I Lost my P4P

The Springs · May 28, 2017

I'm still a bit confused with regards to the progression of your mission .

When I create a mission I have WP1 near take off point(Home point , it wont let you run the mission unless you are within 120m of the first one at least that's what I have found .)
Then WP 2 3 4 etc sometimes I will set the last one much lower but I always check the glide slope (so to speak) to make sure nothing is in the way between the second last and last WPs

abwRN · May 28, 2017

I'm confused...At waypoint 2 it was set to "stay" at 184. It should have stayed at that height(roughly) until Waypoint 3 correct? Then, at waypoint 3 it would've attempted to execute my stupid command to go to 38 feet correct?

I understand you're saying it progressively lowers itself depending on the situation but it would've roughly stayed at 184 correct? I would've regain control long before it reached waypoint 3 which never happened.

I apologize for all the confusion. The picture that I posted of the mission is exactly the same as the mission it flew except for the altitude of waypoint 3 was really 38 feet..I upload this mission to the bird while it was hovering...

I just need to know what the bird would do after waypoint 2 which was set at 184 feet..What is this glide slope and why would it do that? If the Bird would have stayed at 184 feet from waypoint 2 to waypoint 3 I would've regain control long before it reached waypoint 3.

abwRN · May 28, 2017

The Springs said:
I'm still a bit confused with regards to the progression of your mission .

When I create a mission I have WP1 near take off point(Home point , it wont let you run the mission unless you are within 120m of the first one at least that's what I have found .)
Then WP 2 3 4 etc sometimes I will set the last one much lower but I always check the glide slope (so to speak) to make sure nothing is in the way between the second last and last WPs

I know..I know... waypoint 1 was my buddies house...I tried to only make two waypoints. 1(my buddies house) and 2 (home).. The program would not let me do that so I made a third(home)

abwRN · May 28, 2017

I am just confused about this whole progressive change in altitude from waypoints..if I could understand that I'll probably be able to find the bird.. Waypoint 2 was a 184 feet..Waypoint 3 was stupidly set at 38 feet..what with the bird you between these two? What should the Bird between these two? If I can answer that question I'll probably be able to find the bird.. I would've thought that it would've stayed roughly at 184 until it reached waypoint 3...

The Springs · May 28, 2017

As tevek said where is the 38 coming from ? Is this what you changed WP3 to when you ran the mission the second time ?

abwRN · May 28, 2017

The Springs said:
As tevek said where is the 38 coming from ? Is this what you changed WP3 to when you ran the mission the second time ?

Yes and I don't even know how that happened but it's not saved as a mission so I cant show you that picture. My guess is it in the log which I am trying to find right now..

Still, I would probably be able to find this bird if I knew what happens from waypoint to waypoint..I don't understand why the bird would lower it self from waypoint 2 to waypoint 3..from my understanding it should've tried to stay at 184 feet..184 feet would've cleared everything all the way back to waypoint 3

With The Birds · May 28, 2017

abwRN said:
I am just confused about this whole progressive change in altitude from waypoints..if I could understand that I'll probably be able to find the bird.. Waypoint 2 was a 184 feet..Waypoint 3 was stupidly set at 38 feet..what with the bird you between these two? What should the Bird between these two? If I can answer that question I'll probably be able to find the bird.. I would've thought that it would've stayed roughly at 184 until it reached waypoint 3...

If you had one waypoint at 200ft and the next at 100ft the AC would be at 150ft half way between them, draw an imaginary line between the waypoints and you will be have an idea of the altitude (referenced to your home point altitude being 0 where you took off from) at any given point in your flight path.

abwRN · May 28, 2017

With The Birds said:
If you had one waypoint at 200ft and the next at 100ft the AC would be at 150ft half way between them, draw an imaginary line between the waypoints and you will be have an idea of the altitude (referenced to your home point altitude being 0 where you took off from) at any given point in your flight path.

That helps but pisses me off..If I wanted the bird to do anything different between the two waypoints I would have told it to by adding another waypoint. That's why she went down..jezzz...

Thanks buddy..I am looking for the real flight data and will post asap..

SteelFlyer · May 28, 2017

I don't know Litchi as I use Autopilot instead but I assume they work the same. The app looks at waypoints as a spot where you want the AC at that point. It then interpolates between them to get a smooth transition if you're shooting video. If you wanted it to stay at 184' between waypoints 2 and 3, you would add another waypoint right next to 3 and have it be your new #3. Your previous #3 becomes waypoint 4. You set the new #3 at 184' and 4 at your desired height. The aircraft would then fly between 2 and the new 3 at 184', then descend to your height at 4.

wa5tef · May 28, 2017

I would guess the altitude error Phantom I have got you! Thirty-eight feet could have flown it into the ground considering the normal error that these drones have.
Good luck
Jim
WA5TEF

abwRN · May 28, 2017

Well now that I know that I'm off to look for her....i'll keep you updated from the field as I have fences and climb trees...lol..i'm guessing DJI refresh doesn't cover drones you can't find?

The Springs · May 28, 2017

Approximate path adjusted to 38 feet at wp3.
GE in 3D would show it better .

Duchunter · May 28, 2017

abwRN said:
Well now that I know that I'm off to look for her....i'll keep you updated from the field as I have fences and climb trees...lol..i'm guessing DJI refresh doesn't cover drones you can't find?

I'm not sure but I think they cover it either way as long as you have the flight log. It may be an issue since you were using litchi and not the go app. If you find it or get another one make sure you know how to use "find my drone". Trying to figure out how to use it after you lost your quad is just a bad idea. Also, you need to be looking for it immediately. Once the battery dies its going to be much harder to find. All you have to do is get close enough to reconnect to the rc and it will show you where its at from there but it is absolutely imperative that you connect before it shuts down. I had my wife hide my p4 in the neighborhood so I could practise tracking it down. Like I said, learning how to find it after its lost is the wrong way to go about it. Once you know how to find it you can fly secure in the fact that you know how to find it...............Glide slope= angle of decent from higher altitude to a lower altitude. For instance, most airports have what's called an ILS. Its uses a beacon for determining the precise glide slope to the runway required for safe landing. It will tell you if you are off of the proper glide slope. Its basically an imaginary line that the plane follows all the way to the runway.

Peio64270 · May 28, 2017

Very likely you lost it in a tree around Peachtree Industrial Bld. Even when setting waypoint 3 to 93 feet, it seems that it is not enough for flying over the tall trees that grow around.
I tried to draw your approximative path between waypoints 2 (183') and 3 (93') wich gives an altitude around 110feet when the AC is supposed to cross the little road where I put a yellow pin. If you have a look over Street view in Google Earth at the place of this pin, you can see that this altitude is not enough for flying over the tallest trees. Very likely your drone made a close encounter with one of these trees between waypoints 2 and 3.

abwRN · May 28, 2017

The Springs said:
Approximate path adjusted to 38 feet at wp3.
GE in 3D would show it better .

This is very helpful I wish I knew the altitude of that line. I know what it is that way 2 but it would be nice to know what it is is it sloping down so I can determine if it cleared items. I'm posting a video that basically shows the path over the big pipe field..(That big Area that looks like a parking lot)..

It helps to remember that I lost communication right at the front of the building at the pipe field headed out. I never regained communication from the drone on the return home path.

So, it stands to reason it didn't make it to the front of that building that says directly in front of the pipe field. That makes me think that little island of trees to the right is the prime area..

abwRN · May 28, 2017

Peio64270 said:
Very likely you lost it in a tree around Peachtree Industrial Bld. Even when setting waypoint 3 to 93 feet, it seems that it is not enough for flying over the tall trees that grow around.
I tried to draw your approximative path between waypoints 2 (183') and 3 (93') wich gives an altitude around 110feet when the AC is supposed to cross the little road where I put a yellow pin. If you have a look over Street view in Google Earth at the place of this pin, you can see that this altitude is not enough for flying over the tallest trees. Very likely your drone made a close encounter with one of these trees between waypoints 2 and 3.

View attachment 82927 View attachment 82928

Wow! That is awesome. If you could do me a favor and make waypoint 3 38 feet and rerun your data from 2 to 3 that would be great! You guys are supremely helpful.. once I have your data I'll go back out hunting..

abwRN · May 28, 2017

Oh..also..I would have regained control if it made it to your pin which is in my neighborhood. Heck, I would have gain control if it made it to Peachtree Industrial.

wolf~928 · May 28, 2017

So not a Litchi issue? [emoji106] hope you find your bird

Peio64270 · May 28, 2017

abwRN said:
Wow! That is awesome. If you could do me a favor and make waypoint 3 38 feet and rerun your data from 2 to 3 that would be great! You guys are supremely helpful.. once I have your data I'll go back out hunting..

I did this first with Litchi hub taking into account terrain elevation changes along the path at given waypoints, then export a csv file that I transformed into kml file fort import in Google Earth. Altitudes are in meters but they translate faithfully your altitudes in feet at waypoints.

I must say that that the location where your drone could encounter an obstacle much depends on your take-off point since waypoint 1 of your path is located around 4m (12 feet) below waypoint 3. Thus if you took off from waypoint 1 and not from around waypoint 3, your actual altitude above the ground becomes 183-43=140 feet at waypoint 2 which elevation is 43 feet above waypoint 1; and only 38-12=26 feet at waypoint 3 !
But I assumed that you took off in the vicinity of waypoint 3 of your pic, that's why I have inverted the rank of waypoints in order to take the terrain elevation of this waypoints 3 as a reference for the other two. Waypoint 3 thus becomes waypoint 1.

Mission Hub - Litchi

As such I obtain these two figures in Google Earth :

The second one is the street view from the location of my green pin named "Repere".
Your altitude above ground should have been around 25/27m at this place.
If I am right, you can have wrecked in a tree at one side of the other of this highway (maybe just before crossing it, I don't know how is the landscape further).
I would personnaly begin my investigations around this place.

Good luck, anyway !