First flight after batteries charged, and operation manual read through a few times.
Wind at 7 to 10 mph, constant.
My maiden flights resulted in two crashes, breaking 3 propellers, and two additional (really) bad landings. IRIS did not seem happy to land on the legs, but in the two landings, decided to roll on over on her top.
Even though I had the controller set to Altitude Hold mode, IRIS was moving all over the place. Perhaps this was due to the wind. But, at times, the movement seemed rather excessive. The two crashes resulted in my own overcorrection of the movement. Crash one: Ran into the back of my house, broke two propellers. Crash two: Ran into a cedar tree, broke one propeller. As previously stated, two additional bad landings.
When landing IRIS, my attempts to disarm the motors were not received quickly. Perhaps that is the reason she wanted to turn over on her head.
I did install the longer legs, mostly in preparation to later install the gimbal and a camera. Could that be the issue with the poor landing? A lack of weight balance?
Things learned:
- My backyard is not “open space” enough. I need a much larger area without obstacles to practice in.
- I need a lot of “stick” time before installing expensive sensors on the unit.
- Stock up on propellers (Already ordered).
- Continue to read and be patient.
Questions:
- Can anyone offer advice about the excessive movement?
- I have read others’ comments about getting the “logs” from IRIS from Mission planner? is that valuable here?
- I have read others’ comments about NOT trying to trim the controller. I read those comments AFTER I tried to trim the controller. Is there a way to reset to settings placed by the 3drobitcs’ crew?
- Does part of the first preflight include a diagnostic check of IRIS in Mission Planner, or an “update of firmware” request from Mission Planner? If so, I did neither before the first flight.
- The landings: Are the poor landings caused by the long legs without the gimbal attached (to help balance the weight)?
Summary: This thing is really awesome, just need to work out a few little issues with my inexperience. I look forward to seeing what it can do. Can’t wait to experience some “swarm” action, some “lidar” measurement capabilities, some photo mapping trials, and so much more!!!