My experience with the Auto to date- and height problems.

[arnie]

Has anyone had issues where the Auto changes height on its own + or - 2-3 meters while flying a straight line ?  I have had nothing but random issues with the Auto since I received it. There are times it has flow great and others that it has not.  Have had what some people call the "toilet bowl" effect randomly where it starts going in spirals while flying and then eventually you loose control and it does not respond to the sticks, even in Atti. This happened to me and caused a major crash at one point in an asphalt parking lot. Amazingly the shell only had minor scratches and a small puncture at the top which was not a big deal. It did cost me a new gimbal and landing gears, since one of the wires ripped off the motor right where it enters the motor and the landing gears were toast. The landing gears took most of the impact. I have sent my Auto back to Urban drones, they flew it, with no gimbal,  and said there was no problem. I got it back from them, flew it with no gimbal and also had no problems. Then put the gimbal back on and started having problems again at random. In any case since this all happened, I have been doing a lot of reading and decided to make changes to the Auto. From what I can determine, the "toilet bowl" effect is due to Electro magnetic interference between the electronics in the drone and the compass/gps puck. This seems to be a known effect that is not unique to the splash drone. Because this was happening, I decided to move the Compass Gps puck outside of the drone and put it on a mast on top of the plastic cover. While I was at it, I moved the controller to the center so that two Batteries could be used in the drone. Re-calibrated everything - accelerometer, radio and compass and have been trying to fly it. As far as I can see, the compass/gps are doing great and I have not seen the "toilet bowl" effect anymore, but after doing all of this when the drone flys it does not maintain altitude properly.  I have been flying close to the ground as I dont trust it yet, around 5 meters up. The drone seems to go up or down around 2-3 meters on its own when flying. If I fly a straight line from a standing hover, it seems to go down as it starts and then rises up on its own. My hand is not even on the left stick while this is happening. As far as I know the Gps/Compass puck has nothing to do with the height, so I don't think moving it has caused this. Im guessing this could be a controller issue ?? Maybe my controller is somehow damaged from the impact it took when I crashed ? Doesn't seem likely since it pretty much works, but I don't know what else to think. I know that the auto plus controller just came out, not sure if I should try that, or if I should just trash the controller and gps altogether and switch to either a Pixhawk controller or a DJI Naza M controller. Im really not sure where to go with this, but cant keep flying and having inconsistent results every time I fly. I have no confidence at all in the drone at the moment. Im sure with stable electronics it will be nice to have once the summer and boating season starts again.  Between now and then, I obviously want to get this to be a stable platform.  Any idea's would be welcome. 

[delboy]

Hi there arnie,

I would presume that the flight controller uses a Barometric Pressure sensor which tells it the height of the drone, that was the reason why they had to fit a top cover which had a breathable membrane on it to ensure that the barometer would operate correctly. If a solid cover was fitted then the sensor cannot detect the difference in air pressure.

Does the altitude on your display change when this happens or is it by sight that it changes height?

If your not flying over water you could try leaving the top off so that the barometer sensor can operate correctly and see if it makes a difference? May be harder for you as you have the mast on the outside now!!


So fitting the compass puck outside would not effect the altitude hold and is beneficial for your gps operation, I know a couple of people have done this and say its much better.

The auto plus controller benefits can be found in this link, you can see the benefits for your self to see if it worth upgrading or not.
www.splashdroneforums.com/thread/138/firmware-version

Someone has fitted a pixhawk system in his drone as he did not trust the original flight controller and he says that was a good mod and fly's perfect, I must admit the 3dr smart app is a lot better than the swell pro system.

I am now looking into the same myself to see if about changing the flight controller for a different one. Always wonder whether it's going to return or not when flying!!!!!!

[arnie]

The altitude on the display changes within the parameters mentioned in my post. I was flying over a grass field. I have flown there before and never had this issue until moving the controller to the center of the bird and re mounting the gps. I agree this should work on barometric pressure, which is why this make no sense unless something is wrong with the controller. Moving the controller and compass should not cause this. I have pretty much had it with the Auto as it is. I think Im going to try the Pixhawk.

As far as wondering if Its going to return or not, that's certainly and Issue, it would be more of an issue if this thing crashes into someones head. I cant believe that with such a small community of flyers that I see so many problems and concerns. My drone was a kickstarter and I got a number in the low 100's in Sept, so Im guessing there are only a few hundred of these around, certainly less than 1000.

I think its outrageous that this product was sold with so many issues. It has GPS problems, fly's in loops and out of control due to how the electronics are placed in the bird, does fly aways, stops responding to the radio at times when out of control, etc. The FPV receiver as sold is horrible, constant break up on the screen. I know i can upgrade the antenna's and will have to do that. Don't know if that will totally solve the issue either.

If I had never flown before, I might think this is just the way it is, but I know better, I had a Phantom2 V+ and now have a phantom 3 professional which is an incredible machine, but not water proof. The DJI products pretty much work the way they are supposed to and are very stable. Its like night and day. I see complaints on the DJI boards also, but the number of complaints and problems compared to the total user base is very small in comparison to the splash drone.

I am beyond disappointed with the splash drone as it came from Urban Drones. Carlo at Urban Drones, is very helpful and accommodating, but I dont think they have the answers either and his hands are tied. The last I spoke with him he told me to come here for answers as he did not have any more. I asked them to refund me at one point and was told they could not because I was a kick starter. Go figure, I put up money up front, waited forever to get the drone and then am penalized because I was a good guy and was a kickstarter.

There is a waterproof drone that comes with the Pixhawk in it as an option, called the Bullfrog made by Aquacopters. It looks much better, really cant be any worse, has a lot of room in it and is designed for two batteries, etc. Wish I had gone that way, but its too late. Im stuck with what I have and need to make it work.

Do you know what is involved in doing the update to the Pixhawk ? Is there any issue using the existing ESC's and radio ? I would guess not ? Do you know who did the Pixhawk mod, I would like to get in touch with him if possible.

Sorry for the long rant, but Im really unhappy being in this situation. I thought I was buying something that was going to work out of the box. I cant fly with a constant concern about either loosing the drone, having it crash or worse yet having it kill someone.

Thanks,

Arnie

[saylor101]

I also have had problems. It flies perfect most of the time, then randomly goes bezerk. I have everything calibrated, Gopro wifi off, 10+ GPS, etc,etc but it doesn't seem to matter. I have had one fly off (thought it was gone forever) that actually worked as advertised with the RTH feature and 2 random crashes, one that broke 2 props, and one hard crash that broke the gimbal EXACTLY as you described above. The last crash was after flying 2 batteries worth, in the same location, then mid flight with my 3rd battery, bam, crash. I have all this on video and you can clearly see the drone flying normal, then suddenly takes off. Doesn't matter if I switch to ATTI which I did except for the 1st crash. I really like the waterproof feature as I live on a lake, but the DJI may be the way I go in the future.

PS: as far as the Splash drone doing the toilet bowl?....I have had that same issue, I just put it in LOC mode briefly, then back to GPS or ATTI, then it stops. I never use the LOC, but it seems sometimes it goes in that mode randomly.

I feel your pain Arnie, and have no confidence what-so-ever in the drone right now.

[arnie]

Saylor, Sorry to hear your having some of the same issues. Im guessing that some of the erratic behavior has to do with packing so much electronics in a space that is too tight creating electromagnetic interference. Especially with the compass/gps which is why I moved it to a mast on the top of the machine. When you open the cover and put the battery in, even the placement of the battery cable, which might not always be the same could potentially cause an issue with the compass/gps. Also if the battery cable pops up or moves during flight, that could potentially cause a problem. If you look at set up guides for other flight controllers, they all recommend that you keep the gps/compass many inches away from the power cables and other electronic's. The splasdrone is not built that way and while I understand why they tried to pack all the electronics and compass/gps in the way they did, I believe the way they designed the drone and laid out the electronics is flawed and the cause of the problems.

Hope you get yours flying right. Wishing you good luck. It seems like were all going to need some.

[saylor101]

So you really like the DJI 3 Pro?

[arnie]

Its absolutely incredible !!! Rock solid stability, stops on the dime even when running at speed. Has an active braking system. Great fpv 720P streaming to your tablet with a lot of range.

4k video camera, waypoints, follow me , POI, homelock, courselock, etc.

Also, the drone logs all flight info to your tablet so you have a record of every flight that is overlaid on a google earth type map so you can play back the flight. The app also creates logs that can be used in a variety of ways. I use a site called healthydrones. They have an app that automatically transfers your logs to their cloud. When you log in you can see how everything on the drone performed each flight. You can see things like battery condition and variance between battery cells from the logged flights that could help you to identify something like a battery starting to go bad, you can also see how the gps, compass, radio control and video stream performed during each flight. So not only does it fly perfectly the way it should and have great range out of the box >1Mi , it also gives you the ability to record and monitor everything during and post flight so you know exactly what is going on all the time and might even see problems ahead of time. You should look at the healthdrones site to check out that feature, Also, not that its overly practical, they also support live streaming of your fpv to youtube.

I cant say enough good things about the P3 Pro, also had a pretty good experience with a P2 vision +. Only issue is you can't drop it in the water It would be toast if that happened.

[delboy]

Arnie, I am very disappointed with this also, carlo is very nice and always happy to help. I do however find it laughable that he has directed you to a user run forum to get answers that the distributor or manufacturer should be legally obliged to do so!!!

This is my first drone and I believe it was not ready for market as it is, as it seemed rushed and half the items they promised actually could not be done in the time frame for the project!!!

I believe the kickstarter project had 315 backers but about 269 drones with their flight controllers installed pro and auto versions.

I think I will just be modifying my splash drone as I just believe that the flight controller is the main issue.

I have been looking into the pixhawk recently as it would not be that expensive to upgrade the system compared to the $200 for the new auto plus!!
On the pixhawk it is an open based software/hardware platform and seems really good, in the mission planner software it actually has a test that shows how much interference that the controller recieves from the motors/battery etc so you could see if this is an issue and move things around!

The only problem I see with the pixhawk is the programming of the controller if your not sure on what your doing, but once one person has the profile set it would be easy to load onto other units. I think the fella thats done it already took a day to get the software sorted and said he had the file if anyone wants it.

I shall find his details for you and let you know who he is, I did ask him to upload his mod on the forum but he must not have had time yet.

[arnie]

That sounds great and would really be appreciated. Im going to make one last attempt with the Auto controller. I have reloaded the 4.2 firmware, just for the heck of it, re calibrated the accelerometer and radio although I don't think the radio needed it. Will re calibrate the compass in the field and give it one last try. If it doesn't fly right after that, then I will order the Pixhawk. It looks like the best choice that I can see. The only concern I have is you need to put the safety switch somewhere and also the buzzer. Between all the other stuff scrunched into drone body, Im concerned about room for everything, but I guess if I go back to a single battery only config and maybe go to the 5200 mah battery everything will fit and ill at least get a slight extension on the flight time. Ill update here after my next flight, which will probably be Friday morning if possible.

As far as Carlo directing me here, I think he was basically out of idea's and did not know how to help any further. I really like him, he has a great helpful attitude, but all said and done, I dont think there was anything else he could do. He did not exactly say so in these words, but essentially inferred that people on this board may have more real world knowledge than he does and could help in ways he could not. Its a shame that Urbane Drone's is not taking any real responsibility for the product. When I crashed due to a "toilet bowl" incident, the response was they would sell me new parts at a small discount which was less than the Kickstarter discount they promised and then later reneged on. $ 300 + dollars latter I had my parts and the same problems. I was shocked when I spoke to Alex and he told me that he could not provide a refund because the drone was bought through Kickstarter. Not sure he would have even if it were not.

I am guessing that the guys at Urbane Drones monitor this board to some extent, as they suggested that I come here. You would think they would be more helpful. After all of the post's that have been done about problems, you would think that just from a business and economic point of view it would be in their best interest to help and they would be all over issues reported on this Forum.

Who knows how many people have read about all of these problem and decided NOT to buy a splashdrone because of all the issues being documented here. It would be cheaper for them to refund a few people if necessary and or fix problems, than to loose a lot of future sales because people are posting so much negative stuff. I purposely held back from posting about problems here hoping they would do the right thing. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I think they are making a huge mistake from a business point of view, but of course that just my opinion. Also if one of these drones goes out of control, and hits someone, aside from the operator of the Drone, guess who the first people will be to get sued ? With all of the problems being reported and the potential danger associated with these issues, you would think it would behove both Urban Drones and Swellpro to step up and at least make a good faith effort to fix the issues. Since Swellpro is in China, in any legal Action, Urban Drones will be the first target. Im not saying this to upset them or anyone else, Im just stating facts. They do have a legal and moral responsibility to do the right thing and if they have knowingly sold defective products that could injure people, they should Recall them or provide ways to fix them before someone gets hurt. If they do not and something bad happens, which I hope it doesn't, they may have serious legal liability issues.

[arnie]

Delboy,

Did my final test, same results. I can only assume there is something wrong with my controller and its just not worth the effort anymore. I ordered a HKPilot 32 kit from Hobby King. After doing a lot of research, this unit seems to have good reviews and is an exact clone of the pixhawk but cheaper. A kit with all accessories including a telemetry set and external gps is $172.00. I also ordered a minim OSD for the fpv. It looks like from the picture posted there is enough room for this to fit ok. Thanks for posting the picture, that really helped. If you can get the paramater setup and post, it would be much appreciated. Ill post pictures and a setup guide once this is done and flying right.

[Deleted]

How many of these autos are having problems? I just got my auto and I am afraid to fly it.

[delboy]

Jan 24, 2016 23:11:45 GMT tommy said:

How many of these autos are having problems? I just got my auto and I am afraid to fly it.

Hi Tommy, Don't be afraid to use it. There are just quite a few issues with some units. Best advice would be to ensure all calibrations are completed and carried out correctly. Then take it for a test flight and see how it works.

Just ensure you know how to switch into atti mode if anything weird happens while flying in gps mode.

[Tommy123]

I had a problem today with my auto plus. My gps said 12. Am I flying in a "dead zone". Should I have more sats? It started the toilet bowl then I lost it. I did switch to att mode but since it was turning it was hard for me to know which way was foward. I also wish there was a way to cut the power to the motors. Last time it went into a tree and if I could have cut the power I might not have had as much damage to the props. I am hoping its just me being a novice and not the problems talked about here.

[lonjsnyder]

12 sats is good. Regarding the "toilet bowl" flight pattern, have you read through this prior thread?
splashdroneforums.com/thread/137

[Tommy123]

I read that thread and it is very informative. My gps puck has the cable wrapped around the post and the post turns in the base. Looks like it had silicone but it is loose. There is a little arrow on the top of the puck on the blue ring above the words splashdrone, does that need to be pointed in any certain direction? Should that puck be tight so it can not turn? Also should I wrap that excess cable from the puck wire in aluminum foil? Thanks for the help