Auto return home crashed my Solo

[XevetS]

It was more like a branch and I had 9 sats when it lost it. I'm sorry but if you fly under a branch and loose your 9 sats, then this thing (gps) is just plain crap. Period. I have a mobile sat radio installed in my car and i can drive though a garage structure and dont loose it as i drive through multiple floors, and I'm sure its not on 9 sats. Flying low or high really shouldnt matter should it?
Really... ? A freaking branch? Its just ridiculous, all the complaints and also all the upgrades you have to do just to get this thing to fly right and not crash into a random wind sheild. If I didnt have so much money and time invested into this platform (with all the promise from 3DR hype before they abandoned us) I'd probably just sell it and start over from scratch and build my own.
A freaking branch!

Branches are extremely dense ever have one fall on your car or house? Just hold your hand above the gps unit and see if you lose the signal? The copter is designed to fly above the trees not below them. If you fly below them just expect to lose signal and be prepared to react. Practice, take the solo to a park and practice taking off flying and landing in either manual mode (which holds altitude for you but will drift laterally) , or in stabilize mode in which you must control altitude also. Its not as easy so try manual mode first and master it. Then you can be prepared for the inevitable and will only have yourself to blame if/when you crash again....I've crashed myself more than a few times and everyone of the times I blamed myself not the drone, because I was doing something I should of known better not to do..

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Comparing SirusXM music to precision GNSS is even more laughable.

 

[thefastbird]

Seems like this would have been a good time to have the A button programmed for Fly:Manual mode. When it hit 10% and started zooming up, a quick touch of the A button would have brought it back under your control and you could have set it right down.

That is a really great idea, I lost my Solo one time just for this very same reason, I was a little higher off the ground, but still, no reason for Solo to take off, if I had my "a" button programmed for Fly, I would have saved myself, a set of props and would have been able to fly longer that day. Thanks for the idea!

 

[kluulz]

Guys I apologies for not reading through this thread, but I almost lost my solo to something similar.

I got the 25% warning while the solo is about 5m from the ground, but like 7m away from me, I hit the home bottom to get it to auto fly back to me. But it attempts to rush up and crashes into a tree. Luckily it fell into a bush. This is despite the settings under 'return home' set to hover at 5m.

I go out to open field to run some tests. I do the 'change settings and restart app' to make sure the hover altitude changes. I try 0m and 5m. Everytime I hit the home botton the Solo races up to over 20meters...

 

[DJMc]

The return to home logic is reasonably complicated - it depends on distance from start and altitude. I don't think there is a scenario where a return home doesn't start with some kind of climb. The 'Cone Zone' diagrams in Figures 5.4.1 of the manual have the detail, which might help explain the behaviour you're seeing for your scenario.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

There is a minimum climb parameter that will always execute. I believe the default is about 10 meters. If you're flying under a tree, you're not flying in a very wise location.

 

[kluulz]

There is a minimum climb parameter that will always execute. I believe the default is about 10 meters. If you're flying under a tree, you're not flying in a very wise location.

Well noted. Thanks!

 

[jimloss]

I just tested while flying a short while ago:

If Solo is within the cone: it rises a short distance (less than 5 meters) and then lands.

If outside, but below cone: it seems to rise about 10 meters minimum or further if needed to get into the cone, then returns home and lands.

If totally outside the cone: rises to RTH height setting, returns home and lands.