Flight four.........CRASH

[BobW55]

Smart mode attempts to keep the aircraft 26' away from the operator/pilot.
If you have the H very near your location hovering in ANGLE MODE and switch into SMART MODE, it can suddenly fly away in an attempt to get 26' away.
If you are not ready for it, it may fly straight into a tree, a house, your car, or what ever obstacle is in the way.
Make sure you are in a wide open field the first few times you play with SMART MODE.
You need smart mode for some of the follow me and watch me modes.

 

[SneakinUpOnU]

OK, it was my mistake. Pretty much.
Launched fine. Went to hit the gear up switch and grazed the far right toggle with my wrist, putting it in SAFE mode. She bolts straight away from me, as programmed, and right into a wall. All in slow motion. I knew I had lost control, knew my wrist had hit something, but I couldnt process fast enough to realize what had gone wrong in time to save it. Ooppss.

Three props gone. Gimble knocked off. About a 1/16th of an inch of the the rear part of the gimbal mount slide piece broken off. Replaced props. Remounted gimbal, I think. Arms, landing gear, motors, body all look fine.

Drone powers up, locks on fine. No apparent power to camera or gimbal. No led at all on camera, no movement, wont connect.

Am I screwed? Off to repair or anyone have any ideas on how to get the camera up? Manual was.....unhelpful.

Sorry this happened .. It is amazing at how many H's have "Hit a wall" after this switch was accidentally turned on ... don't fly near buildings or houses if at all possible!

 

[sabrewalt]

I never heard of SAFE mode. What is that.???

 

[FlushVision]

First time I flew my H I accidentally caught the smart switch at some point and didn't notice it had been activated. It's so easily done. Luckily it was about 350 ft away.

 

[Forrestt]

I never heard of SAFE mode. What is that.???

It's Smart mode and read BobW55 post above.

 

[Forrestt]

Use the Search feature folks, their is a wealth of information in here. Cheers!

 

[sabrewalt]

Thank you Forrestt but you LOST me on that last comment :0.

AKA: It's on the INTERNET IDIOT!!
AKS: It's in the Bible somewhere. FOOL!!

 

[Forrestt]

Thank you Forrestt but you LOST me on that last comment :0.

AKA: It's on the INTERNET IDIOT!!
AKS: It's in the Bible somewhere. FOOL!!

LOL in THIS Forum!

 

[sabrewalt]

Copy that: Color me lazy then.

I ALMOST crashed mine by being in unknowingly in SAFE notequalto SMART mode. Hovered to waist height and stick inputs started driving the H right toward my grill. Caught it in time. Whew.-

 

[Forrestt]

Copy that: Color me lazy then.

I ALMOST crashed mine by being in unknowingly in SAFE notequalto SMART mode. Hovered to waist height and stick inputs started driving the H right toward my grill. Caught it in time. Whew.-

Glad it turned out you didnt need that orthodontist visit, LOL!

 

[John K. Fitzgerald]

Sorry Old jar, don't agree with you.

So they want to protect the operator but all bystanders are fair game to be flown into.

Sounds like Yuneec is trying to pass the blame to the operators with this lame circle of death.

Yuneec could easily make the smart mode even safer, #1 the H wouldnt launch at all if controller was inside circle, a message and vibration could come up on st16 telling you what the problem is. And if, as in this case the h was launched in angle mode then accidentally switched to safe mode , the unit should stop and hold position and again, a warning of some sort comes up on the st16 telling you what the issue is. a simple solution ( at least in my head) that could be fixed in a firmware update.

 

[mcbutler]

What all this tells us if you read between the lines is that people are not able to respond to errors (finger trouble or whatever) quickly as they are not familiar with the system.
Get a simulator, practice, practice, practice. When you feel confident (you will not be) find a LARGE open area, no trees etc and 'play' with all the different functions, create scenarios like this and practice recovering.
Top tip REMOVE THE CAMERA whilst practicing.

If you can really fly the chances of anything like this taking you by 'surprise' is minimal.

 

[PatR]

Why is it people look for any way they can to make someone else be responsible for what they do, and avoid reading directions by any means possible? They can pound on a keyboard for hours telling the world why something doesn't work the way THEY think it should but won't put 15 minutes into researching a manufacturer website, reading the docs and watching videos on an SD card, or the printed instructions that accompany a product?

Are the problems encountered because of the product, or in reality because of the failings of those using the product? To a great extent I propose it's the latter, not the former.

They can make things easy, but not fool proof. Everything requires time to learn. The less we know about something the more time we should put into learning about it before using it. Proficiency comes with knowledge and practice.

 

[ricmitch]

John K. Fitzgerald I think those are good solutions.
It would make the product safe and easier to learn. Less problems for Yuneec and less unhappy customers even if it was pilot error it can be prevented by software.
If those precautions were in place I think it would save many people form getting frustrated. I agree that you cannot make everything idiot proof but we are only human and we do make mistakes.

 

[glider]

I fixed all of the H short comings 100%. It has been sold at a loss but at least its gone.

Have been flying my Mavic for the last three months and could not be happier.

So you fixed all the Mavic problems? Congratulations.

 

[PatR]

Good call, his ploy was pretty obvious.

 

[PatR]

For Old Jar Head, and the rest of his family; Semper Fi.

 

[IdleLoop]

There have been many threads and stories with problems of the drone racing to get outside the "circle of death". Safe mode has many advantages, but maybe a small change to the death circle in the firmware could alleviate a lot of the problems. What if the drone, when switched to safe mode, prevents the pilot from coming any closer than the current position. This would stop the drone racing off. The pilot would still have full control for all directions that did not bring the drone closer to the ST16.

 

[PatR]

Perhaps removing Smart Mode and requiring the user to learn aircraft orientation and manual directional control input would also serve to eliminate Safe Circle user errors.

 

[Dr Delta]

Reading the manual works best.