is it possible to utilize the GPS coordinates on the transmitter to locate an iris that goes down out of line of sight? or potentially use droid planner on your phone somehow to lead you to it? let’s say the iris crash landed inside a bush and you couldn’t see it.
I would think it would be simpler to use Tower to do that. It would be able to show you on a map where it is. GPS coordinate alone aren’t helpful if you don’t know what they mean.
I had my copter fly into a tree using a Mission and could see the copter in the tree but when I used Droid Planner to show me where it was it showed it was next to me on the ground even though I could see it 100 Meters away up in the tree.
Don’t know what happened there but it is always updating it location as long as the battery is there.
Mike
hi mike… thanx for the reply…what is tower???
Mark,
Tower is Droidplanner 3, the latest version from 3DR. You can get it from the Google Play Store, and you will also need the 3DR Services app, also at the Store.
Mike,
Did IRIS flip over in the tree? It sounds like GPS might have stopped updating, and that would be likely(?) to happen if IRIS flipped over (and there might be other reasons). So finding it with the on-board GPS might not always work. There is a thread around here somewhere (either here or at DIY Drones) where someone uses a dog collar GPS pinger, available from Amazon, but, it requires a monthly fee for an online GPS tracking service, about $10/month (after a couple of months free).
No the unit was straight up as I have the video of it. As things will have it, it sat right in the tree looking straight back at me as I can see myself putting the radio down in shock. I ended up cutting the tree down.
Mike
Thanx Jack. I’m going to download them today to my phone, and since I have a windows 8 tablet (2 in 1 computer) I’ll put it on my tablet as well. do you use tower in place of Mission Planner?
Mike: you cut down the tree? I hope it was your tree, lol… I’m just envisioning you like a modern day george washington…excuse me ma’am but I have to cut down your tree to get my drone… sorry for the inconvenience…
Mark,
Tower (Droidplanner 3) is only for Android devices, while Mission Planner is for Windows only. You are lucky (I think) to have a Windows tablet which will run Mission Planner which, at this point, is the more mature program. I am currently torn between buying a Windows 8.1 two-in-one “dock-able” tablet, or just waiting for Tower to catch up (which I think/hope it will).
Mike,
Bummer! I don’t know what else to suggest. I hope the tree was what us “Tree Farmers” call a trash tree, not a valuable specimen! It is just a matter of time, I guess, until I wind up in the top of large pine or red oak and have to made a hard decision on the next step. My plan is to use IRIS+ to periodically “map” the tree farm looking for problems.
Jack