Erratic flight

[slvervper99]

Just for a little history, have been flying it since the firmware update 2. something with no issues, and mind you, my backyard is near power lines. So, yesterday we went to the lake where a friend is building her home, the power lines are on the street while the lake is obviously in her backyard. Flew the drone one time, it was fine and landed it no problem. Second time, I started the motor - pressed the auto lift -was expecting to hover to about 5 feet ....... nope just like the energizer bunny rabbit it keeps going and going UP!!!!!, I thought...wtf? I kept on pushing the throttle stick down - no response, did it again -the XSP was about 100 feet at this point - boom it responded. Landed the drone but the landing was not smooth, I kept on the throttle to bring it down and eased up on the throttle, it landed hard good thing I had the pool noodle attached. So, tried to fly again *third time) - not sure if it was a fluke -but this time I used the throttle to lift the drone - no problem hovered at 5 feet. Flew the drone and landed flawlessly, after the third flight -changed batteries - figured instead of using the auto lift, I will use the throttle again - and wham it did exactly the same thing kept on going up but instead of landing the drone, I use the forward stick and responded with no issues and was able to control the altitude afterwards and landed her safely after flying. Sorry for the long story, but this made me paranoid again - after my incident on the first drone, I am little paranoid -should I try downloading the firmware again?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

What kind of ground was it sitting on when you fired it up? Sometimes starpoint does not like some textures and might have gotten mixed up or the IMU never calibrated right on startup. Hard to say what happened. You can try another install but if it never had any fail warnings I don't see the point.

 

[slvervper99]

What kind of ground was it sitting on when you fired it up? Sometimes starpoint does not like some textures and might have gotten mixed up or the IMU never calibrated right on startup. Hard to say what happened. You can try another install but if it never had any fail warnings I don't see the point.

I started it up on my friends deck. All 5 flights. Just really paranoid, have not flown it since we got home. I'll again from my backyard see if it happens again. I'll try with both batteries and I will also recalibrate the compass.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

It sounds like the starpoint was not reading distance and thats why it kept climbing. Just a guess on my part.

 

[Bigbit]

If Starpoint is suspected, I suggest you check and make sure that the optical and sonar sensors are clean.

 

[PRMath]

If Starpoint is suspected, I suggest you check and make sure that the optical and sonar sensors are clean.

iOS or Android ?????

 

[Donda]

Not to take this in a different direction, but with our H-Town humidity I'm concerned about the moisture change from the house to the outdoors and condensate building up on sensors, lenses, and the like. Should I be concerned, and what do you all do to protect your rig...how and what do you use to clean your birds eyes?

 

[slvervper99]

iOS or Android ?????

iOS. I have an Iphone 6 plus. No cell service though on the phone since it is my wife's old phone, not sure if it affects it at all but I doubt it.

 

[PRMath]

iOS. I have an Iphone 6 plus. No cell service though on the phone since it is my wife's old phone, not sure if it affects it at all but I doubt it.

Any problems when you fly with no tablet or the old phone

 

[slvervper99]

Any problems when you fly with no tablet or the old phone

Hmmm, haven't tried that.

 

[PRMath]

Hmmm, haven't tried that.

Hmmm, haven't tried that.

I was also told by Apple do NOT use any cable that is not genuine Apple brand. I know for a fact that there really is a difference.

 

[intrepidusa]

Could it be that the pool noodles were being read as the ground and therefor the drone thought it was still only inches from the ground and kept climbing and looking for the correct distance to ground?

 

[Bigbit]

Could it be that the pool noodles were being read as the ground and therefor the drone thought it was still only inches from the ground and kept climbing and looking for the correct distance to ground?

This makes a lot of sense....

 

[ovrszd]

Could it be that the pool noodles were being read as the ground and therefor the drone thought it was still only inches from the ground and kept climbing and looking for the correct distance to ground?

Yahtzee!!!

 

[slvervper99]

Could it be that the pool noodles were being read as the ground and therefor the drone thought it was still only inches from the ground and kept climbing and looking for the correct distance to ground?

Yup, I wondered that too, however wouldn't the effect of the noodle be more consistent as opposed to intermittent. If the pool noodle is the problem, then it would be a problem no more will just have to find a better flotation device when flying over water lol

 

[intrepidusa]

There are a lot of variables there...do the noodles move at all from one take-off and landing to the next, etc. The starpoint if I understand it correctly is a combination of camera and sonar...so if there is confusion between the two I would think that is enough to cause erratic behavior, something like "fly higher to be safe as it looks like the ground is inches away". try it without the noodles and see if she does the same thing...if it flies without the erratic behavior it has something to do with the noodles...try thinner ones that don't go so far into the center of the drone where the starpoint module is located...or figure out how to get them further out from center.

 

[slvervper99]

There are a lot of variables there...do the noodles move at all from one take-off and landing to the next, etc. The starpoint if I understand it correctly is a combination of camera and sonar...so if there is confusion between the two I would think that is enough to cause erratic behavior, something like "fly higher to be safe as it looks like the ground is inches away". try it without the noodles and see if she does the same thing...if it flies without the erratic behavior it has something to do with the noodles...try thinner ones that don't go so far into the center of the drone where the starpoint module is located...or figure out how to get them further out from center.

The noodle is off now. I have not tried flying her ever since that incident since I have been busy at work. Will try it today (Wednesday) and see how she flies. But I'm not sure if the result will be definitive since the condition (location) will be different if it is a location issue. I just got a little paranoid (happens when you pretty destroyed a $700 drone - my Q500 4k), so any quirks and quibbles on my XSP, I ask here. Thank you guys for all your input.