I think everyone should consider this. Features should work well not just for experienced pilots but also for newbies. I am certain 3DR wants to decrease the number of crashes that were totally avoidable when caused by software related features. I would say fast ascent when a few feet from landing location provides no value. I am glad they did something in 1.3. They did not reduce the functionality of return home they just made it smarter. It will likely reduce this type of crash. I almost had a crash in the same scenario. Yes I was newbie, and yes I should have known better but it still happened and will happen to others. And with X-mas approaching the newbie factor is high.
Auto return home crashed my Solo
- Thread starter Fenderbender
- Start date
I do understand what you are asking for and why you are doing it, but for every crash that would be avoided by your change there are a bunch of others that might be caused by the change.
I am sympathetic to what happened on your flight, but you have to accept that the problems all result from that first decision to launch from a spot where you could not safely land without taking steps to disable RTL. If you couldn't or didn't want to disable RTL then you needed to find a safe spot to launch from where you could also land. Everything else that went wrong can be traced back to that one initial decision...
I am sympathetic to what happened on your flight, but you have to accept that the problems all result from that first decision to launch from a spot where you could not safely land without taking steps to disable RTL. If you couldn't or didn't want to disable RTL then you needed to find a safe spot to launch from where you could also land. Everything else that went wrong can be traced back to that one initial decision...
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I have to agree. The idea is not to make the RTL smarter in the way of avoiding obstacles around your take off point. So the scenario I see is now the Solo is in RTL. You are only 10 feet away from home at an altitude of 10ft high. It goes into RTL but It does not ascend straight up as it used too. It starts to move towards the home position to land. But there is a 20 ft telephone pole right in the fly zone or maybe a tree? What keeps this from flying into the pole? Its the exact same situation, whether you have obstacles above or left and right of the altitude you are currently at you will run into problems. I see it better that the Solo ascend up, clear all obstacles and fly right above home and descend. The probability of there being an obstacle above, I believe, is far less than an obstacle either left or right when trying to land at a home point. Remember, you are supposed to be in an open area free of obstacles so there should be no overhead obstacles in your way
I just don't get how this has helped us. Personally I am not a fan of the change.
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That's all speculation. The only change I asked for was a major warning prompt before auto RTH engaged with an option to override it before it happens. Where is the crash in this scenario? Auto RTH still engages if you do nothing, but before it does it pulse vibrate the controller for a 10 seconds with a warning on the screen and an override option. If you hit the override and crashed it it's your fault no question. If you crash it after hitting the override chances are that you were going to crash anyway and if you couldn't make it back after hitting override Solo wasn't going to make in RTH either. Give me the scenario where the crash happens.
Fenderbender, the handle certainly is appropriate. What you suggest is not unreasonable, it's just totally unnecessary to more than what Solo already does, "out of the box". You obviously read some of the manual in chapter 3 where it says to stay 100' from objects, but chose to ignore that and the part about flying too close people, so many they had to make way for your new landing spot, about 15. You obviously stopes short of section 3.9 "Emergency Procedures " where it says very plainly that to regain control when it goes into RTH to push either the Fly button or the pause button. Not one but 2 fail safes. No programming or special tricks, just push one button. And the manual also tells you what will happen when the battery gets low. It will warn you with voice alerts haptic prompts and enter RTH if let go too long. Your first crash was the result of ignore the warning about extreme weather. This crash was the result of your decision to again ignore a number of safety warnings. You seem to be very hard headed. Solo is smart enough to avoid most problems and gives ample warnings to those who will take heed. Your choices crashed your Solo not RTH.
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It's unfortunate that most MR don't have training ports on the RC. there are a couple of good sims for MR.
I would also like to comment on the practice of setting the A button to fly;manual and using that for eleven y situations. I'm a fairly inexperienced pilot myself. The Fly;manual button should be reserved for those who have the experience to use it. For me it's easy to get disoriented and a little out of control when there is any wind and especially in an emergency situation. It definitely takes a good amount of practice to be really comfortable using it in tight quarters. If Solo loses GPS lock it automatically goes into Fly;manual mode which can be mistaken for an attempt to start a fly away if there is any wind. It takes awareness, knowledge, responsibility and skill to safely pilot a UAV.
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Bravo...you my friend will be a fine pilot because you understand patience and experience.
Keep on, you have a very good beginner understanding. Practice and knowledge helps develop skills.
What tight quarters? Surely you aren't ignoring the 100ft rule? Everyone including 3dr breaks that rule.
I'm only "hard headed" when when I'm fighting for something I think is a good idea. There is no question it will save some crashes. People are acting like I ignored all the low battery warnings. I know I made some bad choices and, as I keep saying, already admitted that. If you think ni one else will make bad choices you are mistaken. If it saves some people it's not unnecessary. Like I said... again... my Solo started RTH BEFORE I got the controller alert that it was activated so my initial reaction was to fight Solo and make it go where I wanted like when you lose GPS. If I got the alert any earlier I may have been able to save it. There is a difference between ignoring the warnings and being caught off guard by how quickly the battery discharges from 15% to 10%. And to be honest those are low battery warnings NOT auto RTH warnings. I knew it kicked in at 10 percent. But was caught off guard. I didn't realize I was at 10 percent as I was trying to land and keep an eye on the bird. I already admitted I didn't know how to disengage it. After I realized what was going on it was too late to do anything.
I guess we'll all have to hope that no one's take off spot becomes an unsafe landing spot due to changing conditions. This type of crash will happen again. I skimmed the manual and learned what I needed to have probably 20 successful flights. That was a mistake yes but you know full well I won't be the only one who does that. So let's add an extra layer of protection. I don't see anything wrong with it and it does not effect ANY of you and it doesn't effect me either because I'm not ever doing that again. But it IS going to happen. To SOMEBODY. I'm very sorry that I don't want that to happen.
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I would have full GPS lock and regardless my Solo would go RTH. Being that it was a HUGE liability issue I gave 3DR support the chance to fix it which they couldn't and sent it back. Saw a guy at the local drone races with a Solo and he had it go into RTH close range so it's still not fixed.
I'm for RTH engaging during a lost controller connection. I would guess at a race there would be lots of interference. The stock antennas are junk. I only got 300ft away on stock so I got the alfa 7db panels and haven't had any more problems, but I haven't let Solo get more than 350 ft up and 600 feet away as of yet. Haven't needed beyond that distance yet. The only reason I went to 600 was to test if the new antennas gave me more range. I like to stay close so I can see what's going on. I also spend more time looking at the bird than at the controller which is another reason I'd like the extra warning.
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This is actually kinda funny - we're discussing if 3DR might be wise to implement features that it already has.
Firstly, and likely most obvious, is that when your battery drops below 35% or so the only thing you should be seriously thinking about is landing. Period. You don't have a week to hang around up there and ponder things.
Then, you receive the low battery warnings. By that time a good pilot will likely already be into his landing approach.
If not, and RTH kicks in -
Solo is assuming you took off from an appropriate spot. It simply goes to altitude and heads home. Why? Why would it be programmed to ever do that with a low battery?
Don't you think it would be simpler if RTH never kicked on in connection to battery level at all?
Putting it simply, I'm betting the folks who implemented RTH reasoned that if a pilot flies to low battery warnings, ignores them, flies some more, ignores more warnings, etc., he very likely isn't going to straighten up and fly right in time to land safely.
Then it becomes a choice between RTH and the hope of a safe landing away from people and property to an almost certain disastrous crash into who-knows-what.
When you fly auto, you are effectively giving fine control to Solo in return for stable, guided flight. You are not going to performing advanced aerobatics - or really any shenanigans at all - while in that mode.
Those that know how can make the switch nearly instaneously. Those that don't - panic.
A panicked pilot is a lousy pilot. More than that, with Solo's weight, he has become a dangerous pilot.
RTH really makes sense in such a scenario.
If you don't want to depend on it, dedicate A or B button to manual.
Want to avoid future problems? Pay attention to alarms and/or your battery level. Or simply avoid flying in situations you don't feel completely in control of.
In the meantime I'd suggest leaving the settings where they are to help save someone else's Solo in the future.
Firstly, and likely most obvious, is that when your battery drops below 35% or so the only thing you should be seriously thinking about is landing. Period. You don't have a week to hang around up there and ponder things.
Then, you receive the low battery warnings. By that time a good pilot will likely already be into his landing approach.
If not, and RTH kicks in -
Solo is assuming you took off from an appropriate spot. It simply goes to altitude and heads home. Why? Why would it be programmed to ever do that with a low battery?
Don't you think it would be simpler if RTH never kicked on in connection to battery level at all?
Putting it simply, I'm betting the folks who implemented RTH reasoned that if a pilot flies to low battery warnings, ignores them, flies some more, ignores more warnings, etc., he very likely isn't going to straighten up and fly right in time to land safely.
Then it becomes a choice between RTH and the hope of a safe landing away from people and property to an almost certain disastrous crash into who-knows-what.
When you fly auto, you are effectively giving fine control to Solo in return for stable, guided flight. You are not going to performing advanced aerobatics - or really any shenanigans at all - while in that mode.
Those that know how can make the switch nearly instaneously. Those that don't - panic.
A panicked pilot is a lousy pilot. More than that, with Solo's weight, he has become a dangerous pilot.
RTH really makes sense in such a scenario.
If you don't want to depend on it, dedicate A or B button to manual.
Want to avoid future problems? Pay attention to alarms and/or your battery level. Or simply avoid flying in situations you don't feel completely in control of.
In the meantime I'd suggest leaving the settings where they are to help save someone else's Solo in the future.
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I've always flown in pretty much the same place, near the ocean but still in the city. Lost GPS and signal everytime which made me leery of taking it out far from me. Today I went out to a reservoir, wide open spaces, no other wi-fi signals. GPS came up before the app connected to Solo. I took it out to over 2000 ft where I couldn't see it anymore. The problem is the gimbal isn't working so I couldn't see where it was so did an RTH. Used two batteries and didn't have one disconnect. Got really brave and flew it all the way across the reservoir. I feel pretty confident now, willing to take more risks. You definitely have to fly according to your location. Once I get the gimbal issue fixed, I'll be a happy camper.
Had a similar incident by re-arming after a successful tower flight.
Solo flew itself into the ground from 100' up. Broke a couple of props,
bent the gimbal badly, ejected the gopro.
I was amazed at whatever the material is that the gimbal arm is made of...
I was able to carefully chuck it up in a vise and use a wrench to slowly bend it back into the right position... with none of the typical plastic stressing I would have expected.
GoPro was fine.
Whatever that plastic composite is it is amazing!
Solo flew itself into the ground from 100' up. Broke a couple of props,
bent the gimbal badly, ejected the gopro.
I was amazed at whatever the material is that the gimbal arm is made of...
I was able to carefully chuck it up in a vise and use a wrench to slowly bend it back into the right position... with none of the typical plastic stressing I would have expected.
GoPro was fine.
Whatever that plastic composite is it is amazing!
I had a spare gimbal but I thought about doing the same to the bent arm if I ever lose the good one.
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