Some advice and guidance please on IOC

[Peter Evans]

Firstly let me reiterate that I'm a photographer first and foremost and that, whilst I'm reasonably intelligent and love computing and technology, I'm an absolute R/C novice.

OK, with that said, this is what I would like to do:

A. For stills, I want to fly my Vision (as it comes out of the box) to a position which gives me a view of a subject I couldn't normally obtain, line up the camera, compose the image, and take the shot.

B. For video, on occasion I want to fly to a position, e.g. the tower of a ruined church just across the road from me, and circle the building, keeping the camera pointed at the tower continuously.

I have sorted out (A) for myself - and to quote Frank Spencer, "every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better"

However, I am really, really confused about (B) even after hours of research and reading the manual. It seems that the ideal way to do this would be, firstly, for me to fly to the desired point (e.g. my tower) climb above it and hover, then reset the Vision's Home Point. That, I think I can manage. It's the next bit that I'm struggling with because the second thing I seem to need to do is to switch to IOC mode.

It seems that the Vision doesn't have IOC enabled out of the box and that I have to set this up using the Assistant (or is it the R/C Assistant? - see I told you I was confused) and I'm not absolutely sure how to do that without sending everything else FUBAR.

So I suppose it boils down to three questions:

1. Is it possible to switch from 'normal' (i.e. out of the box) flight mode to IOC mode and back again whilst out in the field? And if so then:

2. How do I set up IOC mode to be available on the controller?

3. How do I switch between normal and IOC mode whilst flying?

If anyone has the patience to give me step by step guidance on this, I'd be forever grateful.

 

[pault]

There is a recent post discussing what you want to do (fly around the tower). It appears that the Naza controller in our PV2 's cannot do this automatically so unfortunately it is just down to practice.

As regards switching between Vision and NAZAM mode, you would have to take a laptop with you. I cannot see why you would wish to do this as Vision mode is just a subset of NAZAM so when you feel it is time to have the additional NAZAM functionality I cannot see why you would wish to go back.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

So I suppose it boils down to three questions:

1. Is it possible to switch from 'normal' (i.e. out of the box) flight mode to IOC mode and back again whilst out in the field? And if so then:

2. How do I set up IOC mode to be available on the controller?

3. How do I switch between normal and IOC mode whilst flying?

If anyone has the patience to give me step by step guidance on this, I'd be forever grateful.

1. Yes

2. Connect to Vision 2 assistant. At the top of the screen you will see a button which says either Nazam or Phantom. This is the mode that your currently set to. You have to change this to Nazam. You will be asked do you really want to do this. Confirm and the switch is made. You can change it back to out of the box the same way.

Then in the assistant you have to turn IOC on. This enables the S1 switch. Pos 1 = IOC off. Pos 2 = IOC Course lock Pos 3 = IOC Home lock.

3. Switching IOC on/off is as simple as flicking S1 to the desired position. In the OFF position the phantom acts just like it does out of the box in GPS mode.

Lastly I don't think IOC will help you to film that church spire. You will have to manually turn the camera yourself and having the skill to do that is the same skill as flying the phantom yourself using both sticks simultaneously.

As your new to RC flight I would recommend you invest in a cheap simulator where you can practice those stick skills to your hearts content without risking any damage to your investment. I recommend Heli-X and I have posted a number of posts on that subject.

Welcome and enjoy your phantom.

PS to learn how to use IOC then there are a number of posts that explains how it works. Just search IOC in my search link below, that link works much better than the forum search.

 

[LeoS]

Just a bit more info... the Phantom Vision's flight controller (a variant of NAZA-M) has 2 modes in which it can operate with:

1. The Phantom Vision Mode (default): This is what it's set up with from the factory. The manual and all official DJI videos will assume you're working with PV in this mode. It's the simpler mode, but gets 90% of the job done for most new users.

2. The NAZA-M mode: This mode has more functions and settings for the pilot. The left switch on your remote will change how your Phantom is oriented (Normal, IOC home lock and IOC course mode), the right switch will change the flight modes where some of the automations can be turned off (GPS, ATTI, Manual). Because there are more information to relay with all these combinations, the LED signals are also different. Please refer to the NAZA-M manual for more info of this.

NAZA intro\marketing:

http://www.dji.com/feature/naza-m-features/

NAZA wiki page:

http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/Naza-M_LED_Indicator

If you've switch to NAZA-like mode, I'd recommend to set the S2 tx switch (bottom position) to RTH rather than Manual mode.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

If you've switch to NAZA-like mode, I'd recommend to set the S2 tx switch (bottom position) to RTH rather than Manual mode.

A very good point.

One thing you will hear about is flying in ATTI mode. In Naza thats the right switch in position 2. ATTI turns off the gps position hold but still keeps the Phantom level. This allows you to take smoother video, less vibration in photos. The big difference is though that your Phantom will drift with the wind and or continue to move in the direction of flight if you let the sticks go. Once you have your shot flick the right button back up to GPS mode and it will just hover.

This is what the Naza light sequence means

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbmfg-RXHvc

 

[Peter Evans]

[

Lastly I don't think IOC will help you to film that church spire. You will have to manually turn the camera yourself and having the skill to do that is the same skill as flying the phantom yourself using both sticks simultaneously.

Thanks very much to you all for the prompt replies

Shrimpfarmer, regarding that point you made about IOC and the church spire, I had already found this in the forum and copied and saved it. The problem is I don't now know where I found it!! This is copied from my notes:
_________________________________________________________________________________
"I love how basic simple questions are being wrongly answered! It's destroying this forum!

With home lock, the phantom should circle the home point with only roll applied! If you have it facing nose in it should stay facing nose in for the entire circle. . .

So to circle something that you can't take off from you need to go fly above it, reset the home point and the active HL (remember to fly out of the new home point 10m radius), point the cam at the home point, and push the right stick to the left or right and it should circle the new home point! "
__________________________________________________________________________________

I'll go and look for that post again!

PS
The Phantom Wiki videos are all marked as private when I try to view them. Entering either of my DJI login personas doesn't work and I can't see anywhere on DJI Wiki to register any login details

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Hi Peter

I played with IOC in home lock but I could not get it to do that. Now being fair to that poster I cannot say I definitely tried what he suggests so maybe he is right. I will certainly try that again because of course it would be useful. Of course it would only work if you were standing in the centre of the circle. Now if thats a church spire that probably means your Phantom is going to fly out of sight and maybe lose both vision and Tx control due to the building blocking line of sight. I suppose you could hover directly over the spire and reset your home position ? Then maybe it would circle the spire ? I have not tried that.

IOC mode can be very confusing for an experienced RC flyer let alone a novice. Make sure you have burned into your memory how to turn it off if you become disorientated. The problem is that with it turned on the sticks do not react as usual.

The only time I will probably use it is if I can no longer see the orientation of my Phantom in the sky and I have lost vision on my iPhone. Then I would use home lock to bring it back to where it took off from.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

PS

If your looking for the DJI videos I recommend visiting Gunslinger's excellent site http://www.droneslinger.com

 

[Peter Evans]

"Of course it would only work if you were standing in the centre of the circle"

But surely that's the point of hovering above the 'target' subject and resetting the Home Point? That new Home Point then becomes the centre of the circle and it doesn't matter where I am? Or am I missing something?

(Still looking for that post!)

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

No your not missing anything, apologies I was guilty of writing my thoughts as I was typing there. Yes you could stand in one position so that you could see everything. Fly above the target and set a new home lock position and then try IOC to fly around it. If it works then the only downside would be that is where its going to land if control is lost and cannot be regained. Thats a very low risk though in my opinion.

I will certainly give IOC fly around one more go. I had not seen that post you referred to before. I so far have not seen anyone confirming an IOC fly around is possible. Time will tell.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

One thing to remember is that IOC only works when your over a certain distance (30ft I think) away from your home position. I fell for that one the first time I tried it.

 

[Scottrod]

+1 on setting home point above the target then using home lock mode. Keep in mind you may need to make slight adjustments during flight to keep the camera perfectly pointed and centered on the target.

 

[Peter Evans]

OK, as per the Shrimpfarmer's guidance, I successfully changed the settings via the PC but it then started raining, and now it's going dark. Sod's law. I'll try it tomorrow, in between the scattered showers we have forecast

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

OK, as per the Shrimpfarmer's guidance, I successfully changed the settings via the PC but it then started raining, and now it's going dark. Sod's law. I'll try it tomorrow, in between the scattered showers we have forecast

Very wise..... one always needs to be able to clearly identify the cause of a crash, darkness wind and rain can sometimes make that harder. :lol:

Good luck with your tests when the weather improves. Let us know your results.

 

[Peter Evans]

OK, as per the Shrimpfarmer's guidance, I successfully changed the settings via the PC but it then started raining, and now it's going dark. Sod's law. I'll try it tomorrow, in between the scattered showers we have forecast

Very wise..... one always needs to be able to clearly identify the cause of a crash

Oh ye of little faith!

Yes, I'll update tomorrow (hopefully, French weather forecasting isn't great!)

Thanks again

 

[AnselA]

This is interesting thread and I am eagerly waiting for Peter's post about his experiment.

However, in Naza-m document ( http://www.dji.com/feature/naza-m-features/ ) there's a picture, which does not (?) promise that nose direction/camera would allways point to home location in home lock mode.

Looks like Joystick J1: Roll [left&right] control would make circling around the home location easy, but it does not change the direction camera is pointing to.

 

[AnselA]

Then in the assistant you have to turn IOC on. This enables the S1 switch. Pos 1 = IOC off. Pos 2 = IOC Course lock Pos 3 = IOC Home lock.

2. The NAZA-M mode: This mode has more functions and settings for the pilot. The left switch on your remote will change how your Phantom is oriented (Normal, IOC home lock and IOC course mode), the right switch will change the flight modes where some of the automations can be turned off (GPS, ATTI, Manual).

Switch S1 is the right one?
Switch S2 is the left one?

Correct?

 

[Pull_Up]

S1 right, S2 left. Flight modes on S1, IOC modes on S2.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

I went out today and experimented using IOC Home Lock. Initially it flew an arc but as I got past 180deg the arc got wider and wider until I had to bring it back to me. Now there was a wind so that may have something to do with it but I doubt it. I certainly could not keep the camera pointing at me without yawing it.

The problem with IOC Home Lock is that even if yours will fly a proper circle you have to be at least 30 ft away from centre. In my view due to the wide angle lens your target will be rather small in the frame.

You would be much better off just practicing nose in flying and learning to fly a circle then you can make that as big as you want.

 

[Peter Evans]

Yep, I was out today too and I discovered exactly that! Then, when I came back in, I then got engrossed in the whole new RAW update issue and got sidetracked!

What I did find was that, by sellotaping a Q-tip next to each control stick, I was able to watch the scene on the screen and use the controllers really well to move smoothly round and keep my subject centred. I find the sticks are very sensitive (probably great for r/c enthusiast flyers, but much too sensitive for my purposes) so restricting their movement with the the two Q-tip sticks helped hugely.