CSC motor stop during flight?

As others have said - CSC (two sticks method) does stop the motors whatever the model is doing ... in air, on ground .. etc.

I have had the occasion TWICE to use it in the air ... both times when having had 'tree' jump out into my P3P ... :p

I was able to stop the motors as it tumbled through the branches saving at least the motors / esc's from possible burn out.

Here's the video ...


It was all due to a discussion about whether range and height restrictions automatically limited the P3 if Go / Litchi was not in use ... ie no tablet. I was stupid enough to offer to conduct the test and it ended up with my having a 300 Euro repair bill ! Basically - I hit the limit range and while flying to the right - I was sure I was clear of the tree but it turned out the tree was on the limit line. I could not fly back towards me .. I could not fly outward or even reverse !! She hit the branches and tilted enough to upset the FC .. All I could do was watch while hitting CSC ... you will note that short delay on motors stopping and the screech of motors as they locked up in the branches ...

As I understand it - the CSC function is there to help avoid a catastrophic event ... lets say you are flying and a low flying aircraft enters your space ? As with any other model aircraft - it is for you to get down out of the way quick and ignore damage to your model in so doing ...
For years I flew models at a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm base .. that had Air Sea Rescue Heli's ... the rules were if the siren went off - or any aircraft appeared - DUMP the model as fast as possible.
DJI CSC would satisfy that rule very nicely.

Nigel
 
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To save you trying it for research purposes, here's one I found:
Jump to 1:00 to avoid irrelevant stuff
Wow. It looked as if the P4 fell fairly level. Im guessing the props created enough drag to keep it upright? In that case a motor restart shouldn't be impossible. Not that I would ever try unless I had absolutely no choice!
 
I have to say, been thinking alot about this topic and I guess it makes sense to put the CSC positions where they are as no one would normally be flying a phantom that aggressively to use those full postions much if ever at all. I've never done an accidental one. If you really needed those stick positions id think it would be an emergency evasive anyway. I'm surprised there's never been a compromise in the app tho. Why not have an emergency drop icon that u set in the app, say 1 to 5 seconds at 20m/s with the props still running but only fast enough to adapt and correct the level. That could save many AC in a high wind scenario.
 
Try csc in the simulator!
Ok so I tried the simulator. Its actually not that bad altho I think the real AC is more responsive. But yes twice I successfully did a CSC motor shutdown and restarted and recovered. Odd that I had to power up the AC to enter the simulator tho. Now, every time i did a CSC motor shutdown it seemed to initially go as I expected but c'mon, every single time the AC fell upright. And I've seen the P4 Apparently do that but im not so sure the P3 is that aerodynamic. I'm still curious!!! Will it work with a P3P??!!!
 
I have never tried a CSC with either my P3S or Spark and like others have said, would never do it unless there was some sort of emergency situation (Manned AC, or to prevent someone from getting hurt).

With that being said, I have shut the motors down mid flight on a Syma X8G (see my Avatar) which does not have a FC or GPS and the AC was able to recover and resume flight however the height of the AC affects whether or not you would be able to recover because as soon as the motors shut down the AC drops like a rock and picks up speed as it falls so if the motor restart is done too late the AC will not have enough time to recover before hitting the ground. The first time I shut the motors down I was in a field with no one around and no wind and had the AC up high enough that it had enough time to recover and resume flight. Only had motors off for a second or so but it was enough to fall quite a distance. The AC did not tumble and remained upright. The second time was to prevent the AC from drifting over houses. I was flying in a field and a sudden gust of wind caught the AC and quickly blew it over toward houses. I cut the motors and let it fall to the ground on the front lawn of a house accross the street from the field. Again, it remained upright during the fall until hitting the ground.

The Syma X8G is around the same size as my P3S but much lighter, so I would assume that a Phantom would not tumble with a CSC however my testing was far from scientific.

Chris
 
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Hi Chris ... your Syma does have a FC actually ... all it really means is Flight Controller - which is a board that takes in all data and control inputs to determine control of motors to achieve desired output ... Agreed that is does not the extras of GPS ... but its still an FC.

As to falling straight / level ... that all depends on weather conditions, attitude of model when CSC is performed, prop blades and position at stop, freewheeling of props etc. Finally if you have truly balanced AC ... I know mine is not because I have a mount for Soloshot on one side etc.

If you hang up a P3 from centre - you will find even out of box with battery in as designed - it is not truly balanced on centre. Therefore in a free fall - it will tip to the heavy side.

Nigel
 
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Hi Chris ... your Syma does have a FC actually ... all it really means is Flight Controller - which is a board that takes in all data and control inputs to determine control of motors to achieve desired output ... Agreed that is does not the extras of GPS ... but its still an FC.

As to falling straight / level ... that all depends on weather conditions, attitude of model when CSC is performed, prop blades and position at stop, freewheeling of props etc. Finally if you have truly balanced AC ... I know mine is not because I have a mount for Soloshot on one side etc.

If you hang up a P3 from centre - you will find even out of box with battery in as designed - it is not truly balanced on centre. Therefore in a free fall - it will tip to the heavy side.

Nigel
Hi Nigel, thanks for setting me straight. Maybe I’m confusing the FC with ESC. I would think the Syma doesn’t have ESC’s. When my P3S is on the ground with motors spinning sometimes a motor will be spinning slower than others particularily when the AC is not completely level. This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Syma - they all seem to be spinning the same.

Chris
 
Hi Nigel, thanks for setting me straight. Maybe I’m confusing the FC with ESC. I would think the Syma doesn’t have ESC’s. When my P3S is on the ground with motors spinning sometimes a motor will be spinning slower than others particularily when the AC is not completely level. This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Syma - they all seem to be spinning the same.

Chris
Actually the FC does have ESC's. Any electronically controlled variable speed motor uses an ESC (electronic speed controller).
 
True ... ESC are necessary items.

The Syma is a simplified DJI in principle. It has a basic Flight Controller with 6 axis capability but without the extra fancy addons we see with DJI. No stable hover from GPS ... no Home Point RTH etc.

As you know yourself - it takes more to fly a Syma well than a DJI because it doesn't have those extra functions. In fact along with many other Quads that DJI owners tend to look down their noses at - I dare them to fly one ! Then we will see who can and cannot fly !

Nigel
 
So I'm rereading the full manual for my P3P and I got to the section of stopping the motors. We all know there's 2 methods, holding the throttle stick down after landing. Or using the CSC method (which also starts the motors). Oddly, the manual specifically states to NOT do a CSC motor stop during flight as it will stop the motors mid air. That can't be right!!! Is that actually possible (I doubt any one has tried lol)??? And would you be able to restart them during free fall? I can only think of one flight situation where this might actually be useful but I cant believe the app will actually allow a full motor stop midflight. Can anyone confirm this?
Just yesterday I was flying my P3P to take some photos and after launching I discovered that I had forgotten to insert the SD chip. In landing I came to close to my van and the collision flipped the drone upside down on the pavement with the propellers still spinning. The only way to shut it off would be the CSC, which is what I did. Fortunately there was no damage to the bird, other than four broken propellers.
 
Sadly this is also demonstrated when several people here have noted that when their P3 flipped over on the ground, using a CSC command did not stop the motors. We had another one reported just this past Wednesday.
Au Contraire my friend. Just yesterday my P3P flipped over on the ground with props spinning at full speed. I used the CSC to stop it. I had to hold the CSC for about 5 seconds before the engines stopped.
 
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Au Contraire my friend. Just yesterday my P3P flipped over on the ground with props spinning at full speed. I used the CSC to stop it. I had to hold the CSC for about 5 seconds before the engines stopped.
It's wonderful that your situation differs from so many who have posted here to share a much less fortunate experience.
 
CSC has had a delay introduced some time ago to avoid instant accidental stoppage in flight. That delay is about 3+ seconds.
CSC will action in any attitude if you hold both sticks DOWN and IN / OUT .....

What I find interesting - the number of 'tip-overs' ..... this should not happen if you do a full manual landing with LEFT stick only motor stop. The 'tip-over' is usually due to CSC used on landing ... a slight bit of one stick more than another will command an action of the AC ... often resulting in 'tip-over' because legs are trapped on that ground.

Nigel
 
CSC has had a delay introduced some time ago to avoid instant accidental stoppage in flight. That delay is about 3+ seconds.
CSC will action in any attitude if you hold both sticks DOWN and IN / OUT .....

What I find interesting - the number of 'tip-overs' ..... this should not happen if you do a full manual landing with LEFT stick only motor stop. The 'tip-over' is usually due to CSC used on landing ... a slight bit of one stick more than another will command an action of the AC ... often resulting in 'tip-over' because legs are trapped on that ground.

Nigel
Happened to me the first time i tried it. Never used it since. I only use left stick down.
 
Thread resurrection....... sort of....
I came across this thread while trying to work out what this meant in the firmware v1.8.10 relese notes for P3S-
2. Slowed motor stopping time to three seconds during flight
it now makes sense having read this thread. :)
it means you have to hold CSC for 3s if you really really want to stop the motors in flight.
I fly with v1.7.90 firmware so don't have this CSC delay but always use left stick down to stop the motors and that has a delay anyway in (I think) all fw versions.
If I ever do an accidental in-flight CSC I'll post the video but don't hold your breath.
 
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