will stop...albeit no more monitoring just time the flights for now....

 

[cynfab]

Oh yeah, I figured that out after several minutes of beeping...

 

[cynfab]

Just a small update,
I just finished the 5V mod on my third PixHawk2.0. This one took over an hour, seemed to be harder than the last one ;>((

I have one more PixHawk2.0 left to modify, probably won't do that mod for a while.
I HAVE installed OpenSolo 2.5-RC2 on all 4 of my Solos. 2 have the 5V moded PixHawks while 2 have stock.
The 2 with moded PixHawks also are running ArduCopter 3.5.3, the others 1.5.3. I HAVE flown both with 3.5.3 and they are great.
Very stable and more responsive.
I did not use Solex, but solo-cli to do the installs on Solo & Artoo. I then ssh'd into both Solo & Artoo to update the recovery (Golden) partition, as the sololink_config (on Solo & Artoo) utility has a function for just that purpose.
Each of my solos had a different configuration to start with, and when doing the updates, I found that each one required a slightly different procedure. Some Artoos didn't respond as expected to their firmware update either (much like they had with 3DR's firmware updates) and I had to pull the battery to reboot them. Some worked just as expected, and on some Solos I needed to reflash twice as well as wipe the PixHawk firmware. So I would recommend that folks NOT try to use solo-cli/sololink_config to do their updates unless you are very comfortable with, and enjoy, unbricking your Solo/Artoo/PixHawk.

Stick with the Green Cube, Matt's procedure and Solex. They are pretty much bulletproof.

 

[XevetS]

Just a small update,
I just finished the 5V mod on my third PixHawk2.0. This one took over an hour, seemed to be harder than the last one ;>((
View attachment 7177
I have one more PixHawk2.0 left to modify, probably won't do that mod for a while.
I HAVE installed OpenSolo 2.5-RC2 on all 4 of my Solos. 2 have the 5V moded PixHawks while 2 have stock.
The 2 with moded PixHawks also are running ArduCopter 3.5.3, the others 1.5.3. I HAVE flown both with 3.5.3 and they are great.
Very stable and more responsive.
I did not use Solex, but solo-cli to do the installs on Solo & Artoo. I then ssh'd into both Solo & Artoo to update the recovery (Golden) partition, as the sololink_config (on Solo & Artoo) utility has a function for just that purpose.
Each of my solos had a different configuration to start with, and when doing the updates, I found that each one required a slightly different procedure. Some Artoos didn't respond as expected to their firmware update either (much like they had with 3DR's firmware updates) and I had to pull the battery to reboot them. Some worked just as expected, and on some Solos I needed to reflash twice as well as wipe the PixHawk firmware. So I would recommend that folks NOT try to use solo-cli/sololink_config to do their updates unless you are very comfortable with, and enjoy, unbricking your Solo/Artoo/PixHawk.

Stick with Matt's procedure and Solex. They are pretty much bulletproof.

Great work I'm sending you my cube address please lol.....just goofing

 

[pious_greek]

and I had to pull the battery to reboot them. Some worked just as expected, and on some Solos I needed to reflash twice as well as wipe the PixHawk firmware.

Is the pixhawk firmware hardcoded or is it on the pixhawk SD card?

 

[XevetS]

Is the pixhawk firmware hardcoded or is it on the pixhawk SD card?

Its hard coded on the Pixhawk itself not the SD card.

 

[pious_greek]

Its hard coded on the Pixhawk itself not the SD card.

EDIT: thank you... firmware installation method, if others are curious:

3DR Solo (Developer Information) — Dev documentation

not sure if this method would work
Loading Firmware onto the flight controller — Copter documentation

 

[cynfab]

I hesitate to post detailed instructions as this method of updating is fought with pitfalls, but is very powerful and you are in total control using open source software. So generalizations only.

solo-cli installs on your computer to allow updates to Solo, Artoo, and PixHawk. No copying of stuff to the solo, it is all handled by solo-cli.
GitHub - OpenSolo/solo-cli: Solo command line utilities.
solo-cli does not provide a way to update the Golden partition. For that I used "sololink_config". It is a shell script that lives on the Solo and Artoo that provides command line control of many functions.
There is no published documentation for sololink_config. To find out more ssh into Solo or Artoo and type sololink_config to see the usage.
OpenSolo's VERSION and PIX_VERSION files detail what the revisions are for the Solo, Artoo and PixHawk. Matt added some additional text to the PIX_VERSION file and the "solo info" command from solo-cli will not parse it correctly. I tweaked the __init__.py code to make it properly parse those additional text fields. You don't really need to do that as it is only necessary to verify what you have accomplished, but it is nice to have.

The PixHawk firmware lives in its' STM32F427VIT6 CPU.

http://www.st.com/content/ccc/resou...df/jcr:content/translations/en.DM00071990.pdf

I hope the above link comes out right it is from the ST web site.

Only logs live in the PixHawk's uSD card.
Parameters are stored in an FM25V01 F-RAM chip on the PixHawk.

http://www.cypress.com/file/136416/download

To use the attached file init.py.txt you must rename it to __init__.py and replace the __init__.py that comes with solo-cli.

 

[Deleted member 12314]

Has anyone modded a SOLO original Pixhawk 2 cube and upgraded the firmware using Solex to the latest and greatest, any issues, I believe it is 3.5.X not sure as well as the parameters?

 

[VCD]

yes , did it to > 15 cubes. I do the mod, and upload the current ArduCopter using a Pixhawk2.1 carrier board.

 

[XevetS]

yes , did it to > 15 cubes. I do the mod, and upload the current ArduCopter using a Pixhawk2.1 carrier board.

How much do you charge to do this?

 

[Deleted member 12314]

yes , did it to > 15 cubes. I do the mod, and upload the current ArduCopter using a Pixhawk2.1 carrier board.

Ok just checking anything I should know cause i will do the dirty deed on friday but software wise using Solex any secrets I should know before hand, the buffer removal cut trace and fine wire to 5v rail and reinstall is easy for me I have access to high quality lab equipment and I've done repairs on the semiconductor level for 15 years now so easy cheesy....all the tools available.....thanks in advance.....