Scenario 1: loss of r/c and video signal within VLOS

[geigy]

Scenario 1 is loss of connection, and video downlink, at close range - within visual range. Here is what I would do. What would you add to this?

1. If the drone has headroom, punch the accelerator. If the drone is receiving signal, it may move up and restore r/c signal. Since you are within VLOS you will be able to verify this visually.
2. At the same time as step 1, check that the transmitter has it's antennae extended, and facing the drone squarely. Hold the r/c as high overhead as possible.
3. Move away from metal structures, picnic tables, playground structures, cars, etc, that might interfere with the r/c signal.
4. Move to higher ground and/or toward the drone, since it's within LOS you can probably get under it in just a few minutes and either regain control, or intervene if necessary when the drone eventually lands.
5. Wait for RTH to do its job, and then have a beer as Masheen suggested!

Notes: Remember, no one else is there with you. It is up to you to make the final decision on what to do, bringing as much of your experience and intuition to the situation as possible.

Preparation: make sure you check for obstacles, and that your Return to Home and Max Altitude are set up correctly. When trouble happens, do not restart the app for signal loss unless it appears to be crashed, this would probably be an unnecessary sacrifice of control, and may have the side effect of preventing the last location of your drone from being recorded accurately. If you are in a special flight mode, such as POI or Waypoint mode, the drone can continue through a no-signal area, and regain signal on its own later.

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps someone, and I hope some of you have some thoughts to add here.

 

[jozef]

Hi, I want to ask what exactly happens when I loss RC signal? I flew over the trees maybe 600m away from me and i think it is normal that I lost RC signal. Trees were max 35m high and RTH altitude was set to 60m. When I lost signal and RC announced RTH was initiated so i moved 10m to Mavic direction to get signal back and when I got video on screen back I saw a top of the tree right in front of the Mavic. It was in RTH mode and it hit the tree in 35m altitude, even RTH was set to 60m. I just dont know why it started descent such low when I was at about 70m high before losing the signal. But I am happy that Mavic returned and only one blade has a small crack.
And I lost one extension leg from landing gear. I think it is good idea use a tape to secure it. It take a few seconds and you dont loss it during a flight.

 

[Robbyg]

Scenario 1 is loss of connection, and video downlink, at close range - within visual range. Here is what I would do. What would you add to this?

1. If the drone has headroom, punch the accelerator. If the drone is receiving signal, it may move up and restore r/c signal. Since you are within VLOS you will be able to verify this visually.
2. At the same time as step 1, check that the transmitter has it's antennae extended, and facing the drone squarely. Hold the r/c as high overhead as possible.
3. Move away from metal structures, picnic tables, playground structures, cars, etc, that might interfere with the r/c signal.
4. Move to higher ground and/or toward the drone, since it's within LOS you can probably get under it in just a few minutes and either regain control, or intervene if necessary when the drone eventually lands.
5. Wait for RTH to do its job, and then have a beer as Masheen suggested!

Notes: Remember, no one else is there with you. It is up to you to make the final decision on what to do, bringing as much of your experience and intuition to the situation as possible.

Preparation: make sure you check for obstacles, and that your Return to Home and Max Altitude are set up correctly. When trouble happens, do not restart the app for signal loss unless it appears to be crashed, this would probably be an unnecessary sacrifice of control, and may have the side effect of preventing the last location of your drone from being recorded accurately. If you are in a special flight mode, such as POI or Waypoint mode, the drone can continue through a no-signal area, and regain signal on its own later.

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps someone, and I hope some of you have some thoughts to add here.

Nothing to add but my first option would be to wait on the RTH to kick in. Since your saying this is a VLOS type scenerio my next action would be adjusting the antenna and moving around a few feet to get the best LOS. If that does not work it's time to jump in the car or run towards the drone! In the worst case scenario I at least want to be as close as possible to the crash site.

Rob

 

[delgross]

Just a question. I had what I thought was a run away several weeks ago. Suddenly lost video and RC control. Logs showed nothing abnormal but there was no RTH. I am wondering if it is not a good idea to turn off the controller if RTH does not seem to work?

 

[Logger]

.. Logs showed nothing abnormal but there was no RTH. I am wondering if it is not a good idea to turn off the controller if RTH does not seem to work?

So I assume you regained control and flew it home. No RTH because during your event it may not have actually lost connection to trigger it. Hence your suggestion to power off the RC to trigger RTH.
I have had active track malfunction on several occasion leaving the Mavic unresponsive to stick commands. Simple fix was to cycle the mode switch to S and back to P to regain control. Did you try this? I'd certainly be trying this prior to power cycling the RC.

 

[delgross]

So I assume you regained control and flew it home. No RTH because during your event it may not have actually lost connection to trigger it. Hence your suggestion to power off the RC to trigger RTH.
I have had active track malfunction on several occasion leaving the Mavic unresponsive to stick commands. Simple fix was to cycle the mode switch to S and back to P to regain control. Did you try this? I'd certainly be trying this prior to power cycling the RC.

No I did not. All data stopped. I won't go into all the circumstances but the RTH was set at 250ft and the drone was flying at 200ft with no obstacles. I lost signal. Tried to go up in altitude. Never regained contact. I pressed RTH after I realized it was not coming back on its own. I was using no flight modes. My theory is that it was still connected and hence the RTH was not triggered.

 

[Logger]

No I did not. All data stopped. I won't go into all the circumstances but the RTH was set at 250ft and the drone was flying at 200ft with no obstacles. I lost signal. Tried to go up in altitude. Never regained contact. I pressed RTH after I realized it was not coming back on its own. I was using no flight modes. My theory is that it was still connected and hence the RTH was not triggered.

Odd that Battery > Smart Return Home did not trigger if it was still connected unless you had it turned off. .At least you got it back.

 

[geigy]

Very interesting. Were you using DJI Go 4?

I've heard from a third party app developer that it is possible for software in the phone/tablet to swamp the controlle with messages r and prevent it from functioning.

I would be reluctant to reset the controller in any circumstance. Restarting the app first might help.