CRASH: P3Pro fell out of sky while in follow me mode.

[penguinmaster]

Right. I had it set to RTH. It was absolutely NOT set for Landing, I have triple-checked that.
It did not land, it fell... HARD. Bent one of the arms and broke 2 propellers. Thank god it landed arm first, as the camera and gimbal are OK.

let

Scenario: Had P3Pro in follow me mode at ~47m. Did pre-flight check list, etc. Compass good. Home point good. Tested RTH from same spot a few hours earlier, drone successfully RTH'd.

Had eyes on Drone's LEDs through moonroof of car it was following (was night time), and could clearly see car taillights on iPhone 6 plus using DJI go app. Pulled over to find a landing spot for the drone to put it in the car and bring it across town.

DJI Go app stated bad connection, connection recovered, then "No connection".
Walked up and down street past last good GPS point, never regained connection with drone. Never touched sticks. Drone did not Hover or RTH.

HealthyDrones link for flight: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Note: on the map, the industrial area you see where the connection gets bad is a greenhouse called Casertanos in Cheshire, CT. I'm not posting a link because my account got cancelled for SPAM last time I did, but you can look it up in google.

The drone was set to RTH on lost connection. Looks like right before it crashed it switched to ATTI mode and went down. I DID NOT touch the controls prior to this happening.

As far as I understand it, even if I completely lost connection , the drone should have RTH'd or hovered. It did neither, just went down.

There are no towers, flagpoles, or tall structures (other than trees) in the flight path. None of them are near 47M high.

Any ideas? Feedback? Something I'm missing?

Thanks.

let me know if you want to sell it [email protected]

 

[Natty]

Thanks for sharing this experience and details. Very interesting and informative.

 

[R2-D2]

I have not run follow me mode yet but plan on it soon. I have a stupid noob question. Do you need a mobile phone for this? What exactly does the P3P follow. Your phone or your transmitter?

 

[barefootbeachcombing]

In order to use the Follow Me function, you need a mobile device with a GPS receiver in it. Most smartphones that are compatible with the DJI GO app have one. Many tablets (such as the WiFi version of current iPads) do not.

The Phantom will be following the GPS of the mobile device. The remote controller does not have GPS.

 

[R2-D2]

In order to use the Follow Me function, you need a mobile device with a GPS receiver in it. Most smartphones that are compatible with the DJI GO app have one. Many tablets (such as the WiFi version of current iPads) do not.

The Phantom will be following the GPS of the mobile device. The remote controller does not have GPS.

Thanks for the information, this is along the lines of what I had gathered. I was running the DJI flight simulation and I didn't see anything that asked for GPS from a phone. How does it know to follow your phone and not the other people standing around you with mobiles in their pocket?

 

[III% Streve]

It doesnt follow your phone/tablet.
The app pulls gps coords form the phone and adds the desired offset and transmits those to the P3.

 

[olof Ekbergh]

Thanks for the information, this is along the lines of what I had gathered. I was running the DJI flight simulation and I didn't see anything that asked for GPS from a phone. How does it know to follow your phone and not the other people standing around you with mobiles in their pocket?

Because your phone is what you would be running the GOapp on. It is connected to your RC with the USB cable.

It does not work if you only use phone as personal hotspot.

You can also buy a Bluetooth GPS and connect that to your tablet if tablet/ipad does not have GPS.

 

[R2-D2]

Because your phone is what you would be running the GOapp on. It is connected to your RC with the USB cable.

It does not work if you only use phone as personal hotspot.

You can also buy a Bluetooth GPS and connect that to your tablet if tablet/ipad does not have GPS.

I run my bird using an ipad Mini 3 that is wifi only. I have an android phone but I don't run my bird off it as I don't trust android as much as I trust IOS. So you need to have a GPS enabled device to be piloting the DJI App then I take it? The screen on my phone seems too small to use, especially if Im going to be in my car driving and also piloting the bird too.

 

[barefootbeachcombing]

I run my bird using an ipad Mini 3 that is wifi only. I have an android phone but I don't run my bird off it as I don't trust android as much as I trust IOS. So you need to have a GPS enabled device to be piloting the DJI App then I take it? The screen on my phone seems too small to use, especially if Im going to be in my car driving and also piloting the bird too.

Please do NOT do this.