Mavic Air 2 lost

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

So my Smart Controller crashed during RTH, and when I got a connection again all I got was a black screen and IMU error.

I'm heartbroken as my drone is my baby... Anyone had similar happen? I've stood on top of the GPS dot for last known coordinates and it's in the middle of a blackberry prickle bush field and I can't find it anywhere

sar104 · Nov 2, 2021

This is the crash and flyaway assistance forum - are you asking for help locating it?

Phantomrain.org · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
So my Smart Controller crashed during RTH, and when I got a connection again all I got was a black screen and IMU error.

I'm heartbroken as my drone is my baby... Anyone had similar happen? I've stood on top of the GPS dot for last known coordinates and it's in the middle of a blackberry prickle bush field and I can't find it anywhere

Use the find my drone function , should show you a clear line to the drone. The IMU error could have been the crash itself.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

Yes, please see: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

FWIW when I go to "Profile" from the main screen of the Fly app and select "Locate my drone" it drops me a pin HERE (red X):

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

Which again, is in a field full of natures barbed wire, though I've spent a fair amount of time whacking away with a machete and gathering countless injuries from the prickles I've not found anything there yet, and I've literally stood ON THE GPS PIN it gives me

Phantomrain.org · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
Yes, please see: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

FWIW when I go to "Profile" from the main screen of the Fly app and select "Locate my drone" it drops me a pin HERE (red X):View attachment 137656

No , that is not working right, There should be a direct line to the drone itself. I dont see that , Make sure you have GPS signal when using this feature.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

sar104 · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
Yes, please see: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

FWIW when I go to "Profile" from the main screen of the Fly app and select "Locate my drone" it drops me a pin HERE (red X):View attachment 137656

The last recorded location isn't going to be where it ended up because it still had 14% battery and auto land was going to be triggered at 12%. So it will have travelled a bit further after you lost comms. That can be estimated by extrapolating battery level and position, indicating that it should have commenced auto land at 372 s, which is around 30 s after your controller crashed:

That suggests that it will have auto landed 1274 ft from the home point, with a margin of error of around ± 75 ft due to the 1% battery level resolution. Plotting that on Google Earth indicates the following location and circle of uncertainty:

sar104 · Nov 2, 2021

I'll revise my earlier statement - that pin location looks like the SC reconnected with the aircraft after it rebooted, and it may be accurate if the aircraft started auto landing at the lowest end of the estimate - it's just short of my estimate. But it looks like it probably came down in those trees, not the field:

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

Yes, I did say that when I reconnected, all I got was darkness and IMU error, so are you saying it's at the pinned location somewhere? Where are those trees you sent a pic of?

eEridani · Nov 2, 2021

A hint for Himalayan blackberries - use a couple pieces of 1/4" plywood to lay down over the vines - an easy way to make a path. A machete is a waste of time.

And - keep in mind any GPS fix has at least a 30 foot radius of uncertainty.

This might be a case to ask for other local drone owners if they'd come fly over the area to help look for your drone.

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

Is that these trees? (green X)

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

eEridani said:
A hint for Himalayan blackberries - use a couple pieces of 1/4" plywood to lay down over the vines - an easy way to make a path. A machete is a waste of time.

Have you seen the price of lumber as of late? Also, the SAR mission has been so far handled by myself and I'm far from the big and burly type, manhandling sheets of plywood isn't exactly the type of activity I'm capable of alone

sar104 · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
Is that these trees? (green X)View attachment 137660

Here's a view with the latest imagery. Yes - the trees at the edge of that patch, assuming that they are still there.

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

So given the margin of error in GPS signal, my drone is SOMEWHERE in this field of barbed wire, some of it up to 10ft in height, possibly in the trees at one side of it, but with my luck... :/

eEridani · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
Have you seen the price of lumber as of late? Also, the SAR mission has been so far handled by myself and I'm far from the big and burly type, manhandling sheets of plywood isn't exactly the type of activity I'm capable of alone

lol - that's why I mentioned 1/4 ply. $30 a sheet, and Home Depot will saw it down the middle. Easy enough to flip a half sheet around. But a 2' x 8' chunk of board is hard to fit in the average car, too. Owned 6 acres, half was blackberry fields, the rest where the blackberries wanted to be. We called the annual cut back our annual terra-forming project. So I understand your pain trying to bush whack into that field.

robinbanks · Nov 2, 2021

eEridani said:
This might be a case to ask for other local drone owners if they'd come fly over the area to help look for your drone.

Got the phone number for "local drone owners"?

eEridani · Nov 2, 2021

My 3D printer forum has a map of people nearby who are willing to help print things -- would be a great idea for this forum. And in other threads I've read of people volunteering. I love the Barbary Coast - sailed up to Desolation several times, so if I were closer I'd offer.

sar104 · Nov 2, 2021

robinbanks said:
So given the margin of error in GPS signal, my drone is SOMEWHERE in this field of barbed wire, some of it up to 10ft in height, possibly in the trees at one side of it, but with my luck... :/

The error in the GPS signal is likely quite small - just a few meters at most. What are the exact coordinates that it is giving you now in the "Find My Drone" display?