Drone Went Rogue. Crashed Twice. Don't know what to do.

[AndyP]

Never take off in smart mode. Angle mode is best all the time. In smart mode, your movement moves the drone. It’s really a headless mode with a geo fence that puts you in the middle of a safe circle. It’s very confusing as there is no orientation so your lack of what you thought was control was actually giving stick info. If you were in the safe circle then it will still try to move away from you even when the sticks are released. One flick down of the right switch to angle mode would have stopped the fly always that you were unfortunately inadvertently creating. My guess is your first flights you were safely away so it behaved. That first crash could be when in descent, you were too close so it was trying to move away. You chasing it moved it more. It becomes a cascade of confusion and panic that often times gets worse. My best advice is to always ascend and get it out of the safe zone. Up is a safe spot to let it hold and hover while you figure out what’s wrong at the control and settings.

That's the thing. It never moved closer to me after taking off.. I took off and landed in the same spot. During flight, I moved it away from me, not towards. It only came towards me when it started veering my direction and wouldn't respond to any direction change. I didn't chase it. didn't move at all. And I tried to ascend or descend. It wouldn't do anything. Wouldn't tilt, wouldn't pitch, would not respond to any controls, even once it was 100 feet away from, careening towards a tree.

 

[biltno]

Andy
I understand your frustration and have been in your position
Take it a step at a time
Let the pros on here read your telemetry before you contact yuneec. You will have a better understanding of exactly what caused everything before presenting it to yuneec. They will be on here before long
Good luck

 

[AndyP]

Andy
I understand your frustration and have been in your position
Take it a step at a time
Let the pros on here read your telemetry before you contact yuneec. You will have a better understanding of exactly what caused everything before presenting it to yuneec. They will be on here before long
Good luck

Thank you very much

 

[CraigCam]

It does cover it unfortunately. It was where it said watch the video files on the SD card. The watch me/follow me mode is a default of smart mode. That’s how it’s activated. The drone is actually usually pretty easy to fix but the camera is another matter. What shape is it in? My best advice in your hopeful warranty repair is that Yuneec removed smart mode from the Plus and in my opinion, that’s a tacit admission of smart mode not being so smart. So much bad blood and angst could go away if they would make it more clear that smart mode is not for beginner flights. Pursue that line of logic and see if you get a sympathetic tech. Be nice and avoid blame on them or you and let the RMA game run its course.

 

[AndyP]

It does cover it unfortunately. It was where it said watch the video files on the SD card. The watch me/follow me mode is a default of smart mode. That’s how it’s activated. The drone is actually usually pretty easy to fix but the camera is another matter. What shape is it in? My best advice in your hopeful warranty repair is that Yuneec removed smart mode from the Plus and in my opinion, that’s a tacit admission of smart mode not being so smart. So much bad blood and angst could go away if they would make it more clear that smart mode is not for beginner flights. Pursue that line of logic and see if you get a sympathetic tech. Be nice and avoid blame on them or you and let the RMA game run its course.

But I read the entire manual twice. No where in the little tiny manual that comes with it does it say there is anything on the SD card. I even took a picture of the only place the SD card is mentioned, and it happens to be when it says where to insert the included SD card, to be able to save pictures. Looked again after starting this thread. There is nothing anywhere in the entire crate that indicates there is a video on the SD card that I should watch. lol. I didn't even take the SD card out of it's little bag because I wasn't bothering with taking pictures/video yet.
And the manual DOES say to start in safe mode, which is why I did. All very frustrating if all of this is due to the included manual being wrong.

 

[AH-1G]

But I read the entire manual twice. No where in the little tiny manual that comes with it does it say there is anything on the SD card. I even took a picture of the only place the SD card is mentioned, and it happens to be when it says where to insert the included SD card, to be able to save pictures. Looked again after starting this thread. There is nothing anywhere in the entire crate that indicates there is a video on the SD card that I should watch. lol.
And the manual DOES say to start in safe mode, which is why I did. All very frustrating if all of this is due to the included manual being wrong.

Yea, I here you. Their manual is ......... "fill in the blank".
But now you'll feel more confident knowing angle mode is your best friend. I'm sure you will see a difference.
Let us know your results.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

But I read the entire manual twice. No where in the little tiny manual that comes with it does it say there is anything on the SD card. I even took a picture of the only place the SD card is mentioned, and it happens to be when it says where to insert the included SD card, to be able to save pictures. Looked again after starting this thread. There is nothing anywhere in the entire crate that indicates there is a video on the SD card that I should watch. lol.
And the manual DOES say to start in safe mode, which is why I did. All very frustrating if all of this is due to the included manual being wrong.

Which is why the expanded manual on this board was written... There is a wealth of information here... become familiar with the search function on the board and post questions to what you do not find or need more clarity on.

 

[AndyP]

Yea, I here you. Their manual is ......... "fill in the blank".
But now you'll feel more confident knowing angle mode is your best friend. I'm sure you will see a difference.
Let us know your results.

Definitely. Gotta get the experts review of the telemetry logs first, so I can contact Yuneec, because it has to be repaired before I can even try again. It's broken and unflyable.

 

[AndyP]

Which is why the expanded manual on this board was written... There is a wealth of information here... become familiar with the search function on the board and post questions to what you do not find or need more clarity on.

Will do. Did not know this board existed until after the drone destroyed itself in a tree and I was looking for how to get in touch with the company for repair work.

 

[Dilly Joat]

AndyP,
The better manual to read is the one at the top of this forum that has been put together by experienced flyers.

Also, if you are a bit technical then you will find h-elsner has done fine work in helping us to read the various log files. Go to the downloads page of his site Meine private Homepage - Programmierung, Kopter, Bilder and download his q500log2kml file which contains a pdf file with most of the codes in it and an exe to analyse the log files.

 

[AndyP]

Thanks for all the support. I look forward to hearing from the experts regarding the telemetry so I know what to tell Yuneec for getting it fixed.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Since you are new to Yuneec and it's customer service, some tips:

Yuneec CS opens at 8AM PT. Call them between 8:05 and 8:15 AM (about 10-15 minutes from now. If you call later, it will be a very long wait time, or you may get cut off after a period of time. They only have 2 people manning the telephone support. Do not expect replies via email. You must also follow up with them, and be proactive.

There are two viable options... they have an appointment callback system... if offered, take it! Otherwise they also have a live support chat... if available take that. They will request the same logs that have been requested here. Those will be reviewed, to determine if the cause was something covered under warranty.

 

[AndyP]

Since you are new to Yuneec and it's customer service, some tips:

Yuneec CS opens at 8AM PT. Call them between 8:05 and 8:15 PM (about 10-15 minutes from now. If you call later, it will be a very long wait time, or you may get cut off after a period of time. They only have 2 people manning the telephone support. Do not expect replies via email. You must also follow up with them, and be proactive.

There are two viable options... they have an appointment callback system... if offered, take it! Otherwise they also have a live support chat... if available take that. They will request the same logs that have been requested here. Those will be reviewed, to determine if the cause was something covered under warranty.

Excellent advice. Thank you. If they need the serial number for the call, I'll have to wait until I get home tonight to even get that.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Obviously I meant AM not PM..

 

[AndyP]

Obviously I meant AM not PM..

I knew what you meant

About to call them in just a few minutes.

 

[rdonson]

@AndyP First, I'm sorry to hear about the crashes.

While you're waiting for resolution you might consider reading this manual. The one that Yuneec puts out is remiss in useful information in soooooo many ways.

https://yuneec-forum.com/attachments/typhoon-h-user-manual-vcho3-1-pdf.7319/

 

[AndyP]

@AndyP First, I'm sorry to hear about the crashes.

While you're waiting for resolution you might consider reading this manual. The one that Yuneec puts out is remiss in useful information in soooooo many ways.

https://yuneec-forum.com/attachments/typhoon-h-user-manual-vcho3-1-pdf.7319/

Thank you sir. That does seem to be the recurring theme.

 

[biltno]

Andy
Once again your saving grace is the experts here.
They are the absolute best reading the data.
Crashes always look worse and feel worse ( if you know what I mean)
If you don’t get the help from yuneec in repairing your H you can do it yourself with the help of the forum

 

[AndyP]

Andy
Once again your saving grace is the experts here.
They are the absolute best reading the data.
Crashes always look worse and feel worse ( if you know what I mean)
If you don’t get the help from yuneec in repairing your H you can do it yourself with the help of the forum

Thank you, all of you. On-hold with Yuneec now.
This crash looked pretty tragic. Watching it fly at Mach 2 into a tree and seeing pieces fly out the other side.

 

[Dustoff]

Sorry did not mean to point blame rather offer a reason .

Once you get your aircraft back I would suggest flying a bit with the camera off to avoid damage.

For what’s it’s worth I never received any kind of pamphlet , had to refer to this forum first. But then again I had watched every you tube video out there and read the post on this forum before I spent money on the H .

I agree with everyone else do not use smart mode .