As dedicated drone enthusiasts, Team Arrow is no stranger to sleepless nights and early morning flights. But sometimes, even the best-laid plans can take an unexpected turn—especially when technology decides to have a little fun at our expense.
It was early morning, and after a long night of work, we dragged ourselves out to the field to capture images for our dataset. With tired eyes and coffee-fueled determination, we launched our quadcopter into the sky, ready to collect the visuals we needed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly—for about five minutes.
Midway through the flight, we noticed something odd. Our trusty Taranis controller started acting up. A quick check revealed the culprit—the voltage had dropped below the nominal level. Now, if you know anything about radio transmitters, you’d know that lower voltage means reduced range. And, of course, that meant trouble.
As expected, the moment the drone flew out of range, it disconnected from the controller. But hey, no worries—our drone was smart enough to trigger Return-to-Launch (RTL) mode.
Or so we thought.
As our drone made its way back, we watched in horror (and mild amusement) as one of the landing gear legs decided to part ways mid-flight. Yes, you read that right. Our drone was now coming in for a landing with one less leg.
Cue panic mode.
Now, we weren’t about to let our hard work crash and burn—literally. As soon as the drone re-entered the controller’s range, a couple of our quick-thinking teammates sprang into action. The moment it got close enough, they physically grabbed the remaining legs to stabilize the landing.
With a mix of precision, teamwork, and a bit of desperation, we managed to bring the drone down safely—mostly thanks to our teammates' quick reflexes. But the real comedy gold? When we checked our dataset later, we found that amidst all the carefully captured aerial images, there was a whole series of perfectly documented shots of our landing gear falling mid-air.
Proof that even our failures are well-recorded!
Always Check Battery Voltages – Not just the drone’s, but also the controller’s.
Expect the Unexpected – Even landing gear can betray you.
Have a Backup Plan – Or, at the very least, teammates willing to catch a falling drone.
Data is Data – Even if half of it is of our own drone falling apart.
At the end of the day, we walked away with a hilarious story, some valuable lessons, and a dataset that captured not only what we needed—but also our own disaster in real-time. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what being part of Team Arrow is all about.