Had my first mini crash

[jmark]

Today I joined the ranks. It wasn't anything massive, but it was scary.

I had to land on a 1 meter square platform today which was about 10cm off the ground. When I started landing, the craft drifted slightly causing the left leg to be over the edge of the platform which made the Drone tilt. The front right propeller hit the platform causing the motor to stutter and stall before the landing could be completed and the Drone turned off. Which it did a second or two after. I replaced the prop and flew again for another half hour, so it seems to be fine.

My question is, could this have likely shortened the life span of the effected motor? Or damaged it in someway? The Drone flies totally fine still. So maybe I was lucky.

I shall not be landing on that platform again.

 

[BerndM]

Brushless motors will not have any issues on a short stall like that, But I would certainly shut the motors off as quickly as possible.
Just curious though....why a raised platform??
Just take the legs off and lay it flat on the ground.

 

[jmark]

Well initially, it was for my MP. I couldn't take off from my Veranda because it would tell me I had magnetic interference. So I had to raise the Drone up slightly. It was initially about half a meter off the floor. Then I found out it was fine at 10cm too. Now, with my M2P I find that I get no interference even when taking off directly from the veranda. (found this out today after the crash). I've kind of just stupidly continued to use it. Should have learned after an almost similar incident last week. Although the Drone balanced itself out that time luckily enough.

When I think about it. I sent that first MP back because of compass errors, so maybe it was just a faulty compass. The M2P is having no errors. I have now lowered the platflorm even more so that it is perhaps 2cm off the floor. It's basically just an old coffee table I had lying around. I'll use it exclusively for launching from tall grass as its quite heavy from now on.

 

[BerndM]

 

[jmark]

Just reading all about the motors and esc boards. I'm curious, how would I know if I'd damaged my esc board?

 

[BerndM]

Good question.
What I would do is take a fully charged battery and and just hover it in one spot as low as you can (2 feet?) over something soft (grass?) until you get your low battery alarm at around 30%.
Land it and compare the temperatures of all 4 motors. They should be all be equally warm, but not hot to the touch.
Hovering is fairly hard on the system since it is pure power that keeps it flying. No aerodynamic lift from forward momentum at all.
If everything felt OK, I would consider it ready for normal flight.
Other than trying this, the only other thing I can think of is to have it checked over by DJI or ??? which could be a somewhat costly diagnostic.

 

[jmark]

Good question. What I would do is take a fully charged battery and and just hover it in one spot as low as you can (2 feet?) over something soft (grass?) until you get your low battery alarm at around 30%. Land it and compare the temperatures of all 4 motors. They should be all be equally warm, but not hot to the touch. Hovering is fairly hard on the system since it is pure power that keeps it flying. No aerodynamic lift from forward momentum at all. If everything felt OK, I would consider it ready for normal flight. Other than trying this, the only other thing I can think of is to have it checked over by DJI or ??? which could be a somewhat costly diagnostic.

Thanks. I'll check that. Although I did fly it for about 20 or so mins after the crash and it few fine. Used mostly point of interest to circle slowly around some objects. Didn't check the temps though of course after landing. I'm guessing it's good to go still?

I'm such a worrier when it comes to these things.

 

[jmark]

Good question.
What I would do is take a fully charged battery and and just hover it in one spot as low as you can (2 feet?) over something soft (grass?) until you get your low battery alarm at around 30%.
Land it and compare the temperatures of all 4 motors. They should be all be equally warm, but not hot to the touch.
Hovering is fairly hard on the system since it is pure power that keeps it flying. No aerodynamic lift from forward momentum at all.
If everything felt OK, I would consider it ready for normal flight.
Other than trying this, the only other thing I can think of is to have it checked over by DJI or ??? which could be a somewhat costly diagnostic.

All motors are fine to touch. No problems at all. The one that stalled is a tiny bit warmer than the motor on the other forward arm, but not much so. Also the rear right motor is similarly warm. It's not by much at all though, almost to the point that I didn't know if it was just in my head or not.

What do you reckon?

I've had three flights since. 2 were hyperlapse flights were the drone was moving ever so slightly, the other was point of interest flying around objects at varying speeds. The bird handles as well as it always has done.

 

[Wilbur&Garth]

Good question.
What I would do is take a fully charged battery and and just hover it in one spot as low as you can (2 feet?) over something soft (grass?) until you get your low battery alarm at around 30%.
Land it and compare the temperatures of all 4 motors. They should be all be equally warm, but not hot to the touch.
Hovering is fairly hard on the system since it is pure power that keeps it flying. No aerodynamic lift from forward momentum at all.
If everything felt OK, I would consider it ready for normal flight.
Other than trying this, the only other thing I can think of is to have it checked over by DJI or ??? which could be a somewhat costly diagnostic.

Slightly off topic, but you sure that's the reason? Given these things shape, their angle in flight, and the slow speed they move at, I always assumed they didn't have much aerodynamic lift at all. I thought it was kind of similar to a car. You need to be moving because that's how you get the air intake to keep it cool (relatively).

As for the OP. I would practice landing in a 1 meter circle. Even if it's just markings on the ground so you wouldn't be in danger if it's missed, it'd still be good practice. When you think about it, most of the landing pads they sell are around that size. And there could definitely be situations in the future where you might not even have that big of a spot to land.