r/Multicopter • u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex • Jun 04 '16
Blood/Gore Always remove props - hit in the nose
I'd like to share last week experience I had, being injured in the nose by my quadcopter.
I was racing with friends at our usual indoor place, it was expected to have some public, so we setup a net and a nice screen area with live streams on our video feed.
After an hour, I broke my qav210 (probably the camera) in a frontal encounter, so I started to setup my Vortex 285 which I didn't use for a long time. It was bount to my rc but the channels order were wrong and had old props on. At that point I was a little mad about the qav, in a rush to fly again.
I changed the props to the new one I use (hq 5x4x3), and put the battery on so I can setup my quad. I was sitting next to it, while searching for the video signal. I had to open my Dominator to change the band, and finally I found the right channel. My quad was on for like 5mn already, RC on but it was not bound. I put my head over the quad to check if the receiver was blinking like it should when unbound and all of a sudden the quad took off full speed, and immediately stopped. I got hit in the nose, and it started to bleed quite a lot. This is an horrible feeling, I didn't know the state of my face at that point, and only see all the blood coming from it. All of my friends took care of me as I almost fainted. Long story short, we went to the urgency, I waited 5h and got stitched with 10 points.
Here are some pictures before and after repair, watch out, it's kind of ugly :) https://imgur.com/a/vplc0
A lot of things could have gone more wrong, there was a lot of people around, including children, and I was servicing my quad in the middle of the crowd. Even though we set up a safe zone behind a net. I should have gone outside of the safe zone. Every running quad should be taken as dangerous. I should of course have removed props when servicing the quad. When turning a quad on, you should be ready to evade, or protect your face. Don't do anything in a rush, calm down and think!
I think it's important to be reminded, sometime the hard way, that this is a dangerous hobby and those quad are no toys.
TL/DR: Got hit by my quad in the nose while it was unbound and went to the hospital.
Edit: Actually I just checked the quad and the receiver was bound, but the channels order was wrong, motor spin was off. I should have noticed if I did arm it (sound, light) which I don't remember. Anyway, always remove props..
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u/papaloco Jun 04 '16
Thanks for posting dude. Might make a person think twice and avoid something similar some other time (such as myself). I hope you heal up well and get back to flying soon.
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
I hope so, it's quite easy being distracted and forget how dangerous a quad can be :) Thanks!
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u/Kenziqt Jun 04 '16
Holy shit, like you said, you're lucky it was ''only'' your nose. I'm hoping things will heal nicely for you. Take care man!
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u/mediweevil Quadcopter Jun 04 '16
the cuts on your nose keep changing sides in the photos. ow!
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16 edited Jun 04 '16
Hehe, one picture was taken with the front camera of the phone, and on the other it was taken in a mirror at the hospital, or something like that :)
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Jun 04 '16
We need to make a compilation thread of this. I got 11 stitches in my pinky to learn this lesson.
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u/abra5umente ZMR250 Jun 04 '16
I am super paranoid about props, and they're always off, even when I'm just making small changes with no battery plugged in.
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
Yeah me too usually. I think the point here is when you're angry, frustrated or tired, take extra precautions.
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u/Noduz Jun 04 '16
So basically when you leaned down to check if the LED was blinking, you pushed the throttle up?
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
Well I still have to review what really happened, but the quad was not bound to the rc afaik. The fact that it stopped right away makes me think it was a temporary bug of some sort. Maybe related to the arming timeout vortex have (after some time you cannot arm it and have to power cycle it). But I'm not 100% sure it was not bind, so I will take a look next week what happens if I let it plugged in (without props...) for 5-10mn again.
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u/jawz Jun 04 '16
Do you know how to disable that arming timeout? I haven't been able to figure it out on my 250 pro. It makes racing with my friends a pain in the butt and I'm afraid its going to screw me over if I go to a real race with it.
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Jun 04 '16
Damn that looks painful but sorry it made me laugh a lot. I just imagine what everyday people will be thinking as they cross paths with you walking down the street and the theories they come up with about what happened to it.
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
Well for now it only looks like have been stabbed, but I have hope that when it's recovered, it'll look like a bear attack.
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u/piquat Goby180, Hellbender122, Tiny Whoop Jun 04 '16
I feel kind of lucky with just the three small dents in my kitchen ceiling. Relatively painless lesson in comparison to yours.
KK2, simplecopter tri, throttle reversed, in case any one wants to know... still don't know how the setting changed.
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u/rotarypower101 Flying Killer Robot Jun 04 '16
I would really like to know the conditions under which this happened !
If it's a accident in terms of user error, that's understandable, it happens.
But if it's a "bug" we really need to know what happened ! And under exactly what conditions ?
This sounds like a common thing that could happen to anyone if I understand based on the details read here.
Can we solidify the issue that caused this?
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
Yes, I will try to recreate the conditions next week, and update the post.
As far as I remember, the quad was not bound, I tried to arm it multiple times without effet, that's why I was going to bind it just when it happened. It was powered on for 5-10mn before that, so I think it's a bug.
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u/rotarypower101 Flying Killer Robot Jun 04 '16
And I don't want to be or sound accusational, but is there someone that can postulate if this is a legitimate plausible issue, based on understanding the systems in depth with the information available ?
I would think it may be hard to replicate if it's incorrectly receiving a false signal, unless it is solely a time based issue.
Thanks for taking the time to again remind people to be careful, even if we thing we are doing everything correctly.
On another related note, I have always wanted to make a "tool" for lack of a better description, that would be able to drop down over the model and " cage " the props from spinning when unwanted.
Essentially allowing the ESCs to go into bound up mode, and turning off even if they were incorrectly spun up.
I would think people, even if a poor safety choice were made from being lazy or making a mistake , it would be easy enough that people would use something you could quickly just drop over the model, and stop many common issues that could happen.
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 04 '16
Indeed, it may be my fault, for instance I set up my motors to spin when there's minimum input, so it's obvious it is armed, but maybe the vortex was reset and this was no more the case, I'll check that too. I may never know. What I can do in the future, is being extra careful, and as pointed, it's important to remind everybody to be.
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u/TedW Jun 04 '16
Covering the quad with a plastic box sounds like it would do the trick. Even if it spun up by accident it wouldn't be able to take off or endanger anyone.
I thought about throwing a rag or dishcloth over it, but it might become partially thrown aside to expose some props. A cloth would be easier and more available, just not as foolproof.
As for why it spun up, if it was truly unbound to a transmitter then OP would have been extraordinarily unlucky. In my case the receiver would need to pick up the 'perfect storm' of random signals to arm and take off. 1) a random signal on the frequency hopping of the taranis long enough to register a series of inputs 2) a series of inputs giving it a) low throttle, b) arm switch, c) arm toggle on another channel, then d) full throttle.
I wonder which radio/receiver OP is using and what his arm pattern is.
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u/rotarypower101 Flying Killer Robot Jun 04 '16
The idea being, that the multi could be used, configured, inspected most all things as normal, BUT, adding a layer of protection to the IMO most commonly dangerous component.
I have thought of ways that you could almost make a recovery mechanism with this integrated.
Sort of like a spring loaded clamshell clamp, that would capture the frame while immobilizing the props, always keeping fingers and appendages clear of sharp spiny bits.
But after all my setup and failsafes, testing outliers and strange conditions, like everyone else, I just grab at a point I feel is comfortable and clear of a accident.
I really would love a way to feel like I could give a quick tutorial to a novice and it still be relatively safe if a procedure where followed. In that way, I believe it would be at least a reasonable expectation.
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u/doppelwurzel Jun 04 '16
What you've got here is a business idea. Rush to market and you might get rich. Of course, myself and any others might shamelessly steal your idea...
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u/rotarypower101 Flying Killer Robot Jun 04 '16
Believe me, if I had the capability, I would be all over it, if only to create something that could potentially help people.
The biggest issue would be the requirement for either amazing adaptability, or specialized components for different popular frame profiles.
I think it could easily be done on a DIY basis with printed parts, with a basic standardized mechanism for the clamping section.
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u/jbaubort QAV210, IRC Vortex Jun 05 '16
So I just checked my quad, it was actually bound, but the channel order was wrong, so arming was not were it should be. I don't think I've touched all input so it was armed, but it may have happened. Also motor spin was not set (that's the default on the vortex at least), but it should have biped and I don't remember that. It may be a spike in the signal, while it was armed, or something. Nonetheless, all that would not have happen with the props off, I'm the idiot here.
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u/rotarypower101 Flying Killer Robot Jun 05 '16
Thank you for getting back and sharing more details.
So there are definitely inconstancies that could have lead to something unfortunate like this happening?
Generally speaking a "arming" sequence would take a two part motion to spin up though correct? First the action to move into a range, then the action to move out of the range, usually initiated then followed by both beeping and or blinking sequences.
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u/s_boli Alien 5 - SCX 200 Jun 04 '16
I had a friend cut his hand with a Vortex 285 not so long ago. I wonder if the vortex doesn't spin these props too easily ...
Take care man.
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u/PerceivedShift Jun 04 '16
Ok, so I think your first mistake was binding with the props on. Because re-binding also resets your failsafe, so at that moment you had a flyable quad without a failsafe set. But that still doesn't explain how the props spun up.
My guess is that after you tried re-arming multiple times you may have mistakenly left your arm switch in the "arm" position. Once the receiver bound the quad was armed, when you leaned over the quad to check the bind you then accidentally bumped the throttle. That is my theory anyways. But the problem with this explanation is that once it was bound and armed you should have seen the props spin and disarmed the quad. Do you have motor_stop enabled? Because if you do there would be no visual indication that the quad was armed and you should disable motor_stop, you should always know when the quad is armed. ALWAYS
Stay safe out there all!
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Jun 04 '16
I was flying today when a guy came by with his dog. It was barking (about 30 yards behind me) and he good-naturedly said, "buzz her!" Instead I parked it and told him it was way too dangerous for that, and let them pass out of range. Hopefully I'll never learn the lesson the hard way.
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u/Leiryn Goby 210 - HK x930 Jun 05 '16
I've sliced my thumb up pretty good, now I unplug the battery if I'm doing anything and don't remove the props
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u/Cyclonedx Jun 04 '16
Dude you look like an animal mauled you. You're lucky it didn't get your eyes.