Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, First Impressions

[jaja6009]

Update with a problem.

I have developed ghosting on live view, screen shots, video and photos.

I had ghosting in the form of blotches on the screen that only go away after the camera has been on for 5+ minutes and you manually keep pressing FFC, Flat Field Correction.

I also have image ghosting where when you view something and then move to look at something else the original image will still be there. This too clears with time and heavy use of FFC.

It had cleared up, but the next time I went to fly, the ghosting was back.

While I would never look at the sun on purpose, after checking data I did have the sun in a video off to the side. There was also heavy reflections off of solar panels I was inspecting.
Flir has solar protection built in such as the detector type, coatings and capacitors I do not know if this Chinese core has similar.

All Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced owners please take care and avoid the sun. I do have a Support ticket in and do have the complimentary Enterprise Care. Also so far DJI has not said that my problems are from sun exposure, but this is my opinion.

 

[jaja6009]

I have been told by DJI to send in the drone. The Mavic 2 EA does come with a complimentary Enterprise Shield so it should get fixed.

Upon further reading about thermal imaging cameras this might not be sun damage after all. This may be a shutter issue. But I am still just guessing.

Here is an image with the ghosting. Notice the vents that when they ghost are the opposite of the current view. I was playing with the measurement box and if I originally viewed something in the box that was cold, when I moved the camera the ghost image of this cold item was then the warmest item in the box.

We shall see what the diagnosis is.

 

[jaja6009]

My experience with DJI Customer Service has been very good. This is the second time I have had to deal with them. The first time was with our work Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual. The gimbal was stuck in gimbal overload error and would not clear or calibrate. They sent a prepaid UPS shipping label and within 3 weeks of the initial phone call a brand new (Not refurbished) drone was in the box at work.

For this case, it has almost been a carbon copy. I was sent a prepaid shipping label for UPS, and it took about 1 week to make its way across country to Ceriritos CA. For 2 days the drone was diagnosed and today it stated in the automated Customer Support portal that a flight test was performed. It also stated today that within 3 business days the drone would be shipped, so I have about another week before she gets back. This was deemed a warranty repair and does not count against the complimentary Enterprise Shield.

It was not stated what the diagnosis was or if a new drone was being provided, but it does seems like a repair was made to mine as they stated a flight test was conducted today. I will know when I get my drone back. I still may inquire through email if they can share any information on what the problem was such as was this solar damage or the shutter/flag on the thermal sensor. After doing some reading I think this was a problem with the flag on the thermal sensor.

I have read some stories about DJI's Customer Service and bad experiences, but I guess I am lucky in that for me they are batting 2 for 2.

I did not mention in this inquiry but it has been documented with them about my firmware problem where it will always states inconsistent firmware even though the drone, the accessories, the remote and the batteries have all been updated. I assumed (Hopefully correct) that they would take care of this since it was reported before but also when they flight test it it would (should) popup.

 

[jaja6009]

DJI has always treated me well, and this time is no different. To my surprise they did not repair the drone, but sent me a brand new one. Enterprise Shield/Care was not used and this was considered a warranty replacement. I did not receive what the diagnosis was. The whole process took about three weeks to resolve.

 

[sar104]

DJI has always treated me well, and this time is no different. To my surprise they did not repair the drone, but sent me a brand new one. Enterprise Shield/Care was not used and this was considered a warranty replacement. I did not receive what the diagnosis was. The whole process took about three weeks to resolve.

Good to hear. My guess is that if the camera module (the most expensive part of the system) was toast then it was probably cheaper just to send a new aircraft.

 

[jaja6009]

Good to hear. My guess is that if the camera module (the most expensive part of the system) was toast then it was probably cheaper just to send a new aircraft.

Yeah I agree. I wonder if my drone goes out as a refurb in the future.

 

[tn33]

Update with a problem.

I have developed ghosting on live view, screen shots, video and photos.

I had ghosting in the form of blotches on the screen that only go away after the camera has been on for 5+ minutes and you manually keep pressing FFC, Flat Field Correction.

I also have image ghosting where when you view something and then move to look at something else the original image will still be there. This too clears with time and heavy use of FFC.

It had cleared up, but the next time I went to fly, the ghosting was back.

While I would never look at the sun on purpose, after checking data I did have the sun in a video off to the side. There was also heavy reflections off of solar panels I was inspecting.
Flir has solar protection built in such as the detector type, coatings and capacitors I do not know if this Chinese core has similar.

All Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced owners please take care and avoid the sun. I do have a Support ticket in and do have the complimentary Enterprise Care. Also so far DJI has not said that my problems are from sun exposure, but this is my opinion.

I have the same problem as you described. My problem started straigth out of the box, so can't see its related to enviromental exposure.

Any update on your situation? Did they find any fault?

 

[jaja6009]

I have the same problem as you described. My problem started straigth out of the box, so can't see its related to enviromental exposure.

Any update on your situation? Did they find any fault?

My initial "cause" was just speculation on my part. I created a support ticket and I was then instructed to ship the drone back. It was replaced with a brand new aircraft, which was done under warranty and not the complimentary Enterprise Shield protection.

Create a Support ticket immediately and they should take care of the problem. I asked, but did not receive what the exact cause of the issue was. I am concerned that this is a hardware and software problem with the shutter, but again this is pure speculation.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[tn33]

My initial "cause" was just speculation on my part. I created a support ticket and I was then instructed to ship the drone back. It was replaced with a brand new aircraft, which was done under warranty and not the complimentary Enterprise Shield protection.

Create a Support ticket immediately and they should take care of the problem. I asked, but did not receive what the exact cause of the issue was. I am concerned that this is a hardware and software problem with the shutter, but again this is pure speculation.

Let us know how you make out.

Ok. Thanks!
But the problem you experienced did not appear after you got a new drone?
I'm just asking since I'm wondering if "is supposed to be like that", and not really a fault?

 

[jaja6009]

Ok. Thanks!
But the problem you experienced did not appear after you got a new drone?
I'm just asking since I'm wondering if "is supposed to be like that", and not really a fault?

No, ghosting is a problem and your aircraft's thermal camera should not be like that. My ghosting showed in still images, screen capture, video and video screen capture. It appeared after an inspection where the sun was in the background for several minutes, so I speculated that this could of been sun burn in ghosting.

DJI unfortunately did not tell me what the diagnosis was, even when asked.

My new drone works now like my older drone before the ghosting appeared. After doing some light research on thermal cameras with ghosting issues, it could be a flag/shutter problem, but again this is my uneducated guess.

 

[jaja6009]

I hate to reopen a thread from so long ago, but I am again having some issues with my thermal sensor. It is not ghosting like before but there are two spots now that show up on FPV, Screenshots, Video and Images.

As I stated, DJI never confirmed if my ghosting was caused by "sun burn", but when I watch a video of flying a communications tower the sun is in the background and you can pretty much see the sensor being damaged.

The new spot problem though is different, and since the first sun incident I do everything in my power to never have the sun in my FOV, but I cannot say that the sun has never been in the FOV.

I do think that these sensors are subject to sun damage and I am leaning that way even more ever since I saw the the new M30T and Matrice 300 RTK both have a sun protection strategy, with the M30T having it out of the box and the Matrice 300 RTK adding it in a Firmware update. While training with my work's Matrice 300 RTK a warning kept showing that the thermal sensor was inactive due to the sun.

I have opened a support case with DJI and I just shipped the aircraft today. Last time it took 1 week for DJI to receive it, 1 week for them to come to the conclusion to send me a new aircraft and 1 week to receive it back from UPS.

M2EA owners, be careful how long you have the camera viewing the sun.

Come on DJI, update our beloved M2EA with Pilot 2 and the sun protection strategy and while your at it give us the Isotherm and adjustable temperature range/span like the M30T and Matrice 300 RTK too.

 

[jaja6009]

Update on thermal camera problem.

After opening up a new support ticket, DJI sent me a UPS shipping label and I sent the aircraft in.
July 4th weekend slowed down shipping, but they inspected it and found to no surprise that the thermal camera was damaged.
They are installing a new thermal camera on my aircraft. (Last time this happened they sent me a whole new aircraft. But the wording on the support ticket makes this seem like a replacement camera.

An interesting note is that there is pricing on the parts and labor.

$2490 for the thermal camera
65 labor

Covered under DJI Enterprise Care Refresh

Hopefully the repair is done quickly and it ships tomorrow.


$2490 is not a bad price for this for anytime in the future post Enterprise Care Refresh. I am worried that without the accident/insurance coverage that sensor would of been more like 4 to 5 thousand.

Once again I have found DJI's customer service to be responsive and fair.

 

[jaja6009]

Update on my new issue.

I received a new drone as they did not just repair my old one as they did before and as others have stated it must be just easier this way.

I do my full setup with registration, firmware, adjusting my settings and OH NO!

There is a dot again on the thermal sensor FPV, images, video and screen shots on the new drone almost in the same exact area as before!

I called up DJI as they gave me the direct number to the California Repair center. Their Support tech was great and we tried everything known to man to figure out if this was something other than the thermal sensor itself.

It is now being escalated to the engineers in China. Very strange indeed.

Images of this strange dot/s that is now obviously following me, LOL.

This is from the aircraft sent in with its two annoying dots.



This is from the brand new drone. Hey at least its down to one dot.




Its not a huge deal but in any field of view lacking a lot of different temperatures, this crops up and its almost as if its related to noise like when you are using a Lepton 160 in a room where everything is the same temperature and all you are left with is noise.

But these dots sometimes show in my images when making thermal maps and I am afraid that they will affect the quality of these maps. Also they are not just color based, meaning they will show as a hot spot so the temperature data in the dot is affected too.

I didn't reach taking it outside for a test flight and it is grounded until DJI engineers chime in.

I did find a Youtube video with the same exact problem. Its a Short and in Spanish but it is the same problem. And this is 100% not caused by any sun viewing as the aircraft never made it that far in its journey from received to test flight.

Youtube video with same problem.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[jaja6009]

Update on my dot/spot issue.

DJI did acknowledge that this was a problem.
They had me send in the aircraft and sent me a new one. This was an easy process that took 2 weeks.

I get the new aircraft and prepare it for a test flight. (FAA registration, temporary registration sticker and entering into my various tracking software.

As I turn on the aircraft and set my various parameters and other pre-flight checks I get to the thermal sensor and BAM, there is a dot/spot!!! It is not in the same area, but is there.

I had to call back and state that my new aircraft has the same problem!

It gets escalated to the "engineers" who are located in China and there is the associated delay in email responses.

Long story short, they are sending me a new aircraft and I requested that they please perform a check on the thermal sensor before shipment.

As with all of my DJI Support issues over the years, they agreed and I am awaiting shipment on what will be my 4th aircraft. Hopefully my last.

These dots/spots are not always easy to see, they tend to crop up when your screen view is looking at an area that does not have temperature differences and tend to produce noise (Think a wall).

I will update after I receive the new bird.

So far, a big thanks to DJI Support for actually dealing with this issue and not shrugging it off.

These dots/spots actually do affect image analysis and contain false temperature values to them. They could be a production issue?

 

[Cookedinlh]

Wow . . thanks for hanging in there with DJI on such an obviously simple hardware issue. ie (bad IR sensor array). I've found them pretty responsive but your problem was 4 x worse than it needed to be and should have been corrected on the first go around. Lack of QC or inexperienced techs or incompetence are the only reasons it was not fixed the first time with your clear pics and explanations. I've just checked out our M2EA and no issue. That took less than 1 min to confirm, so thanks for posting this. Now it's easy for anyone to identify the fault and diagnose quickly.

 

[sar104]

Update on my dot/spot issue.

DJI did acknowledge that this was a problem.
They had me send in the aircraft and sent me a new one. This was an easy process that took 2 weeks.

I get the new aircraft and prepare it for a test flight. (FAA registration, temporary registration sticker and entering into my various tracking software.

As I turn on the aircraft and set my various parameters and other pre-flight checks I get to the thermal sensor and BAM, there is a dot/spot!!! It is not in the same area, but is there.

I had to call back and state that my new aircraft has the same problem!

It gets escalated to the "engineers" who are located in China and there is the associated delay in email responses.

Long story short, they are sending me a new aircraft and I requested that they please perform a check on the thermal sensor before shipment.

As with all of my DJI Support issues over the years, they agreed and I am awaiting shipment on what will be my 4th aircraft. Hopefully my last.

These dots/spots are not always easy to see, they tend to crop up when your screen view is looking at an area that does not have temperature differences and tend to produce noise (Think a wall).

I will update after I receive the new bird.

So far, a big thanks to DJI Support for actually dealing with this issue and not shrugging it off.

These dots/spots actually do affect image analysis and contain false temperature values to them. They could be a production issue?

These artifacts persisted through flat field corrections?

 

[jaja6009]

These artifacts persisted through flat field corrections?

Yes, FFC did not get rid of them.
They showed up in FPV, images, video and screenshots. They had false temperature in DJI Thermal Analysis Tool also.

I asked them to please test the new bird before shipping and they did and are 2 day shipping it to me.

DJI Support has been very fair with me with multiple aircraft.

I definitely see a rumored Mavic 3 Enterprise Thermal in my future but the M30T still calls out to me. LoL.

 

[jaja6009]

I received the new bird. Unfortunately it is my fourth one but I have yet to pay any fee. They have not stated whether this was under Care or warranty.

Anyway I am very happy with the outcome. They tested it and then resealed it back in the new box as best as possible.

Getting 2 in a row with varying "dot" problems was bad luck. (A production flaw?).

DJI has again met and exceeded my expectations, and the Care Enterprise was a large factor in my purchasing this aircraft as I like peace of mind.

 

[sar104]

Yes, FFC did not get rid of them.
They showed up in FPV, images, video and screenshots. They had false temperature in DJI Thermal Analysis Tool also.

I asked them to please test the new bird before shipping and they did and are 2 day shipping it to me.

DJI Support has been very fair with me with multiple aircraft.

I definitely see a rumored Mavic 3 Enterprise Thermal in my future but the M30T still calls out to me. LoL.

Well now my M2EA has suddenly started ghosting, across the entire field of view. FFC clears it, but as soon as the image moves the hottest and coldest regions of the image ghost again. I'm guessing from your dealings with DJI that it is a hardware issue.

 

[sar104]

Well now my M2EA has suddenly started ghosting, across the entire field of view. FFC clears it, but as soon as the image moves the hottest and coldest regions of the image ghost again. I'm guessing from your dealings with DJI that it is a hardware issue.

A few simple tests indicate that it is FFC failure, presumably due to the shutter not closing to perform the FFC. If I disable auto FFC and perform a manual FFC with a uniform temperature object filling the field of view, then the camera works fine. Performing an FFC with an actual view fails because the shutter doesn't close, leading to the actual image being subtracted in the calibration - hence hot objects then ghosting as cold when the camera view moves.

The camera module does click on FFC, but presumably that's the solenoid attempting to function but failing to close the shutter.

So the system is usable with a manual FFC before flight and auto FFC disabled. Not optimal though, obviously.