Headed out this morning to take some new footage and suffered and incident between Phantom and a tree...

Amazingly after striking the branches and taking a tumble the aircraft still managed to keep flight and stabalise in a neutral spot. It was a heart stopping moment and i thought i had lost the craft but managed to fly back with nothing but some superficial damage and broken ego!

Lesson learbed is always make sure you have 360 degree view of the surroundings and know the limits of the flight.

I got away lucky but i do wonder what went wrong in terms of obstacle avoidance. Ultimately it was my error but good to understand if there was a malfunction or over limits of what the sensors could have done.

The obstacle avoidance system is not on 100% of the time,  in all flight modes and at all speeds, and to work properly it needs certain lighting conditions, and it won't react to obstacles that are too thin...  See page 27 of the User manual

Gut feeling has saved me a few times to where just freezing and looking around established that there was a branch or similar just out of my field of vision.  If I'm going to be flying anywhere that isn't clear and above I'll walk it first.  New growth in spring can also get you.

ChrisFB Posted at 2017-5-14 07:30
Gut feeling has saved me a few times to where just freezing and looking around established that there was a branch or similar just out of my field of vision.  If I'm going to be flying anywhere that isn't clear and above I'll walk it first.  New growth in spring can also get you.

Yeah very true. I think the wind caught me a bit too. Don't think i can watch the footage much more haha No idea how it still managed to fly....

Micro Pilot Posted at 2017-5-14 07:41
Yeah very true. I think the wind caught me a bit too. Don't think i can watch the footage much more haha No idea how it still managed to fly....

You can post it here and will watch it for you...

Also, I use the UAV FORECAST app it really help with wind directions, gust, speed, also KP and NFZ stuff.

Always scout your surrounding before flight and stay in LOS and you will save yourself a few heart attacks!

Thanks the heads up experience, a good reminder

Video???? Please?  I love watching close  calls..

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-5-14 19:00
Video???? Please?  I love watching close  calls..

This will do?

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-5-14 19:43
This will do?
https://youtu.be/4a2-t8DzOnM

Lol, yeah that one is pretty good.. I remember this one video where they showed a mavic hitting a tree and it starts to fall but catches itself and keeps flying.. it was amazing.. That's what it sounds like happened here and I am curious how fast the P4P reacted.. It's not as small as the Mavic but I wonder if it is just as nimble.

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-5-14 19:46
Lol, yeah that one is pretty good.. I remember this one video where they showed a mavic hitting a tree and it starts to fall but catches itself and keeps flying.. it was amazing.. That's what it sounds like happened here and I am curious how fast the P4P reacted.. It's not as small as the Mavic but I wonder if it is just as nimble.

There's always a number of possible reactions in collision scenario and you'll be amazed what some of these machines are capable of in order to survive. My Inspire 1 Pro (shown in this video) first get confused by sudden loss of propulsion on one motor and start slow spin, but quickly consult the issue with sensors and compass (who knows, didn't bother to read the DAT file), and managed to maintain stable position. With that much off-balance prop it was pretty heroic, one must admit. I delivered the finger to myself after happy landing ...

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-5-14 20:49
There's always a number of possible reactions in collision scenario and you'll be amazed what some of these machines are capable of in order to survive. My Inspire 1 Pro (shown in this video) first get confused by sudden loss of propulsion on one motor and start slow spin, but quickly consult the issue with sensors and compass (who knows, didn't bother to read the DAT file), and managed to maintain stable position. With that much off-balance prop it was pretty heroic, one must admit. I delivered the finger to myself after happy landing  ...

Lol, well - there is one guy in Asia that tortures the drones.. Pretty cringe worthy to watch..

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-5-14 19:00
Video???? Please?  I love watching close  calls..

Ill get something up shortly

Obstacle avoidance is fine but good old flying techniques still prevail. The obstacle avoidance should be considered as a last ditch effort. And as spoken above there are things that can interfere with it. If the light is right a small branch can be avoided. If it isn't you will fly fight into it. Sounds like that is what happened to you.