I was doing some initial testing of the Terrain Awareness feature. First I understand the feature is only available on iOS. Something else happened, I wasn’t able to take off manually and then start the mission. I could before on Android without terrain awareness. Is this a requirement of Terrain Awareness that DD does the launch or is it a peculiarity of iOS DD version or is this a new requirement across all devices terrain aware or not?
I also want to confirm that a WiFi connection is required for terrain awareness and you can’t pre-load/cache a terrain awareness mission like you can when not using terrain awareness?
I assume it still holds true that the altitude measurement when the drone is flying is above ground relative to the launch point elevation. I have a mission with 100 feet elevation change set to fly at 225 ft. The Elevation profile of the mission shows 225ft as the lowest elevation the drone flies. This would seem to me that either the feature is assuming you are launching from the lowest point (lowest common denominator safety factor), or, does the feature then disregard the elevation at the launch point and override it with the topography information to calculate the drone’s height? If it doesn’t that means if I’m launching at a ground elevation that is in the middle elevation of the topography of the mission area, I would need to subtract half the total elevation change 50ft (half of 100) to actually fly 225ft above ground for the entire mission.
Second question, any word on the Terrain Awareness for Android?
Launch point elevation is irrelevant with terrain awareness. The altitude of the drone is just your AGL above the documented surface for that area. You will see points generated on the flight line at which is crosses grade breaks in that surface.
I advise the flight plans using TA should always be created as parallel with the contours as possible in order to reduce the amount of severity in altitude change needed which in turn will make is safer.
I just wanted to say, I crashed my DJI Phantom 4 in to a tree because of this feature difference, and it took me about an hour climbing the tree to get it out.
I used my iphone to do the original testing of the flight plan, and ran multiple missions with great success. Then I bought a cheap google pixel so my personal phone would not be unavailable during 45 minute mapping missions. I had no idea the mobile app actually altered flight plans I have previously flown, and the android app does not warn the user that terrain awareness has been disabled.
Because I had previously run the mission multiple times, it did not even occur to me that the feature would be missing on android or indeed that anything would be wrong.
I’ll go back to using my iphone, but just be aware this feature difference can lead to drone crashes. Customers just trying out your product won’t know about this difference if they’re not notified.
I get what you are saying, but that seems like something that should be checked before you fly every single time. Also product and support documents clearly state that TA is not available on Android so it isn’t just disabled.
I signed up for a user account. I loaded an example. I adjusted things until I had a sample mission. I flew the sample mission using my iphone. I made adjustments to the mission. I flew 10 or so missions using my iphone. They all had been consistent and unremarkable. I then got an android phone, signed in and opened the very same mission, made no changes to the mission, and then flew it. Everything appeared to be consistent and unremarkable. It is only about 20 minutes in to my mission that the issue occurred, and by then every other time it had been fine to walk away for a while instead of staring at the transmitter (though it occurs to me now I’m not supposed to do that in my jurisdiction). Then I came back to the transmitter and discovered that the drone was disconnected and nowhere to be found.
So you see, I never read the product support docs, because I was not aware that I had any problems. While of course reading all the documentation is the prudent thing to do, it had seemed to me that everything was working fine. I had no idea I would need to check that certain features were present in the android version. I suspect most new users do not read through all the product docs.
So yes. This was all my fault for not reading all of the product documents and for walking away during flight. But product designers generally try hard to avoid traps like this in their product flow. Normally a confused user could perhaps accidentally delete important information or something, but in this case it caused me to damage a $2000 drone.
And so, while this is ultimately my fault, I present my “user story” for the product designers. A simple popup that says “Feature X was enabled for this map, but is not available on Android. Please double check your flight plan.” Would have avoided me the trouble.
This is why in construction we have OSHA training and machines that won’t run if you aren’t sitting in the seat and people think our FAA is harsh. Thanks for the detail and I hope your drone is repairable.
Yep! I should have said “risked damage.” I mean its probably not good for the drone to crash in to a tree and it may have reduced the drone’s life, but so far it’s still flying fine. I’m learning to map a rural farm so things aren’t quite so strict!
That Absolutely BLEW MY MIND that a Drone has a GPWS on it…I’m IMPRESSED!..The Jet I just retired from would Yell “Terrain Terrain…Pull Up Pull Up”…Controlled Flight Into Terrain, or CFIT, it was the #1 cause of Accidents…The American Airlines Crash in Cali, Columbia was a CFIT…That’s when we got the GPWS…and the reason why they hit the Mountain…BOTH Pilots had there heads down trying to re-Program the FMS…Situational Awareness and relying to much on Automation Got them…Fly the Aircraft First!
I’m Brand new and still in “Ground School”…but does this system have a “preset” on it to alarm you if it reads X # of Feet…kinda like a Radar Altimeter?..if not, is it possible to do it?
Many new users crash and give up rather than reading the documentation. It’s sometimes called the “Darwin effect”. The good news is when the new users realize that its safer and less expensive to learn the material if they decide to continue with UAS operation.
Current automation with these craft make it so easy for anyone to get in the air and get a sometimes false sense of security. Experienced users rely on automated features all the time. But the difference is that they monitor the operation carefully and if anything seems to be deviating from the expected behavior, like for example the craft is getting closer to the ground than would be expected, they intervene and terminate the automation until they are satisfied everything is going per plan. Of course you have to be monitoring in order to notice that the ground is coming up at you. But you already recognize that now.
And, I would not pin this on the app developers in any way. They anticipate that you will learn about the automation and that you will monitor the operation and take control at any time things are not as expected.
Sorry for the little lecture. But you have to understand that we “old timers” see these kinds of incidents all the time. It’s actually very common. I’m sure this sort of incident will not happen to you again.
When I first trialled DroneDeploy and other similar software 3-4 years ago, I spent a fair few hours over an empty field over a very short range learning what’s what. I definitely didn’t read the user documentation, but I do remember dipping in and out now and again over the weeks that would follow.
What I have never done however, is put the transmitter down and walked away. I have honestly never heard anything like it. Losing sight of a drone momentarily is bad enough, but not having ultimate control of the drone would scare the crap out of me.
Obviously, given the drone is to have a pair of eyes on it at all times, should anything have gone wrong or at least looked like it might not be going as planned, a flip of a switch on the transmitter would have saved a crash. Separating yourself from the transmitter and taking your eyes off the drone are what went wrong here.
DD doesn’t lead me into a false sense of security. If anything, it makes me more alert. Although I am far from an expert of planning a mission nor processing the images, I would like to think of myself as more than diligent with the automatic side of flying a drone. The key as @Dave has said, is knowing how to get yourself out of bother as and when required. Like a fielder always being on his toes in anticipation for the ball heading his way. Be ready for anything. I don’t think I have missed many of the tens of thousands of changes in direction DD has sent the drone, just in case it didn’t turn. Literally the only thing that’s required if there’s a hiccup, is to flip the switch.
All that said, for you to be 20 mins into a mission and presumably having already spent time initiating the mission after switching on, you must have been relatively low on battery. It would be interesting to know what your DJI Go settings were set to in the event you were running low on fuel. Is it possible you merely ran out of battery?
Roger That! If you ask yourself “What the heck is it doing”? Cancel the Automation and hand fly it…that is pretty much a given across the rest of the Aviation Industry!..Im a “Newbie” to Drones, but have lived a lifetime in Aviation. It’s great to see the same principles & theories being taught and used here in 107 land!..I enjoy “hand flying” my P-4 and Ok at it, but I’m still going to get a day’s worth of “Dual” from a UAV Coach Instructor, fly the exercises and be proficient before I start handing out business cards…then you need to stay proficient…in a way, I wish as Commercial rated pilots we had to pass a Biannual Flight Review with a designated instructor…but what really did blow my mind is this: I was issued a commercial pilots license to operate an aircraft for compensation or hire on an aircraft type that I had never flown! But as part 107 evolves, so will the issuing requirements.
Right on! We use the DJI Flight Simulator for the first 5 hours of our training followed by 2 hours of visual observance, 2 hours of project controls (surveying) and 1 hour of observed flight. This is all before we look at anything to do with the data.
and people think our FAA is harsh. Thanks for the detail and I hope your drone is repairable.