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Still learning the ropes, went into Atti Mode over the pool

AClineman

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So it was windy today. Wind dropped out to nearly nothing before sunset so I brought out the MPP in the backyard. Had full battery, was partially sunny, I acquired GPS signals, home point activated and ready to fly signal on the controller.

Manual take off, went up around 200’ buzzed out around 3-4 blocks away trying out some new ND filters hit RTH, she came back, landed and all was good. Our daughter stopped by and hadn’t seen it yet. Took off and went up and out a couple blocks or so, hit RTH to show her no operator required, it exacutes a pin Point Landing.
Now at about 50% battery. Take off again hovering about 10’ off the ground with gps signal and back it away from the deck and over the pool. Drop it down about 5’ over the water and it says Atti Mode and it would hardly respond but I manage to get it back over the deck and set it down.
First time I ever saw it say or hear it say Atti Mode during flight.
It said Atti Mode on the controller before while waiting to aquire gps but I’ve never flown in the mode. Puck factor really kicked in !!
It’s my understanding flying over water can render the downward sensor useless because of clear or reflective water, but that’s only for collision avoidance or landing and should not enable Atti Mode correct, or am I wrong?

So I asked here before about flying at night and heard it’s not that bad as the gps and RTH still works. Since the battery was still at around 50% I figured I’d try my first night flight and run the battery down before recharging. The plan was to just raise it straight up over the tree canopy (about 80-100 ‘ and see if I could see the lights of the casinos,boardwalk and any other lights in the neighborhood.

Get everything fired up, stars are out, aquire gps and the ready to fly signal. Manual take off and it’s drifting all over the place !
I get it landed in the grass and since the blades hit the grass on the tilted landed I give it a good inspection. Looks good
Figure I’d give it one more shot and same thing, drifting towards the house this time about 6’ up and over the concrete patio (launched on wooden deck) so instead of letting it hit the wall I just grabbed it from underneath and pull down on the left joystick at which time it went full throttle and tried to pull away ( I may have bumped the stick left some too, beings I had left hand on the controller and grabbed the drone with the right)
Packed it up and called it a night ,,,,,,,

Ok so I get the attti mode issue and can only assume it lost satellite connection ?

But what would cause the drift on the last two flights while in gps mode?
Could it have started to go into Atti Mode but Hadn’t advised me of it yet since it was brought down rather quickly?

Did I do something wrong and what should I do before the next flight if anything?

Thanks I’m still learning.
 
Did you lift off before home point was recorded? If so, that is why.
Happened to me once and I'll never do it again. Bird was all over the place, then controller said "home point recorded" then it acted normal.
I thought it was due to recent FW update, but after looking at flight log, I saw that it was in atti mode until it recorded the homepoint.
 
Did you lift off before home point was recorded? If so, that is why.
Happened to me once and I'll never do it again. Bird was all over the place, then controller said "home point recorded" then it acted normal.
I thought it was due to recent FW update, but after looking at flight log, I saw that it was in atti mode until it recorded the homepoint.
First flight no

2nd & 3rd good question, thought so but can’t be 100% was excited about first night flight. I’ll make sure next time though thanks.
 
I’ll try to check the log tomorrow. Still learning that too. Actually where is that ? :(
 
Cool Thanks !
 
I’ll try to check the log tomorrow. Still learning that too. Actually where is that ?
You could also upload and view your TXT flight log online here. See that link for instructions on locating your TXT flight log.
 
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So I went ahead today and flew it again. I was sure to wait to hear her say “your home point has been updated, please check it on the map”

Good 10 minute flight no issues. Hopefully it was operator error and not being SURE the home point was update BEFORE taking off last night.

On another note, like I had mentioned, when I grabbed it underneath it felt like it tried to go full speed up. I was thinking about that today and wonder if the downward sensors picked up my hand and was trying to avoid it?

Thoughts?
 
On another note, like I had mentioned, when I grabbed it underneath it felt like it tried to go full speed up. I was thinking about that today and wonder if the downward sensors picked up my hand and was trying to avoid it?
Yep, exactly. It won't do this if you turn off the downward sensors. Another thing you can do is grab it and immediately turn it on its side, 90 degrees or more. This will instantly shut off the motors
 
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Yep, exactly. It won't do this if you turn off the downward sensors. Another thing you can do is grab it and immediately turn it on its side, 90 degrees or more. This will instantly shut off the motors
It's not only the sensors when you grab it from below and try to pull it down it tries to maintain the same position so it automatically throttles up to climb
 
It's not only the sensors when you grab it from below and try to pull it down it tries to maintain the same position so it automatically throttles up to climb
I wouldnt recommend pulling down on it, that will just cause it to fight even more. If the sensors are on, just hover it in front of yourself and just grab and hold it until it lands. If they are off, you can just land it on your hand without even grabbing it.
 
Just be careful AC will be very very sensitive when you pull down on the stick. So do it lightly a few times if you turn off the downward VPS.
 
In my experience low alt flight at night is always less stable than day time, presumably because the sensors suck in low light.

When I hand land I always disable landing protection and just grab it by the mid section while being very careful not to extend fingers too much upward (or you'll get a surprise nail clipping..). Just hold it in place with your hand while pressing down the alt stick for a second to stop the motors.
 
At night with no sensors only using GPS you will get a great amount of up down all around movement as there no vision being used.. It's perfectly normal just be aware of it..
 
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