UPDATED - NEWEST DJI FIRMWARE impacting Mavic Pro Autopilot Waypoint Missions

[AS4RONIN]

Looking for comments from Autopilot Users (latest iOS version) with Mavic Pro. I recently downloaded and began using the software and while I've had success taking Pano's, every single Waypoint mission I've tried has failed on me leaving me with little confidence with the expensive app. I created a shorter easier mission to test today and this also failed, with an app crash (iPhone 6) as well.
My experience in each case:
Drone was not far...visual line of sight
In each case The app informed me that Telemetry was lost and then the aircraft disconnected, and I lost connection to the drone with the app and was forced to initial RTH via the hardware button.
The video feeds were very jumpy and glitchy, not smooth at all as they appear in every YouTube video I've watched.
The speed of the Mavic was sluggish and did not match the programmed speed.
The Mavic would also hover for an extended time at the first or second Waypoint and this was not part of the programmed flight plan.
Initiating return to home worked but aircraft positioning for home was way off.

This is now the 5th time I have tried a Waypoint mission and as an engineer I don't find the setup difficult, it's not rocket science. Trying to determine if this is a common/known issue or what I could possible be doing to cause a loss of telemetry and connection. It makes no sense.


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[AS4RONIN]

Anyone? No others have experienced issues? Scratching my head after reading successful mission experiences. Lost telemetry again yesterday at an altitude of 150ft and right in front of me. Seems quiet odd.


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[alvinmavic1]

I have been using Autopilot but never ramming into the same problem. Did you make sure the DJI GO app is not running in the background?


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[AS4RONIN]

Have tried it both ways albinmaviv1, unfortunately have the same results with every mission. I have been powering on the Mavic and first connecting to DJI GO 4 first to set/confirm camera and defaults but then close the app. I haven't read anything suggesting this is not recommended. Really scratching my head on this one, I see no reasons for the constant issue. Tried the DJI GS app and had no issue other than the lack of camera control. Really hoping someone has suggestions, still waiting on a response from Autopilot on this.


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[NorthGADronePilot]

I'm having a very similar experience with Autopilot. In my case, the app is crashing at some point during the mission. Sometimes it's in the middle, sometimes near the very end, etc. Out of a dozen missions flown, roughly half of them have concluded with an app crash.

It's frustrating, as Autopilot has, by far, the best Waypoint implementation. However, if it crashes the app more often than not, it's essentially useless.

I'm using an iPad Mini 2.

 

[Vidar]

I had issue yesterday trying to make the Waypoints mode work. I set several waypoints and at waypoint 3 the drone didn't turn around to go to waypoint 4 it just started flying backwards kinda towards waypoint 4. It may have been due to the fact I basically did a 180 degree turn after hitting waypoint 3. Not sure what happened. I stopped the Waypoints Mode when it happened as I didn't want to hit something fly backwards out of control.

Posted a video here: Following Waypoints Issue [Video Demo]

 

[AS4RONIN]

So I've continued testing and have also tried the same missions using an iPad mini as well to eliminate it being my iPhone 6. As for those of you mentioning app crashes, yes I've had the same issue as you and also at during different parts of the mission. I've also seen abrupt and inaccurate waypoints with the Mavic listing severely from side to side as it hunts for the right position. In addition on both of my attempts in one very simple mission with 8 waypoints, I've set two speeds (15mph and 29mph) and in both cases the Mavic was sluggish and traveled at 4-5mph instead of the programmed speed. Return to home is also way off mark. Camera panning was horrible and at times jumpy. I've had an ongoing email conversation with Autopilot in the last few days and have sent them the 4 different missions that have all failed as well as a video of the last. In each case the app crashes at the end of the mission as well. I wonder if DJI's recent update impacted the apps which are built to their SDK. I've seen comments from users on the App Store that the Litchi app is also now failing miserably and a few have lost their drone as a result. I'll post any updates I receive from Autopilot once they test my missions. Based on the smooth and accurate mission videos in YouTube I've seen I can only assume there is a larger issue here.

 

[NorthGADronePilot]

This is extremely concerning, especially if Litchi is also failing post firmware update. I will say, Hangar reps told me that the iPad Mini 2 I've been using doesn't really have the horsepower to handle Waypoint mode. I'm going to give it another try on my iPhone 7 Plus.

 

[Vidar]

Thanks for keeping up with the conversation and progress. Weather has been bad in my area this week with storms, high winds and some snow this morning. So I've not been able to test any of this recently. Cold, but calm this weekend so I want to see what I can come up with on my waypoints when I get back out starting Saturday. This is the one of the more important features for me.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

IMO what DJI refer to as "waypoint" flying is not waypoint flying.

And where Litchi seem to do it correctly (enough) I keep hearing of Litchi glitches that cause other issues.

 

[AS4RONIN]

Just a status update. I've yet to receive a recent update from Autopilot so I can only assume they are reviewing. My recent tests were on both an iPhone 6 and an iPad mini, the mission ran better (not great) on the iPad but app still crashed.
This is the detail I provided Hangar:
Max Distance is enabled but its set to 5000M...
Beginner mode is not on...

I'm sharing a few that have all failed. Each time with similar results. I've also tried the same "Home Test" on both my iPhone 6 as well as with an iPad mini. The recording I'm attaching is while running it on the ipad, and at the end of the mission the app has crashed and closed each time. When running it on the iPhone 6 the app would indicate a loss of telemetry and then the app would crash. I have also noticed people are complaining that the Litchi app is no longer working so I'm wondering if DJI's recent update has somehow impacted your app that was written to the SDK?.

One thing that I've also seen is while the speed was set to a faster pace and then later it was changed to around 29mph, it still runs the mission around 5mph... which you can see in the video. Camera panning (Mavic Yaw) seems abrupt, and the Mavic seems sluggish..


Again, will update once I receive status. Very interested if anyone else is seeing similar issues. Trying to eliminate device issues, Potential Mavic issues, or determine if it's an app issue.

 

[AS4RONIN]

Update:
Hangar has provided a status and has tested a few of my missions and was able to reproduce my issue (good news because it now appears to be the app). They are working with their developers to resolve.
I will provide updates as they become available.

 

[Oyibo VFX]

Been there, done that.

 

[AS4RONIN]

Update:
Hangar has just contacted me and confirmed there is an issue in the latest DJI firmware that affects the Mavic. They do not recommend using Autopilot with the Mavic until a resolution has been found for this issue. However, it is still possible to safely use Waypoint Mode as long as Lost Connection is set to Continue Mission (LCMC).
Black Box and Focus mode are not effected because these are Human Flight Controlled Modes.

They will keep users updated of any changes via Flight School and their FAQ. Below is the link to their FAQ regarding the issue:

Issue with the latest DJI firmware for the Mavic Pro and Inspire 2 which causes erratic flight behavior in Autopilot.

 

[cybertech]

I wish knew this BEFORE I bought an Ipad mini 2 and Autopilot.... attempted a waypoint mission today despite the warning that they were experiencing glitches... and the craft wouldn't auto take off, so I took off for it. then as it was making it's way to the starting point it was traveling sideways and shaking violently, I literally thought it might crash so I aborted. I tried three times and no way would it work. The app never crashed on me and I was able to manually fly the drone without issue. I was under the impression autopilot was top notch.... I feel like it's amateur hour

 

[sdharris]

I wish knew this BEFORE I bought an Ipad mini 2 and Autopilot.... attempted a waypoint mission today despite the warning that they were experiencing glitches... and the craft wouldn't auto take off, so I took off for it. then as it was making it's way to the starting point it was traveling sideways and shaking violently, I literally thought it might crash so I aborted. I tried three times and no way would it work. The app never crashed on me and I was able to manually fly the drone without issue. I was under the impression autopilot was top notch.... I feel like it's amateur hour

I've used Autopilot for just shy of 2 years and it is 'top notch', the issue is largely outside of their control and other apps such as Litchi are experiencing the same problems. They'll resolve the issue soon, you've not wasted your money.

 

[AS4RONIN]

Still No word from DJI in this. For a company to release an SDK for third party developers who sell solutions, I certainly hope DJI is giving this it's proper attention. This seems to be taking too long for a company of this caliber.

 

[sdharris]

The last time this happened it took a month, maybe a bit longer, Autopilot did release an updated beta a week back but no mention of a workaround to this problem and I have not tried it.

 

[AS4RONIN]

Has anyone downgraded their Mavic to v01.03.0400 and successful tested the Autopilot app? I'm doing so now but would like to hear if any successful tests have been done. I primarily use Waypoint missions

 

[leecow]

Has anyone downgraded their Mavic to v01.03.0400 and successful tested the Autopilot app? I'm doing so now but would like to hear if any successful tests have been done. I primarily use Waypoint missions

Yes, I downgraded from .500 to .400 successfully and Autopilot works fine.