Autopilot Beta Test

[Hangar]

This Eric does

Flight Telemetry Map
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JTGdPhZkBnUy-yohhMj-kkW7144&usp=sharing

Color Legend

• Blue: Orbit Center
• Yellow: Last Known Aircraft Position
• Orange: Aircraft Flight Path
• Red: Aircraft Target Location

Telemetry Overview

• As Eric stated, the controls were set to a very large Orbit of 2686 feet (over a mile in diameter)
• Autopilot engaged at 14:27:11, at which point the aircraft ascended to about 170 feet in altitude by 9 seconds into the flight
• The aircraft began to fly towards the edge of the circle at 14:27:27, 16 seconds into the flight (lateral movement was restricted due to altitude priority for the first 16 seconds of the flight)
• Autopilot continued to receive normal telemetry readings from the Aircraft until 14:27:48, 37 seconds into the flight
• Eric changed the Orbit distance to 1038 ft at 14:29:59, 2 minutes and 11 seconds into the flight
• Eric disengaged Autopilot at 14:30:57, for a total Autopilot flight duration of 3 minutes, 47 seconds
• The RC mode was in F the entire time Autopilot was engaged (never switched to P)

Questions

• When the map continued to show the image of the aircraft, was it still moving or stationary?
• What time did the RC connection light turn red? Was it at our around 37 seconds after you engaged Autopilot?
• Why did you not switch the RC to P and take over manual control?

Preliminary Conclusions

Our testing shows that if the RC becomes disconnected to the aircraft, or if the device Autopilot is executing on becomes disconnected from the RC, the aircraft will automatically assume a hover. In this case, it appears that the RC lost connection with the aircraft at 37 seconds (assuming Eric corroborates that when the indication of the red LED on the RC). At this point the aircraft should have assumed a hover until it reached 20% battery, at which point the RTH should have been automatically activated (assuming Eric had RTH enabled in the Pilot app). The aircraft home location was easily within range of an Inspire with 20% battery remaining, so it should have been able to fly home and land.

Yes, Eric did not switch the RC to P and take manual control, but presuming that his RC was disconnected anyway, this would not have helped. Given all the data we have at this point, the culprit appears to be a faulty connection between the RC and the aircraft.

 

[lake_flyer]

had a really nice time on the boat while the inspire followed. The footage turned out to be incredible, when we looked back on the ipad. Unfortunately the fat32 partition on the sd card became corrupted somehow, maybe because we also played it back on an Nvidea Shield tablet later (and maybe took out the sd card while it was writing some control file like Lostdir or something like that), who knows. But that has nothing to do with Autopilot!

Love the app. I felt very sure (confidence grows quickly) that the inspire would carry out its mission. And it did. I will be trying again tomorrow, it's going to be wonderful on the lake with only 4 m/sec wind, 87°F and zero clouds.
As long as I have someone who can hand catch my bird.

 

[chip chipman]

I have a couple of questions about the new update : one, I'm confused about "allowing multiple POI selection. Is this a variation on waypoints ? Eg. can I stipulate that the craft ( during one flight) fly to different POI(s) -say, four corners of a rectangle and then have it fly to those points.Secondly, the map(s) seem to load a lot slower and I don't seem to zoom in as much as I could with the first version( of Beta). Has anyone else had this issue?
Thanks,
Chip

 

[Eric Rose]

The drone crashed into treetops presumably. Pilot error
(Me)
re underestimating altitude of hillside slope. The telemetry data allowed me to recover the drone which is a little banged up, but clearly repairable.
The "flyaway" appellation was premature. Looks like it would have flown the route had I programmed higher altitude. The final image was from a crashed aircraft with battery detachment.

 

[damoncooper]

Thanks for the analysis and update. Lesson noted!

 

[Richard-Inspire]

had a really nice time on the boat while the inspire followed. The footage turned out to be incredible, when we looked back on the ipad. Unfortunately the fat32 partition on the sd card became corrupted somehow, maybe because we also played it back on an Nvidea Shield tablet later (and maybe took out the sd card while it was writing some control file like Lostdir or something like that), who knows. But that has nothing to do with Autopilot!

Love the app. I felt very sure (confidence grows quickly) that the inspire would carry out its mission. And it did. I will be trying again tomorrow, it's going to be wonderful on the lake with only 4 m/sec wind, 87°F and zero clouds.
As long as I have someone who can hand catch my bird.

would love to see any other footage you get. How are the hand catches going? Have done it a few times but it's a slightly daunting thing to do, especially on a boat i would imagine!

 

[dronie]

http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/flightschool#flight-recorder

Do you want feedback here (which is a great thread to follow) - or would you prefer via email?

 

[Rustysilverwings]

We just got approved. Finalizing the beta installation instructions email now. Expect something shortly.

Essentials for Absolutely Perfect Flights:
• DJI Inspire One w/accessories
• Autopilot

 

[Hangar]

I'm confused about "allowing multiple POI selection. Is this a variation on waypoints ? Eg. can I stipulate that the craft ( during one flight) fly to different POI(s) -say, four corners of a rectangle and then have it fly to those points.( of Beta).

When you say multiple POI selection, are you referring to Point A and Point B in Zip Line? If you want to think if it like a 2-point version of Waypoint Mode, I suppose that could be correct, but that is all it allows, 2 points at once. Granted, you can drag the points in real-time as the AC is flying, so in some since you can make it act more like true Waypoint Mode, but this is not the planned Waypoint Mode, which is scheduled for a future release still.

Secondly, the map(s) seem to load a lot slower and I don't seem to zoom in as much as I could with the first version( of Beta).

Not sure what the issue is with the maps, it is the same code as the previous build.

The drone crashed into treetops presumably. Pilot error

Very sorry to hear that. Please post the video if you can.

Thanks for the analysis and update. Lesson noted!

We are considering making a "lessons learned" segment of Flight School that uses real-world crashes as examples. Obviously will need to get approval from the operators on this one. What do you think Eric?

Do you want feedback here (which is a great thread to follow) - or would you prefer via email?

If you think it is something the rest of the thread would benefit from, post it here, otherwise email is fine.

 

[lake_flyer]

would love to see any other footage you get. How are the hand catches going? Have done it a few times but it's a slightly daunting thing to do, especially on a boat i would imagine!

The procedure was very easy but I had my buddy catching it. I just hovered it at arms length above his head and he lightly grabbed the left front and right rear leg (diagonally). Shut it down with throttle at 6, never CNC when catching (never actually, only for take off and emergency shut down). The water should be calm so wait until waves from other boats have passed before attempting to catch. And take your time for it. The go home safety margin should be at least a minute or 2 more than usual. The one catching should use a life vest by the way (I realise now, shame).

I have never tried to catch the I1 myself. I don't think it's safe to do with the controller in your hands. With my phantoms I just grab one leg with one hand and shut down with the other. Not so with this bird, you need at least 3 hands.

I might even get me a P3Pro specially for water sport shots. With this app it would work great (I can confirm now) and if I would lose it would be only a third of the cost. It's less dangerous to other people on the water. And I can catch it alone if needed. However, nothing beats the Inspire in the usual windy conditions we have on the lake.

I noticed that as soon as I started up the motors they immediately started to adjust independently and completely in sync with the movement of the boat. It gave a new oscillating sound I never noticed before. The hollow polyester deck was amplifying the sound like a guitar body. It made me think twice for a moment before hitting throttle up. Took a deep breath. However, it lifted up straight as a rocket and hovered very stable.

It is reassuring that with this app the homepoint changes dynamically with the position of the RC. At least in the modes I tried so far. But I haven't really scratched the surface of all the new possibilities.

Today there's no experienced catching buddy at hand, so no boat following today I'm afraid. But sometime this week for sure. I will post the video, that's a promise. I still have some external footage from the gopro I held in my hands (and not paid attention to) while operating the wheel. I might edit a short clip of that but not sure if the images are useful at all.

 

[lake_flyer]

'Sloop John B', the very latest in compact aircraft carriers.

 

[dronie]

I read your manual (which you call "Flight School"?) and installed the linked DJI Beta Firmware on both RC and I1, and I'm basically ready for 1st Autopilot flight.

But I'm really surprised I didn't find a better introduction to the first flight: should I switch remote to "A" (P-Atti) before launching Autopilot and always fly in this mode or..? Can you do the first couple of flights in Autopilot without using any modes and just fly it myself until I get familiar with the interface? Can I always take-off/Land manually (hate auto-takeoffs/auto-land functions)? etc. etc.

Maybe you have a "The first flight"-guide somewhere which I just missed? Since it's a totally different UI and - at least for me - a big step letting a new, unfamiliar app control my $3.000 bird, I wouldn't mind a step-by-step guide just to get started and get it in the air.
After that I'm sure I would figure things out along the way.

 

[Ecko]

Hi ... first test and I have a suggestion... maybe I'm to stupid to find it:
when I'm using the orbit mode I'm missing a counter where I can set how many rounds the Inspire have to go! It would be very nice if I can set maybe 2 rounds and than come back or hover or what ever...

 

[Richard Hurst]

Hi ... first test and I have a suggestion... maybe I'm to stupid to find it:
when I'm using the orbit mode I'm missing a counter where I can set how many rounds the Inspire have to go! It would be very nice if I can set maybe 2 rounds and than come back or hover or what ever...

Good idea!

 

[Hangar]

The procedure was very easy but I had my buddy catching it.

Just be make it clear - Autoflight Logic does not recommend or endorse this procedure.

But I'm really surprised I didn't find a better introduction to the first flight

As we've said previously, video tutorials will be coming, but not until the interface has been finalized. Part of testing beta software is realizing that the documentation and interface may be incomplete and/or a moving target. Part of the purpose of the beta test is to understand where people are having confusion, and to spend our time and resources focusing on those places when we do finalize the documentation / tutorials.

should I switch remote to "A" (P-Atti) before launching Autopilot and always fly in this mode or..?

Step 6 of the pre-flight checklists states that you must be in RC mode F:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/flightschool#pre-flight-engage-checklist

As for what mode to fly in, the introduction to Flight School states that switching out of F will override Autopilot, and this is the most important thing to know in Flight School:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/flightschool#override

Can you do the first couple of flights in Autopilot without using any modes and just fly it myself until I get familiar with the interface?

Of course, you can operate both Black Box and Focus mode with complete manual (human) control, and in fact this is exactly what Flight School recommends:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/flightschool#modes

ICan I always take-off/Land manually (hate auto-takeoffs/auto-land functions)?

Step 6 of the pre-flight checklist states that you can fly the aircraft to a safe location before engaging, thus avoiding auto-takeoff:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/flightschool#pre-flight-engage-checklist

Autopilot has never supported auto-land:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/support#3ce388a2

Since it's a totally different UI and - at least for me - a big step letting a new, unfamiliar app control my $3.000 bird

There is a reason for this, and we didn't take the decision lightly:
http://autoflightlogic.com/beta/autopilotdji/support#79fb919e

 

[Hangar]

Hi ... first test and I have a suggestion... maybe I'm to stupid to find it:
when I'm using the orbit mode I'm missing a counter where I can set how many rounds the Inspire have to go! It would be very nice if I can set maybe 2 rounds and than come back or hover or what ever...

This kind of behavior-chaining is not available right now. We are considering adding it in a future release, but it is complex.

 

[lake_flyer]

Just be make it clear - Autoflight Logic does not recommend or endorse this procedure.

Me neither but it seemed the only logical thing to do. I didn't dare to land it on the small deck. I was with a fellow certified Inspire1 pilot and he knew exactly what to do. I only wished I had thought of the life jacket, bad seamanship from my point.

 

[Ecko]

OK - sounds easy but might be difficult. Hope it will be realised some day!
Keep on with the great work!

 

[Hangar]

OK - sounds easy but might be difficult. Hope it will be realised some day!
Keep on with the great work!

Any one one particular feature might sound easy, or actually even be "easy" to implement in its own right. The issue is working the feature into the larger ecosystem of features and functionality that is already there, not breaking the UI metaphors, and doing it all in the safest, well-tested way possible, etc.

 

[lake_flyer]

Definitely going to shoot my next boat video in focus mode. Follow worked great but I like to be able to have flight control myself and have only the camera follow the boat. Some tall sailboats, tacking suddenly, came close to my safety zone while the I1 was happily sliding by. I took control whenever this occurred but a few times I could let it go because it was all clear. Some amazing randomly framed shots were captured autonomously that way.