Mavic lost while trying circling around a building

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Pulls soap box out from under erkme73.....

 

[kennedye]

Now that we've handled the "don't do that" part ...

1. how come OA didn't kick in?

2. sorry if I missed this, but did you actually confirm the RTH height in the app before taking off, or did you set it on a previous flight and left it at the previous setting? i.e. is it possible that it reset itself to a lower altitude somehow?

 

[misskimo]

I just wish every time the drone police show up, instead of feeling the uncontrollable urge to attack, they would do something like this instead: "I feel this was in appropriate. Please follow THIS LINK to a thread I created to debate the reasons why." Instead, every thread where someone has a self-inflicted screw-up, the thread gets hijacked and turns into a "guideline vs. law", or "you will kill our hobby" brow-beating.

I like what he said! Not like Mike_in_belittle

 

[misskimo]

When it losses signal. It also looses OA

 

[Egika]

When it losses signal. It also looses OA

It should not so!
But the behavior in case of RTH (automatic or manual induced) can be configured in the app. The craft can be set to use or not use OA in general and then also to hover in place or go over an obstacle if it is detected.
Now I did not check the log if there was enough daylight left for OA to work anyway...

 

[SafariMan]

If you hurry up you can grab a new Mavic right now. Some shops in Switzerland have it in stock now with next day delivery.

 

[raybanner]

Sorry to say that, but I can't believe you actually flew that route. I live in that City.
Probably won't be allowed to fly my Mavic in Cologne any time soon because of these reckless actions.
I guess you knew that you are not allowed to fly there

 

[erkme73]

...Probably won't be allowed to fly my Mavic in Cologne any time soon because of these reckless actions...

Go on believing that. The reality is, even if there were ZERO events like this one - even if there was 100% compliance with all the rules - even if everyone only flew their drones no more than 500' away, and 100' up - the rules and regs would continue to get increasing more restrictive. Why? Because to the public, flying cameras have NOTHING to do with safety.

Ask 10 random people what they think of drones flying over them or their property. Of those that have a problem, ask whether their concern is for their safety, or their privacy. I would be willing to be that the average Joe's concern for privacy is magnitudes greater than for his safety.

People are freaked out about cameras in the sky for one overwhelming reason - they think they're being spied on. The last thought they have is "oh the poor wild life", or "is that 1 lb. thing going to do damage to that building". They've been programmed to think that every airborne drone is being used for nefarious purposes.

Want to make a change? Then hound the media to start providing POSITIVE drone coverage. Show the world what good can come of them.

 

[Strafe1]

I am passionate about our 'hobby'. I don't always abide strictly to the law but, if I digress, I make sure no one is put at risk and I can't cause harm. Do I fly beyond LOS out over the sea? Yes. Do I take it out beyond LOS over open countryside? Hands up. Do I go above 120 metres? No - there are pilots of light aircraft up there that I could get in their way and cause a GREAT deal of damage. Do I use common sense? Yes - as I want to promote this hobby and do so at every opportunity. Do I only post 'rules, regulations and admonishments'? No - take a look at how many 'helpful' votes I've got. As for me being 'dead wrong' on the facts - we'll see. You're right - they're guidelines, based on common sense. But as so many are determined to ignore common sense, to ignore guidelines, to endanger others, then the 'authorities' will crack down. As they have in numerous countries already - Canada are just the latest. And in that case, I fully expect the US to follow suit - as hundreds of idiots are giving them ammunition against us. And if the US go that route, the UK will as well. I'm not so much against the idiots flying outside the rules, just the fact that they want to publish evidence online of their stupidity and ignorance. Don't blame me when you find we're allowed to only fly within 100 metres, 25 metres height and no cameras. Blame the people you're defending.

I am passionate also. I just feel I'll have more value if what I say is accurate and true. When you state illegal acts that in fact are not illegal, you lose credibility and seem to be embellishing information and passing it off as truth to support your argument. I think you can use your common sense approach alone to make your point, and be successful. I am not defending this posters action, I am only correcting wrong information, especially when it is repeatedly wrong.

 

[AyeYo]

Now that we've handled the "don't do that" part ...

1. how come OA didn't kick in?

I'm interested in this as well. Incredibly idiotic flying aside, why didn't it just RTH when signal dropped? People seem to think it's a given it crashed into the building, but why didn't it OA over it? Battery too low to make it? OA turned off?

 

[Flawless]

It's possible it tried to, got close, spooked a bird and the bird took it out.

 

[Vincey2kr1]

So avoid obstacle on return to home is not on by default? Would of saved the mavic on this instance wouldn't of it?

 

[Flawless]

So avoid obstacle on return to home is not on by default? Would of saved the mavic on this instance wouldn't of it?

OA should have been active, but it's not foolproof - it's designed to navigate around objects, where the Mavic will return at its RTH set height and try and go over anything it detects. It's possible it tried to go over a spire and couldn't, or perhaps it hit a support/guide wire of some kind. Or it was returning and got close to the building, spooked a bird and was hit.

 

[Helo]

Go on believing that. The reality is, even if there were ZERO events like this one - even if there was 100% compliance with all the rules - even if everyone only flew their drones no more than 500' away, and 100' up - the rules and regs would continue to get increasing more restrictive. Why? Because to the public, flying cameras have NOTHING to do with safety.

Ask 10 random people what they think of drones flying over them or their property. Of those that have a problem, ask whether their concern is for their safety, or their privacy. I would be willing to be that the average Joe's concern for privacy is magnitudes greater than for his safety.

People are freaked out about cameras in the sky for one overwhelming reason - they think they're being spied on. The last thought they have is "oh the poor wild life", or "is that 1 lb. thing going to do damage to that building". They've been programmed to think that every airborne drone is being used for nefarious purposes.

Want to make a change? Then hound the media to start providing POSITIVE drone coverage. Show the world what good can come of them.

You need to consider cause and effect here. Drones have been around for a long time (think military) so many people associate our toy drones with them. So yes, the feelings some have for drones would not change even if we had a spotless record but there was a cause to create these negative feelings.

However when you can search "drones" on youtube and come up with thousands of stupid drone tricks you should realize that it doesn't help our cause. I have seen numerous news reports on UAV's being used for beneficial purposes but I have no expectations that they will not report misuse of them, and why should they?

The bottom line is we are all responsible for the sport we enjoy. We can promote it in a positive way, or we can do dumb and sometime dangerous things that reflect badly on us then show it to the world, your choice.

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

When it losses signal. It also looses OA

No, it doesn't. The OA is active in RTH unless you've turned it off. Also, you can set it to 'actively avoid' obstacles by climbing or going around, however the default is to simply hover. You need to set these parameters to recover successfully.

 

[sdharris]

I was criticised on here once for flying my Mavic over a country road with a car on it by some over enthusiastic member of the drone police so I know what its like. But Darthcryder did just crash a Mavic into a 800 year old cathedral potentially with a lot of people underneath and that was not very sensible. Also I think he mentions the same Mavic lost signal in an open field once so the device does have a history of losing connection.

I'm hoping this happened at dawn with very few people around.

Personally, whenever I orbit an object I walk around the base of the object with the aim being to keep the Mavic in visual site and obtain the best signal as possible. I also set the RTH to 20M or so higher than the tallest object, to do that I take off, climb to measure the height, set the RTH and then go flying.

I'm not the drone police, I like taking nice videos and photos like the next man but downtown Cologne is not somewhere I would consider.

Thanks for posting though, lesson learnt and valuable experience for everyone.

 

[Hovik]

Sorry to but into this interesting conversation but the statement that there are 1-2 instances of lost drones a week has me curious. I'm not a drone owner (yet) so forgive me if this comes across as ignorant: Do the drone not have some sort of built-in locator? If not, could a user not add one of those little "TrackR" devices taped to the bottom or tucked inside a cover so if they lose it they could go to the area and view on their smartphone where the drone went down relative to their position?

 

[msinger]

Do the drone not have some sort of built-in locator?

No.

If not, could a user not add one of those little "TrackR" devices taped to the bottom or tucked inside a cover so if they lose it they could go to the area and view on their smartphone where the drone went down relative to their position?

Bluetooth trackers will only help if you're within ~100 feet of the Mavic. It would be better to get one of these trackers.

 

[upthedowns]

Im guessing when Google snapped these photos there was some kind of refurb going on. Probably scaffolding covered with material to keep workers from dropping things on the people below.

I was in Cologne last September and part of the cathedral was scaffolded.

 

[Hovik]

No.


Bluetooth trackers will only help if you're within ~100 feet of the Mavic. It would be better to get one of these trackers.

Thanks for the info. Hope DJI adds something like this with an independent power source in the near future, seems like a no brainer for a device prone to loss like this... Nice that there are effective aftermarket options though.