Guide to Analyzing Breeze Cam FlightLogs - Your Data is Needed

[DoomMeister]

I wanted to have a way to plot my flights with the Breeze on Google Maps/Earth, so I started exploring the data contained in the Breeze Cam FlightLog files. As I started inserting the data into Google Maps, I was finding that a lot of my files were showing the Breeze staying in the same place. As I investigated further, I found that the files didn't have any data showing the Breeze in the air and I had video files from the same time frame proving that the Breeze was indeed airborn.

At this point I started delving a little deeper into data contained in the files and came up with a rough draft for reading the flight log. I shared this with a few others on the forum, and enlisted the help of airborne, Scott_in_Colorado, and TStover that own the Breeze.

The big problem with Breeze Cam not recording a log file of a flight is that the FlightLog is what Yuneec uses to determine warranty issues. No FlightLog or a FlightLog that stops recording when the Breeze takes off and you are left holding the bag for loss of the Breeze or repair costs.

Your input on this guide is most welcome. Please share your results from its use. This is the path to having Yuneec properly support their product. You can download a copy here Guide to Analyzing Breeze Cam FlightLogs.pdf. When and if this guide gets updated, I will alter the thread title with Updated mm/dd/yy.

 

[Tuna]

Is it consistently not writing flight logs for all users, or is this something that 'comes and goes'?

 

[DoomMeister]

Is it consistently not writing flight logs for all users, or is this something that 'comes and goes'?

Missing data appears to be consistent when using the controller, but it seems rare to get real data even in the modes where the phone/pad/tablet is used to enter flight controls. Namely Pilot, Orbit, Journey, and Follow Me.

That is why I put this up on the forum. I would like to see just how many are seeing the same circumstances.

 

[Scott_in_Colorado]

Great work Steve. Thanks for the info. I see the same as you.

 

[DoomMeister]

Great work Steve. Thanks for the info. I see the same as you.

Thanks for your help in putting this together, not a solo effort by far. The Yuneec Pilots forum is the best forum I have ever been a member of. It is civil, knowledgeable, and helpful. I am proud to be a part of it and enjoy learning from the membership.

 

[DoomMeister]

I was searching the web for information on the Breeze Cam FlightLogs, and came across a post in another section of the forum.

Helmet Elsner has written a program to convert telemetry files from Yuneec multirotors to kml/kmz files that will display the flight data in Google Maps/Earth Pro. He is a member of this forum and a few others. I wish that I had come across this earlier, but probably would not have discovered the missing/partial flight log problem if I had.

Here is the link to the other thread Dashware - Is anybody using it? go to post #3. The file you need is the q500log2kml program which is a standalone program and can be run from memory stick. The link in that post is for the Windows program, but his website has downloads for a Linux version and Mac version. You can find them here Index of /downloads.

Thanks Helmut! Nice program.

P.S. If you have a 32bit version of Windows use this link to the program http://h-elsner.mooo.com/downloads/q500log2kml_en32.zip

 

[TStover]

And I just happen to have dashware installed on my laptop for use with my Phantom. Good info, thank you!

 

[Pharrow]

I updated my controller yesterday and today when i went to fly my breeze it took off like a bat out of **** and started to circle the back yard, it went about 100ft and crashed into a tree and broke an arm off of the fuselage. I tried to send in my flight log and kept getting an anomally message. So frusterated!! Anyhow I managed to glue it back on and tried to fly it and it kept doing the same thing even when I used my phone to fly instead of the controller. I don't know if i want to buy another one and use this one for parts, or just buy something else like a parrot bee bop.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

After your firmware update did you do a compass calibration? If not that could be why it went off on its own and crashed.

 

[DoomMeister]

Pharrow,

To upload the log file to this site add ‘.txt’ to the end and then use the attach file to the post. The likelyhood of having a FlightLog that actually showed the Breeze in the air is slim as most flights are not being recorded. If you upload your FlightLog here I’ll take a look and let you know what I see.

Updating the firmware for the controller should not have affected the flight characteristics of the Breeze. After flashing the new firmware to the controller did you set the mode for for the type of phone you were using (iOS or Android)? It might be possible that could have made a difference, but I won’t test it with mine.

Sorry it happened to you, and hopefully we as a community may eventually find the cause of the TBE on the Breeze. Others have posted info about many other brands being affected by the same TBE syndrome.

 

[airborne]

The error "Network Anomaly" in the breeze app only means that the app can not connect to one of Yuneec's servers. Try again when you are back home and your mobile is connected to your home's WiFi.
Anyway when claiming a warranty case Yuneec will ask you to copy the logfile(s) off your phone onto the internal memory of your breeze before you send it to them. Been there - done that. Yuneec Germany was quite generous in my case. Possibly because the logs claimed that my breeze was staionary all the time. DoomMeister did a great job in finding that the app's logging of the breeze is severly flawed. So it might be a good idea to send your logs for review by DoomMeister. Eventually you will be given good arguments when dealing with Yuneec. AFAIK there is no comment from Yuneec regarding the faulty logging.

 

[airborne]

Missing data appears to be consistent when using the controller, but it seems rare to get real data even in the modes where the phone/pad/tablet is used to enter flight controls. Namely Pilot, Orbit, Journey, and Follow Me.

That is why I put this up on the forum. I would like to see just how many are seeing the same circumstances.

Just by accident I discovered some strange behaviour regarding missing logs. I too had to find truncated logs. These logs have no actual flight data, they just consist of the first 4 or 5 lines of the header and no actual flight times.
Investigating further the flights in question were listed in the Breeze app as flights with their correct time airborne. (in: Menu, Support, Flight Logs) So obviously the logs get truncated when they are transferred from the smartphone to the computer. Indeed this assuption can be corroborated in the setup described below:
Sony Xperia3, Android, Netbook running Win7 Prof. When I connect the Sony to the computer (USB/WiFi/BT - it does not matter) the file explorer in Windows shows me the internal structure of directories. Downloading the logs "the Windows way" leads to truncation. BUT when I use the app "My Phone Explorer" for the download the logs get transferred in full lenghth.
So I assume that the flight logs contain some special characters that are considered as EOF-Markers by Windows.
I do not know if these findings apply to IOS as well, I am totally ignorant in IOS/Apple matters. So it would be interesting if some expert in IOS smartphones could follow up this line of thought.

 

[DoomMeister]

That is an interesting phenomenon. I am glad you noticed the truncation. Is the app you used to get full file transfer specific to Sony products, or is it an Android app that can be used on any phone/pad/tablet? Once a file is copied to Windows with the app, can it be copied/moved without being truncated?

As for iOS and transfer of files to Windows, iTunes has to be used and it copies the entire folder every time. It is not possible to select individual files for transfer. I have not noticed any file size differences like you describe in using Android.

I will start keeping a more diligent eye for any such discrepancies in my file transfers by looking at flight times in Breeze Cam compared to times after being transferred to Windows.

 

[airborne]

The app My Phone Explorer consists of two parts: One goes to any Android phone the second part has to be installed on the windows machine. So yes, it is in Google playstore for free and suits most Android flavours.
Once the file is on Windows it can be copied, moved and edited without restricitions. So the truncation must happen when windows File Explorer does the handling. Windows is known to handle CR/LF sequences in a peculiar way sometimes.

 

[Zoom4106]

Anyone, need help analyzing my yuneec breeze flight log before it fly away and sank into the lake. I have to send it back for repair. Thanks very much

 

[DoomMeister]

Anyone, need help analyzing my yuneec breeze flight log before it fly away and sank into the lake. I have to send it back for repair. Thanks very much

I will take a look tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Zoom4106]

I will take a look tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you, I hope I did not do anything that my fault.

 

[DoomMeister]

Thank you, I hope I did not do anything that my fault.

I will see what I can find, but the Breeze Cam app is notorious for not recording a flight log for each flight. What date did your Breeze go for a swim?

 

[Zoom4106]

It’s June 17, 2018 Father’s Day morning. Found it after 6 hours then dried it for three days put in a ziplock with silica gel/desiccant and successfully retrieved my photos and videos with 4 motor stalled and overheats every 4-5 mins.
Need to cool it down.

 

[DoomMeister]

The flight log file for that morning is only about 50 seconds long and stopped recording just as it lifted off at 0.87m (3ft) in altitude. Battery level was good, there were no error flags set, and GPS had at least 14 satellites and was active. You were in pilot mode.

It is possible for the file to be truncated if you are using an Android phone and transferring to a Windows PC. Look in Breeze Cam and see if the log file for 06/17 is longer than about 50 seconds. If it is it was truncated in the transfer.

Could you also describe what transpired when the Breeze took a dip. It can give a clue as to what may have failed on the Breeze.