The Solo Gimbal and the Code that Drives it. Hmmm....

pyrate · Feb 9, 2017

I think what folks are missing by saying this is not for the masses is this simple fact
If the code exists to make it work, then producing a hardware solution for the masses becomes a lot easier to accomplish.
Maybe not solo, because it still has proprietary limitations
But if all I get out of the green cube and master is boat mode, that is a victory to me.
I am after all a pyrate at heart

On the DIY front the new PH2.1 cube can run huge drones with massive onboard computing power.
When the code supports new capabilities for hardware companies, they will bring things to market if a profit can be had

BigTulsa · Feb 9, 2017

My bro has a 2.1 on the way and already has the Edison. I'm curious to see what he's going to do with it.

pyrate · Feb 9, 2017

me too
Dronecode would have been the path to learn next, but honestly I have a hard time getting excited about a dead API
I'm looking into ROS
Or using the Edison as a possible way to import flight log data into my access based log book

BigTulsa · Feb 9, 2017

Access based? You mean MS Access?

pyrate · Feb 9, 2017

yeppers, this python and Linux stuff is all new to me, but put me in front of a keyboard and a working VBA IDE and I can bang out some good stuff

BigTulsa · Feb 9, 2017

Damn. I did that back in the late 90s and early naughts. I've graduated to MySql and MSSQL since.

pyrate · Feb 9, 2017

LOL you saying I'm OLD
For the past 8 years I have been keeping my business unit afloat writing work group based applications in VBA
We were just approved for a 1.2 million dollar salesforce implementation.
What is hysterical is they are basically taking my solutions and replicating them in the cloud
back in the day I coded in hex, and did a pretty good stint of time in PHP back in my web developer days.
I'm learning python now.
As soon as I clear my 107 I'm going to jump into ROS and python for my companion computer on PH2

BigTulsa · Feb 9, 2017

My brother has gotten pretty good at python. He actually coded one of the tiny wifi boards in python to control a GoPro to switch modes via our Taranis radios and fire the shutter. Pretty neat stuff.

wn0x · Feb 11, 2017

DIY can be expensive, but enormously satisfying too. Awesome when it works, but of course, frustrating when it doesn't. I have 3 heavy lift birds under my belt ( > 4Kg payload) and 8 racing/acrobatic quads. The Solo was my first prosumer aircraft and I love it for the features and OOB capabilities. It is my current go-to aircraft for aerial photo and video. With that said, I think there is room in the hobby for folks that want and OOB experience and builders like myself that want to tinker.

VCD · Feb 11, 2017

Am I missing something ? - beside being better mavlink integrated, AFAIK, the solo Gopro gimbal does not do anything more than a Storm32 can do - if has more direct mavlink support, but still nothing major. - And mavlink is open, so Storm32 can easily use it more...

pyrate · Feb 11, 2017

it has its own IMU from what I understand, and it is deeply imbedded with the IMX6 onboard computer
I think if one of two things happened it would be fine
3dr release the code to open source so it could be ported
or
Someone is both smart enough, and motivated enough to write replacement code from scratch that would take input from the onboard IMX6 and send pitch commands to the storm

Pretty sure roll and yaw are just standard gimbal algorithms

Texzin · Feb 11, 2017

Lots of work is going on in the back ground

pyrate said:
oh contraire
even if solo never releases anything else, solo flying on the green cube and master opens an entire new route
RTK GPS
Throw and Boat flight modes
Flow control
Object avoidance
etc

pyrate is 100% on!! The DIY work going on in the back ground is Huge.. I bought my first Solo just for the components. It has been a great few years for us DIYers, and next few months are going to great. Lots of code is coming!!

pyrate · Feb 11, 2017

the advent of solos use of multiple computers and wifi as telemetry, video and control are introducing some interesting things.
With Kelly, Dan and the amazing pace of ardupilot 2017 should be fun

VCD · Feb 12, 2017

AFAIK the gimbals USB interface to iMX6 is used only for firmware update, all the other features (like pitch and where to point) are controlled over mavlink.

pyrate · Feb 12, 2017

mavlink is just the communications piece correct?
what is communicated are commands that are still built with hidden code

hackbard23 · Feb 23, 2017

looks like simplebgc is able to control the solo gimbal:

Simple Brushless Gimbal Controller — Главная страница

Jubalr · Feb 23, 2017

hackbard23 said:
looks like simplebgc is able to control the solo gimbal:

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Simple Brushless Gimbal Controller — Главная страница

All he did was keep the motors and housing and replaced the controllers to use on another quad. The secret sauce people are looking for is the ability to drive another/larger gimbal with the Solo code to be used in smart shots the same as the solo gimbal. I would pay someone $500 that could provide me with the ability to do that now.

hackbard23 · Feb 23, 2017

so you could do it the other way around:

keep the controller, replace the motors and the housing

there are some 3-phase H-Bridges (DRV8313; 3.5Amps) for the motors that could have problems with higher current on bigger motors/camera, but all in all - this could be a quiet interesting project

also the clearance to the ground could be a problem - long leg extensions could help

summary:
- motors and housing from another gimbal of choice,
- 9 wires to the motors
- plastic work (maybe 3D printed)

Jubalr · Feb 23, 2017

hackbard23 said:
so you could do it the other way around:

keep the controller, replace the motors and the housing

there are some 3-phase H-Bridges (DRV8313; 3.5Amps) for the motors that could have problems with higher current on bigger motors/camera, but all in all - this could be a quiet interesting project

also the clearance to the ground could be a problem - long leg extensions could help

summary:
- motors and housing from another gimbal of choice,
- 9 wires to the motors
- plastic work (maybe 3D printed)

We went that route a few months ago. The issue was that without the code to access the controllers, we could not regulate/increase power and torque as needed.

hackbard23 · Feb 23, 2017

Jubalr said:
We went that route a few months ago. The issue was that without the code to access the controllers, we could not regulate/increase power and torque as needed.

???? that makes no sense ????

normally the controllers get the actual motor position from the potentiometer and than it regulates to the desired position by sending incremental signals to the H-Bridge in CW or CCW direction.
The only thing is that the H-Bridges could be to weak to switch the higher current to the motors

the controllers are only for position-regulation, power is handled through the H-Bridge (DRV8313)
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/drv8313.pdf