Critical battery auto-landing in bad spot... what is my best play?

[Sad Crasher]

I stupidly pushed the limit of my drone and its battery, because it wasn't too far from me.

It got to 10%, reported "critical battery", and auto-landed in the bushes on a hill. I did not see it go down, but I do have 13 seconds of video of the auto-landing starting (saved on the DJI Go App).

It also is reporting the last position on the DJI Go App, which hopefully is accurate.

I couldn't go look for it today because this happened just after sunset. By the time I got over to the location, it was pitch dark and I gave up until tomorrow.

There is just about zero chance that someone else will find it. It appears to be in a location in the hills in a residential area where people rarely venture. If the location is accurate, I can probably hack through the bushes tomorrow morning and see if I can find it.

Here are my questions:

1) What does the DJI Phantom 4 do when it critical-battery-auto-lands and then finds itself in bushes. Does it attempt to fly off somewhere else? When does it give up and shut itself off?

2) Is there any way to get the DJI Go app to give me the exact GPS coordinates, rather than just the picture on a map? I was able to see it on a hybrid map, which I can use to walk there tomorrow. But GPS coordinates would be best.

3) Given that the DJI Go App has video of it starting to auto-land, is there a pretty high chance that the "red arrow" on the display is its actual position?

Any other suggestions?

Please let me know. I am very depressed over this.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

I stupidly pushed the limit of my drone and its battery, because it wasn't too far from me.

It got to 10%, reported "critical battery", and auto-landed in the bushes on a hill. I did not see it go down, but I do have 13 seconds of video of the auto-landing starting (saved on the DJI Go App).

It also is reporting the last position on the DJI Go App, which hopefully is accurate.

I couldn't go look for it today because this happened just after sunset. By the time I got over to the location, it was pitch dark and I gave up until tomorrow.

There is just about zero chance that someone else will find it. It appears to be in a location in the hills in a residential area where people rarely venture. If the location is accurate, I can probably hack through the bushes tomorrow morning and see if I can find it.

Here are my questions:

1) What does the DJI Phantom 4 do when it critical-battery-auto-lands and then finds itself in bushes. Does it attempt to fly off somewhere else? When does it give up and shut itself off?

2) Is there any way to get the DJI Go app to give me the exact GPS coordinates, rather than just the picture on a map? I was able to see it on a hybrid map, which I can use to walk there tomorrow. But GPS coordinates would be best.

3) Given that the DJI Go App has video of it starting to auto-land, is there a pretty high chance that the "red arrow" on the display is its actual position?

Any other suggestions?

Please let me know. I am very depressed over this.

DJIGo4 has option on home page to find drone

 

[Deleted member 62848]

I stupidly pushed the limit of my drone and its battery, because it wasn't too far from me.

It got to 10%, reported "critical battery", and auto-landed in the bushes on a hill. I did not see it go down, but I do have 13 seconds of video of the auto-landing starting (saved on the DJI Go App).

It also is reporting the last position on the DJI Go App, which hopefully is accurate.

I couldn't go look for it today because this happened just after sunset. By the time I got over to the location, it was pitch dark and I gave up until tomorrow.

There is just about zero chance that someone else will find it. It appears to be in a location in the hills in a residential area where people rarely venture. If the location is accurate, I can probably hack through the bushes tomorrow morning and see if I can find it.

Here are my questions:

1) What does the DJI Phantom 4 do when it critical-battery-auto-lands and then finds itself in bushes. Does it attempt to fly off somewhere else? When does it give up and shut itself off?

2) Is there any way to get the DJI Go app to give me the exact GPS coordinates, rather than just the picture on a map? I was able to see it on a hybrid map, which I can use to walk there tomorrow. But GPS coordinates would be best.

3) Given that the DJI Go App has video of it starting to auto-land, is there a pretty high chance that the "red arrow" on the display is its actual position?

Any other suggestions?

Please let me know. I am very depressed over this.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

View attachment 81331 View attachment 81331

Very accurate even if drone is off

 

[Sad Crasher]

DJIGo4 has option on home page to find drone

Can you tell me where that is?

I'm in the app right now and I don't see that option.

Does my drone need to be on in order for this to work? It went down with 10% battery about 2.5 hours ago, so I imagine it is flat dead at this point.

 

[Sad Crasher]

My app only has "Flight Record, Academy, and Store" as options.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Can you tell me where that is?

I'm in the app right now and I don't see that option.

Does my drone need to be on in order for this to work? It went down with 10% battery about 2.5 hours ago, so I imagine it is flat dead at this point.

Before you enter app it's on home screen with drone pic ,,click top right logo,,it's 3 lines I think

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Before you enter app it's on home screen with drone pic ,,click top right logo,,it's 3 lines I think

top right corner 3 black lines,,click there

 

[Sad Crasher]

Yeah for whatever reason it only gives me those 3 options, not Find My Drone.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

View attachment 81333 top right corner 3 black lines,,click there

Sounds like you got 4.0.6. Re-download app and it will give you 4.0.7 and you will get these options

 

[Sad Crasher]

I am afraid to do this because I'm scared it will clear my cache and all the info will be lost.

What does "Find My Drone" do?

Does anyone have any answers for the other questions I asked?

 

[tevek]

I stupidly pushed the limit of my drone and its battery, because it wasn't too far from me.

It got to 10%, reported "critical battery", and auto-landed in the bushes on a hill. I did not see it go down, but I do have 13 seconds of video of the auto-landing starting (saved on the DJI Go App).

It also is reporting the last position on the DJI Go App, which hopefully is accurate.

I couldn't go look for it today because this happened just after sunset. By the time I got over to the location, it was pitch dark and I gave up until tomorrow.

There is just about zero chance that someone else will find it. It appears to be in a location in the hills in a residential area where people rarely venture. If the location is accurate, I can probably hack through the bushes tomorrow morning and see if I can find it.

Here are my questions:

1) What does the DJI Phantom 4 do when it critical-battery-auto-lands and then finds itself in bushes. Does it attempt to fly off somewhere else? When does it give up and shut itself off?

2) Is there any way to get the DJI Go app to give me the exact GPS coordinates, rather than just the picture on a map? I was able to see it on a hybrid map, which I can use to walk there tomorrow. But GPS coordinates would be best.

3) Given that the DJI Go App has video of it starting to auto-land, is there a pretty high chance that the "red arrow" on the display is its actual position?

Any other suggestions?

Please let me know. I am very depressed over this.

When you get to auto land, the best you can do is guide it by line of sight with your controls and using your camera view to hopefully place it in an area that is accessible. Once it has landed, it will turn off or if stuck in a tree, probably thrash around until the battery is depleted and the drone shuts dow. As @inazone said, try the 'find my drone' function in the app. I tried it out yesterday with the drone turned off and it was reasonably close. Your device needs access to GPS and mobile coverage.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

I am afraid to do this because I'm scared it will clear my cache and all the info will be lost.

What does "Find My Drone" do?

Does anyone have any answers for the other questions I asked?

1,,,when drone lands it shuts down..3,,red arrow shows direction ,,cause there no GPS which shows location is blue,,,,2 ??I post next pic of find my drone on map

 

[Sad Crasher]

Does anyone know if updating the DJI app will clobber the cache and info of the last flight?

 

[Deleted member 62848]

1,,,when drone lands it shuts down..3,,red arrow shows direction ,,cause there no GPS which shows location is blue,,,,2 ??I post next pic of find my drone on map

comes up like this on find my drone,,,I sure even if you re-download app it will know where it is and give coordinatespecially to drone location

 

[Sad Crasher]

Also, if it landed with critical battery, wouldn't it be too dead for Find My Drone to work?

On my map right now, I see a red arrow with some green highlights right next to it.

Is that the position it's at? How reliable is this? Again, the Phantom kept connection with my DJI Go App long enough to record 13 seconds of video of it auto landing, but it cut off before I saw it land (maybe from loss of line of sight?)

 

[tevek]

I am afraid to do this because I'm scared it will clear my cache and all the info will be lost.

What does "Find My Drone" do?

Does anyone have any answers for the other questions I asked?

If you are able to replay your flight in the go app, at the bottom are the coordinates for your flight which may be of some help when you are at the end of the log.
Find my drone is a bit like the 'find my phone' that is available on my iOS device. Your drone has GPS as do many devices that are used as controllers for drones and they are reasonably accurate. If you are struggling to find you AC, you can upload your flight data via this link and the clever people on here can just about take you to the exact spot.
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Also, if it landed with critical battery, wouldn't it be too dead for Find My Drone to work?

On my map right now, I see a red arrow with some green highlights right next to it.

Is that the position it's at? How reliable is this? Again, the Phantom kept connection with my DJI Go App long enough to record 13 seconds of video of it auto landing, but it cut off before I saw it land (maybe from loss of line of sight?)

Find my drone works if it on or off

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Find my drone works if it on or off

Man sorry for all map pics ,,must have pressed a couple times

 

[tevek]

Does anyone know if updating the DJI app will clobber the cache and info of the last flight?

If you sync your flights first, then all the flight data will be sent to the dji server. When you install the new app, hit the sync button again and presto, it will come back from the server to your device. The sync button is on the top right hand corner of your flight log screen in the app. Looks like a cloud with a circle around it.