Bye Bye Mavic - How to lose it in 5 easy steps... (and how not to)

[Logger]

I'd hope it would use several data points to decide that it was "on the ground". That could include:

- baro rate near 0
- IMU accelerometer and gyro rates near 0 and lack of motion; vertical component ~= 1 g.
- a "bump" just happened
- props unloaded (sudden drop in current &| RPM, for example).​

Lack of sensed motion alone could be too narrow. Think of a dead calm day and hovering...

This thread whilst not the same one contains the essence of what I read
Stopping the motors
Essentialy the IMU decides aircraft is unable to move any further and is therefore on the ground.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

This thread whilst not the same one contains the essence of what I read
Stopping the motors
Essentialy the IMU decides aircraft is unable to move any further and is therefore on the ground.

Sorry - that doesn't do it for me. Conjecture, not to mention cases like hand catching mentioned in the same thread where it won't shut off (swells, bad catch).

(I happily grant that my own list is conjecture, but it is what I'd do - nothing like IMU's say "not moving" AND the motor controller saying "no load" to be sure you're on the ground. Note: on systems I've worked on there were often 2 or 3 criteria to change from one important state to another important state (with appropriate hysteresis)).

 

[Erock]

Ian, wouldn't you be able to locate your lost Mavic by finding the Lat/ long from the last transmission location in the flight log and use a handheld GPS to home in on it?

 

[Edward De Bruyn]

Hello new around with a new Mavic and afraid to loose it. So sorry for your loss.
Would this be an option: Track your phone, wallet, keys & anything else with TrackR!
Evt. fix it with some glue on the Mavic ?
Seems to work like it should and is very light. Of course will be necessary to be sure that the possibility to change the battery is okey.
Tried it out a few times and seems to work like it should.

 

[Matchlock]

I'm very sorry this happened to you Brian and as a new Mavic Pro owner I would like to thank you for this video because you make some very valid points that I hope to remember if I should ever get into a similar situation.

Your comment on using the auto-land feature sounds like a very valuable piece of advice to me and perhaps I would have made some of the same mistakes that you did. However, the many points you make in this video will no doubt be of great help to me in a situation like yours.

I'm also happy to hear you have another Mavic Pro and I wish you all the best in your future flying.

Bye the way, the White Cliffs of Dover are a special place for me. My mother was a WAAF during World War II and she was stationed in London during the Blitz. She loved Vera Lynn, and my mother was wounded by enemy bombers while moving many of the patients to the basement of St. Bartholamew's Hospital in London at that time.

Anyway, thanks again Brian

Bud

Hello all
Well, after a few months of fun, I managed to completely lose my new toy, meaning I couldn't even claim on DJI Refresh.

Lost it whilst flying down near Dover, UK, by managing to convince myself it was being blown backwards out to sea by the wind. Funny how one simple error can compound itself and steer your mind into making further mistakes as the panic slowly increases. End result: completely lost and truly unlikkely ever to be found by anyone...

Anyway, I made a video using the streamed footage and flight data. After flying for over 18 months I'd have liked to think I was experienced enough not to make any of these mistakes. But I did, so I guess others could too. Here they are, in all their glory, so hopefully someone, somewhere, won't do the same!

Cheers,

Ian

 

[Skyler King III]

Hello all
Well, after a few months of fun, I managed to completely lose my new toy, meaning I couldn't even claim on DJI Refresh.

Lost it whilst flying down near Dover, UK, by managing to convince myself it was being blown backwards out to sea by the wind. Funny how one simple error can compound itself and steer your mind into making further mistakes as the panic slowly increases. End result: completely lost and truly unlikkely ever to be found by anyone...

Anyway, I made a video using the streamed footage and flight data. After flying for over 18 months I'd have liked to think I was experienced enough not to make any of these mistakes. But I did, so I guess others could too. Here they are, in all their glory, so hopefully someone, somewhere, won't do the same!

Cheers,

Ian

Sorry to hear ! I aways preach don't fly when surface wind is 15 mph or higher and most people"poo-poo" it.

 

[SongBird]

Great video. Thanks for doing it.

Probably everyone wants to know ...
did you have insurance ???

Man O Man ... I hope so !

 

[Leather]

Ian, first off I want to say how sorry I am about your bird. Thanks for sharing your story and I really enjoyed hearing about your adventure although was hoping for a happier ending. Everything you did was making sense to me as I was hearing it especially in your time of distress. Hopefully this will help someone in the future including myself. I was wondering one thing tho, it you hit the RTH button can you switch the remote to Sports Mode after to get back quicker?

 

[Macmad]

I just purchased the Marco Polo. It will definitely ease your worry of never finding your drone.

Don't get me wrong, The Marco Polo tracker appears to be quiet good at what it is designed to do,
What I really find hard to believe is the design of the handheld monitor, it's like a prop out of a 1960's Sci-Fi movie,
I would of thought they would improve the design of the monitor to be more ergonomic,
It's a real put off for me, and I will wait for a dedicated more streamlined and refined location device.
Which probably means my Mavic will end up lost in shark infested waters in 2 weeks.

 

[DJI27]

Ian, very sorry to hear what happened to you but it was incredibly nice of you to take the time to make a video that summarized lessons learned.

I've read all the subsequent posts but am a little fuzzy on whether or not there's been a consensus on what actually happened and what can be done to avoid a repeat of the problem.

Apart from not flying with anything other than a fully charged battery and always planning to fly downwind on the return leg, what else should you have been done to avoid losing the Mavic?

The way that autonomous flight controller features (i.e., RTH, automated forced landing at low battery levels, etc.) play together, can anyone say for sure what should have been done differently?

Do you concur that your motors were NOT completely shut down when you thought they were?

P.S. BTW....Very nice photo of the Spitfire (props) memorial at the Dover cliffs. I'm a WWII history buff but never saw, that tribute to the RAF

 

[lakong]

Ian, major bummer. Thanks for sharing this with us. I had a similar experience in one respect and got lucky with Obstacle Avoidance. It taught be to always use the mapping view when returning home. This is the first piece of advice I give all new pilots. Let me explain. On one of my first handful of flights I took off from a park that was about a mile from the ocean. My plan was to fly towards the ocean, but after a while I decided to come back. I turned it around, based solely on the video feed I was watching on my phone and started back. I could tell it was coming close because the distance was counting down. However, like you, while I thought I was still pull forward on the controls the distance starting counting up. I couldn't understand what was happening, when all of the sudden I hear the obstacle avoidance warning and I could see in the video view that I was stopped right in front of a tree. I couldn't understand at first what had happened since the park where I launched from was high on a hill, and the area in front of me where I was flying was all below my position so there were definitely no trees. Well... just like you, it turned out that I was not flying exactly back on a straight line, and the Mavic went past me -- about 100 yards to the side -- and was headed towards trees behind me.

Luckily for me, the OA saved the day, and there were no battery issues like you had, but a huge lesson learned. So here is what I tell new pilots and what I always do myself:

- if you fly out of sight always switch back and forth between map view and video view from time to time to be 100% sure where the Mavic is in relationship to you
- when turning back to home, always switch to map view (or look at the map view on the Picture in Picture view) and make sure that you are actually turning it so that it points back towards you.
- as you are flying back home, frequently check the map to be sure you are actually coming directly back to home.

Using the map view really helps to orient the Mavic and ensures that you are really flying back in the proper and most linear direction.

- S

 

[m0j0]

Actually, what I wanted to ask was this...

He says he manual landed at the spot and held the stick down for 3 seconds, that should have stopped the props. What bug me is, I think he says that even after all this, when there is a signal loss, the MP booted back up and attempted a RTH...

This is a bit worrisome... and I am tempted to test this....

It didn't land and then boot up and launch again. It never shut down.

 

[m0j0]

Hello all
Well, after a few months of fun, I managed to completely lose my new toy, meaning I couldn't even claim on DJI Refresh.

Lost it whilst flying down near Dover, UK, by managing to convince myself it was being blown backwards out to sea by the wind. Funny how one simple error can compound itself and steer your mind into making further mistakes as the panic slowly increases. End result: completely lost and truly unlikkely ever to be found by anyone...

Anyway, I made a video using the streamed footage and flight data. After flying for over 18 months I'd have liked to think I was experienced enough not to make any of these mistakes. But I did, so I guess others could too. Here they are, in all their glory, so hopefully someone, somewhere, won't do the same!

Cheers,

Ian

First, I really appreciate you sharing the story and I feel for you this is a tough one.

I do have a question, were you watching on the go app?

It really seems like the big mistake was not using the app and map to fly it back. I'm not certain how you flew it back. There are two means of using the app to fly the bird back. It almost seems like you flew it back blindly. I'm not sure I understand why you did that.

I do think you did the right thing flying it back yourself. I just think using the app would have got it back ok.

I think if you share your logs you will find it.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Ian, Sorry for your loss. I have lost my Typhoon H when it lost the signal, started RTH, then hit an overhanging branch, then in Five Motor Error, landed in a black mucky swamp. So I understand your frustration looking in nowhere land. Found mine about 100 yards farther down the swamp in 4 feet of muck.

I was going to suggest a SAR mission using another drone or with the help of another pilot willing to assist. Use the last known location, then fly from that point following the RTH route to see if your Mavic can be seen from the air.

Another emergency procedure used by a great UAS group in the US. When you lose your communications with your UAS, immediately toggle to ATTI mode and back. This will usually regain your control.

Hope you attempt an aerial recovery and are successful in locating your Mavic.
Thanks for posting your video, well made and hopefully it will help other pilots from having the same mishap.

 

[Ian in London]

Thanks again guys. Nice smile on my face to hear your best wishes.......
I've looked up the Marco Polo and will defo be getting one of those. The TrackR mentioned is Bluetooth and gets very poor reviews if you need to track something more than around 50 feet away; be interesting to hear from anyone with direct experience of that.
As some have said, it's clear it never shut down, hence the RTH feature kicked in. Again, that's why I make such a point about using the auto-land button as that would have shut off motors and all would have been hunky dory.
Re the landing protection; might well try that again with different hand-catching techniques.
Re ATTI mode; remember the Mavic does not provide for this at all; you cannot select ATTI mode anywhere. Bottom line, couple of guys are completely right; switch to 'map' mode on your return.
A trick I only now found out (and many may not know) is that you can toggle the map / video feed view, making the map the large default view and the video feed the smaller view. Both are useful depending on the situation, so toggling between them is a real bonus....

Anyway, I'm hoping the home insurance will cover this one under the 'personal possessions all risks anywhere' element of my policy

Cheers again to all
Ian

 

[Macmad]

Nice one Ian,
Be good to have you back flying another Mavic soon mate, I did query about putting my Mavic on my home insurance, unfortunately John Lewis said as it's deemed as a aircraft it cannot be added.
I would be happy to add another separate insurance policy for my Mavic if available, as I don't want to lose the thing while in New York, and hope to bring it back home in one piece.

 

[Michael from Denmark]

Hello all
Well, after a few months of fun, I managed to completely lose my new toy, meaning I couldn't even claim on DJI Refresh.

Lost it whilst flying down near Dover, UK, by managing to convince myself it was being blown backwards out to sea by the wind. Funny how one simple error can compound itself and steer your mind into making further mistakes as the panic slowly increases. End result: completely lost and truly unlikkely ever to be found by anyone...

Anyway, I made a video using the streamed footage and flight data. After flying for over 18 months I'd have liked to think I was experienced enough not to make any of these mistakes. But I did, so I guess others could too. Here they are, in all their glory, so hopefully someone, somewhere, won't do the same!

Cheers,

Ian

 

[Michael from Denmark]

Thanks for sharing! Good luck with new Mav.

 

[gavcuk]

Thanks again guys. Nice smile on my face to hear your best wishes.......
I've looked up the Marco Polo and will defo be getting one of those. The TrackR mentioned is Bluetooth and gets very poor reviews if you need to track something more than around 50 feet away; be interesting to hear from anyone with direct experience of that.
As some have said, it's clear it never shut down, hence the RTH feature kicked in. Again, that's why I make such a point about using the auto-land button as that would have shut off motors and all would have been hunky dory.
Re the landing protection; might well try that again with different hand-catching techniques.
Re ATTI mode; remember the Mavic does not provide for this at all; you cannot select ATTI mode anywhere. Bottom line, couple of guys are completely right; switch to 'map' mode on your return.
A trick I only now found out (and many may not know) is that you can toggle the map / video feed view, making the map the large default view and the video feed the smaller view. Both are useful depending on the situation, so toggling between them is a real bonus....

Anyway, I'm hoping the home insurance will cover this one under the 'personal possessions all risks anywhere' element of my policy

Cheers again to all
Ian

I checked my Aviva home and contents insurance and I can definitely claim. Even called them to ask and they said also included is the liability cover in case it causes any damage to other property.

 

[jogros]

Thanks for a tips