Just bought a cheap drone.$2000. Been teaching myself to fly it. Graduated from Beginner mode to Advanced and all hell broke loose. The software aspect of drone's needs alot more work. The drone has gone rogue on me twice. I figured it was lost for sure, but pretty soon here it came back when the battery got weak. It appears to be a person needs alot of flying time to become profesent in operating it. The remote control aspect of it needs alot more refinement. The clarity of the pictures is amazing. If you purchase one buy alot of spare propellers. You go through them fast.
Really??ÿ Our experience has been far different.?ÿ We purchased a P4P for about 2000 and spent another 500 on more batteries and propellers.?ÿ In 18 months we have gone through a couple of props - maybe 4.?ÿ We use the Drone Deploy app for acquisition and Pix4d for processing.?ÿ We will free fly for some obliques and keep it in the beginner mode.?ÿ We're not here to freefly or race, just get the photos and use them accordingly.
What kind of surveys do you plan on doing with it?
If you are doing topo with it you need minimal flight skills. You better know how to take over and land but maneuvering and photographing is usually automatic.
I have 5 drones with about two years of flying and have yet to replace any props.
The beginner mode will only allow it to go 30 meters up and within a 30 meter radius. Had no problems in beginner mode. When I switched to advanced mode the thing went rogue on me. My immediate plans are to use the movie in a trial to give the Judge a feel for the terrain.
It's a dji drone. It's a cheap drone. The software is a cellphone app. My goal is to be able to get it into a "follow me" mode. In advanced mode it'll be out of sight in seconds. The software map is almost useless, but it does give you a crude map to go searching for it when you lose it.
If you only need it to follow you, run it in beginner mode. It will be clie anyway. A few other things to remember..?ÿ
If you use the drone to further any business peospect you need a 107 license. It doesnt matter if you donate the movie, the courts have ruled it's commercial.
Most States have enacted laws about drone footage as evidence. It may not be admissable without written permission of all owners of any property shown. In fact you may be proving evidence of trespass.?ÿ
Good luck, Tom?ÿ
What software do you use to get into follow me mode. DJIGo doesn't appear to have a Follow Me in beginner mode. I can only go 30 meters from the initial takeoff/landing point.
DJIGo is a cellphone app and from my limited experience doesn't have alot of options in Beginner mode. When I switch to Advanced Mode things get tramatic real fast.
We're just going to use it so the Judge can get a feel for the terrain. With the difficulty I've had controlling the drone, I'm pessimistic we'll even be able to use it in Court.
At the beginner level, you need to find an open field and learn how the drone acts to your stick input. Flying an autonomous mission without having the skill to bring it home manual if need be is dangerous to the public, yourself, and the UAV industry.
I had the privilege of being taught how to fly remote control aircraft years ago as a young kid. We flew airplanes and helicopters with no IMU's or GPS, all manual stick control. Aerobatics is a learned skill, not something you can program into the app.
If you are having connectivity issues, make sure you have the correct firmware and correct app version. This is the primary issues with difficulty to handle.
Autonomous mapping apps fly the entire mission with no stick control, there should be very little to no issue with loss of control. High power transmission lines have posed issues in the past however.
Additionally, the OP referenced that in "advanced" mode it wandered off until the battery got low. Check the remote to make sure it is not in "Atti" mode as that does not use GPS for flight, only pressure to maintain altitude. Make sure you are in P mode, for P-GPS and it shouldn't walk off anywhere.
Folks who use these for commercial use must also hold a Part 107 FAA Certification and of all of the pages I follow I feel that very few people obtained their Part 107 with no flight experience. If you plan on use UAV data in a trial, I would hope that you are indeed Part 107 Certified, otherwise your aerial data is subject to be thrown out due to lack of credentials...
Brian, You need more than an open field. The drone was 1/2 mile away in no time. When the battery got low it returned at 40MPH unguided by me. It continued on past me for another 1/8 mile before it crashed into a tree. Just reading the Manual didn't do it for me. I was panicly pushing the "Land Now" button and nothing was happening. I had a private pilot's license years ago. Things happen a lot slower in a real airplane. You have to have some pretty fast reflexes to fly something you can barely see. Drones have a lot more range and speed than I was expecting. If I was expected to fly it in a controlled manner in advanced mode to get licensed, there would be no way. I agree with you not having the skill to fly it is indeed dangerous, to me, the Public, and the UAV industry. I'm just glad its not packing a $50K LIDAR unit. The Attorney didn't see any problem exhibiting pictures or movies at trial. You can take movies of Actors taking a dump in their high rise apartment, whats the harm in pictures of some cliffs and trees? I don't follow the Trespass issue. I would sure like to learn to fly it in a safe manner, but it appears I'm going to need a bushel basket of propellers.
Brian, I just read the requirements for getting a Part 107 FAA Certification. Its just a test. There's no flight experience required. For a Private Pilot's license you have to have a minimum of solo flight time.
@Skeeter1996, yes that is true. It wasn't meant as a jab, just that the people that obtain the Part 107 to use drones commercially as required be the law seem to have a background in flying drones and other UAVs prior to going through with getting the cert. If you can use your data in court and no one will raise a red flag then that is great.
For your out of control drone, it sounds like a firmware difference to me. I would also go through the settings and calibrate the IMU, and Compass as well prior to the next time you take it up. If you want to use the "follow me" type functions, they are in the intelligent flight modes. If you're using DJI GO you have to tap the button on the left of the screen that looks like a remote to activate it.
What drone is it? You buy it new??ÿ
We've got a few DJI drones and I've never had one go berserk and crash into trees. You've got some kind of problem like others mentioned.(Flight mode, connectivity, firmware, etc.) You using an Android phone/tablet??? That'd be my first guess why you're all screwed up.
If I was going into court with footage, I'd be sure to use the recorded flight path to verify the location of the obtained video. Where are you at? Perhaps you can get some help from somebody nearby with some troubleshooting experience.
The Part 107 isn't too bad to obtain and you'll need it if anybody wants to pay you money. You could risk penalty or fines which probably wouldn't be worth it by comparison to paying the fee & taking the test.
My .02 cents.
I use a mavic pro, inspire 1, and a matrice 600 pro. All three drones are incredible! DJI go is there root flying software that is very good. for topo/mosaic grids pix4d has a great setup as well. Never had any issues with rogue drone flights.?ÿ
One other issue that hasnt been mentioned..
If you are using a phone or tablet, turn off cell service before flight. If you start getting data via cell or wifi mid flight things can get squirrelly real fast.
As an aside.. Most of the 107 classes don't get into actual flight. It's not part of the test either. I purchased some inexpensive drones to learn flight basics and it really helped.?ÿ
