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DJI Mavic 3 lost in forrest

p-51d

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Hello

At the 9th may this year my DJI Mavic 3 got lost in a forrest. On the way back the drone was caught up in the trees and was using to much time to get out. Because of all the branches it wouldn't have made sense to switch off the Anti-Collision feature. The drone made finally an emergency landing. Analysing the data with AIRDATA and Google EARTH didn't help much.
Despite of being above the trees and having therefore more than 14 satellites in sight, I did not find my Mavic searching for 13 days now. The main problem is that my navigation equipm.
a Garmin Montana 750i doesn't realy work well on the ground below all the trees, branches and leaves. Further it is a very difficult area with steep approaches plenty of plants, overthrown trees, bushes with thorns etc. It is a real jungle and nobody does ever make any "cleaning". My question to you now is , are there more features I could use in order to find the drone ?
I was working so far with the .kml and .txt files...
Thanks in advance for any help
Kind Regards
p-51d
 

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Just noticed it’s your first post, welcome to the forum.

One if the crash analysis types will see your post and see if they can pinpoint it more precisely for you, I’m sure.
Usually the Crash & Flyaway section is best to post the flight logs for such incidents.

So a heads up might help.
@sar104 @slup @Meta4 @BudWalker

A few budding investigators might also pop by, apologies for missing anyone capable.
 
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Doesn't the Find My Drone on the Fly App take you right to where the drone was last recorded? I've not yet needed to use it but that was my understanding.
 
Doesn't the Find My Drone on the Fly App take you right to where the drone was last recorded? I've not yet needed to use it but that was my understanding.
Not always.
If signal is lost as a drone goes down, any future movement, including wind forces, are not available.
If it crashes or lands with connection, then it’s reasonably accurate.
 
Well , The find my phone feature on the Mavic 3 last time I checked does not work properly as it did on the Air 2 where it shows a line of the last know heading. The Mavic 3 showed me nothing to work with.

The chances of you finding this is slim, but if you want to keep trying I would get another drone in the Air and fly a mapping mission and hope that you can scan the Pictures and find it. If you had any color at all on the Mavic 3 , this is where it can really pays off as it can pop out.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain and Pop in the Scenery.
 
Your M3 returned to the recorded HP in the end (HP was recorded 315sec into the flight so it might not be where you took off), once there it started to land but you first stopped it ... but just 20 seconds later the low battery autolanding started, but that was again stopped, probably by the bottom obstacle detection, rendering the landing spot not suitable, the VPS sensor read there a height above what was directly under the M3 between 3-10,5ft. Here you stood & hovered for 300sec & just before the forced critical low battery autolanding started as your M3 now had 0% battery left ... you backed away your M3 from the HP with a negative elevator command.

Your M3 probably came to rest up in a tree, 104ft above where you took off. All speeds where pretty much zero & it was positioned with the nose up on 35,6 degrees & with a very slight roll to the left, -0,8 degrees. It had still 13 sats locked with a GPS level of 4 (best=5) ... so the last position in the log ought to be correct.

Here you have the positions ...

1653254494158.png
 
Hi MAvic_South_Oz
Just noticed it’s your first post, welcome to the forum.

One if the crash analysis types will see your post and see if they can pinpoint it more precisely for you, I’m sure.
Usually the Crash & Flyaway section is best to post the flight logs for such incidents.

So a heads up might help.
@sar104 @slup @Meta4 @BudWalker

A few budding investigators might also pop by, apologies for missing anyone capable.
Thanks for your post and the heads up and yes your right the whole story is realy frustrating...
I'll let you know the outcome...

Kind Regards
p-51d
 
Doesn't the Find My Drone on the Fly App take you right to where the drone was last recorded? I've not yet needed to use it but that was my understanding.
Hi akdrone
thanks for your post; the feature in the APP looks nice; don't know what the programmers thought though, because as the drone landed it switched itself off. That means without a connection the "FIND MY DRONE" doesn't work...

Kind Regards
p-51d
 
Well , The find my phone feature on the Mavic 3 last time I checked does not work properly as it did on the Air 2 where it shows a line of the last know heading. The Mavic 3 showed me nothing to work with.

The chances of you finding this is slim, but if you want to keep trying I would get another drone in the Air and fly a mapping mission and hope that you can scan the Pictures and find it. If you had any color at all on the Mavic 3 , this is where it can really pays off as it can pop out.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 3 in the Rain and Pop in the Scenery.
Hi Phantomrain
Thanks for your post and yes you're right I need another drone in order to locate the lost one. I'm thinking and fighting with myself , because to risk another in this forrest and loose it would look very odd...

Kind Regards
p-51d
 
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Your M3 returned to the recorded HP in the end (HP was recorded 315sec into the flight so it might not be where you took off), once there it started to land but you first stopped it ... but just 20 seconds later the low battery autolanding started, but that was again stopped, probably by the bottom obstacle detection, rendering the landing spot not suitable, the VPS sensor read there a height above what was directly under the M3 between 3-10,5ft. Here you stood & hovered for 300sec & just before the forced critical low battery autolanding started as your M3 now had 0% battery left ... you backed away your M3 from the HP with a negative elevator command.

Your M3 probably came to rest up in a tree, 104ft above where you took off. All speeds where pretty much zero & it was positioned with the nose up on 35,6 degrees & with a very slight roll to the left, -0,8 degrees. It had still 13 sats locked with a GPS level of 4 (best=5) ... so the last position in the log ought to be correct.

Here you have the positions ...

View attachment 148734
Hi slup

Thanks for your post and the detailed analysis, you spent quite a while in the excel sheet as it looks. I was crosschecking at the last position over and over and could not find the drone on the ground. I came to the same conclusion that the Mavic must be up in the trees; from the ground though, there is not a chance to see anything. I will try from further above from the opposite site today and let you know...

The graphic you sent is absolutely superb; how did you get that ( what tool ? )

Thanks
Kind Regards

p-51d
 
The graphic you sent is absolutely superb; how did you get that ( what tool ? )
That's only Google Earth with the .kml file from PhantomHelp log viewer ... on that I've placed the "Home" & "Last known..." pins with the positions found in the log.

... you spent quite a while in the excel sheet as it looks.
I usually don't use excel to look at the .csv file ... I use CsvView to study the telemetry in the log, get it here --> CsvView Downloads

For the newer drones the mobile device .txt log is usually encrypted, so it needs to be decrypted either through PhantomHelp or Airdata ... & then use their .csv file in CsvView. PhantomHelp's .csv is preferred as they keep much more data than Airdata.

Your log looks like this zoomed in to the very end of the log in the chart view in CsvView, here with some vital telemetry data chosen ... values in the chart legend comes from where the chart marker is placed ... here just in the end.

(Click on the picture to make it larger)
1653292996577.png
 
the feature in the APP looks nice; don't know what the programmers thought though, because as the drone landed it switched itself off. That means without a connection the "FIND MY DRONE" doesn't work...
All find-my-drone can do is show you the last location that the drone communicated to the controller.
That's good if the drone stopped there, but not good if the drone was in flight and going further when signal was lost.
 
That's only Google Earth with the .kml file from PhantomHelp log viewer ... on that I've placed the "Home" & "Last known..." pins with the positions found in the log.


I usually don't use excel to look at the .csv file ... I use CsvView to study the telemetry in the log, get it here --> CsvView Downloads

For the newer drones the mobile device .txt log is usually encrypted, so it needs to be decrypted either through PhantomHelp or Airdata ... & then use their .csv file in CsvView. PhantomHelp's .csv is preferred as they keep much more data than Airdata.

Your log looks like this zoomed in to the very end of the log in the chart view in CsvView, here with some vital telemetry data chosen ... values in the chart legend comes from where the chart marker is placed ... here just in the end.

(Click on the picture to make it larger)
View attachment 148742
Hi slup

Thanks for your explanations - was able to organize a person with a dji drone for tomorrow. Will let you know if we find it from above...

have a nice eve
Kind Regards

p-51d
 
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Welcome to the club. Next time, wait for that sweet voice to tell you "homepoint has been updated please check it on the map", (M3s take a while). Also be certain your RTH is above all nearby objects. Sorry for your loss, lesson learned. Hope it helps others to not do the same.
Home point should be in the logs, it's waiting for you there. Good luck, we're rooting for you.
 
I feel badly for the OP to lose that amazing drone. Hopefully the excellent guidance provided above will lead to recovery.

It is easy with my M3 for me to become over confident of its ability to work through obstacles, but have already experienced it getting stuck in a pocket of tree branches. My practice now is to back up a few feet and go up as soon as there is clearance.

I have had an older drone go down with a failed battery in a forested area near a Lucky Peak,ID. Fortunately for me it found a clearing to land. I always fly with 3 strobes which made recovery much easier. It is a small investment to protect you with this kind of loss.

I am hoping the OP has good luck with a recovery.
 
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Hello

At the 9th may this year my DJI Mavic 3 got lost in a forrest. On the way back the drone was caught up in the trees and was using to much time to get out. Because of all the branches it wouldn't have made sense to switch off the Anti-Collision feature. The drone made finally an emergency landing. Analysing the data with AIRDATA and Google EARTH didn't help much.
Despite of being above the trees and having therefore more than 14 satellites in sight, I did not find my Mavic searching for 13 days now. The main problem is that my navigation equipm.
a Garmin Montana 750i doesn't realy work well on the ground below all the trees, branches and leaves. Further it is a very difficult area with steep approaches plenty of plants, overthrown trees, bushes with thorns etc. It is a real jungle and nobody does ever make any "cleaning". My question to you now is , are there more features I could use in order to find the drone ?
I was working so far with the .kml and .txt files...
Thanks in advance for any help
Kind Regards
p-51d
I use a Marco Polo finder system. It doesn't depend on GPS or cell signal, it's self contained. I just velcro the receiver (very light) to the top of the drone when I'm in an area at high risk of losing it
 
Hi LA 2020

Thanks for your lines; I had a look on the web about "MARCO POLO ADVANCED DRONE TRACKING SYSTEM".
In Europe they don't sell this finder. Where did you buy it to what price ? ( at AMAZON it is sold out )

Best Regards
p-51d
 
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