Struggling to find proper control tutorials

Classik-XI · Dec 13, 2015

Hi Guys,

I'm quite new in the quad copter world but i have become really confident using the standard GPS controls of the Solo. I want to start using Solo with the advanced flight controls but I can't seem to find any controls list or tutorials online. I normally like to research before jumping in. Any help would be great!

Thanks in advance.

dukes · Dec 13, 2015

Classik-XI said:
Hi Guys,

I'm quite new in the quad copter world but i have become really confident using the standard GPS controls of the Solo. I want to start using Solo with the advanced flight controls but I can't seem to find any controls list or tutorials online. I normally like to research before jumping in. Any help would be great!

Thanks in advance.

Here is a list of advanced flight modes and what each one does (make sure you stay away from Acro mode unless you're very confident in your flying abilities) - Advanced Flight Modes | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology

Classik-XI · Dec 13, 2015

Awesome thank you. Do you know if flying in Manual mode allows the solo to travel further away from the controller?

erikgraham · Dec 13, 2015

dukes said:
Here is a list of advanced flight modes and what each one does (make sure you stay away from Acro mode unless you're very confident in your flying abilities) - Advanced Flight Modes | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology

As a first step I recommend that you try Fly:Manual (see link in @dukes post above).

Assign it to the B button. Test it in a VERY open field and be ready to hit the FLY button the instant you get nervous. Most crashes are caused when the user panics and doesn't know how to react. So you want to have a plan - and that plan should be to hit the FLY button to switch back to GPS.

Anyway, Fly:Manual will keep your bird level and maintain altitude for you. It just doesn't have GPS to keep position, so it will drift with the wind. Fly:Manual is a great way to get smooth video by the way. The constant adjustments a drone makes to keep a GPS position introduces a lot of vibration.

Anyway. When you fly manual, practice the box pattern with the nose forward the whole time. Then do a figure 8 box with the nose forward. Once you've got the hang of those, then put a chair or something out in the field and practice orbiting the chair with the nose in, trying to keep the chair in frame. Then try to do a figure 8 with the nose in through both loops.

If you can do all that in manual, then you will officially be a very good pilot. Even if you don't master a nose in figure 8, you'll still be good.

Vegasrobbi · Dec 13, 2015

Whether in manual or GPS mode operator control is limited to the Wi-Fi range, which varies considerably based on environmental conditions.

One way to go further out would be to plan an autonomous mission farther out than the Wi-Fi connection and set the appropriate pid to continue the mission if connection is lost. I do not recommend this or flying beyond LOS. Setting RTH is the best option when connection is lost IMO with loiter second, landing far away doesn't seem like a good idea too me.

If you lose GPS far away you will end up in manual mode anyway so be ready to take over and fly home, this is an issue with new pilots who don't learn to fly in manual mode and depend to much on GPS.

Classik-XI · Dec 13, 2015

I can't believe how helpful this community is

thank you guys so much.
The reason why I was asking is because we have a farm which is approx 8km x 8km and i want to map the landscape so we can plan our fence lines.

erikgraham · Dec 14, 2015

Classik-XI said:
I can't believe how helpful this community is thank you guys so much.
The reason why I was asking is because we have a farm which is approx 8km x 8km and i want to map the landscape so we can plan our fence lines.

Good to hear. Meantime, I for one, approve of your Avatar image.

Maddog · Dec 14, 2015

Classik-XI said:
I can't believe how helpful this community is thank you guys so much.
The reason why I was asking is because we have a farm which is approx 8km x 8km and i want to map the landscape so we can plan our fence lines.

That would be a great mission for Tower! Do you have an Android or iOS device?

Classik-XI · Dec 14, 2015

Maddog said:
That would be a great mission for Tower! Do you have an Android or iOS device?

I have a iOS device

Classik-XI · Dec 14, 2015

erikgraham said:
Good to hear. Meantime, I for one, approve of your Avatar image.

haha, I saw yours and thought what a great avatar too! So good to see them playing well again.

erikgraham · Dec 14, 2015

Classik-XI said:
I have a iOS device

It might be worth getting a cheap android tablet, like an old Nexus 7. That way you can use the Tower app, which allows you to create "missions" that the drone will fly on its own. One type of mission allows you to do surveys. Basically you draw a box over a map, and it creates grid pattern of way points. Then you set up the camera to snap a photo at each way point. Once you have all the images, there are apps where you can stitch it all together. It can actually create 3D maps, so you will see terrain features. On an 8K square plot, you would need to run multiple missions (because of battery life), and combine all of them to create a map. For example, check out this video:

Actually, there is a modified Solo created for just this kind of purpose. See this post: New drone. (Heavily modded Solo for mapping) | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

You don't need one of these custom Solo's to do this sort of thing, but I just wanted to point it out. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I should also point out that this isn't easy to get working. The hard part is getting each photo properly "geotagged" and then learning the stitching/3D software. If I were advising you, I would say to spend the winter learning the Solo with the iOS app. Just get comfortable flying. By spring, they may even have all the Tower features added to the Solo app (or as a new iOS app). A good site to learn about mapping with 3DR based drones is diydrones.com.