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

@XevetS : I can do it in bulk, if you have many devices, but shipping from Norway is crazy expensive, $46 for a tracked parcel with 1....20 cubes.
Maybe you can check with somebody in US.
@carloliveira : no big tricks involved. One "trick" I can suggest is to flash them up with an "always armed" ArduPlane (or arduplane + such param file), so I can check every output for shorts with next pin: CH1 outputs 1000us , CH2 2000us, CH1000us and so on - this way I flash it, verify output with a scope, then flash ArduCopter & upload it's .param. (this updates the cubes bootloaderr as well)

Oh, and make sure to have OpenSolo installed beforehand, or at least updated /usr/bin/px_uploader.py - otherwise the solo won't be able to flash a cube with non-3dr bootloader. - Also, installing opensolo updates it's recovery partition, - which - in case you used it, would not be able to flash anything else than a cube with Solo-forf og ArduCopter.
 
@carloliveira : no big tricks involved. One "trick" I can suggest is to flash them up with an "always armed" ArduPlane (or arduplane + such param file), so I can check every output for shorts with next pin: CH1 outputs 1000us , CH2 2000us, CH1000us and so on - this way I flash it, verify output with a scope, then flash ArduCopter & upload it's .param. (this updates the cubes bootloaderr as well)

Oh, and make sure to have OpenSolo installed beforehand, or at least updated /usr/bin/px_uploader.py - otherwise the solo won't be able to flash a cube with non-3dr bootloader. - Also, installing opensolo updates it's recovery partition, - which - in case you used it, would not be able to flash anything else than a cube with Solo-forf og ArduCopter.[/QUOTE]

Ok sounds good I have been running OPEN SOLO and I'm updated to 3.0.0 so I'm a step ahead already
 
@XevetS : I can do it in bulk, if you have many devices, but shipping from Norway is crazy expensive, $46 for a tracked parcel with 1....20 cubes.
Maybe you can check with somebody in US.
@carloliveira : no big tricks involved. One "trick" I can suggest is to flash them up with an "always armed" ArduPlane (or arduplane + such param file), so I can check every output for shorts with next pin: CH1 outputs 1000us , CH2 2000us, CH1000us and so on - this way I flash it, verify output with a scope, then flash ArduCopter & upload it's .param. (this updates the cubes bootloaderr as well)

Oh, and make sure to have OpenSolo installed beforehand, or at least updated /usr/bin/px_uploader.py - otherwise the solo won't be able to flash a cube with non-3dr bootloader. - Also, installing opensolo updates it's recovery partition, - which - in case you used it, would not be able to flash anything else than a cube with Solo-forf og ArduCopter.
Ah ok I did not realize you resided in Norway, Beautiful country Thanks for getting back to me though..
 
Can someone verify for me a SOLO running 3.5.4 firmware on a PIXHAWK 2.0 with 5v mod completed and OPENSOLO 3.0.0, does your gopro4blk turn on and off with the SOLO.....I verified gopro4blk firmware is version 3.0 and yes i verified on the same SOLO by going back to PIXHAWK firmware version 1.5.4 that it turns on and off with SOLO and gimbal is fully functional....no problem with gimbal or gopro
 
No, the GoPro does not automatically power on and off when using ArduCopter master versions. Something was modified in the older solo versions to make that work. Neither I nor anyone else has figured out what that is yet. So you do need to manually power the GoPro on and off.
 
No, the GoPro does not automatically power on and off when using ArduCopter master versions. Something was modified in the older solo versions to make that work. Neither I nor anyone else has figured out what that is yet. So you do need to manually power the GoPro on and off.
Remembering to turn it on is easy ( LOL ). I have left them on before and had to pull into a parking lot suddenly when I remembered.
 
No, the GoPro does not automatically power on and off when using ArduCopter master versions. Something was modified in the older solo versions to make that work. Neither I nor anyone else has figured out what that is yet. So you do need to manually power the GoPro on and off.
Not entirely true. My gp4silver powers on just fine with 3.5.4/3.0.0 with the original cube and the 5v mod. It won't power off however when I power down the battery. Which is not a huge deal. I have the gp set to auto turn off after five minutes. I've run the battery down in it too much forgetting to do that. The gopro has v3 firmware on it.
 
Not entirely true. My gp4silver powers on just fine with 3.5.4/3.0.0 with the original cube and the 5v mod. It won't power off however when I power down the battery. Which is not a huge deal. I have the gp set to auto turn off after five minutes. I've run the battery down in it too much forgetting to do that. The gopro has v3 firmware on it.
Interesting
 
Yep, I'm not quite sure why mine does this and the Solo my brother modified doesn't. I'm tempted to put the GP from my DIY rig in it to see how it reacts (it's a GP4 Black refurb).

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OK, my brother said he did the solder blob 5v mod to his; mine is stock but still has 3.5.4. That wouldn't matter would it? We set the mot_max_curr to 40 when changing to master.
 
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No, the GoPro does not automatically power on and off when using ArduCopter master versions. Something was modified in the older solo versions to make that work. Neither I nor anyone else has figured out what that is yet. So you do need to manually power the GoPro on and off.

Thanks, just verifying in case I personally jacked up my SOLO playing with fire.....lol
 
Sorry I mislead everyone my wrong, it will power on with pixhawk 2.0 5v mod on 3.5.4 firmware and opensolo 3.0.0, but it will not power off with solo, in a rush i made an idiot comment.....again will power on with solo NOT power off with SOLO
 
Can someone please post a log flying a 5v mod pixhawk 2.0 on firmware 3.5.4 with opensolo installed, i completed my first flight after calibrations and all that happy stuff and it wasn't a disaster but it was kinda squirlly and not as i expected, i heard the app say disconnected and reconnect twice and a gps error on an MRO reported in the log at the end of flight....any issues for anyone else on a 5v modded cube
 
Can someone please post a log flying a 5v mod pixhawk 2.0 on firmware 3.5.4 with opensolo installed, i completed my first flight after calibrations and all that happy stuff and it wasn't a disaster but it was kinda squirlly and not as i expected, i heard the app say disconnected and reconnect twice and a gps error on an MRO reported in the log at the end of flight....any issues for anyone else on a 5v modded cube
Post a log of that flight and the Guru's will decipher the issue/s if any...
 
Post a log of that flight and the Guru's will decipher the issue/s if any...

I'm familiar with reading logs and have already looked it over, it's the flying characteristics im questioning
 
I'm familiar with reading logs and have already looked it over, it's the flying characteristics im questioning
Ok then define squirrely were there consistent EKF errors? That would be squirrely, You say it disconnected/reconnected that happens with any Solo, also a log should tell you why, such as if it was a drop out related to a wifi disconnect or something otherwise, what exactly did you see in the log? Maybe when you disassembled the Solo you yanked an antenna loose happens quite often, GPS dropouts and Disconnects do happen when you least expect them. I would try another flight and make sure there is no interference from trees buildings Wifi etc, it might not be a problem whatsoever? Or do you feel you somehow borked the 5 volt Mod?

Oh and BTW I use to live in Boonton years ago, and had a couple friends from Denville....small world huh...
 
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Ok then define squirrely were there consistent EKF errors? That would be squirrely, You say it disconnected/reconnected that happens with any Solo, also a log should tell you why, such as if it was a drop out related to a wifi disconnect or something otherwise, what exactly did you see in the log? Maybe when you disassembled the Solo you yanked an antenna loose happens quite often, GPS dropouts and Disconnects do happen when you least expect them. I would try another flight and make sure there is no interference from trees buildings Wifi etc, it might not be a problem whatsoever? Or do you feel you somehow borked the 5 volt Mod?

Oh and BTW I use to live in Boonton years ago, and had a couple friends from Denville....small world huh...
I'm from Warren, Bridgewater and Long Beach Island.
 
Ok then define squirrely were there consistent EKF errors? That would be squirrely, You say it disconnected/reconnected that happens with any Solo, also a log should tell you why, such as if it was a drop out related to a wifi disconnect or something otherwise, what exactly did you see in the log? Maybe when you disassembled the Solo you yanked an antenna loose happens quite often, GPS dropouts and Disconnects do happen when you least expect them. I would try another flight and make sure there is no interference from trees buildings Wifi etc, it might not be a problem whatsoever? Or do you feel you somehow borked the 5 volt Mod?

Oh and BTW I use to live in Boonton years ago, and had a couple friends from Denville....small world huh...

The problems are simply related to the newer MRO with micro usb port on it because from factory its running 3 systems GPS GLONASS and Galileo the old mro comes from factory only running GPS and Glonass....and because the 3 systems run at one time at a certain sampling rate it doesnt cooperate with the pixhawk, but when i disable the galileo system on my newer mro and run gps and glonass only my gps track in mission planner is much more behaved.....this is going to be a big problem with users who have newer mro gps boards im pretty sure im not going to be the only one with this problem....i made the gps systems change using ublox ucenter software.....my first flight after all software and 5v pixhawk mod, my solo was shifting 3 feet in every direction and couldn't hold steady at all, and ekf errors were coming up galore......
 

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The problems are simply related to the newer MRO with micro usb port
I was not aware you had the newer Mro and Yes it does cause issues this has been discussed in this post
here >> Upgraded mRo GPS. Only 2-5 satellites.
And here >>> Mro gps

It's good you got it sorted and big props for doing the 5 volt mod successfully, I would of melted my pixhawk just looking at it, if I had the tools/skills to accomplish this I could of saved some bucks by not purchasing a green cube...
 
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I was not aware you had the newer Mro and Yes it does cause issues this has been discussed in this post
here >> Upgraded mRo GPS. Only 2-5 satellites.
And here >>> Mro gps

It's good you got it sorted and big props for doing the 5 volt mod successfully, I would of melted my pixhawk just looking at it, if I had the tools/skills to accomplish this I could of saved some bucks by not purchasing a green cube...

Green cube is better when you consider the redundant systems its packaged with, more reliability and accuracy
 

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