Ipad Dies During Flight

[Dale D]

Well that was a situation i wasn't ready for. Got up this morning and saw it was going
to be a decent sun rise so quickly set up my MA2 and headed out into the garden.
I took off rose to an altitude of 385 ft and had a lovely view of the early morning sun rise
on my ipad air screen. I made a few adjustments to video settings and hit record, i made a
few gimbal movements to get a better picture and then.........everything went BLACK there
was nothing on the screen at all. No matter what i tried the ipad had died. I knew it wasn't the
battery because it had been on charge all night. I had no control of the drone at all, i could see
the drones LEDs up above me but any movement on the sticks did nothing, so it was now a
waiting game, after about 5 minutes ( seemed like 5 hours ) RTH kicked in and it started
decending but i still had no control, thankfully it came down bang centre on the pad.
I checked the ipad again now the drone was down and it seems it has broken.
Was there something else i could have done to gain control just through the controller.
The wait was terrifying, hope this never happens again.

seems like a silly question but did you try to re-boot your iPad?

 

[Deleted member 133794]

seems like a silly question but did you try to re-boot your iPad?

Hi Dale D yes i tried everything. Looking at the Ipad after the event and speaking
to Apple support it seems the ipad has literally died, it is no more. As a family
we have owned all the different models/sizes since the ipad was released all
those years ago but this is the first one that has actually broken. I just wish it
would have chosen a better time to do it ??

 

[Dale D]

Hi Dale D yes i tried everything. Looking at the Ipad after the event and speaking
to Apple support it seems the ipad has literally died, it is no more. As a family
we have owned all the different models/sizes since the ipad was released all
those years ago but this is the first one that has actually broken. I just wish it
would have chosen a better time to do it ??

That is the first time I have ever heard of an iPad just dying! Wow. Apple is usually very good about their products. I once dropped my 9.5 inch iPad an is smashed the screen to smithereens. I took it immediately to the Apple store, and they gave me a brand new model for a big discount on the retail price. That was in the pre Covid days when I could walk into the Apple store. I loooove my big iPad for flying.

 

[David E]

I had – stress HAD an iPad that went blank during a flight but I had control of the drone.
After that indecent it was back to my trusty Samsung tablet & gave the iPad to my son.

I had the same issue occur, more than once. It was the point at which I bought a more powerful iPad (6. generation, I think). I have to add that this also happened last winter, with low temperatures, and I did still have control over the drone.

 

[Kbviper]

I am on the East Coast of Canada and frequently fly in the cold both recreationally and at work. I usually am using some version of an iPad and have found that as the temperature gets close to freezing, particularly if there is a wind on them, iPads will shut down because of the cold. Once they shut down from the cold, they will not start up again until they are warmed up.

When the iPad goes dead, you will go into the RTH mode, which I have to go to the home point unless I have launched from a boat or other moving object.

It helps to have a backup iPad or phone that is not exposed to the cold. If your iPad or other tablet goes dead, it does not take long to plug in another tablet, boot up the appropriate DJI software, and regain the video feed. AS someone else pointed out, you can still have full control.

 

[Deleted member 133794]

I am on the East Coast of Canada and frequently fly in the cold both recreationally and at work. I usually am using some version of an iPad and have found that as the temperature gets close to freezing, particularly if there is a wind on them, iPads will shut down because of the cold. Once they shut down from the cold, they will not start up again until they are warmed up.

When the iPad goes dead, you will go into the RTH mode, which I have to go to the home point unless I have launched from a boat or other moving object.

It helps to have a backup iPad or phone that is not exposed to the cold. If your iPad or other tablet goes dead, it does not take long to plug in another tablet, boot up the appropriate DJI software, and regain the video feed. AS someone else pointed out, you can still have full control.

Yes thanks for your help. I think the lack of control was down to me panicking
( headless chicken mode) i appreciate how the cold can affect the ipad but
in this instance the Ipad literally packed up, its broke, it is no more, its in
the bin. ???

 

[Emanáku]

385 feet is pretty high. How would you know if the drone was actually not reacting to the sticks? As an example: If you tried left stick down to bring it down, then you need to hold it a while, because with that distance it is not easy to easy if it is actually coming down. Only right stick movements would be easy to see....
To my experience it is really, really useful to be able to use the controller alone - that gives you confidence in situations like this.

 

[Deleted member 133794]

Thanks Emanaku
Yes you're right the drone could actually have been coming down and
i might not have realised at the time where i was quite high. Like i've
said, lack of experience and me panicking was probably not helping.
You live and learn.....hopefully ?

 

[J Herb]

It’s the cold that kills it. It’s happened to me. Just another thing to have to consider when planning flights.

 

[Meta4]

When the iPad goes dead, you will go into the RTH mode, which I have to go to the home point unless I have launched from a boat or other moving object.

Except this is not what happens.
Your drone does not automatically come home because the iPad dies.
Losing connection to the controller will initiate RTH but losing the iPad does not have any effect on the controller signal.

It's very easy to prove this for yourself.
Fly your drone out 30-50 feet away where you can clearly see the aircraft.
Pull the cable between the iPad and controller.
Keep using the controller to check that you still have full control without the iPad.
Plug the iPad back in and continue flying.

Losing the iPad does not mean you lose control signaltrigger RTH and does not trigger RTH.

 

[BanditsRoost]

I just started having a similar problem today. Flying the Mini ( not Mini2) With an ipad Air it would all of a suden just shut down the ipad. I still had complete control of the Mini but the ipad just shut off. This happened several times. I can also reproduce this at anytime by going into video mode. I fly several of the DJI ac so I'm stumped at this point. I recently was gifted the little Mini and only today go out to fly it. I'll post shortly what firmware, Fly version etc for any suggestions. I did take it straight from charger to test field with no software/firmware updates. Any advice on best of each appreciated.

 

[BanditsRoost]

AC 1.00.050
RC 1.00.050
Flysafe 1.00.01.17
Flysafe Database 1.00.01.18
App 1.2.1

Ipad Air 2 started with full charge. Now showing 39% but will not launch and hold DJI Fly. (25 minutes flying on one battery)

The Mini and RC perform perfectly but Fly and the ipad are not playing well together. When the ipad dies the Mini still functions perfectly. It does not go into RTH unless I activate it. What say you Meta4?

 

[Meta4]

What say you Meta4?

I steer well clear of Apple stuff so I don't know.

 

[BanditsRoost]

Can't argue with that Meta4, That was just the first tablet handy when I started out the door. Normally lives with the SE.
Wish I could find a Huawie, but alas, not to be had in NC. Thanks