Litchi Mission Lost Phantom

[JohnnyB]

Dave if you see this in the a.m. before you leave, I got down on street view looking at your trees between 2 and 3. I would definitely look the full distance between 2 and 3. Huge trees close to 2. And I didn't see a hill close to 3 so it must be a gradual rise between 2 and 3 making it a larger space to look. Any of those tall stands of trees it could've hit. This is looking right, before you get to the first curve to the right on Putnam Rd. towards waypoint 2. Those trees are huge.. right under, or through your path. worth a look there too. Good luck buddy. Hope for a good report!!!

 

[Gaffzilla]

I've just seen this thread, read it from start to finish, it's fascinating. Are those trees currently in leaf or bare like ours in the uk? Good luck finding your drone.


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[DaveD]

I know exactly where that is. There is a house back there sets way back. I walked through their back yard and then through those small apple trees you see there. I will canvas that area again this morning when I go out looking. @Gaffzilla- all the trees are bare right now. Currently all the snow is gone also so it should be easier to spot. Just waiting for it to get light out now. Still dark out. Fueling up on coffee.

 

[WilliamM]

Hi Dude
Sorry to hear about your loss...
The flight plan seems to have been a bit ambitious, if you don't mind me saying.. 3.2 miles of autonomous flight big ask.
The Phantom needs a good GPS signal to fly a Litchi mission, your flight log shows that for the majority of the time you did not have one, ie in and out of Atti mode and NaviGo mode with some few GPS locks now and again.
I assume that when you were satisfied that the bird was into the mission you set off to your brothers house, thus moving the RC away.
So yes Litchi can continue the mission even when the RC signal is lost, but in the mission what did you program into the "Loss of signal" event, was it hover in place, or land or RTH . Perhaps the bird did whatever the loss of signal event was programmed to be, perhaps it was Land, or RTH.
So if you were 3.2 miles away (out of LOS) you could not know what happened.
I take it that you did search the location show at the end of the mission trace, or at the point of take off.
Anyway good luck I hope you get her back.
Waylander.

3 miles is not a long Litchi flight plan, it was only one way, not a round trip. Next RTH failsafe does not pertain when flying a waypount mission.

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[BillW50]

3 miles is not a long Litchi flight plan, it was only one way, not a round trip. Next RTH failsafe does not pertain when flying a waypount mission.

But a low battery will trip RTH even if it is in the middle of a mission, right?

 

[BillW50]

I sure wish Dave would go out and look for it already. As this suspense is killing me.

I lost a quadcopter once a couple of years ago. I was flying my UDI U818A without the top cover (about the third of the weight of the copter) about 175 feet up and suddenly it got really windy. And the wind was blowing towards the tree line. I tilted the bottom towards the tree line and I gave it full throttle to bring it back. It lifted up and coming back, but it lost momentum and swung down the other side of a hill like a pendulum and I couldn't see it. Nor did it get back up.

Told my neighbor that I lost it on his property somewhere and we looked for it and couldn't find it. Then the next 6 days it was just pouring cats and dogs day and night. I pretty much had given up hope and I bought a second one. The seventh day it was sunny and dry and I got a call from my neighbor he found part of it.

Found out it was the whole thing except the top cover that I removed. Everything was in perfect condition except the battery drained down to 2.5v. Even the videos were still on the SD card. So I could replay everything that happened. And it happened just as I imagined it did.

Hopefully Dave's story will have a happy ending too.

 

[WilliamM]

But a low battery will trip RTH even if it is in the middle of a mission, right?

If I recollect the OP stated he had turned off Smart rth within the Go app first. When doing so the FW does not keep track of battery percent needed to return back to the homepoint or the completion of a Litchi mission. But when your critical battery level as set within the Go app is reached the aircraft will land at that point.

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[Steve G]

Been reading this thread from the beginning. Can't wait to find out if he get's his bird back. I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on Litchi but was discouraged by a couple bad reviews in the app store. Threads like this one and others on this site are very reassuring. I will definitely be purchasing Litchi.

 

[WilliamM]

Been reading this thread from the beginning. Can't wait to find out if he get's his bird back. I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on Litchi but was discouraged by a couple bad reviews in the app store. Threads like this one and others on this site are very reassuring. I will definitely be purchasing Litchi.

I think you've come to the same conclusion as me, that you cannot go by a few bad reviews on any product. People that are dissatisfied or somehow feel ripped off give a product a terrible review to somehow get back at the manufacturer. I always take bad reviews with a grain of salt and feel that the middle of the road reviews and five-star reviews are actually more representative of the quality of a product.

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[BillW50]

Been reading this thread from the beginning. Can't wait to find out if he get's his bird back. I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on Litchi but was discouraged by a couple bad reviews in the app store. Threads like this one and others on this site are very reassuring. I will definitely be purchasing Litchi.

Oh I love Litchi. I too was on the fence for a long time but then finally bought it. Its the best money spent with this hobby. Although I did it a bit differently. At first, I only flew missions very close to home. Then stretching them out a bit further away with each mission. And I am glad I did. As I thought I was at the highest point in this forest for 8 miles around. I found out I am almost. As one mission stretch far enough to see past the turnaround and I could see a 100 foot hill 100 foot higher than I was.

Then I was looking for topographic maps. Found some, then I found out the Litchi hub map has a toggle for terrain build in. And its a topographic map view with your mission on top of it. So even though the landscape can change up to 300 feet in height within 8 miles from me. I am still 0 to 200 feet higher than 99% of the areas I could fly to.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Been reading this thread from the beginning. Can't wait to find out if he get's his bird back. I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on Litchi but was discouraged by a couple bad reviews in the app store. Threads like this one and others on this site are very reassuring. I will definitely be purchasing Litchi.

As The Drone Turns is better than any Soap. If Dave doesn't find his bird all us viewers should chip in and buy him one.

 

[nscaler2]

I never ever plan a mission on a tablet or phone. When using the computer the 1st waypoint will say "Ground Elevation: Xft (0 ft above first waypoint). Set waypoint 2 and it will say "Ground Elevation: X+50ft (50ft above 1st waypoint) Waypoint 3 "Ground Elevation: X+300ft (300ft above 1st waypoint).

To maintain an above ground elevation, you need to use X as the elevation Litchi gives you at the 1st waypoint and add that value to each subsequent waypoint ground elevation reading (from Litchi). In this example X=268ft.

So at waypoint 2 Litchi says. "Ground Elevation: 310ft (42ft above first waypoint)

Simply take 42 and added it to X which is 268 and you get 310. If the OP wanted to maintain 154ft above ground level at waypoint 2, the elevation of waypoint 2 needed to be 310. But as I said earlier, these waypoints are WAY too far apart. Even if the values of waypoint 1 and 2 were as I suggested that doesn't account for any ground changes in between. The bird will rise consistently between the two points of elevation. So the best way I have found to be safe is to add several points between each point you have set and then use the math I laid out and make finite adjustments. I live in a very mountainous area and I have executed mission that go -500ft to +1000ft in elevation change using this technique. It's all math.

Here is another method of planning a mission using google earth first to plot way points, then saving it as a .kml file then importing it into Litchi Mission hub. By doing this, all of your waypoints will have their altitude set in relation to the actual ASL plus what you set for your AGL. Here is a link to a video that explains how to do this. Looks like it works. Link:

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

This is interesting. I opened the .kml in google earth, extended the path to ground. It shows path not clearing at points. Take a look at the .kml(open with Google earth You may need to right click it in earth/properties/extend to ground. (Shift/left mouse to pan) (View it at about a 30 degree angle) Notice: The map in Google earth shows only the ground topography, it does not include tree rendering in the 3-D view
https://www.flightreplay.com/tracks/2618/6505/lost-litchimission.kml

 

[potluckman]

I sent the P3S up on its second waypoint mission of the day. It went up and headed in the right direction. It got out to 1400 feet from home and It lost signal/disconnected. I wasn't that worried because I thought it would still carry out the mission. It never came back. I have walked the 1st 2 or so miles of the outgoing flight path looking with no luck. I used find my aircraft in the litchi app with no luck. My wife and I scoured the area where it lost signal with now luck. Would this newly constructed solar farm have a negative effect on my flight? Here is the healthy drone info: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
Any help would be appreciated.

Very sorry you lost your drone, I am new to drones but not aviation and am also looking at a low cost tracking unit. But I am a little confused in that you list you own a P3 Standard that came from Target. If that is the case, I have to wonder why you were flying so far away when the stock P3S is only rated for about 1/2 a mile as it does not have the Lightbridge long range system like the P4. Am I missing something here.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Very sorry you lost your drone, I am new to drones but not aviation and am also looking at a low cost tracking unit. But I am a little confused in that you list you own a P3 Standard that came from Target. If that is the case, I have to wonder why you were flying so far away when the stock P3S is only rated for about 1/2 a mile as it does not have the Lightbridge long range system like the P4. Am I missing something here.

He was using Litchi ( Litchi for DJI Mavic/Phantom/Inspire ) It would allow for greater distances as far as the battery can last.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

One thing I do if unsure of object danger is fly the mission first at a high alt. Then review the footage and make alt. adjustments accordingly. (Can't go wrong if you're high...)

 

[CCrew]

It was set to return to home. I also had turned off "smart return to home" in the DjiGo app prior to this mission. It was a bit ambitious I admit that. I take full responsibility for this. It seemed to have a decent Gps lock before I sent it. My wife is making me get a tracker for the next one.

Good luck finding it. re: the wife, hope you have better luck than I did, mine wanted me to buy one and a brand spanking new Trackimo arrived yesterday. Dead as a doornail it is :-(

 

[CCrew]

Definitely wait for a more educated analysis which I'm certain is forthcoming. Not sure when you got it but if you are still in warranty and if it was a GPS error or malfunction of any kind DJI might replace it for you.

I think it's been the experience of a lot of users if you can't supply the GO logs they won't consider warranty on a lost bird. That's a pretty grey area I know but there are disclaimers from some of the DJI reps on their own board that with Litchi you're pretty much on your own.

 

[CCrew]

I have mentioned this before but all the FanBoys who still have their drones swear it is always operator error or anything besides Litchi, so I gave up my crusade.

I've found their google groups support to be great, which is maybe why some of us read statements like this and think that maybe it's just someone venting. Just saying.

 

[Pharm]

Here is another method of planning a mission using google earth first to plot way points, then saving it as a .kml file then importing it into Litchi Mission hub. By doing this, all of your waypoints will have their altitude set in relation to the actual ASL plus what you set for your AGL. Here is a link to a video that explains how to do this. Looks like it works. Link:

Thanks. That has already been posted though. See post # 115.