FOUND! Lost my Mavic Pro during storm

[lisadoc]

OK - I agree that it involves a number of steps, but they are a well-defined progression of simple manipulations of the recorded data. There is no magic or even intuition involved, just the progressive application of high-school-level mathematics. This kind of stuff always looks more impressive at first glance when someone else does it, but if you follow the reasoning it's not really difficult. A data analysis and graphing package may be the prerequisite that stymies casual analysis by most people.

That's true. Honestly, you, (someone else, or DJI for that matter), could probably easily create a simple algorithm (computer program) that automatically calculated all of this simply by uploading the relevant flight log/data. Not as "cool" as figuring it out manually and probably too much of a pain in the rear to create the software for the limited number of "clients" that would need it, but as you said, it's pretty straightforward math. It's basically what airdata.com has done for calculated wind speeds and some other determinations in their programs.

It's still pretty awesome that you're willing to do it for others though.

 

[Usman]

Thank you everyone for the comments!

Big thanks to sar104 for all the help however i think DJI should install a built in tracker in the drones so like in my case, even if its too far, you could be able to track it down, i was checking online and some mini size trackers are available for cheap that are track able worldwide (i guess?)

Now coming to the drone itself, as you can see it landed in the mud, when it was lost there was a heavy thunderstorm (dust + rain) so the drone was actually full of mud, the battery compartment & terminals, the main board was completely layered with the mud, i have tried my best to clean it all and still un-assembled all so it can dry up.

I've made another thread here: Bringing back the Mavic Pro to Life - Next Mission!

so we can discuss further on bringing back the drone to life - i really hope the drone could survive.

 

[mrreddog]

WOW, unfreakin believable.........Good for you..

 

[sar104]

That's true. Honestly, you, (someone else, or DJI for that matter), could probably easily create a simple algorithm (computer program) that automatically calculated all of this simply by uploading the relevant flight log/data. Not as "cool" as figuring it out manually and probably too much of a pain in the rear to create the software for the limited number of "clients" that would need it, but as you said, it's pretty straightforward math. It's basically what airdata.com has done for calculated wind speeds and some other determinations in their programs.

It's still pretty awesome that you're willing to do it for others though.

I thought some more about how much it could be automated. The AirData wind analysis is relatively straightforward; they just compare ground velocity with pitch and yaw during periods of steady flight. For these cases, however, there is some user intervention required to identify the final flight conditions and determine if they are amenable for extrapolation. That would be the main problem in terms of coding an automated process, and I'm not sure I even know how to do that.

In terms of the actual analysis (once the range of data and applicable method have been chosen) I have somewhat automated that in the form of user-defined functions. Each time one of these comes up I tend to improve that set of functions in terms both of efficiency and accuracy.

 

[mrreddog]

You know even if you write a program, people would still hit you up to locate their drones.....I have your profile on speed dial just in case. LOL...

 

[postman061]

Hi Guys,

Have been flying today, the wind was high and couldn’t imagine it would go crazy high within seconds, altitude was about 100m, tried my best to bring it down manually and through RTH but it kept on going with the wind for 6500m distance until i lost connection.

I reached the place where it was disconnected and tried a search nearby but all in vain.

If I upload the flight record, is there any possibility to get any approximate location or any idea how far it could’ve gone from that location?

There are all fields in that area so i have a hope it can be found after some struggle.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Regards

Invest a little money. Buy Tracimo - GPS for your drone. Never fly without it.

 

[Flack]

This is why I like this board unselfish help when needed, great result.. I always fly with my trackimo attached, just a bit more security if anything happens.
I had it last week, I was flying my drone MP in Durness off the tip of Scotland on the coast, took off windy but nothing bad, I flew out on to the beach and climbed to 150 feet, I was only a few hundred yards from the edge of the land over the sea, but when I turned around to come back the drone was hardly moving, full stick and only 4mph.. I quickly dropped altitude and selected sport mode to bring it home even then it was a struggle.
It just goes to show that even small altitude changes can have a big effect on wind speed..

 

[Billyboy72]

I’m trying to upload the complete flight log, in the meantime i have screen recorded and uploaded on YouTube, the link is:

I hope this isn’t a violation of the forums, I’ll be trying my best to upload through the proper way mentioned above lisadoc.

Wow that was some gust you were caught in! Is this weather typical in Pakistan? I was caught in a flume of high wind one time and it scared the hell out of me. The only way for me to fight it was to drop down to as low as I could safely fly and switch to sport to break free of it. It took some doing but thankful I was able to break free. You were literally being blown backwards. I have my fingers crossed for you. Its out there somewhere hopefully no one grabbed it

 

[Billyboy72]

I did not try to enter the sport mode during this flight.

It may have helped break you free but at the same time depending on how strong it may not have done a thing

 

[Billyboy72]

It was in P-mode (from the video). It looks like the OP tried to switch to sport mode early on but hadn't enabled it in the app, and then never got a chance to switch out of P-mode for the remainder of the flight.

Yeah and every time I turn around the app likes to unstitch the toggle for duel flight modes so hitting sport in a panic no one is going to think to check the app to see if it switched enable sport mode to "off" like it seems to love to do

 

[Macabre]

I think it probably went further than you searched - around 4 km. If you extrapolate the battery level at the final rate of depletion to the autoland level at that altitude, and then estimate aircraft position based on drift speed in RTH to that time, plus around 30 s to descend from 80 m, you get the following:

View attachment 39536

That suggests it should have landed at around 9985 m from the home point. Extending the final track on the map to that distance gives:

View attachment 39537

View attachment 39538

With a guess of ± 3° uncertainty in the heading for that period of drift, we get a lateral uncertainty at 4 km of around 400 m, and that's probably not a bad uncertainty estimate on distance either. The resulting area estimate is depicted by the yellow circle. That's where I would look.

This is work of art

 

[Usman]

Wow that was some gust you were caught in! Is this weather typical in Pakistan?

No, this was totally unusual, haven't seen such a storm in my lifetime, will upload the last video that i made when the drone got caught in the storm, see how horrifying it was. We remained out of electricity for 11 hours due to that storm.

I was caught in a flume of high wind one time and it scared the **** out of me. The only way for me to fight it was to drop down to as low as I could safely fly and switch to sport to break free of it. It took some doing but thankful I was able to break free. You were literally being blown backwards.

I actually tried to bring it down but as soon as it went out of my sight, i panicked and pressed RTH, did not had in my mind that RTH would take it to the higher altitude. Regarding the sports mode, i have no idea how it could be helpful at that time.

I have my fingers crossed for you. Its out there somewhere hopefully no one grabbed it

Do check the previous page, i found it already

That's true. Honestly, you, (someone else, or DJI for that matter), could probably easily create a simple algorithm (computer program) that automatically calculated all of this simply by uploading the relevant flight log/data. Not as "cool" as figuring it out manually and probably too much of a pain in the rear to create the software for the limited number of "clients" that would need it

Rather then making a software, i don't understand why doesn't DJI install a built in tracker that does not have a link with the Drone's own battery rather could have a longer battery time so no matter wherever it gets lost, you could be able to track it.

 

[Usman]

.

I have got a small question, at what percentage of battery does the mavic starts auto landing? Once the landing is complete, does it instantly turn off?

 

[sar104]

Rather then making a software, i don't understand why doesn't DJI install a built in tracker that does not have a link with the Drone's own battery rather could have a longer battery time so no matter wherever it gets lost, you could be able to track it.

Cost, weight etc. Plus that would need local cellular service to operate, and so would be location dependent. No easy way to do that.

 

[sar104]

I have got a small question, at what percentage of battery does the mavic starts auto landing? Once the landing is complete, does it instantly turn off?

The autoland point is not fixed - it is based on the calculated value "SMART_BATTERY.landBattery" which is dependent on altitude. Basically it is estimating how much battery it will need to descend and land, plus a margin to prevent over-depletion and battery damage. In this case, at 82 m altitude (above takeoff point) it was approximately 13%. It will not shut down immediately on landing, but it will shutdown once the battery level reaches around 3 - 4%.

 

[Usman]

The autoland point is not fixed - it is based on the calculated value "SMART_BATTERY.landBattery" which is dependent on altitude. Basically it is estimating how much battery it will need to descend and land, plus a margin to prevent over-depletion and battery damage. In this case, at 82 m altitude (above takeoff point) it was approximately 13%. It will not shut down immediately on landing, but it will shutdown once the battery level reaches around 3 - 4%.

I see, i have been worried about the board or motors being short circuited due to the rain water if the drone was still powered on when it landed.

Fingers crossed until i assemble and power it again.

 

[Billyboy72]

No, this was totally unusual, haven't seen such a storm in my lifetime, will upload the last video that i made when the drone got caught in the storm, see how horrifying it was. We remained out of electricity for 11 hours due to that storm.



I actually tried to bring it down but as soon as it went out of my sight, i panicked and pressed RTH, did not had in my mind that RTH would take it to the higher altitude. Regarding the sports mode, i have no idea how it could be helpful at that time.



Do check the previous page, i found it already



Rather then making a software, i don't understand why doesn't DJI install a built in tracker that does not have a link with the Drone's own battery rather could have a longer battery time so no matter wherever it gets lost, you could be able to track it.

I was looking for the "Found" part of this. Thats GREAT NEWS!!! Im happy you were able to locate it and I hope its working. I'd bet in the app the enable sport mode toggle is off. I've turned mine on several times it likes to turn itself back off every 2 seconds and I dont know why. I thought it happened during firmware updates but thats not always the case.

 

[Billyboy72]

No, this was totally unusual, haven't seen such a storm in my lifetime, will upload the last video that i made when the drone got caught in the storm, see how horrifying it was. We remained out of electricity for 11 hours due to that storm.



I actually tried to bring it down but as soon as it went out of my sight, i panicked and pressed RTH, did not had in my mind that RTH would take it to the higher altitude. Regarding the sports mode, i have no idea how it could be helpful at that time.



Do check the previous page, i found it already



Rather then making a software, i don't understand why doesn't DJI install a built in tracker that does not have a link with the Drone's own battery rather could have a longer battery time so no matter wherever it gets lost, you could be able to track it.

The weather around the world hasn't been seen in any of our lifetimes. Around the world yet no ones talking about it. Somethings causing this. Somethings causing us to tilt. If I had to guess I’d say theres a rather large celestial body coming our way causing all these meteors, weather patterns, beautiful yet way off colors in the sky and our tilting more and more daily. Personally I think it may be time to buy a house boat it may come in handy real soon lol

 

[sar104]

The weather around the world hasn't been seen in any of our lifetimes. Around the world yet no ones talking about it. Somethings causing this. Somethings causing us to tilt. If I had to guess I’d say theres a rather large celestial body coming our way causing all these meteors, weather patterns, beautiful yet way off colors in the sky and our tilting more and more daily. Personally I think it may be time to buy a house boat it may come in handy real soon lol

Tilting? I hope you are talking about your drone, otherwise this thread just went off the rails.

 

[SXViper03]

Thank you everyone for the comments!

Big thanks to sar104 for all the help however i think DJI should install a built in tracker in the drones so like in my case, even if its too far, you could be able to track it down, i was checking online and some mini size trackers are available for cheap that are track able worldwide (i guess?)

Now coming to the drone itself, as you can see it landed in the mud, when it was lost there was a heavy thunderstorm (dust + rain) so the drone was actually full of mud, the battery compartment & terminals, the main board was completely layered with the mud, i have tried my best to clean it all and still un-assembled all so it can dry up.

I've made another thread here: Bringing back the Mavic Pro to Life - Next Mission!

so we can discuss further on bringing back the drone to life - i really hope the drone could survive.

You should invest in a Marco Polo, there is no monthly service fee and it doesn't rely on cell towers so if you are flying in a "no cell service area" like the mountains of Vermont it still works. It's also smaller and lighter than Trackimo (39 grams vs 12 grams), mounts nicely with landing gear attached (see pic) and is the same price as Trackimo. Marco Polo has already saved my drone once, it works great!