P3S makes unplanned descent during mission - now lost

[Dronut2]

While running a set of waypoints that I've used several times (four stops, all above 150'), my drone decided to descend from just under 400 feet while at stop 1. The last thing I saw through the camera was a tree at about 68 feet altitude. I tried adding thrust, but it seemed to not respond, then signal lost (as well as drone).

I looked at the flight data, and it showed just that. There was one additional data point about 3 seconds later and 100 yards away at a height of 65 ft in the direction of way point 2. Then nothing.

Can anyone explain this behavior? Anyone have any ideas? There are 100 ft trees between stop 1 and stop 2, so as of now I am guessing it;s in that mess. But then why would it be headed to stop 2 at 65 feet? Why on earth would it descend during a set of way points? Frustrated.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

I did a mission also. I did not set one of the altitudes correctly and hit a tree after I lost contact. I tracked my drone to a golf course at night, but couldn't find it. The manager called my phone number on the leg. Always put your number on the drone. Always double check your altitudes. Do a walkthru and look in the trees. The manager tried to track me from the mem card video.

 

[Dronut2]

I did a mission also. I did not set one of the altitudes correctly and hit a tree after I lost contact. I tracked my drone to a golf course at night, but couldn't find it. The manager called my phone number on the leg. Always put your number on the drone. Always double check your altitudes. Do a walkthru and look in the trees. The manager tried to track me from the mem card video.

Chances are good that someone will return it if you have your phone number on it.

 

[Dronut2]

While running a set of waypoints that I've used several times (four stops, all above 150'), my drone decided to descend from just under 400 feet while at stop 1. The last thing I saw through the camera was a tree at about 68 feet altitude. I tried adding thrust, but it seemed to not respond, then signal lost (as well as drone).

I looked at the flight data, and it showed just that. There was one additional data point about 3 seconds later and 100 yards away at a height of 65 ft in the direction of way point 2. Then nothing.

Can anyone explain this behavior? Anyone have any ideas? There are 100 ft trees between stop 1 and stop 2, so as of now I am guessing it;s in that mess. But then why would it be headed to stop 2 at 65 feet? Why on earth would it descend during a set of way points? Frustrated.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

I did a mission also. I did not set one of the altitudes correctly and hit a tree after I lost contact. I tracked my drone to a golf course at night, but couldn't find it. The manager called my phone number on the leg. Always put your number on the drone. Always double check your alt

While running a set of waypoints that I've used several times (four stops, all above 150'), my drone decided to descend from just under 400 feet while at stop 1. The last thing I saw through the camera was a tree at about 68 feet altitude. I tried adding thrust, but it seemed to not respond, then signal lost (as well as drone).

I looked at the flight data, and it showed just that. There was one additional data point about 3 seconds later and 100 yards away at a height of 65 ft in the direction of way point 2. Then nothing.

Can anyone explain this behavior? Anyone have any ideas? There are 100 ft trees between stop 1 and stop 2, so as of now I am guessing it;s in that mess. But then why would it be headed to stop 2 at 65 feet? Why on earth would it descend during a set of way points? Frustrated.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

I am thinking that you might have tapped the screen and added another way point accidentally

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

I did a mission also. I did not set one of the altitudes correctly and hit a tree after I lost contact. I tracked my drone to a golf course at night, but couldn't find it. The manager called my phone number on the leg. Always put your number on the drone. Always double check your alt

I am thinking that you might have tapped the screen and added another way point accidentally

Can you add a waypoint while flying a set of waypoints?

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

An update: I checked the elevation of the location where it descended, and it is about 60 feet higher (+- 15 feet?) than my home location. I also looked a lot closer at the final data points, especially the vertical speed. It descended at around 6 MPH until the last few points where it steadily decreased to near zero. I've concluded that it must have made a controlled landing at that spot. I have no idea why - could it have been hijacked? I've also concluded that someone must have picked it up and made off with it. Thoughts?

 

[Fly Dawg]

How are you determining the "controlled" landing when the last data point indicates otherwise? Just wondering how you are determining that. As you saw in the data, just before signal loss, it was indeed descending at a slow speed, however that final blip of data when signal was reacquired says otherwise. Sure would be nice to have the on board DAT file.

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

How are you determining the "controlled" landing when the last data point indicates otherwise? Just wondering how you are determining that. As you saw in the data, just before signal loss, it was indeed descending at a slow speed, however that final blip of data when signal was reacquired says otherwise. Sure would be nice to have the on board DAT file.

I am imaging that last data point was sent while someone was walking (or driving) off with it. Of note, the power consumption reported at that last data point was 0. Where every other point during the descent was between 1 and 15 Amps. Tells me that the motors were not running when that last data point was received, but the drone was clearly moving.

 

[Fly Dawg]

If you obtained the amperage data from Airdata please share the link. I see no correlation in the CSV or the Phantom Help data.

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

If you obtained the amperage data from Airdata please share the link. I see no correlation in the CSV or the Phantom Help data.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[Fly Dawg]

Of note, the power consumption reported at that last data point was 0. Where every other point during the descent was between 1 and 15 Amps.

I took a quick look at the airdata, and either I am not seeing the "Descent" reference you are referring to or im just tired...LOL. In a slow descent the amperage is normal. ( Shown in Green, on Airdata).

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

I took a quick look at the airdata, and either I am not seeing the "Descent" reference you are referring to or im just tired...LOL. In a slow descent the amperage is normal. ( Shown in Green, on Airdata).

The decent data (vertical speed) was gleaned from another web site (forget the name). And in the Airdata view, the last data ping does not show up in the power measurements at all. I could be interpreting it wrong, but if the drone was still actually flying at that final location, I would expect to see some power consumption.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I could be interpreting it wrong, but if the drone was still actually flying at that final location, I would expect to see some power consumption.

Agreed, but without seeing that data, not that it is of great importance at this point, one can only speculate. Just looking at the data again and the elevation profiles, just taking a wild guess, I would say the actual altitude from ground level at the point of signal loss would be around 20-30 ft. That being said, and assuming that is fairly accurate the elevation profile goes down at the final blip of data, which would put the actual altitude around 40-50 feet at that point. Of coarse, this is speculative, given the many tolerance variables. You may never know what actually occurred.

 

[UnluckyInFlight]

Agreed, but without seeing that data, not that it is of great importance at this point, one can only speculate. Just looking at the data again and the elevation profiles, just taking a wild guess, I would say the actual altitude from ground level at the point of signal loss would be around 20-30 ft. That being said, and assuming that is fairly accurate the elevation profile goes down at the final blip of data, which would put the actual altitude around 40-50 feet at that point. Of coarse, this is speculative, given the many tolerance variables. You may never know what actually occurred.

And that part sucks (the 'not knowing'). I took a GPS and measured the difference between the home elevation, and that of ground at the descent position. It showed about 50 feet, +/- 20 feet difference. Inconclusive. Again.

If I ever get another drone, I'm gonna put a leash on it.

 

[Buzz In California]

Do you own another drone to go looking for the lost drone?