"Controlled crash" landing

[ThorH]

Noob here, on a steep learning curve. Lost control of the Mavic today, it started drifting out of my control towards some buildings. I force landed it, unfortunately crashing into a fence on my way down. (Two props, no other damage.) I am sure there probably would have been a better action, can anyone help me understand what I did wrong and how I could have saved it? Here is a link to the flight log:

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

The google image there is seriously outdated btw, people live in the building I almost hit now.

Thanks,

 

[Cyberpower678]

Let's have a look.

 

[Cyberpower678]

Noob here, on a steep learning curve. Lost control of the Mavic today, it started drifting out of my control towards some buildings. I force landed it, unfortunately crashing into a fence on my way down. (Two props, no other damage.) I am sure there probably would have been a better action, can anyone help me understand what I did wrong and how I could have saved it? Here is a link to the flight log:

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

The google image there is seriously outdated btw, people live in the building I almost hit now.

Thanks,

Already, here's the verdict. You took off and all systems were normal while hovering. I notice there was a wind going during your flight. At some point during your hover, your GPS Health dropped to 1. This effectively broke the GPS lock your drone had and switched it back to Atti mode. The wind was now carrying the drone towards the building with essentially no input from you until it descended when you pulled back the throttle and landed, making it a very close call. It nearly crashed into the building.

The big question is why your drone lost the GPS signal. Are you in any interference spots? Has your drone done this before, that is unexpectedly switched to Atti mode? If not, this could signal as a defect that may need fixing. You should try to fly in an open area and see if it happens again.

Now when your drone is flying in Atti mode, it's practically flying in a manual state, requiring the operator to maintain control over the drone. So when it began drifting, you should have steered in the opposite direction, and brought it down to land near you, in your case you would pull the aileron to the right, (your right stick to the right if using Mode 2 on the RC).

I see you were trying to follow the drone for a bit, and then just watched it drift away. If you saw it drifting unexpectedly, best to land it immediately and not just watch it

Hope this helps.

 

[DodgeP]

Thor, you have to be sure to calibrate everything before you fly, check signal levels, etc. Do you have a preflight checklist?

 

[ThorH]

Thanks a lot! I had not noticed the ATTI mode, so I did not understand what happened. I guess going high could also have been an option, as I had the map and direction on my screen. But slight panic occurred... And no, it has not happened before. But I have just flown 3-4 times.

Everything was calibrated and ok, I had been flying for more than half an hour in this parking lot already and was on my second battery. I don't see why it should loose the GPS, it had 18-19 satellites and there are no large buildings that should cause this to happen. But it was quite close to a steel container when it happened. Could it have been confused by bouncing signals? (Sounds very unlikely to me...)

On the subject of GPS: My iPhone 7+ has no problem pinpointing my location in "any" other app, but nothing seems good enough for the follow me mode. Any way to adjust the sensitivity?

 

[FlashGJ]

On the subject of GPS: My iPhone 7+ has no problem pinpointing my location in "any" other app, but nothing seems good enough for the follow me mode. Any way to adjust the sensitivity?[/QUOTE]

ThorH, is your 7+ on AT&T? iPhone 7s built for use on at&t use an Intell modem that is inferior and causes "weak satellite " errors when trying to use FollowMe or trying to set your home point to your controller.

 

[Cyberpower678]

On the subject of GPS: My iPhone 7+ has no problem pinpointing my location in "any" other app, but nothing seems good enough for the follow me mode. Any way to adjust the sensitivity?

ThorH, is your 7+ on AT&T? iPhone 7s built for use on at&t use an Intell modem that is inferior and causes "weak satellite " errors when trying to use FollowMe or trying to set your home point to your controller.[/QUOTE]
Huh? That's for cell tower connectivity. GPS modules different.

 

[Cyberpower678]

Thanks a lot! I had not noticed the ATTI mode, so I did not understand what happened. I guess going high could also have been an option, as I had the map and direction on my screen. But slight panic occurred... And no, it has not happened before. But I have just flown 3-4 times.

Everything was calibrated and ok, I had been flying for more than half an hour in this parking lot already and was on my second battery. I don't see why it should loose the GPS, it had 18-19 satellites and there are no large buildings that should cause this to happen. But it was quite close to a steel container when it happened. Could it have been confused by bouncing signals? (Sounds very unlikely to me...)

On the subject of GPS: My iPhone 7+ has no problem pinpointing my location in "any" other app, but nothing seems good enough for the follow me mode. Any way to adjust the sensitivity?

Satellite count is different than actual health. The health is reflected by the number of bars you have. If you play back the flight on your phone, you will see the bars drop from 5 to 1 and you drone switch to Atti mode. It could have been a metal container I don't know. Best to observe it and see if it persists.

 

[FlashGJ]

ThorH, is your 7+ on AT&T? iPhone 7s built for use on at&t use an Intell modem that is inferior and causes "weak satellite " errors when trying to use FollowMe or trying to set your home point to your controller.

Huh? That's for cell tower connectivity. GPS modules different.[/QUOTE]
I don't understand the link myself between the modem and GPS module, except for the fact that smartphones do use cell connection to help get a GPS Lock. That is how smartphones can get a GPS lock much, much faster than traditional stand alone GPS units. But do a quick Google search and you will find others who have an iPhone 7 on AT&T that are having issues with apps that relies upon GPS (running apps, location aware apps and drone apps for example). I even read on another forum where someone had his AT&T iPhone 7 switched out to an unlocked iPhone 7 (which doesn't use the same Intel modem) and it solved his issues. While others just had them swapped out for new iPhones, but still built for AT&T service, and the issue was not solved.

 

[Cyberpower678]

I don't understand the link myself between the modem and GPS module, except for the fact that smartphones do use cell connection to help get a GPS Lock. That is how smartphones can get a GPS lock much, much faster than traditional stand alone GPS units. But do a quick Google search and you will find others who have an iPhone 7 on AT&T that are having issues with apps that relies upon GPS (running apps, location aware apps and drone apps for example). I even read on another forum where someone had his AT&T iPhone 7 switched out to an unlocked iPhone 7 (which doesn't use the same Intel modem) and it solved his issues. While others just had them swapped out for new iPhones, but still built for AT&T service, and the issue was not solved.

My mom's phone runs just dandy.

 

[FlashGJ]

My mom's phone runs just dandy.

And it is on AT&T? And have you specifically tested to see if FollowMe works and tried to move your Home Point to current location of controller while flying?

Mine works "dandy" also, except for those two features.

 

[Cyberpower678]

And it is on AT&T? And have you specifically tested to see if FollowMe works and tried to move your Home Point to current location of controller while flying?

Mine works "dandy" also, except for those two features.

Well, yes, but since it's my mom's I don't use it to fly, but I've never seen her have GPS issues with it. I have an iPhone 6s+ on AT&T.

 

[FlashGJ]

Well, yes, but since it's my mom's I don't use it to fly, but I've never seen her have GPS issues with it. I have an iPhone 6s+ on AT&T.

The Intel modem is only used in the new iPhone 7, so it does not affect any other iPhones that I am aware of. Unless she has specifically tried to use
FollowMe or change her HomePoint to the current location of the controller, she would never see any issues using her iPhone 7. If she has specifically used one or both of those features without issue, I would sure like to know. She would be the first person I have heard of that is not having this issue. Then again, is it possible she has an unlocked iPhone 7 that uses the Qualcomm modem? If I had her model number, then I could check and see what modem it has.

 

[Cyberpower678]

The Intel modem is only used in the new iPhone 7, so it does not affect any other iPhones that I am aware of. Unless she has specifically tried to use
FollowMe or change her HomePoint to the current location of the controller, she would never see any issues using her iPhone 7. If she has specifically used one or both of those features without issue, I would sure like to know. She would be the first person I have heard of that is not having this issue. Then again, is it possible she has an unlocked iPhone 7 that uses the Qualcomm modem? If I had her model number, then I could check and see what modem it has.

I'm not the type to disclose device information of other people's belongings. Sorry.

 

[FlashGJ]

I'm not the type to disclose device information of other people's belongings. Sorry.

No worries, I wasn't actually expecting that information. But I would like to know if she can use those two functions I mentioned without issues.

 

[Cyberpower678]

She doesn't own a drone so I can't say.

No worries, I wasn't actually expecting that information. But I would like to know if she can use those two functions I mentioned without issues.

 

[FlashGJ]

She doesn't own a drone so I can't say.

Ok, I understand now. When you stated that your mom's worked dandy, I assumed you where saying while using it with the Mavic.
The majority of people with iPhone 7s are not experiencing any GPS issues under normal everyday use. It is only with certain apps that use very specific and precise GPS data that people are having issues with. The DJI Go apps happen to be one of the apps that is having issues, and only the two functions that I have mentioned, everything else works fine that I have tested.

 

[Cyberpower678]

Ok, I understand now. When you stated that your mom's worked dandy, I assumed you where saying while using it with the Mavic.
The majority of people with iPhone 7s are not experiencing any GPS issues under normal everyday use. It is only with certain apps that use very specific and precise GPS data that people are having issues with. The DJI Go apps happen to be one of the apps that is having issues, and only the two functions that I have mentioned, everything else works fine that I have tested.

I have run TomTom Go on it, and that runs normally too. TomTom Go uses precise GPS data to localize your car in motion.

 

[FlashGJ]

I have run TomTom Go on it, and that runs normally too. TomTom Go uses precise GPS data to localize your car in motion.

Yep, Maps, Google Maps, MotionX-GPS, TomTom Go all work fine on mine also. But, FollowMe and Controller HomePoint on DJI Go fails about 99% of the time with a "weak GPS signal" error message. And I am not alone, others on this and DJI forum are having the same issue. If you search some of the forums for dedicated Running apps, you would find other AT&T iPhone 7 users having issues also. Those Running apps "work" and a lot of runners would never know, but some geeks that really delve into it see that their routes that are recorded "drift" slightly off what they actually run. Some could care less, but "drifting" slightly off in the world of Droning can cause serious problems and it is probably a good thing that DJI Go recognizes the problem and prevents you from using those functions and thus avoiding an unwanted consequence of a "drifting", or not 100% GPS lock with the controller.

 

[ThorH]

I am in Norway, so no AT&T. We have very good 4G coverage. (You americans would be envious if you saw our speeds and prices. )

Except for when this sudden loss happened, I consistently have full GPS bars and 17-19 satellites showing on the controller. The iPhone positioning works perfect with any other app, but seems to always be too weak for DJI's Follow Me mode. Which makes the function rather useless, IMO.