Drone will go in every direction except return back to me.

[sanjeem]

I am a new flyer, and have flown my Air 2 about 5-6 times. Today I lifted off from a roof in a new city. I went in a few different directions, and then wanted it to fly back in my direction. Then, for some reason it just wouldn't move back as if it almost hit an invisible wall. It went every other way, but it would simply not come back in my direction. I rotated it and tried to have it come back in a side to side motion, but it just wouldn't come back. Eventually, I had to run outside, as it was only about 160' away from me, and land it at an accessible place. I still have no idea why it wouldn't come back. The only thing that could have messed up the obstacle detection was 1 or two crows that flew really close to the drone. Is it possible that, that might have caused some sort of malfunction? Also, the return to home function actually began sending it away from me, so I had to cancel it. Any troubleshooting suggestion will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[Meta4]

Is it possible that, that might have caused some sort of malfunction?

Any crows within sensor range of the sensors would only have an impact while they are in range.

Also, the return to home function actually began sending it away from me, so I had to cancel it. Any troubleshooting suggestion will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

The recorded flight data might help solve the mystery.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.

 

[sanjeem]

Thank you for your response. I tried to find the logs directly from the phone per your link, and wasn't able to find the folder. I went through the flight log through the DJI Fly app, and that flight is actually missing. Now, I was not logged in to my account while making the flight. I'm assuming that's the reason? Even so, I feel like it should be still saved somewhere.
Thank you for the clarification about the crows. I thought the same thing as yourself too, it's just that, it seemed like the only credible answer, other than an unknown malfunction. Happy that I was able to retrieve it.

 

[Meta4]

I tried to find the logs directly from the phone per your link, and wasn't able to find the folder. I went through the flight log through the DJI Fly app, and that flight is actually missing. Now, I was not logged in to my account while making the flight. I'm assuming that's the reason?

In the app there is a summary of all your flights.
If you can see the flight there, the .txt file is also there.
DJI changed the file location with a recent update to the Fly app.
The Phantomhelp instructions gives the location for both the older versions and the new one.
Were you looking in the right place?

 

[sanjeem]

Hey Meta4, Thank you so much for your help. And the log, I believe solves it somewhat, although I am not sure why the issue happened in the first place. So essentially, I was not logged in, and as soon as I started flying, I zoomed full speed to a different location. The Drone for some reason decided to denote that as the Home Point, and not the take off point. The new home point was farther away from me than the allowable distance when not logged in (50 m). That's why the Drone kept not moving forward at 161 ish feet (50m). Flight log is below. My only question is, why was the home point updated at 47 seconds to that farther point? Maybe I accidentally pressed something? At least I'm relieved to know it wasn't a weird malfunction.

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Meta4]

Not being logged into the account was only a small part of the issue.
You were impatient to launch and didn't wait for GPS before you flew out.
It was 46 seconds after launching before you had good GPS location data and the drone was able to record a home point some distance from where you launched.

You should wait for good GPS and for the homepoint to be recorded before launching.

 

[sanjeem]

Thank you for the response. I will keep it in mind for the future.

 

[Yaros]

I'll try to explain what happened:
You launched your drone without having GPS signal, flew some distance away, and then it acquired GPS. It set that location has the homepoint. As you weren't logged into a DJI account it automatically set the distance limit to 30 meters, and instead of setting it 30 m away from you, it set it a radius of 30 m from that random spot where it got GPS and registered the homepoint. That explains why Return To Home would send it in the other direction, it would send it to the point it got enough GPS to set the Homepoint.

What is the solution to this:

• NEVER takeoff without GPS outdoors, not only because it cannot record its homepoint, but also because it will not stabilize and hover in the same location if you're high enough to the point where the bottom pattern sensors (VPS) do not work (more or less 10 meters high). Also it causes the problem where a loss of signal, low battery, or just triggering return to home, would cause it to go in a random direction, to the place it got GPS, or the last time it had GPS.
• Always make sure you have your account logged in, so you can fly higher and more distance. If there is a problem where your account is actually logged in but this message still pops up, log out and then log in again in the app, that should hopefully fix it.
• If you have waited for GPS to lock, you wouldn't have this problem because it wouldn't just fly further from you and that's it, but it would allow you to return. Instead you flew some time without GPS, and on the 46th second of the flight it recorded its homepoint, and it set the limit around that false "homepoint".

Tip: Turn on your multimedia sounds on your phone / tablet you you can hear the voice messages. The important one being: the homepoint has been updated, please check it on the map it means that GPS has acquired and you're ready to fly!
Also make sure that the satellite icon in the top right corner is white, if it is red or orange, don't take off. If you waited 2 - 3 minutes but it is still red or orange, move to a more open location, restart the drone and wait again! It normally takes 20 seconds to 3 minutes (depends on the location) to lock enough satellites!

Hope this helps, following the above, the issue should never happen again! If you have any doubts feel free to ask!
And of course, happy flying

 

[hiflyer201]

I've made plenty of mistakes with drones. The only rule I've never broken (outdoors) is taking off without a GPS lock.

 

[Yaros]

I've made plenty of mistakes with drones. The only rule I've never broken (outdoors) is taking off without a GPS lock.

I guess you're lucky.
On my first ever drone flight I did something similar, but worse...
My first drone was an Arducopter, not DJI. I took off with GPS lock but in fully manual mode !
And I don't mean Atti, nah, worse!
I took off, and when the drone started drifting away I got scared and pushed the throttle all the way down, I expected it to land, but it dropped like a rock Lesson learned... Next flight I forgot (actually I never did) to calibrate the compass, on takeoff the drone started spinning and also crashed full speed into a nearby wall breaking a motor... You can say I was dumb, and I agree I was! DJI makes it relatively safe, and harder every time to do simple mistakes like the ones I did with a DIY drone.
There is almost no way to put a mavic into Atti, noob-safe I guess

 

[Defens]

Thanks for sharing your problem! I also agree with the GPS lock/homepoint answer. There is something else that probably didn't come into play on this flight, but could in the future.

You noted that you flew from a rooftop. Depending on the roof, you might have issues with the compass. If you are lifting off from a concrete roof on a highrise building, for example, there will probably be enough rebar in the concrete to mess with your compass. It might prompt you to recalibrate, or worse, might record an incorrect "north", which could mess up your flight or even cause a flyaway. Be sure you don't take off from reinforced concrete, sheet metal surfaces, etc.

 

[sanjeem]

Thank you everyone for the helpful answers, it's greatly appreciated. I will make sure to not fly without full GPS lock or logging in for future flights. I got really excited because this is the first time I am flying after months. The panic I got from the issue will serve as a long term reminder.
Sorry, I don't know how to reply to specific answers like many of you have done, but regarding the compass issue, I am currently in a densely developed city. Rooftops are the best launching points. Looking at the flight log, it seems like our rooftop did not mess up the compass. I will keep the advice in mind, and maybe use a table or something to launch. Thank you for the information.