Waypoint flight - the ghetto way?

[Scottrod]

Has anyone tried turning on the P2V, setting the home point, then driving it somewhere, starting the motors, and then letting it "return to home"? Does the home point stay set before the motors are started? I assume as long as it flashes green before you pick it up and take it somewhere it keeps that point recorded...

 

[Pull_Up]

No, but well volunteered to try!

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Its an interesting idea. You would have to keep it powered on with a view of the sky I suppose during the relocation phase. Also ensure there are no objects higher than its return altitude. I concur that its a brave adventure.

 

[EMCSQUAR]

Isn't this one of the original Phantoms early reported flyaways? Where guy would fly it from one location, then take it to another but "forget/neglect" to allow it to get to all green lights - then lose Tx power only to have it fly to last home point location. There's a guy on youtube that his first Phantom is in Lake Erie because he neglected to allow all greens and was showing off to buds when it decided to go home.

 

[FPV col]

I would of thought if you do what Shrimpfarmer said, yes but why would you want to risk it.. Return to home distance record perhaps ?

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

If the phantom retains its last home position after power down, then using this method of relocation to film extended flights would be fairly simple to achieve. It would be a great way to film the entire length of a beach etc. Is there anyway to check this out with the assistant software ?

 

[AnselA]

It would be a great way to film the entire length of a beach etc. Is there anyway to check this out with the assistant software ?

Let's hope Vision GS functionality will support something like that?

 

[iDrone]

Has anyone tried turning on the P2V, setting the home point, then driving it somewhere, starting the motors, and then letting it "return to home"?

Yes, and more. And suggested it be augmented. The search engine is your friend:
http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5056&p=36994&hilit=Drive+home#p36990

iDrone (the Very)

 

[Scottrod]

Yeah that's more of a wish list for firmware updates. I looked that over previously but I haven't seem a post where someone has actually tried this for a long distance one-way flight. I'm tempted to try it myself

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

You would need someone to meet the drone and safeguard it when it arrives. Its going to get there well before you I would imagine.

 

[Scottrod]

Yeah I would imagine it would too. I'm planning on trying this soon. I plan to fly it from my buddies house to mine and my wife should be home to grab it....should be interesting.

 

[Migmon]

lol i like the idea! last time i set my home point and handled the drone after a quick flight then took off again all the sensors got effed up and i nearly lost the drone... i dont think your idea will work

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Need to be real choosey about picking the site where you will activate the home lock. Plenty of space and no obvious obstacles like trees, overhead wires or possible pedestrians pets etc. This will be an auto landing with no opportunity to retake control. Good luck with the test. Are you going to leave it powered on from the moment of home lock or try it cold and dark ?

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Actually just thinking that through there would be no way to do it cold and dark, if you power down it would just acquire a new home position when powered on :roll:

 

[Scottrod]

Yep. I would power it on, wait for home point to set, hop in the car with it and take off at new location and hit at least 200' and then let it fly back. We shall see how well it works...I have fields around me so I will probably test it in one of those safe areas first.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Looking forward to this

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

It might be worth trying to observe the drain on a fresh battery whilst hooked up to the vision assistant. Observe the power drain over a minute which would then allow you to calculate how much power you have lost during the drive to the launch site. I don't know how fast it flies in return to home mode but if someone knows that then we could also calculate the flight time if you know the distance between take off and landing. Then you could allow a healthy reserve.

 

[Pull_Up]

Well from personal experience of trying to run the batteries down to storage voltage from full it took over an hour to drop to 48% in manual mode with rotors off. I used manual because the centred stick position is equal to 50% of full power - more than is required to lift off. Meant I could leave it doing its thing whilst I made the dinner! We had such a run of bad weather I couldn't even take it into the garden and hover it 4ft off the deck to hurry up the process...

If you switched the camera off whilst you are moving it as well I'd say your power drain would be about 1% every 4 or 5 minutes or better. I'd take the props off if you're moving it "hot" though.

 

[Scottrod]

Wind would play a part in battery drain for sure but I think it flies home around 17-20mph if I remember correctly.

 

[AnselA]

Spec. says: "Max Flight Speed 15m/s (Not Recommended)", but that is (?) airspeed. Relative to the surrounding air, not relative to the ground.