Hello!

I got my P3 Advanced a week ago, and Ive been doing some test flying, bot outdoors with gps and indoors with atti mode to get a feeling on how to control the drone.

After a few days I decided to go out and test it in the city. Went perfect 3 flights. Then I decided to go for another flight. While flying the drone I did not notice anything weird, however it felt like it was going a bit to the right when I went straight... Anyhows, decided to fly over a small park, to take one of those cool photos looking straight down. I was hovering, maybe 200m from me and about 10m high, when I noticed my drone started to descend. Since I have not encountered any problems before I kept calm and just pushed the left stick up, to my surprise the drone didnt respond, it just kept descending as if I was holding down the left stick. Eventually the drone crashed in the middle of the park and turned upside down. As I got a bit stressed I forgot to the the shut down command so when getting there (someone had flipped it around for me), only one rotor was spinning. I thought that was the end of my drone but I decided to try it right away, and to my surprise everything worked like a charm (did no fly more then 5m away tho).

The last, and only thing I saw was "Motor Obstructed" and I got no clue how or why that would be.

Does anyone know why this could happen? Or what I can do to prevent it from keep on flying down??
I will take my drone with my to my homecountry and do alot of footage in the mountains and over water, would suck if the drone just decided to go for a dip again without responding to any input... (I did not try the RTH Button since everything took about 5 sec only) :/
I am super scared to fly my drone again since I do not want to damage the drone or something else.

Any help would be awesome, thanks!

EDIT 1: Took a look at my "warnings" in the app now and saw these three in the moment of the crash.

EDIT 1: Took a look at my "warnings" in the app now and saw these three in the moment of the crash.   19:25:50 - Motor Obstructed  19:25:53 - Satellite positioning off. fly with caution  19:25:58 - Propulsion output is limited to ensure the health of the battery.  19:26:19 - Motor Obstructed

Aloha Lindi,

     It sounds like you had an interference problem.  Flying in an urban area is not recommended (unless you are rich enough to afford many drones).  The concrete of the buildings has a lot of steel rebar in it and there is an extreme amount of 2.4 GHz radio wave interference.  The radio interference is very difficult to deal with unless you have a P4 Pro and use its 5.8 GHz transmitter frequency.  Better to avoid the urban environment when flying.  I even consistently lost contact at a half mile with my P3P (same system different camera) in a suburban environment due to 2.4 GHz interference.  And my P3P flies for miles!

     In rural Sweden you will have a lot more consistency and way less interference but do take it slow to test out the system.  It sounds like that is your plan.  Stay away from anything metal like piers, buildings, bridges and towers.  I once flew too close to a piece of heavy equipment and almost crashed into a tree.

     The "Motor Obstructed" message was because your P3A was upside down and the motors were unable to turn.  It is interesting that one motor was still turning.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

If you upload your flight log then post it we may be able to see what happened.

Upload Here

Cetacean Posted at 2017-5-2 17:15
Aloha Lindi,

     It sounds like you had an interference problem.  Flying in an urban area is not recommended (unless you are rich enough to afford many drones).  The concrete of the buildings has a lot of steel rebar in it and there is an extreme amount of 2.4 GHz radio wave interference.  The radio interference is very difficult to deal with unless you have a P4 Pro and use its 5.8 GHz transmitter frequency.  Better to avoid the urban environment when flying.  I even consistently lost contact at a half mile with my P3P (same system different camera) in a suburban environment due to 2.4 GHz interference.  And my P3P flies for miles!

Thank you for you answer!

You might be right actually, since there was a few buildings around me however not that much tho, and Ive seen so many videos of phantom 3 going over cities and stuff so I thought it would not make my drone fly by itself once I got some interference :S

I just found it odd that it did it so fast and all of a sudden, keep in mind that the camera was still streaming and recording without any problems :S

Cabansail Posted at 2017-5-2 17:43
If you upload your flight log then post it we may be able to see what happened.

Upload Here

May I ask how I can obtain the flight log?

LindiSopaj Posted at 2017-5-2 17:55
May I ask how I can obtain the flight log?

The Flight Logs will be in the device you used to fly it. If you go to the link above there is explanations of how to upload.

You can't even use the shut down command (CSC) while the drone is upside down It just doesn't respond to it

If you want to find out what happened, you'll have to look at the flight data recorded by the app.
Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides

Cabansail Posted at 2017-5-2 20:36
The Flight Logs will be in the device you used to fly it. If you go to the link above there is explanations of how to upload.

There you go!

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/QW7DMPFZL703LEZP64OH/

Labroides Posted at 2017-5-2 23:16
If you want to find out what happened, you'll have to look at the flight data recorded by the app.
Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Thanks mate!

Here is the link: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/QW7DMPFZL703LEZP64OH/

Looking at the log myself, I am trying to make sense of when it actually crashed, because I cant see 0 in altitude anywhere.

I see alot of errors tho, no clue why, and also a sudden loss of satellites

Let me remind you that someone saw the drone and picked it up very fast, my guess is that he was on the parking lot.

LindiSopaj Posted at 2017-5-3 05:52
Looking at the log myself, I am trying to make sense of when it actually crashed, because I cant see 0 in altitude anywhere.

I see alot of errors tho, no clue why, and also a sudden loss of satellites

" it just kept descending as if I was holding down the left stick. Eventually the drone crashed in the middle of the park "

The flight data indicates that the reason your Phantom was descending was because you did pull the left stick down.
There are a number of small descents at:
3:54.1 - for 1.6 secs
3:59.2 -for 2.6 secs
4:05.9 - for 6.2 secs including 3 seconds at full down.
For each of these, the flight data shows the left stick being pulled down.
The Motor Obstructed message indicates a prop is blocked from turning by the ground or an object.
This is the point of the crash.
The first of these is at 4:13 at an indicated height of 7 ft.
The following data point shows 2.6 feet.

That this is not at zero feet is not unusual and there are a number of possible explanations:
The crash was 365 ft from home and the ground level could easily have been a few feet different
Perhaps you crashed into a tree or shrub
Or it's not unusual for the barometer to be out a few feet.

The sudden loss of satellites is due to the Phantom being upside down.
Everything after 4:13 is after the crash and not something that caused the crash.

Having looked at the logs I agree with Labroides conclusion above. It looks like a controlled descent into terrain.

Assuming that you were still standing near the Home Point then it seems that the aircraft was out of VLOS at the point of the incident as there was a large building in the way.

You are also taking quite a risk flying in a public park in Sweden considering the laws they passed recently which effectively bans all UAV's with a camera. I know they are silly laws but the hefty fines would still hurt. If you are going to fly then probably best to do it out of the gaze of the unwashed masses until the laws allow sensible operations.

You are fortunate that there seems to be no damage.

Thanks guys!

Thing is, yes I went down, then I let go of the button and it continued, I even tried to push up. However it doesnt seem to be included.

I am aware of the laws in sweden and they truly suck, had to test it a few times; will keep to flying in the nature only!

So the conclusion from you guys, I can go fly again without being scared?

Ps. The guy who picked up my drone actually dropped it, I have no clue how its still working.

However it does make some sound from the gimbal when I move the drone, maybe thats just to gimbal motors.

Once again, I truly appreciate taking your time to help me with this!

If everything appears to be working OK, I would fly in an open area away from people but only a few meters above the ground while testing all the controls until you are satisfied that it actually IS working OK.

I would try a test flight first, just a few meters, in a clear area to test it out. Test all the functions are normal before anything too adventurous.

The other person picking it up and then dropping it may explain the movement on the map after the initial incident.

Good luck.

Labroides Posted at 2017-5-3 06:28
" it just kept descending as if I was holding down the left stick. Eventually the drone crashed in the middle of the park "

The flight data indicates that the reason your Phantom was descending was because you did pull the left stick down.

How/where are seeing stick inputs etc? Are you downloading the file and viewing it elsewhere or is there an option I am not seeing?  
All I see from clicking on the link is a map and a chart of time/mode/satellites/height/speed/distance/battery info/messages.

KM5RG-Robert Posted at 2017-5-3 15:46
How/where are seeing stick inputs etc? Are you downloading the file and viewing it elsewhere or is there an option I am not seeing?  
All I see from clicking on the link is a map and a chart of time/mode/satellites/height/speed/distance/battery info/messages.

If you click on the link to download the CSV data, you get lots more, including stick input

Labroides Posted at 2017-5-3 16:23
If you click on the link to download the CSV data, you get lots more, including stick input

What are you viewing the CSV file in? I clicked the link and it downloaded the file but how/where to view?

It is in the form of a spreadsheet, so Excel will view it. I use Numbers when at home on iOS

KM5RG-Robert Posted at 2017-5-3 20:05
What are you viewing the CSV file in? I clicked the link and it downloaded the file but how/where to view?

Just use Excel, you're just looking at a big spreadsheet

When viewing stick movements 1024 is neutral.

Labroides Posted at 2017-5-3 20:20
Just use Excel, you're just looking at a big spreadsheet

Thanks!     

@cabansail

So it didnt register my attempt to bring it up?

Im so consfused tbh, I am 99% sure I pulled the stick up once I saw the drone go down, or atleast I let go. Would make no sense to keep going down :/

And even if I got interferance (odd that video still streamed perfectly fine), why would it go down... and why would I get that much interferance juat because of one building, when I see ppl drive in big cities with no issues :S

Im very clueless, but if I had a mental breakdown and kept on holding the stick down; I should propably see a doctor :S

The data shows something different. below is the last 8 seconds of the flight (before it gets the error message). The three columns are Time, Altitude and Throttle. 1024 is neutral and it is mostly set to descend and never goes up.

4m 5.0s        15.8        1024
4m 5.1s        15.8        1024
4m 5.4s        15.8        1024
4m 5.6s        15.8        1024
4m 5.7s        15.8        1024
4m 5.9s        15.8        1012
4m 6.2s        15.9        861
4m 6.3s        15.8        845
4m 6.4s        15.8        817
4m 6.5s        15.8        810
4m 6.7s        15.8        777
4m 6.8s        15.7        754
4m 6.9s        15.7        733
4m 7.4s        15.5        703
4m 7.5s        15.4        697
4m 7.6s        15.4        692
4m 7.7s        15.3        690
4m 7.8s        15.2        683
4m 7.9s        15.1        647
4m 8.0s        15.0        587
4m 8.1s        14.9        472
4m 8.2s        14.8        364
4m 8.3s        14.6        364
4m 8.4s        14.4        364
4m 8.5s        14.2        364
4m 8.6s        13.9        364
4m 8.7s        13.6        364
4m 8.8s        13.3        364
4m 8.9s        13.9        364
4m 9.0s        12.7        364
4m 9.2s        12.1        364
4m 9.3s        11.8        364
4m 9.4s        11.5        364
4m 9.5s        11.3        364
4m 9.6s        11.0        364
4m 9.7s        10.7        364
4m 9.8s        10.4        364
4m 9.9s        10.2        364
4m 10.0s        9.9        364
4m 10.1s        9.7        364
4m 10.2s        9.4        364
4m 10.3s        9.2        364
4m 10.4s        8.9        364
4m 10.5s        8.6        364
4m 10.8s        7.8        364
4m 10.9s        7.6        364
4m 11.0s        7.3        364
4m 11.1s        7.0        364
4m 11.2s        6.7        364
4m 12.1s        4.1        734
4m 12.2s        3.8        1024
4m 12.3s        3.5        1024
4m 13.0s        2.4        1024

LindiSopaj Posted at 2017-5-4 18:22
@cabansail

So it didnt register my attempt to bring it up?

Interference wouldn't make the Phantom descend.
It would block the signal and the Phantom would just hover waiting for signal.

Labroides Posted at 2017-5-4 22:54
Interference wouldn't make the Phantom descend.
It would block the signal and the Phantom would just hover waiting for signal.

Yes, or RTH depending on what you set the craft to do...

LindiSopaj Posted at 2017-5-4 18:22
@cabansail

So it didnt register my attempt to bring it up?

Clearly it's not possible to record a stick-down in the logs while you are pushing it up at the same time.  There's no reason to mistrust the rest of the data (it did take off, and go to the other park on the other side of the house, right?) so we can only assume it was recording correctly.  The craziest scenario I can come up with is that the joystick assembly has broken off the supports and was floating loose inside of the RC, somehow the "body" of the stick (or a potentiometer) has moved into the down position while you are pushing the stick up.  Does it feel loose or can you hear rattling inside?  We did have an incident here on the forum recently where the pilot's stick got stuck due to the mounting posts disintegrating.

Otherwise I am at a loss to explain it, and it was the one thing in your original description that bugged me and didn't make sense.  I assume it wasn't in view the whole time when it hit the ground, as it was behind trees and a large building.   Maybe the crash happened later than you thought.   You might have convinced yourself that it was down, then got careless holding the controller because you thought it wasn't doing anything, and then caused the crash?.  There's not even any evidence that you confused the sticks and pushed the wrong one.

endotherm Posted at 2017-5-5 02:54
Clearly it's not possible to record a stick-down in the logs while you are pushing it up at the same time.  There's no reason to mistrust the rest of the data (it did take off, and go to the other park on the other side of the house, right?) so we can only assume it was recording correctly.  The craziest scenario I can come up with is that the joystick assembly has broken off the supports and was floating loose inside of the RC, somehow the "body" of the stick (or a potentiometer) has moved into the down position while you are pushing the stick up.  Does it feel loose or can you hear rattling inside?  We did have an incident here on the forum recently where the pilot's stick got stuck due to the mounting posts disintegrating.

Otherwise I am at a loss to explain it, and it was the one thing in your original description that bugged me and didn't make sense.  I assume it wasn't in view the whole time when it hit the ground, as it was behind trees and a large building.   Maybe the crash happened later than you thought.   You might have convinced yourself that it was down, then got careless holding the controller because you thought it wasn't doing anything, and then caused the crash?.  There's not even any evidence that you confused the sticks and pushed the wrong one.

Good points. This is such a clear thinking letter.