Inspire 1 - Flyaway (Almost)

PDesigns · Jun 28, 2015

I'm a new Inspire 1 owner, this was my 8th flight. I am a previous P2 owner with 80+ flights, and no crashes or flyaways.

I was out of state and flew the prior times, then came back to Louisiana and attempted this flight. I have been taking some progression pictures for my friend who is building a home. We have flown this particular area 10 times with no issues whatsoever.

I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc.

Then I launched and this happened:

I was heading toward the house, then I was going to start a rotation around the house, keeping it centered. The I1 soon made up it's own mind to fly it's patterns and was unresponsive, another error on my part was not having the multiple flight modes enabled yet, so when I went to switch to ATTI to recover, I was given error message, after error message until it slowly started to respond and I was able to bring it down safely.

I am not quite hesitant to get it back in the air, but I do take fault for not taking the warning seriously.

http://1drv.ms/1edIwLQ
http://1drv.ms/1edIAuV

Just posting this up so we can all learn.

Latest Firmware updated when I received it last Thursday.

turbodronepilot · Jun 29, 2015

PDesigns said:
I'm a new Inspire 1 owner, this was my 8th flight. I am a previous P2 owner with 80+ flights, and no crashes or flyaways.

I was out of state and flew the prior times, then came back to Louisiana and attempted this flight. I have been taking some progression pictures for my friend who is building a home. We have flown this particular area 10 times with no issues whatsoever.

I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc.

Then I launched and this happened:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

I was heading toward the house, then I was going to start a rotation around the house, keeping it centered. The I1 soon made up it's own mind to fly it's patterns and was unresponsive, another error on my part was not having the multiple flight modes enabled yet, so when I went to switch to ATTI to recover, I was given error message, after error message until it slowly started to respond and I was able to bring it down safely.

I am not quite hesitant to get it back in the air, but I do take fault for not taking the warning seriously.

http://1drv.ms/1edIwLQ
http://1drv.ms/1edIAuV

Just posting this up so we can all learn.

Latest Firmware updated when I received it last Thursday.

Hey brother. ..
You probably had a bad compass calibration..
The new trick with compass calibration is to get a good one and stick with it..
I've had no issues from not calibrating from as far as 200 miles away from my previous calibration. .
I heard of others going farther and having no issues. .
also it's a good idea to do an advanced imu calibration upon receiving your i1 after you update the firmware. .
dji told a buddy of mine who has had a similar experience that he needed to do an advanced imu calibration. .
unfortunately a bad flight controller can cause this behavior as well...
install and use a screen recoding device like shou for ios or Mobizen for android..
also get a gps tracker like the trackimo rf-v16 and or a marco polo tracking device. .
don't be discouraged and make some adjustments and get back up in the air..
Thanks for posting. .
turbo ....

worldsoutro · Jun 29, 2015

"I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc"

Iam a little confused, so calibration worked after multiple attempts?

I wouldn't have flown it that day, if I go in the field and get error messages other a few that are known and the craft just needs a reboot, that thing is going back in the case and I will analyse the issue at home. I never want to risk the bird going out of control and possibly injuring someone. Plus it's 3k

turbodronepilot · Jun 29, 2015

worldsoutro said:
"I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc"

Iam a little confused, so calibration worked after multiple attempts?

I wouldn't have flown it that day, if I go in the field and get error messages other a few that are known and the craft just needs a reboot, that thing is going back in the case and I will analyse the issue at home. I never want to risk the bird going out of control and possibly injuring someone. Plus it's 3k

Hey worldsoutro..
Again you should get a good calibration and stick with it..
calibrate in a spot you know is good..
check your mod values before take off you compass reading should be right around 1500..
I would suggest moving several feet away if your mod values aren't in spec..
sometimes it can take several attempts if its out of wack..

turbodronepilot · Jun 29, 2015

worldsoutro said:
"I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc"

Iam a little confused, so calibration worked after multiple attempts?

I wouldn't have flown it that day, if I go in the field and get error messages other a few that are known and the craft just needs a reboot, that thing is going back in the case and I will analyse the issue at home. I never want to risk the bird going out of control and possibly injuring someone. Plus it's 3k

I'm not sure about how much solar activity would effect your situation, but its a possibility ..
also enable multiple flight mode so you can switch to atti if you notice Tbe or problems controlling you i1..

ajohnsonlaird · Jun 29, 2015

Where were you when you did the calibrations that failed? Were you close to any large metal objects, fences, vehicles, buildings, any large masses of metal? As worldsoutro and turbodronepilot said, you manage to get a completed calibration but it sounds like you did not get a valid one.

Based on n3kl.org, the solar weather was good today. KpIndex was 2 or 3.

The Editor · Jun 29, 2015

Yup - Can categorically say this is compass related and more than likely due to a bad calibration at the spot you were located.
If you look at the video you can see the horizon drifting all over the place coupled with the tell tale TBE of circular motion.

Classic compass related issue.

That's why I will say it until I'm blue in the face... I NEVER calibrate my compass out in the field - way too many unknowns and as you have demonstrated, even though the Inspire threw up a warning eventually it DID calibrate but it would have calibrated with the influence of what was causing the error message. Once you were a few feet up in the air you were clear of whatever was causing the error but it was too late since you had 'calibrated' to take account of that influence.

Glad you got it back ok - could have been much worse

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

worldsoutro said:
"I fire up the I1 remote first, I1 body second, then I go to calibrate and I get an error about electromagnetic interference... I attempt to calibrate twice with no luck. I reboot, the controller and the body and it tells me the error message again, however whenever I went to calibrate it worked. I launched, then hovered to make sure there were no issues with hovering/blades, etc"

Iam a little confused, so calibration worked after multiple attempts?

I wouldn't have flown it that day, if I go in the field and get error messages other a few that are known and the craft just needs a reboot, that thing is going back in the case and I will analyse the issue at home. I never want to risk the bird going out of control and possibly injuring someone. Plus it's 3k

Yes the compass calibration failed to work twice, but on the third try it calibrated and gave me 16 GPS satellites.

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

ajohnsonlaird said:
Where were you when you did the calibrations that failed? Were you close to any large metal objects, fences, vehicles, buildings, any large masses of metal? As worldsoutro and turbodronepilot said, you manage to get a completed calibration but it sounds like you did not get a valid one.

Based on n3kl.org, the solar weather was good today. KpIndex was 2 or 3.

I was on the gravel road, about 20-30' or more from the metal building that I was parked next to. It wasn't a big structure, I didn't even consider it because i've calibrated the P2 in that same exact spot so many times before.

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

turbodronepilot said:
Hey brother. ..
You probably had a bad compass calibration..
The new trick with compass calibration is to get a good one and stick with it..
I've had no issues from not calibrating from as far as 200 miles away from my previous calibration. .
I heard of others going farther and having no issues. .
also it's a good idea to do an advanced imu calibration upon receiving your i1 after you update the firmware. .
dji told a buddy of mine who has had a similar experience that he needed to do an advanced imu calibration. .
unfortunately a bad flight controller can cause this behavior as well...
install and use a screen recoding device like shou for ios or Mobizen for android..
also get a gps tracker like the trackimo rf-v16 and or a marco polo tracking device. .
don't be discouraged and make some adjustments and get back up in the air..
Thanks for posting. .
turbo ....

I will check into this all turbo! I know I didn't do the advanced imu calibration, and once I grab a good calibration i'll let it be if i'm in the same area. I considered calibrating due to the fact that my prior flight was a state away, and several hundred miles.

Thank you for the great feedback!

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

The Editor said:
Yup - Can categorically say this is compass related and more than likely due to a bad calibration at the spot you were located.
If you look at the video you can see the horizon drifting all over the place coupled with the tell tale TBE of circular motion.

Classic compass related issue.

That's why I will say it until I'm blue in the face... I NEVER calibrate my compass out in the field - way too many unknowns and as you have demonstrated, even though the Inspire threw up a warning eventually it DID calibrate but it would have calibrated with the influence of what was causing the error message. Once you were a few feet up in the air you were clear of whatever was causing the error but it was too late since you had 'calibrated' to take account of that influence.

Glad you got it back ok - could have been much worse

Understood Editor! One question "TBE Circular Motion" what are you referring to? Is this the Toilet Bowl Effect drifting around?

The Editor · Jun 29, 2015

PDesigns said:
Understood Editor! One question "TBE Circular Motion" what are you referring to? Is this the Toilet Bowl Effect drifting around?

YUP......TBE=Toilet Bowl Effect.

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

Just doing my IMU Calibration now and noticing my "MOD" Value was floating around 1390-1400 this could have been the culprit then?

turbodronepilot · Jun 29, 2015

PDesigns said:
Just doing my IMU Calibration now and noticing my "MOD" Value was floating around 1390-1400 this could have been the culprit then?

Possibly. .
you will need to calibrate your compass after an imu calibration. .
do a compass calibration in a known location until you get a good calibration ..
it should be very close to 1500..
once you get a good calibration stay with it even if you move far away. .
When you go somewhere to fly start up your i1 and check mod values ...if theyre not in range move your home point twenty feet or so and turn on your i1 and see if the mod values change..
keep moving until you have a good reading..

RGD · Jun 29, 2015

The Editor said:
YUP......TBE=Toilet Bowl Effect.

I am curious, are the majority of these flyaway incidents occurring when flying in GPS mode. Or are some of them also happening in Atti mode?

The Editor · Jun 29, 2015

PDesigns said:
Just doing my IMU Calibration now and noticing my "MOD" Value was floating around 1390-1400 this could have been the culprit then?

Your compass mod values have nothing to do with the IMU (Gyroscope and accelerometer) values. Do your IMU first then (as Turbo advises do a compass cal.

As long as all your mods fall into the correct ranges you will be good to go

The Editor · Jun 29, 2015

RGD said:
I am curious, are the majority of these flyaway incidents occurring when flying in GPS mode. Or are some of them also happening in Atti mode?

Nearly every single one of them I've seen the pilot has been in P-GPS mode. Switching to Atti would have saved them (as both GPS and the compass are taken out of the equation in that mode).

There have been a very few cases of faulty flight controllers that have caused issues but thankfully these have been very rare.

sanderx · Jun 29, 2015

My recommendation is: learn to fly in atti mode. It is really not that hard and your video will look smoother. Use the GPS functionality when you want to line up a shot or when you are landing. When flying in Atti mode your failsafe will still work in the event you lose connection between the transmitter and the Inspire. Just my 2 cents.

PDesigns · Jun 29, 2015

I plan on it sanderx, as soon as it gets back up in the air I'll be making the needed adjustments to go atti.

FangsCPO · Jun 30, 2015

I've always practiced taking off in GPS mode and then switching to ATT mode. When I'm ready to land as I get closer, I switch to GPS mode. It's not the perfect plan I'm sure but it works for me.