Well she's gone !....

[Learning2Fly]

Had a few moments of down time at work today so I got the Solo out for a quick flight around the firehall. I think my first sign should've been it took quite a while to get more than 9 satellites ( and that's with the mRo!!) ...finally it grabbed 11 and was ready to go! I got her fired up and off the ground took her up to around 120ft flew over a neighboring construction site that has a tower crane . Flew it right up to the crane all was good I was getting low in battery so I hit return home then quickly remembered the power lines on the way back so I quickly hit A for manual and tried to take control back but it started out the opposite way away from me and would not take commands from the controller and was last seen heading over city hall towards the river and Nissan Stadium. All of us guys at the firehall got in the equipment (engine ,rescue, truck, ambulance) and drove around looking for it, even set up the truck ladder to get on top of roof at city hall( it's last known location before the video feed stopped )....SO Bummed, I just did the mRo and R11e cards along with maddogs Brite Lite mod [emoji37]
I'm just sick about it!! Mainly for the GoPro and gimbal being gone but mostly the fact that I'm trying to get my department's drone program started and this is a huge setback...
Anyways I'm still in shock , I'll give it a few days to set in then try to find another Solo.... just sucks because I was getting decent at piloting the Solo, and started to get the guys interested in the program. One of the fellas was just asking me earlier in the day about my solo and if he should get one and I was totally selling him on it!! ... now he's not so sure... I'm still a believer and will still propose to my department to by some for the program fleet. Anyways just had to vent to the proper crowd. Thanks for listening!

Best regards,
Richard

 

[USMC86]

Should stencil on that Solo - Fire Dept Search and Rescue- if found; please notify Fire Department @ ...
You may still find it- crazier things have happened; some guys on this forum have lost their Solo and found them a day or two later. Good Luck!

 

[USMC86]

Did you have your strobe lights on? Just thinking it may be easier to find in the dark than in the morning- guessing you lost your gopro feed?

 

[Mauiwind]

Of course, you know that the log(s) on your controller have the coordinates of where it was when it last transmitted. Also, a good interpreter can tell you why the flyaway.

 

[VintageToyMarbles]

Oh, so sorry!!!
I'm always worried about losing mine as well.
I've been watching this site, and when activity is up, Solo stays on the ground.
Aviation Community Dashboard | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center On the dashboard, there are other area's like GPS...
I don't know how this stuff will mess with my drone....so I keep it on the ground.
...again, I hope you find it.

 

[Learning2Fly]

I'm thinking that getting close to those power lines might have thrown the compass calibration off

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Are you sure it wasn't just drifting with the wind and you didn't have your orientation mixed up? Download the the last few tlog files from the controller and post them so we can have a look.

 

[Learning2Fly]

Are you sure it wasn't just drifting with the wind and you didn't have your orientation mixed up? Download the the last few tlog files from the controller and post them so we can have a look.

If I knew how I certainly would !
I need some answers and clarification and all the help I can get .

 

[jimloss]

There are a number of ways to get the log files. Take a look at this thread from @carpy:
https://3drpilots.com/threads/download-system-logs-from-controller-and-solo.11242/#post-116922

Also - once RTL is started, hitting the Fly button is the way to take back control. Fly:Manual isn't going to do it.

The TLog from the controller will have the path and possibly location before communication with the controller was lost.

Solex users have two benefits in a situation like this:
1) There is a feature to locate your Solo - "Find my vehicle" - will show last known location on a map
2) There is another feature that you can enable to save logs, then TLogs for every flight are saved directly to your Android device

 

[Learning2Fly]

...and @P2P, I know crashes or flyaways are 98.9 % pilot error so it very well could have been that exact scenario you described...either way I'd like to know what happened so I can learn... yet still it won't take the sting away if losing about $500 !! [emoji35]

 

[Acroduster]

jimloss - Fly:manual does indeed take control in a RTH scenario. I've done it many times.

 

[jimloss]

jimloss - Fly:manual does indeed take control in a RTH scenario. I've done it many times.

I tried it when I was flying this morning and pressing my A button (Fly:Manual) did not work to bring Solo out of RTL. I believe you, but it wasn't until I hit Fly that it worked. Not sure what's up with this?

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

This something I'm happily doing away with in my Open Solo modifications. As designed, the Solo uses a smart shot called Return Home or Rewind for failsafes and for when you push the home button. When in these "smart shots", the A & B buttons are disabled and the so are sticks. The only thing you are allowed to do is push FLY or Pause. And I think you can use the left stick for camera pointing. You can't change modes or do anything else. This is like 4 different layers of unnecessary complication and unnecessary points of failure for something that is supposed to be a failsafe. If anything goes wrong in any of that complication, you're screwed. On numerous occasions I've had the solo get basically stuck in the air because damn sticks and buttons were disabled. I had to watch it just sit there hovering until the battery died and it crashed. And I'm not the only one. Oh, and there is also a line of code in there that locks out the buttons when the EKF goes bad, which is likely what happened to the OP. This is also stupid. Locking the operator out of controlling the copter in an emergency is insane. Normal controls do not get restored until it is in the final landing phase.

In my revision of Open Solo, I have dispensed with all of that crap. The failsafes use ArduCopter RTL mode, plain and simple. None of this smart shot complication. The buttons remain unlocked. The sticks remain unlocked. You can push any button you want and take control in any way you want. And in the mode change callbacks, I modified it to cope with botched smart shot exits, which is what causes a lot of the grief. Any mode changes also fires off code that ensures buttons and sticks are in normal modes, not remapped or locked out. Open Solo will also be safer solo. Making solo safe again.

 

[Maddog]

This something I'm happily doing away with in my Open Solo modifications. As designed, the Solo uses a smart shot called Return Home or Rewind for failsafes and for when you push the home button. When in these "smart shots", the A & B buttons are disabled and the so are sticks. The only thing you are allowed to do is push FLY or Pause. And I think you can use the left stick for camera pointing. You can't change modes or do anything else. This is like 4 different layers of unnecessary complication and unnecessary points of failure for something that is supposed to be a failsafe. If anything goes wrong in any of that complication, you're screwed. On numerous occasions I've had the solo get basically stuck in the air because damn sticks and buttons were disabled. I had to watch it just sit there hovering until the battery died and it crashed. And I'm not the only one. Oh, and there is also a line of code in there that locks out the buttons when the EKF goes bad, which is likely what happened to the OP. This is also stupid. Locking the operator out of controlling the copter in an emergency is insane. Normal controls do not get restored until it is in the final landing phase.

In my revision of Open Solo, I have dispensed with all of that crap. The failsafes use ArduCopter RTL mode, plain and simple. None of this smart shot complication. The buttons remain unlocked. The sticks remain unlocked. You can push any button you want and take control in any way you want. And in the mode change callbacks, I modified it to cope with botched smart shot exits, which is what causes a lot of the grief. Any mode changes also fires off code that ensures buttons and sticks are in normal modes, not remapped or locked out. Open Solo will also be safer solo. Making solo safe again.

When will that be available?

 

[Maddog]

...and @P2P, I know crashes or flyaways are 98.9 % pilot error so it very well could have been that exact scenario you described...either way I'd like to know what happened so I can learn... yet still it won't take the sting away if losing about $500 !! [emoji35]

IF you get another Solo and IF you want another Brite Lite, let me know and I'll work something out for you.

 

[Learning2Fly]

IF you get another Solo and IF you want another Brite Lite, let me know and I'll work something out for you.

Will do Maddog! Very nice gesture.

 

[USMC86]

Hey Richard-
Any word on your lost Solo? I'm thinking for a short time- you may have to change your name from
Learning2Fly to Searching4Solo.
I'm only playing with you and really do hope your Solo turns up.

 

[Learning2Fly]

That's s good one !
I actually went back to the scene and looked around today and polled some homeless folks...no luck

 

[USMC86]

Keep up with the social media- of someone found it- they will tell everyone they know- Throw out a small reward- like $50... It's going to show up as long as there wasn't a large body of water nearby that it could have ended up in-,
Did you give B&H photo a call and ask if they would sell you the bundle for $349?

 

[USMC86]

Twenty or Thirty flyers-
LOST SOLO DRONE FROM LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT-
REWARD FOR RETURN.
Thinking this will bring it home-