RTH initiated while P3P was on the ground resulting in crash

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Hi guys and gals,
I was on vacation a couple weekends ago and flew my P3P. One the second flight I landed the P3P in a few dozen feet from where it took off - on a more level part of my relatives' driveway instead of the street. As un-luck would have it, even thought it was on the ground and I was pushing down the throttle stick it initiated RTH home. I have no idea why it decided to do that when it was already on the ground for several seconds but as it flew up to RTH altitude it managed to hit a branch and of course came crashing down. Partially my fault for landing so close to a tree but I wasn't expecting RTH to come on. The camera gimbal broke off, tore off the flexible connection, and the camera lens got cracked. As far as I can tell everything else is fine minus some cosmetic damage. If the functional damage was just the lens I know I could easily replace that but I'm assuming that with the gimbal broken a repair would not really be cost effective. I don't really fly the drone often because it's so big and loud. Was thinking of maybe selling it for parts but unsure if it's better to part it out or try to sell the whole kit as one. Suggestions?
 
Shouldn't be a hard fix. The lens is just a filter to protect the camera lens. Gimbal coming off on a P3 in a crash is normal. $18 US for the grey and black antenna wires. The little flex cable is just a few dollars, if it didn't just come loose. I'd fix it, but you know your skill level and temperament. LOL

Landing on the drive way may have been your problem. The rebar in the concrete may have messed up the compass and your P3 didn't know where it was.
My kids was the same way. they would lose track of us and go running. LOL
 
Just a guess, but your battery level may have dropped low enough to initiate a RTH as the motors were still running while on the ground.
 
Not sure if so called smart battery would perform RTH if it was low,dont they just auto land where you dont want it to,? You could check in app warnings for idea but log file always better to see what happen....bugger that happening,might have been off back to China and on the dangerous side if you kids about,I would wont to know what happened
 
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Hi guys and gals,
I was on vacation a couple weekends ago and flew my P3P. One the second flight I landed the P3P in a few dozen feet from where it took off - on a more level part of my relatives' driveway instead of the street. As un-luck would have it, even thought it was on the ground and I was pushing down the throttle stick it initiated RTH home. I have no idea why it decided to do that when it was already on the ground for several seconds but as it flew up to RTH altitude it managed to hit a branch and of course came crashing down. Partially my fault for landing so close to a tree but I wasn't expecting RTH to come on. The camera gimbal broke off, tore off the flexible connection, and the camera lens got cracked. As far as I can tell everything else is fine minus some cosmetic damage. If the functional damage was just the lens I know I could easily replace that but I'm assuming that with the gimbal broken a repair would not really be cost effective. I don't really fly the drone often because it's so big and loud. Was thinking of maybe selling it for parts but unsure if it's better to part it out or try to sell the whole kit as one. Suggestions?
Probably make more money if you part it out. But doing it that way may take longer to sell everything.
Let me know if you part it out, I would purchase the camera.
 
Not sure if so called smart battery would perform RTH if it was low,dont they just auto land where you dont want it to,? You could check in app warnings for idea but log file always better to see what happen....bugger that happening,might have been off back to China and on the dangerous side if you kids about,I would wont to know what happened
Auto RTH will initiate when it reaches one of the states you've programmed it to do, which can include a certain low battery state.when the battery has enough energy left to reach home. But why it would do that when it was effectively already home, can't imagine.
As has been said, download the .DAT file from the drone.
 
Auto RTH will initiate when it reaches one of the states you've programmed it to do, which can include a certain low battery state.when the battery has enough energy left to reach home. But why it would do that when it was effectively already home, can't imagine.

Unless it is at the exact coordinates of where the home point was recorded, the first response of the craft when critical battery level is reached would be (if set to this option) to ascend or descend to the pre-set RTH altitude, then move over to the home point coordinates, and then land. The critical battery program sequence may not have a code line to check whether it is on the ground and within a certain distance of home point when critical battery level is reached.
 
Hi guys and gals,
I was on vacation a couple weekends ago and flew my P3P. One the second flight I landed the P3P in a few dozen feet from where it took off - on a more level part of my relatives' driveway instead of the street. As un-luck would have it, even thought it was on the ground and I was pushing down the throttle stick it initiated RTH home. I have no idea why it decided to do that when it was already on the ground for several seconds but as it flew up to RTH altitude it managed to hit a branch and of course came crashing down. Partially my fault for landing so close to a tree but I wasn't expecting RTH to come on. The camera gimbal broke off, tore off the flexible connection, and the camera lens got cracked. As far as I can tell everything else is fine minus some cosmetic damage. If the functional damage was just the lens I know I could easily replace that but I'm assuming that with the gimbal broken a repair would not really be cost effective. I don't really fly the drone often because it's so big and loud. Was thinking of maybe selling it for parts but unsure if it's better to part it out or try to sell the whole kit as one. Suggestions?
Without the flight log files, it is all speculation. If you submit the logs, they can be examined here and then you will know exactly what happened.
 
Without the flight log files, it is all speculation. If you submit the logs, they can be examined here and then you will know exactly what happened.
Agree the suspense is killing me.......2 days,cmon your really killing me now
 
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Just a guess, but your battery level may have dropped low enough to initiate a RTH as the motors were still running while on the ground.

That's definitely what happened, I'm just not sure why it initiated RTH when it was already on the ground. I guess the motors need to be stopped? The landing location was about 30m from the take-off point if I was to estimate w/o looking at the map/logs.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I didn't realize this until recently but I have a DJI store not too far from where I live. I'll swing by there and see what they quote me for parts. I'm confident I can fix it myself if the parts aren't too expensive. From what I saw on the DJI store it didn't look like it would be cheap but perhaps components are cheaper on ebay. I'll take some photos of the damage and post them here later. Are the log files on the phone or do i have to extract them from the SD card?
 
Are the log files on the phone or do i have to extract them from the SD card?
What we routinely ask is for people to post a link to their flight record report so we can see the details.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Follow the instructions there to help locate your flight log file. It takes only a minute or two.
Upload your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer as explained in the instructions.
Note: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum.

Once you've uploaded your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer, a page will open with a detailed report of the flight.
Copy the link to that report and then post that link to this thread so that others may review the flight.
Repeat: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum. Only post a link to the log viewer output.
 
That's definitely what happened, I'm just not sure why it initiated RTH when it was already on the ground. I guess the motors need to be stopped? The landing location was about 30m from the take-off point if I was to estimate w/o looking at the map/logs.
As noted earlier, we’ve seen similar examples when a P3 has landed but the motors are not shut down and the AC is not close enough to the HP.

the first response of the craft when critical battery level is reached would be (if set to this option) to ascend or descend to the pre-set RTH altitude
If the AC is already above the preset RTH altitude, does not descend to that altitude before moving to the HP.
 
That's definitely what happened, I'm just not sure why it initiated RTH when it was already on the ground. I guess the motors need to be stopped? The landing location was about 30m from the take-off point if I was to estimate w/o looking at the map/logs.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I didn't realize this until recently but I have a DJI store not too far from where I live. I'll swing by there and see what they quote me for parts. I'm confident I can fix it myself if the parts aren't too expensive. From what I saw on the DJI store it didn't look like it would be cheap but perhaps components are cheaper on ebay. I'll take some photos of the damage and post them here later. Are the log files on the phone or do i have to extract them from the SD card?
What we routinely ask is for people to post a link to their flight record report so we can see the details.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Follow the instructions there to help locate your flight log file. It takes only a minute or two.
Upload your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer as explained in the instructions.
Note: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum.

Once you've uploaded your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer, a page will open with a detailed report of the flight.
Copy the link to that report and then post that link to this thread so that others may review the flight.
Repeat: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum. Only post a link to the log viewer output.
Yes @Waynosan you cant tell us that and then not tell us,,it will be good for all pilots to take note of something like this happening,these phantoms are getting good at spitting out new issues ,,if it landed at low battery what was your battery warnings set too,,safe is 30% and 10%critical,,,,,did you fly past this point and what was your voltage on landing to trigger this rth ????ps..suspense is killing me ?
 
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Unless it is at the exact coordinates of where the home point was recorded, the first response of the craft when critical battery level is reached would be (if set to this option) to ascend or descend to the pre-set RTH altitude, then move over to the home point coordinates, and then land. The critical battery program sequence may not have a code line to check whether it is on the ground and within a certain distance of home point when critical battery level is reached.
The drone will never descend to get to the pre set altitude when initiate RTH. It will only ascend to that point. If it is higher then stays at that altitude when RTH.
And he said that the drone landed around 30 m apart of the take of point. That might be the cause.
 
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What we routinely ask is for people to post a link to their flight record report so we can see the details.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Follow the instructions there to help locate your flight log file. It takes only a minute or two.
Upload your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer as explained in the instructions.
Note: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum.

Once you've uploaded your flight log to the Flight Log Viewer, a page will open with a detailed report of the flight.
Copy the link to that report and then post that link to this thread so that others may review the flight.
Repeat: Do not upload the flight log file itself to this forum. Only post a link to the log viewer output.
Just curious. Why so adamant about not posting the .txt log to the forum? It's common practice and this is the first I've seen about not doing this.
 
Hi guys and gals,
I was on vacation a couple weekends ago and flew my P3P. One the second flight I landed the P3P in a few dozen feet from where it took off - on a more level part of my relatives' driveway instead of the street. As un-luck would have it, even thought it was on the ground and I was pushing down the throttle stick it initiated RTH home. I have no idea why it decided to do that when it was already on the ground for several seconds but as it flew up to RTH altitude it managed to hit a branch and of course came crashing down. Partially my fault for landing so close to a tree but I wasn't expecting RTH to come on. The camera gimbal broke off, tore off the flexible connection, and the camera lens got cracked. As far as I can tell everything else is fine minus some cosmetic damage. If the functional damage was just the lens I know I could easily replace that but I'm assuming that with the gimbal broken a repair would not really be cost effective. I don't really fly the drone often because it's so big and loud. Was thinking of maybe selling it for parts but unsure if it's better to part it out or try to sell the whole kit as one. Suggestions?
Why haven't you provided the .txt log? From your description it seems very unlikely that RTH was initiated. Analyzing the .txt log is the only way to actually know what happened. It's just idle speculation without it.
 
Just curious. Why so adamant about not posting the .txt log to the forum? It's common practice and this is the first I've seen about not doing this.
We almost always ask people to follow the directions at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and then post the link to the report it generates. What happens then is that a majority of people either don't read or don't understand the request to post the link so they post the .txt file here instead. Another member here then generally uploads the .txt file to the viewer and posts the link as was initially requested. I've done this myself for people countless times. This exact scenario has played out I'd say more than 75% of the time we ask. I really want to say 90% of the time we ask, but I'll go with a conservative 75% to be fair. I'm shocked with the rare times someone actually posts the report link themselves. :)

Of course getting the info is the main objective which is why other members almost always then upload the .txt file and post the report link. It sure would be wonderful however if people just started with posting the report link as we generally ask them to do in the first place. Especially now considering the large drop off in members actively participating in the P3 forums. I've been trying to be more clear when people ask "where are the files and how do I upload them" so I've been more clearly emphasizing to only post a link to the report. Sadly, people still seem to post the .txt file for someone else to upload to the viewer. Clearly not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Note: .dat files are a completely different matter.
 
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We almost always ask people to follow the directions at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and then post the link to the report it generates. What happens then is that a majority of people either don't read or don't understand the request to post the link so they post the .txt file here instead. Another member here then generally uploads the .txt file to the viewer and posts the link as was initially requested. I've done this myself for people countless times. This exact scenario has played out I'd say more than 75% of the time we ask. I really want to say 90% of the time we ask, but I'll go with a conservative 75% to be fair. I'm shocked with the rare times someone actually posts the report link themselves. :)

Of course getting the info is the main objective which is why other members almost always then upload the .txt file and post the report link. It sure would be wonderful however if people just started with posting the report link as we generally ask them to do in the first place. Especially now considering the large drop off in members actively participating in the P3 forums. I've been trying to be more clear when people ask "where are the files and how do I upload them" so I've been more clearly emphasizing to only post a link to the report. Sadly, people still seem to post the .txt file for someone else to upload to the viewer. Clearly not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Note: .dat files are a completely different matter.
I guess I'm in the minority. I'm always interested in seeing the .txt so I can see the raw data. But, it just takes a few seconds to access the .txt from either Phantom Help or AirData.
 
Very interesting thread. Now I'm gonna have to try and duplicate this issue. I'll land (away from the home point) and then initiate RTH and see if it auto takes off and comes home. I suppose it makes sense that RTH will still work if the AC motors are idling after landing somewhere distant. Any situation that would normally initiate RTH should still work even from the ground.
 

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