Quadcopter crash from 3 perspectives

[Ronnie]

What can I say, I F....d-up, rushed the calibration process and did it wrong. The firmware in the heli won't let me pitch the copter that far over and limits descent to 2.5 M per second. Technically, the heli crashed itself (right after I took my hands off the controls) but only because I calibrated it incorrectly.

For context it was just after lunch on Saturday June 6, hottest day here in 8 months. Both restaurant patios had people watching me and boaters on the ramp stopped what they were doing to see what I was doing. That is what my wife told me anyway, I tried not to make eye contact with anyone after the incident. I almost made it back to the boat when some jackass walked up to me and said, "Dude, the drone crashed!" I started to explain why but by the glazed look in his eye I could tell he either didn't know what I was talking about, didn't care or both. No matter, what I wanted to say was, "No $hit, I crashed it, I was there, I remember".

The damage so far is three of four motors, two of four speed controllers and one of two arms on the gimbal. Incidentally, I don't think the crash impact caused the most damage the water did. Cost so far is about $160. I won't know if there is other damage until I get it back together. If the copter needs more parts I will probably buy a used one. If the gimbal is also broken I may buy a new Phantom 3 advanced model, got to have something for this boating season. The airdog is supposed to ship in late August and the Lily in Feb. 2016.

A humbling experience to say the least. Prior to the crash I went over the boat launch and heli flight plan with my family. I planned out the fight, the angles, approaches, etc. Once I got the heli in the air I was ready to be me.

 

[Andy S]

Great video but man that sucks about how much damage was done to your drone. You can rebuild it and make it better than before.

 

[Volffas]

What can I say, I F....d-up, rushed the calibration process and did it wrong. The firmware in the heli won't let me pitch the copter that far over and limits descent to 2.5 M per second. Technically, the heli crashed itself (right after I took my hands off the controls) but only because I calibrated it incorrectly.

Man I hate to watch that. Hopefully you will be able to repair it.

As a Phantom owner myself, can you please explain what part of the calibration process you did wrong? I have had my Phantom take off one time like that, but I was in an open field and was able to land it without incident. I never figured out what caused it to do that. I have big plans to take mine boating with us this year, but so far the days that I have had it out on the boat with us have been too windy for me to feel confident enough to try it out.

 

[Ronnie]

So I calibrated and tested it in the parking lot and used it the weekend before so I know it was fine before we went to the ramp. Not wanting to be "that guy" at the ramp who takes up too much time launching or recovering I decided to recalibrate it again (just in case I needed to use the return to home function, which I never have other than testing to see that it works). The first time I calibrated it at the ramp I spun it clockwise twice not once while it was level. It threw my a warning that something was wrong with the leds flashing red/yellow not green. When I recalibrated it I suspect that I didn't actually trigger the calibration process so it didn't actually get recalibrated before I took off.

For context the calibration / setting the home point procedure which is sometimes referred to as the compass dance is to activate the function by toggling one of the controller's switches 10 times than rotate the helicopter 360 degrees once while it is level and again facing downward. Fortunately/unfortuneately, I have experience rebuilding these things and got lots of practice on my, now my son's, phantom 1. Lots of soldering/mini welding involved which I suck at so I may just pay the kid that works at the hobby store to do it. I've got a bad feeling that this is now going to be a parts vehicle though because when I power it up the throttle does not return to hover power when the control stick is released and it springs back to center. This could be an indicator that the main board or controller are fried making repair uneconomical. The cost of a P2V is around $600 a P3advanced is $1100.

FYI - I didn't let the crash ruin the day, afterwards we launched the boat, had a blast and got it back home without incident.

 

[Chris K]

https://www.lily.camera/

that is all.
no need to worry about stainky manual controls again.... ordered, and I cant wait till FEB 2016...

goint to hook up its tracker to my father in laws phantom 2 and see how that runs...

 

[Ronnie]

I ordered one as well. A few months prior I ordered an air dog. There is a lot less info available on the lily which makes me wonder if it will actually be released, ever.

 

[maboat]

https://www.lily.camera/
... ordered, and I cant wait till FEB 2016...

I "can't wait" until Feb 2016 either. Thats why I'll most likely be getting something ELSE

 

[Scottintexas]

and "little Ronnie" says "wow, being part of this family you never know what's going to happen!"

 

[Volffas]

So I calibrated and tested it in the parking lot and used it the weekend before so I know it was fine before we went to the ramp. Not wanting to be "that guy" at the ramp who takes up too much time launching or recovering I decided to recalibrate it again (just in case I needed to use the return to home function, which I never have other than testing to see that it works). The first time I calibrated it at the ramp I spun it clockwise twice not once while it was level. It threw my a warning that something was wrong with the leds flashing red/yellow not green. When I recalibrated it I suspect that I didn't actually trigger the calibration process so it didn't actually get recalibrated before I took off.

For context the calibration / setting the home point procedure which is sometimes referred to as the compass dance is to activate the function by toggling one of the controller's switches 10 times than rotate the helicopter 360 degrees once while it is level and again facing downward. Fortunately/unfortuneately, I have experience rebuilding these things and got lots of practice on my, now my son's, phantom 1. Lots of soldering/mini welding involved which I suck at so I may just pay the kid that works at the hobby store to do it. I've got a bad feeling that this is now going to be a parts vehicle though because when I power it up the throttle does not return to hover power when the control stick is released and it springs back to center. This could be an indicator that the main board or controller are fried making repair uneconomical. The cost of a P2V is around $600 a P3advanced is $1100.

FYI - I didn't let the crash ruin the day, afterwards we launched the boat, had a blast and got it back home without incident.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm glad you still had a great day, I'm not so sure I would recover as quick as you did!

 

[Ronnie]

Funny my son is the one who reacted appropriately. He was ready move. I've been flying rc helis for over 10 years and always tell people, if you see me running try and keep up. My sister in law acted like she was going to catch it, not a good idea at all. Incidentally, it was the water that caused the most damage not the impact with the dock which only broke the gimbal arm.

 

[Glassman]

Sale
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Use code: PHANTOM Price is $599


Sorry to hear about this Ronnie

I got off easy, got caught in a sudden dust devil. It slammed into the back of my toy hauler, broke two prop guards and messed up two props. Airborne again in an hour.

 

[Ronnie]

@Glassman , thanks

Update:
I ended up replacing 3 of 4 electronic speed controllers and 3 of 4 rotor blades.

I'm still waiting on a gimbal arm but everything else checks out on the bench.

Glassman was right, I also took the opportunity to do some upgrades like carbon fiber rotor blades, (3d printed) quick clips on the blade guards and more secure floatation as well as some new decals.
I should be up and flying again in a few days.

 

[captainhook]

At least it didn't hit the boat.