I captured 360 content using a Fusion with the GPS ON. Upload fail.
It’s worked before but this time an inspection of the EXIF metadata showed me that the coordinates were some whacky number,see screenshot.
I’ve used an supplementary GPS strings to GEOTAG the images but wondering why the photos are being geotagged like this on my Fusion?
Is the EXIF data correct on the image before it’s processed (that is, on the camera’s SD card)? It will only be present on the images from the front camera.
Yeah no location data in the front image at all. Perhaps this is just some default value when the location doesn’t work. The GPS icon was on and solid 
Maybe it needs a firmware update.
are you beta 2.0? I had that in the end of a capture session (overheating?), had to geotag manually. suggest sending a ticket to gopro, but being a beta of an outgoing camera unlikely they’ll do much
As it happens, I had a GPS problem with the Fusion today on the last sequence I shot. All of the images had the same coordinates, and they were wrong.
It was a very hot day and the camera had been running on the roof of the car for quite some time, so my hunch is that heat had something to do with it. Heat is the bane of electronics in general. I’ll test it again tomorrow. If it’s not right, it’s still under warranty, so I’ll give GoPro a call.
I think some of the pictures might have made it to the upload, too. I’ll have to check tomorrow. It’s about a 40 GB upload, and I don’t want to stop it in the middle because I don’t know in what order the desktop uploader uploads the files. It doesn’t provide a whole lot of feedback.
No biggie. I can delete the errant images tomorrow if they make it to the map.
EDIT: I just sat it by the window for a few minutes to get a fix, and it’s working fine now. I’m guessing that my problem was due to overheating.
not sure whether a replacement would fix this, since it’s just a hardware design issue. The reason why some bigger cameras have on-board fans - nobody figured out long-term thermals looks like.
I need to try running it with the battery and battery door removed, maybe that would help.
Otherwise there is always the “temporary stop to offload imagery and putting the camera on aircon vents” route
Since I got the remote, I’ve been in the habit of leaving the camera on, but not capturing, while traveling in between roads I want to map. Previously I’d been shutting it down completely.
I recently found out that even if I turn the camera off completely with the remote, the Bluetooth transceiver stays in low-energy mode for two hours so the remote can wake the camera. That might be a better option. The down side is that I’d then have to wait for the GPS to get a fix again; but considering that overheating seems to be what’s causing the GPS to go wonky in the first place, waiting is preferable to (and less potentially destructive than) overheating.
I agree that overheating is a design flaw in a camera designed to operate in harsh environments. But on the other hand, I also understand the challenges of trying to design something that is both heat-resistant and water-resistant. It can be done, but it would be complex and expensive. The most obvious solution, a liquid cooling system such as gamers use to cool their computers’ processors (and occasionally the chipsets) would also be expensive in terms of battery life. So while it’s easy for me to criticize GoPro for such a flaw, it’s not quite so easy for me to come up with a way to fix it.
The other thing is that if the airflow of operating the camera at highway speed isn’t enough to keep it cool, then what would be? Maybe a wind deflector on the mast under the camera to force air upwards? But then you have the bugs to contend with.
Another thing I might try is reversing the camera in the mount. What GoPro considers the front of the camera is currently facing rearwards because for whatever bizarre reason that causes the rendered image to face forward. Maybe the part that’s overheating is located behind the front side of the camera, in which case facing that side forward might cool it off. I can always rotate the yaw 180 degrees during the render.
Who knows… Maybe the reason GoPro decided which side of the camera would be the front was for that very reason – to cool down the most intense heat producers in the camera. The people representing the company on their forum don’t strike me as actual engineers, so I’m not even going to bother asking. I’ll just try rotating the camera and see what happens.
Yeah, I guess remote standby is another option. Short of attaching nitrogen bottles I think it will overheat at some point. I keep mine sideways to avoid bugs, and airflow is probably subpar as I don’t drive too fast with it on the roof.
It’s quite strange how the gps goes instead of storage or isp, considering it’s probably the same simple ublox they use in Hero.
Wondering if downgrading from the beta might help, since there are no improvements to image quality in it
I’m using the release firmware, not the beta, if that helps.
If it uses the M8 chip, then the chip is rated for temperatures up to 85C (185F). Even sitting on a mast on top of a car, I doubt it gets anywhere near hot enough to trigger a malfunction in the GPS chip itself.
I think it’s more likely that the camera itself selectively shuts down certain functions when it senses itself overheating. Would the camera itself, the WiFi and BT radios, and the GPS, combined with ambient temperatures, be enough to get it hot enough? I really don’t know.
oh, so it’s not due to the beta being dodgy then.
well, here is hoping Fusion mk2 is better at staying cool. Really don’t want to buy one of those day-old chinese startup cameras
I did a couple of hours today with the front lens facing forward and shutting it down between roads I was mapping, with no problems. But it was also quite a bit cooler outside than it was last week when I did have a problem (which was the one and only time), so it doesn’t really mean anything.
This guy reckons that removing the battery, powering by usb and leaving the door open helps, or failing that mounting a small fan on it:
Moving one of the main heat sources outside the thing sounds like a sensible idea.
There’s probably money to be made producing something like that for retail sale.
I originally intended to add a solar power source to the mount I made until I found out that the battery life was more than I needed, anyway. Maybe I should revisit that idea. A solar panel continually charging a battery pack would produce plenty of wattage to power both the camera and the fan.
Then again… Because the camera is mounted outside the car, why bother with the fan at all? Some sort of air scoop with a filter to keep bugs out would probably work just as well. I think the blue filter medium used in aquarium filters would be fine for that.
Addendum: For those using the camera “sideways,” I wouldn’t be surprised if cutting a piece of the blue media to the size of the battery compartment, inserting it in there, and operating with that side facing forward, would keep the camera cool.
Could you elaborate on what that “blue media” is?
I’d imagine it would overheat in hot weather either way, you just have to drive long enough.
And here I was thinking using it in a case to protect in case of a fall, that definitely wouldn’t work with the heat dissipation
This stuff:
It’s pretty porous, but it’s also pretty interwoven. It should allow the air through while trapping the bugs.
EDIT: On the other hand, I suppose it could also melt. Maybe it would be better to fasten it over the battery door opening rather than inside the battery compartment.
i’m thinking there could be other materials suitable for this.
or a make shift radiator with a piece of metal
I’m sure there are many materials. I just happen to have the blue stuff because I have aquatic animals. It would only be an air filter, not a heatsink.
There are many liquid coolers available for CPU’s and some for chipsets and MOSFET’s that probably could be adapted to this purpose. But they’re expensive and the radiators are bulky. I suppose if the radiators were positioned under the camera, it wouldn’t make a difference to the usefulness of the images.
it won’t. Overheating as a major HW design flaw of the subj. which causes all the issues with GPS stopping working or eventual camera shutdowns.
It does help indeed. I have read similar reviews earlier and ordered myself a 2m long USB Type-C cable with angled connector, so I can remove the battery, detach the the side door, connect with USB to a good (2.4A) adapter or powerbank. Unit is still getting noticeably hot during operation, but it’s cooler with battery removed.
To improve cooling during hot&sunny days - mount camera sideways leaving battery compartment door OPEN, facing the direction of movement (forward), so the airflow gets inside the camera. In opposite to side-door, unfortunately you can’t detach the battery door from the main unit. Depending on the speed you might consider adding some custom design cover to prevent bugs being trapped inside the battery compartment. Inside does not look very fragile, so maybe protecting the back panel with the battery pins by the piece of tape would be sufficient. On the other hand, some bugs could be quite ‘juicy’ and acidic…
In that setup camera is not waterproof, so you have to be careful and avoid running it when there’s a probability of sudden rains, showers or thunderstorms.
Some findings:
That’s a great write-up with some solid experience-based knowledge right there, not useful to me but thanks for sharing. I can’t help but think that belongs somewhere in the openstreetmap wiki, so it’s captured forever and doesn’t get buried in here over time.
