Emergency Landing Because SmartController DJI 4 App Crashes at Low Battery Warning

[jelarv]

While flying this morning I had to make my first emergency landing due to a bug or change in the SmartController firmware or DJI Go 4 app (since the mid-September updates), which caused the SC to keep crashing at the most important time of the flight. This is the second time I've had this problem since the update. At around the 13% battery power it keeps crashing which essentially makes the remainder of the flight implausible and thus forced me to make an emergency landing.

Here is a video of the problem: SmartController Crashes on Low Battery Warning.mp4

Background info:
SmartContoller firmware: V01.00.0820
About remote controller: Android 7.1.2

 

[bumper]

Not saying this is the problem, but it's something to consider. Lithium batteries maintain there voltage quite well as they discharge - - until they don't. A graph of the voltage would show a gentle slope down and then a steep drop off. This makes determining remaining battery percentage with precision, a tough job as the battery's charge gets to the low end.

Does your Smart Controller battery last a good while? Consider charging it before heading out to fly.

 

[Thomas B]

Maybe reflash the SC.

 

[jelarv]

Not saying this is the problem, but it's something to consider. Lithium batteries maintain there voltage quite well as they discharge - - until they don't. A graph of the voltage would show a gentle slope down and then a steep drop off. This makes determining remaining battery percentage with precision, a tough job as the battery's charge gets to the low end.

Does your Smart Controller battery last a good while? Consider charging it before heading out to fly.

Thanks Bumper! Based on your advice, I looked my flight log and it looks like the battery amps didn't drop below 15 during the flight. The image below is from the Airdata website...

 

[THE CYBORG]

I can fly 5 batteries in my M2P & still have plenty of power left in the SC.

 

[jelarv]

I can fly 5 batteries in my M2P & still have plenty of power left in the SC.

Thanks Cyborg. I didn't realize Bumper was referring to the SC battery. It was fully-charged and so I don't think that was the problem. Given that this problem occurred on two separate occasions at the same point in the flight, when the drone battery was down to 13%-14% suggests to me it's a bug in the software. In the past, when the battery power dropped to that level it warned it was going to land and began descending but would allow it to maintain the altitude by pushing the left stick up. I suspect the code for this is corrupted in the update which is causing the program to crash.

 

[bumper]

Sorry for the mixup, you referred to SC crashing in your first post. I didn't watch the video and assumed you were talking about the Smart Controller.

I've never run my M2P batteries that low, 20% is the lowest and usually no lower than 30% or 40% remaining. Depth of discharge has a large impact on battery longevity. See the 2nd chart down at this link:

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

 

[TreeHugger]

While flying this morning I had to make my first emergency landing due to a bug or change in the SmartController firmware or DJI Go 4 app (since the mid-September updates), which caused the SC to keep crashing at the most important time of the flight. This is the second time I've had this problem since the update. At around the 13% battery power it keeps crashing which essentially makes the remainder of the flight implausible and thus forced me to make an emergency landing.

Here is a video of the problem: SmartController Crashes on Low Battery Warning.mp4

Background info:
SmartContoller firmware: V01.00.0820
About remote controller: Android 7.1.2

Interesting that when you gimbal down, you are able to abort the forced land with no app crash.
As for a "bug" in the update, I have found none - admittedly, I'm using Litchi more than Go4 - and with Litchi there have been 0 app crashes in circumstances almost exactly like the one in your video.
Litchi will keep bringing up the "land" action every 5 seconds or so which is easily canceled out of because it presents a dialog box which allows for it. This makes flying anywhere but to a more "safe" landing area a real chore.
And of course - I try to not fly the battery down that low unless I have to.

Edit: Re-watched video - You make mention of the controller / app acting differently since the upgrade - YES, same here - but only for the "better" thus far.

 

[jelarv]

Interesting that when you gimbal down, you are able to abort the forced land with no app crash.
As for a "bug" in the update, I have found none - admittedly, I'm using Litchi more than Go4 - and with Litchi there have been 0 app crashes in circumstances almost exactly like the one in your video.
Litchi will keep bringing up the "land" action every 5 seconds or so which is easily canceled out of because it presents a dialog box which allows for it. This makes flying anywhere but to a more "safe" landing area a real chore.
And of course - I try to not fly the battery down that low unless I have to.

Edit: Re-watched video - You make mention of the controller / app acting differently since the upgrade - YES, same here - but only for the "better" thus far.

Thanks TreeHugger! I've looked into Litchi and it appears to be a good alternative, but when I bought my drone I purchased the DJI "refresh" option which will replace it if it has problems. From what I've read the refresh agreement is void if the problem occurs (e.g. crashes) while using any app other than DJI Go 4 app. When my refresh agreement expires, I'll be sure to look at Litchi.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

Thanks TreeHugger! I've looked into Litchi and it appears to be a good alternative, but when I bought my drone I purchased the DJI "refresh" option which will replace it if it has problems. From what I've read the refresh agreement is void if the problem occurs (e.g. crashes) while using any app other than DJI Go 4 app. When my refresh agreement expires, I'll be sure to look at Litchi.

That’s simply not true.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

While flying this morning I had to make my first emergency landing due to a bug or change in the SmartController firmware or DJI Go 4 app (since the mid-September updates), which caused the SC to keep crashing at the most important time of the flight. This is the second time I've had this problem since the update. At around the 13% battery power it keeps crashing which essentially makes the remainder of the flight implausible and thus forced me to make an emergency landing.

Here is a video of the problem: SmartController Crashes on Low Battery Warning.mp4

Background info:
SmartContoller firmware: V01.00.0820
About remote controller: Android 7.1.2

I think the SC is trying to tell you something - DON"T FLY THE BATTERIES THAT LOW.
I'd crash too if you flew me that low,

 

[Oldmanoftheworld]

The only glitch I’ve had is having to pair it to my drone 3 times so far. Touch wood the last 4 times I used it, it was still paired.

I also noticed that some of the refresh rates in the hdmi menu had vanished.

I also noticed that after downloading the update for the SC the battery was showing 40% charged but when I unplugged it from the pc it showed 100% charge.