This could have been discussed before here but if not, I read in another blog somewhere where someone had discovered that keeping old Home Points was causing this. They said to delete old HP's. Sorry, I won't steal your post.
I lost control after Battery Change
- Thread starter John Casey
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How do you delete old home points? I always set a new Home Point before takeoff, and I always assumed that would delete / override the old one. But are you saying that you have to delete old ones some other way?
Glad I happened to think of it. I'm a newbie, so have no real experience to rely on. I've been most interested in this discussion. Might save me significant grief.
Hi John,
I'm sorry to hear about your bad flight experience. It's always frustrating when something doesn't go right, but it's especially unnerving with such an expensive piece of equipment.
I've been reading through the thread and noticed some concerning points regarding your familiarity with the craft and the app. Here are the specific quotes...
"No-one takes flying these things safely more than me."
"I wasn't aware that you had to switch the option on to allow ATTI mode."
"Is there any good online instructions for calibrating the IMU? Are there any traps with doing it?"
"How do you delete old home points?"
Allowing ATTI mode via the app and calibrating the IMU are critical steps to flying the Inspire. In fact, IMU calibration is one of the first things that should be done with a new Inspire. It's difficult to reconcile your statement about flying safely while not knowing about ATTI mode in the app and how to calibrate the IMU. No one can know everything about these crafts (they are rather complicated after all), but these 2 points are fairly critical.
I had a similar "flyaway" experience shortly after acquiring my Inspire 1. After a successful flight, I landed, powered down, swapped batteries, then started up and took off. After about 20-30 seconds of flight on the 2nd battery it started to pull hard to one corner then moved erratically. It wouldn't respond to stick movements. I switched to ATTI mode and everything returned to normal (except, no GPS-assisted control, of course). I quickly landed the I1, then packed it up until I could do some research and do some test flights in a more open area. I don't know if I "fixed" the issue (I doubt it) but here's what I learned:
- It's important to stay on top of the firmware and app updates (not just performing the updates but knowing what's different and why you're updating). That said, don't necessarily jump to be the first user of the latest firmware.
- Close all other open apps on your device and power cycle it before a flying session.
- Physically inspect the craft for any issues before EVERY flight.
- Ensure the camera/gimbal is seated properly and connected securely.
- Enable multiple flight modes in the Pilot app and check that it's enabled before each flight.
- If the app isn't telling you to calibrate, don't calibrate. Simply lift off (after performing hardware and software checks mentioned above and getting GPS lock) and allow the craft to hover in place for about 30 seconds. Perform short pitch, roll, and yaw maneuvers to ensure it's responding normally. Once everything checks out, continue with your flight.
Performing these steps won't guarantee anything, of course, but they should minimize the chances of something bad occurring and help narrow down the possible causes if something does go wrong. I hope this helps a bit. Happy and safe flying!
Hopefully, your experience was an anomaly like mine appears to have been.
-dbot3000
I'm sorry to hear about your bad flight experience. It's always frustrating when something doesn't go right, but it's especially unnerving with such an expensive piece of equipment.
I've been reading through the thread and noticed some concerning points regarding your familiarity with the craft and the app. Here are the specific quotes...
"No-one takes flying these things safely more than me."
"I wasn't aware that you had to switch the option on to allow ATTI mode."
"Is there any good online instructions for calibrating the IMU? Are there any traps with doing it?"
"How do you delete old home points?"
Allowing ATTI mode via the app and calibrating the IMU are critical steps to flying the Inspire. In fact, IMU calibration is one of the first things that should be done with a new Inspire. It's difficult to reconcile your statement about flying safely while not knowing about ATTI mode in the app and how to calibrate the IMU. No one can know everything about these crafts (they are rather complicated after all), but these 2 points are fairly critical.
I had a similar "flyaway" experience shortly after acquiring my Inspire 1. After a successful flight, I landed, powered down, swapped batteries, then started up and took off. After about 20-30 seconds of flight on the 2nd battery it started to pull hard to one corner then moved erratically. It wouldn't respond to stick movements. I switched to ATTI mode and everything returned to normal (except, no GPS-assisted control, of course). I quickly landed the I1, then packed it up until I could do some research and do some test flights in a more open area. I don't know if I "fixed" the issue (I doubt it) but here's what I learned:
- It's important to stay on top of the firmware and app updates (not just performing the updates but knowing what's different and why you're updating). That said, don't necessarily jump to be the first user of the latest firmware.
- Close all other open apps on your device and power cycle it before a flying session.
- Physically inspect the craft for any issues before EVERY flight.
- Ensure the camera/gimbal is seated properly and connected securely.
- Enable multiple flight modes in the Pilot app and check that it's enabled before each flight.
- If the app isn't telling you to calibrate, don't calibrate. Simply lift off (after performing hardware and software checks mentioned above and getting GPS lock) and allow the craft to hover in place for about 30 seconds. Perform short pitch, roll, and yaw maneuvers to ensure it's responding normally. Once everything checks out, continue with your flight.
Performing these steps won't guarantee anything, of course, but they should minimize the chances of something bad occurring and help narrow down the possible causes if something does go wrong. I hope this helps a bit. Happy and safe flying!
Hopefully, your experience was an anomaly like mine appears to have been.
-dbot3000
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To be clear. If I DONT have Multiple flight modes switched to ON, and the bird loses GPS signal it a) automatically goes to atti-mode or b) it flies erratically until crashed or hard landed if lucky, or c) fly the bird while switching menus to re-enable multiple flight mode to on, flip the switch to atti and hopefully recover some control. Rather ask than try this.
And while on the topic of battery change, I had control problems after switching to a new battery that didn't get updated. I didn't get any warning until after the flight. Flew nice until the end when it iniatied a RTH and dumb pilot error complicated the landing. No damage. YEAH! And yes, you need the .bin file on the chip in the camera on the bird for the battery to update. Listen to the beeps change to confirm. (Dooh!)
And while on the topic of battery change, I had control problems after switching to a new battery that didn't get updated. I didn't get any warning until after the flight. Flew nice until the end when it iniatied a RTH and dumb pilot error complicated the landing. No damage. YEAH! And yes, you need the .bin file on the chip in the camera on the bird for the battery to update. Listen to the beeps change to confirm. (Dooh!)
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If your Inspire loses GPS lock it will automatically default to ATTI and you will still have control. If you have the skill to pilot it in ATTI may be another question. The switch in the app, simply controls if the user can switch to ATTI using the toggle switch.
I suggest you practice in ATTI mode in an open area in low wind conditions and get used to it. You will sooner or later need it and don't want to be panicking when you need it most. On a windy day with objects near by it's very easy for ATTI mode to get away from you.
I suggest you practice in ATTI mode in an open area in low wind conditions and get used to it. You will sooner or later need it and don't want to be panicking when you need it most. On a windy day with objects near by it's very easy for ATTI mode to get away from you.
To be clear. If I DONT have Multiple flight modes switched to ON, and the bird loses GPS signal it a) automatically goes to atti-mode or b) it flies erratically until crashed or hard landed if lucky, or c) fly the bird while switching menus to re-enable multiple flight mode to on, flip the switch to atti and hopefully recover some control. Rather ask than try this.
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