Drone lost - need help

[Skywatcher2001]

Thanks, although as I've mentioned before - stuff that you are unfamiliar with always tends to look cleverer than it really is.

Trackimo isn't software - it's a small cellular-enabled device that reports position at pre-determined intervals to a server. I got a couple of them to test, and I found them almost entirely worthless - even if they are actually able to connect to the cellular network, which seems to be rarely, they mostly report positions with tens, if not hundreds of meters error.

The numerical simulations above were done in a scientific analysis software package (Igor Pro), taking the initial conditions (aircraft position, velocity and wind velocity) from the end of the flight log and predicting forwards using the drag-limited equations of motion. The resulting position data are written to a 3-D KML file and plotted on Google Earth.

Thanks sar104. I tend to immediately respond to what I've read or seen (out of excitement and curiosity). After I posted I researched Trackimo. So, before I ask questions about Igor Pro, I'll go do some research but I like it.

 

[Jackcutrone]

Actually I have had good luck with Trackimo reporting actual position. It’s usually within a few meters and certainly close enough to spot an aircraft. And I have never experienced any issue with it connecting to a cellular network. I am in the US Midwest if that might make a difference. Maybe I have just been lucky.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Actually I have had good luck with Trackimo reporting actual position. It’s usually within a few meters and certainly close enough to spot an aircraft. Maybe I have just been lucky.

Lucky? You lose your aircraft that often??

 

[Jackcutrone]

Lucky? You lose your aircraft that often??

Nope. Never lost an aircraft. At least before this incident. But I use it frequently and it has always been accurate. When I land my plane or drone Trackimo shows it as right where it is.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Nope. Never lost an aircraft. At least before this incident. But I use it frequently and it has always been accurate. When I land my plane or drone Trackimo shows it as right where it is.

Ah! I see . . . yes, that gives you reassurance "if" something goes terribly wrong, you have the confidence in knowing approximately where it is . . . I'd try it. Is it a pretty light weight device?

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Unfortunately that looks like a sudden shutdown or loss of power. The link ends after an abrupt centering of the elevator, from full forwards to stop. That maneuver has caused batteries to disconnect on many occasions, so that's perhaps the most likely possibility.

View attachment 81604

If that happened, then the resulting descent trajectory can be estimated given the last recorded position and velocity together with the computed wind field:

View attachment 81606

View attachment 81605

Did you look in the trees?

The Trackimo location doesn't look far off to me:

View attachment 81607

IGOR Pro looks like it has a moderate learning curve. I'll download the trial tonight when I get home. Any YT Tutorials you can recommend? I watched a few but not knowing the syntax of the program I was kinda lost. It certainly didn't get into anything close to what I've seen you produce . . .

 

[Jackcutrone]

Ah! I see . . . yes, that gives you reassurance "if" something goes terribly wrong, you have the confidence in knowing approximately where it is . . . I'd try it. Is it a pretty light weight device?

Very light. A few grams.

 

[Mossiback]

Ouch. Maybe it did catch in a tree. If it did I’m probably toast with dji refresh

All you need is the wreck to get a replacement using Refresh. It doesn't matter what you hit or how you hit it, providing you did not modify the craft.

 

[sar104]

IGOR Pro looks like it has a moderate learning curve. I'll download the trial tonight when I get home. Any YT Tutorials you can recommend? I watched a few but not knowing the syntax of the program I was kinda lost. It certainly didn't get into anything close to what I've seen you produce . . .

It's probably equivalent to MATLAB in terms of the learning curve, and very powerful. The latest version even added quaternion algebra. If you were only going to use it for flight logs it's likely more work than is worthwhile. I've been using it for over 20 years. I've not seen any YT tutorials, but I should have guessed that they exist.

 

[Thomas B]

I have a Marco Polo. Don’t need cell or wot fI and works up to 2 miles. They now have a water resistant model. Not cheap, but useable where others aren’t. If you don’t see the drone when it says your there, that’s when you start looking up.

RC Model Drone Tracking & Recovery | Eureka Products

We build the Ultralight and Advanced drone recovery systems. These drone tracking and recovery solutions possess up to 15 days of battery life per charge.

eurekaproducts.com

Needs LOS or close, but once you’re on the heading it will get you there.

 

[BossBob]

I have a Marco Polo. Don’t need cell or wot fI and works up to 2 miles. They now have a water resistant model. Not cheap, but useable where others aren’t. If you don’t see the drone when it says your there, that’s when you start looking up.

RC Model Drone Tracking & Recovery | Eureka Products

We build the Ultralight and Advanced drone recovery systems. These drone tracking and recovery solutions possess up to 15 days of battery life per charge.

eurekaproducts.com

Needs LOS or close, but once you’re on the heading it will get you there.

Here in the UK we can’t purchase a Marco Polo as it uses frequencies the public don’t have access to. Contrary to popular belief, cell phone signal away from towns and major roads is not continuous, so Trackimo is not that good an option either.

 

[Jackcutrone]

I couldn't go out yesterday due to heavy rains, but I went back out today. SAR - if you could give me your opinion on something it would be helpful. I started out by going into the woods. Due to the heavy foliage canopy there was very little undergrowth so I had good views of the ground. I searched through the woods using a search pattern and there was no sign of the drone. Near the south part of the woods there is a creek and I carefully scanned the bottom and also did not find the drone there.

I then shifted to the meadow south of the trees where you show the path of the drone as it came down. I did a search pattern perpendicular to your flight path at about 6-8 foot intervals. I went about 50 yards on each perpendicular line of the search pattern on either side of your calculated flight path. I covered out to about where your flight path shows the drone quit and its trajectory thereafter as it fell. The meadow is hell to get through. There is tall prairie grass and lots of buckthorn and raspberry cane and wild roses so I am glad was wearing long pants. I did not find the drone, though it may be there and I just didn't see it due to the vegatation.

I am very confident it was not on the ground in the woods. Couldn't see it stuck in a tree though that would be hard to do at best. I am only moderately confident that my search in the meadow would have let me find it.

I am probably going out again tomorrow. So where should I look? I am confused because of the final trackimo location. It was in the woods, yet you started your calculated fall trajectory path over the meadow. At least that is how I am interpreting it with the yellow line being the powered flight path and the green line being the trajectory as it fell. You start the fall over the meadow but it ends at the last trackimo location which was over the woods. Was it still flying there, over the woods, and then it started to fall? If so, might it have passed over the woods and landed somewhere in the heavy brush to the north of the woods? Or are you fairly confident it started to fall before it was over the woods? How confident are you of the trajectory of the fall? Could it have landed in the meadow or is it likely to have overshot the woods and landed in the brush north of the trees?

I am debating about whether it is even worthwhile to go out and search more. Your answer will help me decide.

Thanks again to SAR and all the people who posted on this thread.

Jack

 

[JSM]

How did you go with the search?

 

[Jackcutrone]

Didn't find it. See my last post above.

 

[sar104]

I couldn't go out yesterday due to heavy rains, but I went back out today. SAR - if you could give me your opinion on something it would be helpful. I started out by going into the woods. Due to the heavy foliage canopy there was very little undergrowth so I had good views of the ground. I searched through the woods using a search pattern and there was no sign of the drone. Near the south part of the woods there is a creek and I carefully scanned the bottom and also did not find the drone there.

I then shifted to the meadow south of the trees where you show the path of the drone as it came down. I did a search pattern perpendicular to your flight path at about 6-8 foot intervals. I went about 50 yards on each perpendicular line of the search pattern on either side of your calculated flight path. I covered out to about where your flight path shows the drone quit and its trajectory thereafter as it fell. The meadow is hell to get through. There is tall prairie grass and lots of buckthorn and raspberry cane and wild roses so I am glad was wearing long pants. I did not find the drone, though it may be there and I just didn't see it due to the vegatation.

I am very confident it was not on the ground in the woods. Couldn't see it stuck in a tree though that would be hard to do at best. I am only moderately confident that my search in the meadow would have let me find it.

I am probably going out again tomorrow. So where should I look? I am confused because of the final trackimo location. It was in the woods, yet you started your calculated fall trajectory path over the meadow. At least that is how I am interpreting it with the yellow line being the powered flight path and the green line being the trajectory as it fell. You start the fall over the meadow but it ends at the last trackimo location which was over the woods. Was it still flying there, over the woods, and then it started to fall? If so, might it have passed over the woods and landed somewhere in the heavy brush to the north of the woods? Or are you fairly confident it started to fall before it was over the woods? How confident are you of the trajectory of the fall? Could it have landed in the meadow or is it likely to have overshot the woods and landed in the brush north of the trees?

I am debating about whether it is even worthwhile to go out and search more. Your answer will help me decide.

Thanks again to SAR and all the people who posted on this thread.

Jack

I think it's very unlikely to be in the meadow. Both the Trackimo location and the calculation put it in the woods, with my estimate being around 50 ft NE of the Trackimo point (east is up in this view). The green line is the calculated path that it fell after motor stop, taking into account drag and wind. I also simulated it without the battery, in case that fell out, but the difference in this case was well within the error of the calculation (< 10 ft). It's probably up in a tree.

 

[Jackcutrone]

If it is up a tree, I am probably out of luck. DJI refresh will probably not honor a claim without the drone, even with the flight log showing abrupt power loss.

 

[Jackcutrone]

If it’s in a tree I’ll never be able to see it from the ground. Maybe after the leaves fall. Slim chance even then I would think.

 

[Jackcutrone]

SAR104 - Actually, it seems odd that I got a trackimo signal there. I had it set to report once per minute, but it must have reported just before it hit the trees coincidentally. After that the signal went dead. I assume it was wrecked too when it hit the trees.

And yes, it makes sense that it hit a tree otherwise if it just hit the ground I would think the trackimo would keep sending out a signal.

 

[BerndM]

Never give up.
Get a bunch of friends together and do a grid search.
First one to spot it gets a case of beer of their choice.
Nothing beats a bunch of Mark One Eyeballs.

 

[Jackcutrone]

SAR104 - what was the latitude and longitude of your calculated location?