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A Few Newbie Questions

RadioBirdman

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New to this forum; new to BB2; new to drones. Please excuse the newbie questions:

1. Assume I'm flying with SkyController and Cockpit glasses, will I get any warning when battery is low and I have to return to home?

2. Assume I'm flying with SkyController and Cockpit glasses, is it possible for BB2 to be so far away that it will run out of battery and not make it home if I hit RTH button?

3. Assume I'm flying with SkyController and Cockpit glasses, I'm not using GPS, right? So how does BB2 find its way home?

4. What happens when you disconnect from BB2? Does BB2 descend where ever it is, or return to home, and/or land?

5. Am I correct that, regardless whether your are piloting from cellphone app or Skycontroller/Cockpit glasses, home is where you took off from, not where you happen to be standing?

6. There seem to be two Cockpit glass--one mostly white, the other mostly black. What's the difference? Is one 1 and the other 2? Will they both work with BB2? Is one better than the other?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment!
 
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HI RadioBirdman,
I've replied to your drone-forum post, but I'll repeat it here too, as you've some extra questions here....

1 Yes you will get a low battery warning, as long as you've got the telemetry display on. Press the left trigger switch on the SC2 (pic) and it will cycle through the 3 displays. One gives telemetry info (pic)

SC2FPVbuttons.JPG



FPVOSD-telem.JPG
Sorry the image is so poor (green text on grass background- Doh!), but it looks much better in real life - the telem data seems to 'float' in front of the camera image. FYI the Telem info displayed is GPS signal, speed, height, distance, drone battery %, controller battery %, plus horizon line/drone camera angle (I think)

When the battery level goes below 10%, you get a red warning on the display (pic)

FPVOSD-lowbat2.JPG

2 Yes, you can run out of juice before you get it home, unfortunately the app isn't sophisticated enough to warn you in time to RTH, nor does it automatically RTH on 'Low Battery Alert' . Bit disappointing that, and not difficult to program (several other drone apps have it).

Depending on the health of your battery, you'll have approx 40 seconds to land after you get the <10% alert.
(got the data from this battery test vid:)

When the battery reaches 1% it will land wherever it is (well, it's more like fall-out-of-the-sky, I haven't tried it myself, but from videos I've seen there's nothing sophisticated or graceful about the 1% battery landing, it probably just uses the remaining battery power to keep it level as it falls)

3 Both the drone and the controlling device will be using GPS (look for 2 x green symbols in the app before you go to FPV & take off) so it knows where it took off from, and therefore where to return. (but see note 5 below)

4 According to the manual, it will RTH if it loses connection with the controlling device. It will rise to 20m from where it is, then turn & come home. I haven't been brave enough to test this, but I've seen it happen on a Parrot Disco flying between two islands.
When it has finished RTH, it should hover approx 2m from the ground, and you take over to land it. I like this feature, as the RTH is never spot-on accurate, and dogs and people tend to move around!

5 Almost right, The home point is where the drone took off from, not where the controlling device was when it took off, and as long as you haven't engaged 'Follow-me' during the flight, it will RTH to that take-off point.

If you have used 'Follow-me' the RTH point is reset to the position of the drone (not the controlling device) when you disengaged 'follow-me'. This caught me out a few times, but it sort of makes sense - if you get it to follow you cycling down a country track, then do some auto-shots etc while you take a breather, you don't want it scooting off miles back up the track when you hit RTH, or you lose connection for whatever reason.

6 Yes there are 2 types of Cockpitglasses (well 3 actually, but apparently 3's just a version of 2 to accept bigger phones)
CG1 is the big white/black plastic boxy thing where you slide the phone in from the side. Weight 400g (without phone)
CG2 is the smaller black rubber thing, which is more compact (collapses in on itself) and lighter. Weight 210g (without phone), and the phone just clips in from the back. Link to a comparison video:


I have both versions and they both work with the BB2, it's just a different way of holding the phone and presenting the images to your eyes. The process of setting the interpupillary distances for your eyes is different for each though.

Personally I think the CG1 is more comfortable than the CG2, but you really notice the weight difference, Both versions allow for using the phone's camera, so you can switch from the drone's FPV view to your view ('line-of-sight') by using the right trigger on the SC2. I find this really useful for having a quick look around you without having to remove the goggles, and even for landing the drone once you've flown it back.


You say you're a newbie (me too), but I assume you've been able to get hold of the Parrot manuals? I think they're all still available on the Parrot website.

There are at least 4: one for the drone (37pp), one for each Cockpitglasses FPV pack (25pp), and one for the Freeflight Pro app (86pp).

There's a fair bit of overlap, and even some conflicting info (well it wouldn't be Parrot otherwise), but between them and the wealth of tutorials and troubleshooting vids, as well as Forums like this and user groups on the net, you can find the answers to most questions you might have.

Hope this helps

Regards
Gareth
 
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The only thing I can point out is the low battery condition. When the drone gets down to 2% battery, it will stop and land at that point (controlled landing) you can't stop it or abort it. It is not "falling out of the sky" but doing a normal landing. I have had this happen to me twice. Despite being an obsolete drone now. I still use it and still find it to be a good drone.
 
One extra word of caution: on RTH the BB2 will come back in a straight line. As it has no sensors to avoid collisions it will fly into any object that is on its path.
 

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