GS Connected to iPad...How close to Sim is real thing?

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Thanks everybody for your gelp. I was able to get the Phantom to talk to my iPad and was able to simulate a flight or two.
For those of you who have gone where few have gone before...How close to simulation is the real deal and what cautions can you give a newbi?
Phil H
 
I've done quite a few simulated flights and only a few actual waypoint missions so take this with a grain or two of salt... first of all, once I set up a simulated mission I make a note of the estimated flight time reported by the GS app. Then, after running the simulated mission (with a timer) I compare the two times -- and the estimated flight time is always well under the "actual" time required to run the simulated flight. For this reason I'm not going to trust the GS's predictions until I've been able to compare several actual missions against the GS predictions.

I've posted this earlier but I had problems with my first real missions that I attribute to a combination of poor GPS coverage and a mission with waypoints set too close together, in the form of a triangle. The GS does not direct the Phantom with complete precision; there is a certain margin of error that needs to be considered, especially if you are flying near obstacles. My guess is that the margin of error on my first flights was increased by poor GPS coverage -- to the point that the GS couldn't clearly distinguish one waypoint from another. The Phantom started going back and forth between two waypoints and then it just wandered away. I easily regained control by switching to ATTI, then successfully re-ran the same mission pattern but with greater separation between the waypoints.

Finally... I notice that the Ground End is somewhat greedy in terms of power, so be sure to have a fully charged battery if you're going to do more than a short flight. I use a 2200 or 2800 mah flight battery.

Phil H said:
Thanks everybody for your gelp. I was able to get the Phantom to talk to my iPad and was able to simulate a flight or two.
For those of you who have gone where few have gone before...How close to simulation is the real deal and what cautions can you give a newbi?
Phil H
 
Thanks for the info, it is very helpful. Like all who venture out on their first GS flight, there is a bit of apprehension. Down in Florida, I don't have a lot of open territory and the Gulf of Mexico would love to have a nice, plump Phantom2 for lunch! So, I am trying to learn as much as I can before I hit that "Go" button.

Phil H
 
As G/L stated estimated times are shorter than actual. Another note, don't count on G/S accuracy for tight flying - if you set way points give marginal distance in almost all directions. I've used mine extensively last weekend (15+ flights) and it went as set - but found it overshot way points (vs map settings) and also found it traveling further east (than settings again on map) between way points.

Once you use it a couple of times you'll get over anxiety of losing "line of site" and with good FPV, get to witness it real time.
 
EMC... can you give a rough estimate of the off-track distances you're seeing in actual flight? There are so many trees where I fly that extreme caution is the name of the game. If the quad can be expected to drift fifty feet off-track, for example, that is definitely going to affect where I can safely fly.

A couple of days ago I finally had the time to read the entire GS manual for Windows (which I do not use myself). In typical DJI fashion the manual does not clearly state which instructions are for the GS and which are only applicable to Wookong and A2 -- and if I'm correct, all three systems are included in the 40+ pages.

I mention this because there are a couple of points covered that may or may not affect GS use for the iPad. For example, there is a warning that ground level for waypoints set on flights over water are at actual earth level, not the surface of the water. This would be easy to overlook, especially if your flight happens to cross a narrow but very deep river or fjord.

Similarly, the Windows manual discusses the need to incorporate elevation "offset" into waypoint elevations, such as when launching from a building. There's nothing about this in the pathetic iPad manual.



EMCSQUAR said:
As G/L stated estimated times are shorter than actual. Another note, don't count on G/S accuracy for tight flying - if you set way points give marginal distance in almost all directions. I've used mine extensively last weekend (15+ flights) and it went as set - but found it overshot way points (vs map settings) and also found it traveling further east (than settings again on map) between way points.

Once you use it a couple of times you'll get over anxiety of losing "line of site" and with good FPV, get to witness it real time.
 
GearLoose, there's only one GS really, and it works with NAZA, Wookong, and A2 (the latter two don't have it built in)...so the instructions are the same for both, they're just feature-limited by platform as shown on Page 3 in the PC GS manual.

The iPad and PC are just two different interfaces for the same logic inside...it works the same way regardless of which GUI you're using (the limited but polished one on the iPad or the comprehensive but ugly one on the PC).
 
GearLoose said:
I've done quite a few simulated flights and only a few actual waypoint missions so take this with a grain or two of salt... first of all, once I set up a simulated mission I make a note of the estimated flight time reported by the GS app. Then, after running the simulated mission (with a timer) I compare the two times -- and the estimated flight time is always well under the "actual" time required to run the simulated flight. For this reason I'm not going to trust the GS's predictions until I've been able to compare several actual missions against the GS predictions.

I've posted this earlier but I had problems with my first real missions that I attribute to a combination of poor GPS coverage and a mission with waypoints set too close together, in the form of a triangle. The GS does not direct the Phantom with complete precision; there is a certain margin of error that needs to be considered, especially if you are flying near obstacles. My guess is that the margin of error on my first flights was increased by poor GPS coverage -- to the point that the GS couldn't clearly distinguish one waypoint from another. The Phantom started going back and forth between two waypoints and then it just wandered away. I easily regained control by switching to ATTI, then successfully re-ran the same mission pattern but with greater separation between the waypoints.

Finally... I notice that the Ground End is somewhat greedy in terms of power, so be sure to have a fully charged battery if you're going to do more than a short flight. I use a 2200 or 2800 mah flight battery.

Phil H said:
Thanks everybody for your gelp. I was able to get the Phantom to talk to my iPad and was able to simulate a flight or two.
For those of you who have gone where few have gone before...How close to simulation is the real deal and what cautions can you give a newbi?
Phil H


This brings a question to mind. I have a P2 with GS coming, but I was under the impression that once you uploaded the mission a link to the P2 was not needed while it flew the mission. Is that not correct?

Thanks

Joe
 
Joe, that is correct. A couple of days I got a first-hand demo of this feature when for some reason the connection was lost shortly after the Phantom took off on a waypoint mission. It was hard on my nerves as this was the first time I'd plotted a mission that took the Phantom out of sight. But, sure enough, the GoPro video confirmed that the quad flew a perfect mission even after losing the connection.

I love the GS but there's no doubt that it requires a lot of operator trust. On more than one occasion I've had to restrain the temptation to abort a mission and retake control.
 

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