Falcon 8 UAS GeoEXPERT - Basic Training : Dealing with Disturbances

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Falcon 8 UAS GeoEXPERT - Basic Training : Dealing with Disturbances

Dealing with Disturbances: Weak Batteries


Weak Batteries in Falcon 8:

  • What to Do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “LOW BATTERY VOLTAGE! LAND SOON!”
    • Visual and acoustic warning “EMPTY BATTERY! LAND NOW!”
    • Remain calm  -  Land quickly and safely  -  Change the battery from the Falcon 8.

Weak Batteries in MGS / RC:

  • What to do:​
    • Persistent acoustic warning (audio-beeping) from your R/C transmitter.
    • Remain calm  -  Land safely within the next five (5) minutes and re-charge battery.


Weak Batteries in Video receiver:

  • What to do:​
    • 3 LEDs in the middle of the video receiver display begin flashing.
    • Does not affect the flight performance.  Stop flight mission & exchange battery.

Weak Batteries in Camera (Inspection payload):

  • What to do:
    • Shows up on the monitor of the MGS and the camera display.
    • Does not affect the flight performance.  Land & exchange battery.

Dealing with Disturbances: Warnings


Warning:  GPS reception interrupted

  • What to do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “GPS LOST!”
    • System switches automatically to Height Mode.  
    • Operate the system in Height Mode.


Warning: Compass module is interfered

  • What to do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning: “ATTENTION MAGNETIC FIELD! REDUCED POSITION ACCURACY!”
    • Might cause the Falcon 8 temporarily to drift in GPS Mode while taking-off.
    • Choose different take-off area or switch to Height Mode.

 

Warning: Motor Failure

  • What to Do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “MOTOR FAILURE! LAND NOW!”
    • Flight stability decreases lightly.  In extreme case it will slow and gradually descend.
    • Remain calm and land with small and constant inputs.

Warning: High Wind UAV in GPS Mode

  • What to do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “HIGH WIND!”
    • Remain calm.  If UAV drifts more than 5 meters from its designated position for more than 4 seconds, switch over to the HEIGHT MODE. 
    • Reducing height may also help (wind gradient effect).


Warning: Excessive Wind UAV in GPS Mode

  • What to do:
    • Visual warning on Status Display  “EXCESSIVE WIND. LAND NOW!”
    • Remain calm.  If UAV drifts more than 10 meters from its designated position for more than 4 seconds, the wind conditions are too strong for GPS MODE.  
    • Switch over to HEIGHT MODE.  Descend immediately, then land quickly and safely 

 

Warning: Distance is too far

  • What to do:
    • Orientation of the Falcon 8 is not recognizable anymore.
    • Remain calm and look at the “Orientation Window” on the Status Display.  
    • Adjust the heading so that the camera is pointing away and fly in reverse back.

Dealing with Disturbances: Data Link

Data Link:Communication link is weak

  • What to do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “LINK WEAK!”
    • Rearrange the antennas on the back right hand side of the MGS.
    • Reduce distance between pilot / MGS and Falcon 8

Data Link:Communication link is lost

  • What to do:
    • Visual and acoustic warning “LINK LOST!”
    • Remain calm and try to re-establish communication link.
    • Maintain line of sight with the Falcon 8.
    • Rearrange the antennas on the back right hand side of the MGS.
    • Reduce distance between pilot / MGS and Falcon 8.
    • If no signal is re-established: EMERGENCY MODE will be activated.  The Falcon 8 will attempt to re-establish the communication link to the MGS during this time.

Dealing with Disturbances: Emergency Mode

Emergency Mode has Been Activated:

  • What to do:
    • If proper emergency procedure was selected during startup according the operating environment, the Falcon 8 will perform EMERGENCY MODE land safely. 
    • After landing, the propellers will still be active. 
    • If the connection to the MGS cannot be re-established to disarm the motors, these must then be switched off manually.  
    • Switch off the MGS to ensure connection will not be re-established
    • Put the MGS aside.
    • Carefully approach the UAV.  Take special care to not touch any propellers
    • Hold and push down the central unit with one hand.  
    • With the other hand approach from above and using the ON / OFF switch located on the side of the central unit, switch off the UAV.  Again, please take special care to not touch any propellers.

 

Dealing with Disturbances: Warnings

Warning: Mechanical

  • What to do:
    • The Falcon 8 clearly vibrates.
    • Remain calm.  Land immediately.
    • Check all the moving parts of the UAV and if necessary change defect propellers.

Warning: Crash / Motor Failure

  • What to do:
    • Contact us.
    • Send log-files and details about the issue, and if possible pictures or video.


Warning: Lands out of sight

  • What to do:
    • Last known GPS position can be displayed at the Status Display.
    • If “Direct Landing” emergency mode had been activated:  The Falcon 8 should land within a radius of 10 m of his current GPS position.

 

Troubleshooting

  • Connecting the Falcon 8 UAV and MGS
  • The Falcon 8 UAV and MGS are preconfigured so that they automatically connect when turned on.
  • If they do not automatically connect, push ENT ► from the start screen on the Status Display (MGS).
  • In the next screen, push ENT ► again to enter the 5 digit serial number of the Falcon 8.  Use the arrow keys to set the value of the first digit then press the ENT ► key to confirm move to enter the next digit.
  • Confirm the serial number by pushing ENT ► when OK is highlighted and the connection will be established.

 

Analyzing data link connection issues

  • Analyzing data link connection issues
    1. Check that all antennas are tightly screwed onto the Falcon / MGS and that none has any visible defects.
    2. Check the antenna orientation, and ensure that these are aligned so that they are parallel with on another.
    3. Make sure that there are no disturbing WiFi networks in the 2.4 GHz range.  
    4. Using the Data Link Screen of the Status Display on the MGS, check if an issue always occurs on the same link.
      • If so, swap the data link antennas of the MGS and check if the issue now occurs on the other data link.  If yes, the MGS data link antenna of the side where the issue now occurs should be replaced.
      • If no, swap the data link antennas of the Falcon 8 UAV, and check if the issue now occurs on the other data link.  If yes, the Falcon data link antenna of the side where the issue now occurs should be replaced. 
    5. If these steps did not help identify an issue, it might be a defect with the transmitter / receiver modules on either the Falcon 8 UAV or the MGS.  Please contact your local dealer and describe the findings precisely.  

 

 

No preview video on the LCD screen of the MGS

  • No preview video on the LCD screen of the MGS
    • If there is no video image, please first check the following items that can commonly lead to this issue:
      • Check that the lens cap of the Sony A7R has been removed.
      • Ensure that the Sony A7R camera is set to the ON position and that the UAV is also on.
      • Check the connection between camera and UAV.
      • Check that video receiver on the MGS is turned on.
    • If the previous steps were all ok, the video reception channel should be checked next.  
    • With the video receiver switched off, push and hold the on/off switch until only one LED is lit.  This LED indicates the currently set video reception channel. Channel 1 is the bottom LED and channel 7 the top.
    • Let go of the switch, then press the on/off switch until the next reception channel is activated.  Wait for a few seconds to check if a preview video is displayed.  
    • If no video is displayed, switch to the next channel by pressing the on/off switch again.
    • Check all channels in this manner until the preview video is displayed.  
    • Once the correct channel is set, wait for approx. 15 seconds.  The video receiver automatically switches into normal mode where the battery level is then displayed by the number of LEDs that are illuminated.

 

Flight log unable to be recorded

  • Flight logs unable to be recorded
    • If the Falcon 8 cannot access a logging storage device for storing the flight log data, the common reason is a mechanical connection issue or a corrupted file system on the storage device.  
    • On the MGS, “<-- Check Msg” is displayed on the status line vs OK.
    • Using the left or right arrow keys on the Status Display, navigate to the Error Message Screen. 
  • If the message “No Internal SD card” is shown:
    • Switch off the Falcon 8 UAS, wait at least 10 seconds before turning back on.  During the boot-up sequence, the internal SD card will be formatted and should be accessible again.  If this does not help, please contact your local dealer.  
  • If the message “No user SD card” is shown:
    • Switch off the Falcon 8 UAS, and then remove the micro SD card from the front of the central unit.  Once removed, insert into a PC, make a backup copy and then format the card to a FAT32 file system.  Reinsert into the UAV and power back on the Falcon 8 UAS to resolve the issue.    
    • If the Falcon 8 cannot access a logging storage device for storing the flight log data, the common reason is a mechanical connection issue or a corrupted file system on the storage device.  
    • On the MGS, “<-- Check Msg” is displayed on the status line vs OK.
    • Using the left or right arrow keys on the Status Display, navigate to the Error Message Screen.  With regards
    • If the message “No Internal SD card” is shown:
    • Switch off the Falcon 8 UAS, wait at least 10 seconds before turning back on.  During the boot-up sequence, the internal SD card will be formatted and should be accessible again.  If this does not help, please contact your local dealer.  
    • If the message “No user SD card” is shown:
    • Switch off the Falcon 8 UAS, and then remove the micro SD card from the front of the central unit.  Once removed, insert into a PC, make a backup copy and then format the card to a FAT32 file system.  Reinsert into the UAV and power back on the Falcon 8 UAS to resolve the issue.    
    • In the Status Display’s Main screen on the MGS, USB is typically displayed underneath the flight mode indicator.  If this displays as being crossed out (USB), it refers to the USB stick not being accessible.  
    • Power off the Falcon 8 UAS and remove the USB flash drive from the rear of the central unit.  
    • Insert this into a PC and make a backup copy, then format the USB disk to a FAT32 file system.  
    • Reinsert it into the Falcon 8 and power on the system.  It should again be accessible.  
    •