Mavic 2 Pro Falls from the sky from 70m using Litchi app. Major Failure.

[crlmjohnson]

another note.

It sounds like your battery was not secured in the drone. It might have pop out in mid flight. just asking?

 

[squashedant1970]

I think you misunderstood my comment.
I was suggesting (pretty clearly) the problem is not with Litchi and you need to look elsewhere to find the solution.

The problem is coding between litchi and dji unless you can prove otherwise.

 

[Meta4]

The problem is coding between litchi and dji unless you can prove otherwise.

If so, you'd expect hundreds of others to be having the same issue.

 

[sar104]

The problem is coding between litchi and dji unless you can prove otherwise.

Or is the problem something else unless you can prove otherwise?

 

[crlmjohnson]

There have been a few, others that have had there batteries pop out (assumed) because of sudden power failures, drone fall to the ground while in flying. I also read in a another thread that you can buy some type of battery holder for the Mp2, incase you are worry about losing the battery of the drone.

 

[Steve Murray]

I'm recently finding litchi beyond useless, unless you want your waypoints in straight lines with zero gimbal movement, otherwise it's so glitchy!

Been using Litchi for the last 12 months. Never had a problem. Worth its weight in gold bars IF you set it up correctly.

 

[squashedant1970]

Been using Litchi for the last 12 months. Never had a problem. Worth its weight in gold bars IF you set it up correctly.

For my Phantom 4 it was amazing very smooth but with my mavic pro 2 the gimbal movement is awful. I even used the same saved flight to compare.

 

[squashedant1970]

If so, you'd expect hundreds of others to be having the same issue.

M2P Waypoint 2.0 logarithmic (jerky) gimbal / drone movements

M2P Waypoint 2.0 logarithmic (jerky) gimbal / drone movements

forum.dji.com

 

[parkgt]

There is nothing smooth or cinematic in yaw transitions with Litchi and the M2. Very jerky movements noted by many users. Go4 Waypoints show the same issue pointing to a DJI problem rather than just a Litchi issue.

 

[Thoraldus]

M2P Waypoint 2.0 logarithmic (jerky) gimbal / drone movements

M2P Waypoint 2.0 logarithmic (jerky) gimbal / drone movements

forum.dji.com

from the same thread ... "
DJI's delay in releasing Waypoints 2.0 along with the same problems as Litchi after the release would indicate Litchi was correct. (it is a DJI issue) Hopefully, DJI is working on a firmware fix."

 

[Greg6032]

Hi
I do not think this is Litchi problem
Usually from may lost control
And fly away but I did not hear
Problem like it is failed down because Litchi

 

[Thoraldus]

Hi
I do not think this is Litchi problem
Usually from may lost control
And fly away but I did not hear
Problem like it is failed down because Litchi

Sorry, was responding to squashedant1970's post. Got off topic. Re: Your issue, I would guess a loose battery with perhaps only one latch secured. When I install my battery in my M2P I carefully listen for two clicks from the latches. Doesn't seem to be as much an issue with my M2P as it was with my P3P

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Recently flying in rural UK without warning at a height of 70m and a distance of 2400m the video frame froze and the disconnected message appeared. The drone never returned but plummeted to the ground, fortunately not causing damaged to life or property. I found it at the last known position badly damaged with the battery about 3m away, in half with the damaged cells exposed. Unfortunately the video footage just stops suddenly and shows nothing of the decent or any collision with a bird. I had been in waypoint mode on the Litchi app and had recently saved a waypoint and was flying further away so I climbed to maintain a strong signal. There were no warnings of any kind, battery level was still at 76%.
I sent the drone off to DJI support in Europe, I supplied this link to my airdata:

and this link to the video footage

DJI_0999.m4v

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

They have given me a quote of about 360 euro to repair but it will not be covered under warranty. This is what they say:

Thank you for getting back to us.
Your requirement already submitted to our technical team so I will inform you when I receive the reply from him. However, we don't accept the third party of APP for making the data record. So we have to remind you before if the record in DJI APP is not able to be analysis then we can not give the conclusion for you.
Kind regards,
Support.eu2
Ying
SUPPORT NL
DJI Europe

and later:

"I just got the reply from our technical team and they told me that there is no data can be analyzed. So the case will retain in the same result as before in no warranty."

So they will not use the airdata out of the Litchi app. There is no other data that I have but I assumed there would be data in the drone itself for their use.
I was very keen to find out what their explanation would be for this major failure. If I have it repaired I don't think I can fly with confidence anywhere I might not be able to retrieve the drone. I'll always fly within LOS now and never over water as I don't think DJI would replace a lost drone that had gone missing.
This is a major failure and without an explanation from DJI I've lost confidence in their products.

We found this to be rather interesting:

Battery about 3m away, in half with the damaged cells exposed.

We have tested out the Mavic 2 Batteries in several ways , and here is what we have found.
The only real weakness is that they are very prone to Moisture , most likely do to the LED on the Power Button being so susceptible to water , moisture , snow both from on top of battery and inside the battery compartment.

This causes the Batteries to swell and implode , now is is possible that the Battery at one time or another got wet ?

NOTE: once we saw how susceptible the batteries and the Battery compartment were to Rain we decided to make the Mavic 2 Wet Suits because of this.

One of the tests we did , which can be found on our webiste Phantomrain.org is where we run the brand new Mavic 2 Battery under the sink water and within just a few minutes the light starts to blink and we realize the Battery is already compromised .

We also have flown the Mavic with just 1 click on the Battery and we do not think that this is the reason for the disconnect as it was with the Phantom 4 series drones.

So if by chance you have flown in the rain, and moisture might have gotten to the battery, this could be a possible variable .

We also found that Swelling took a few days for it to appear on the battery after being submitted to a stream of water.

Our research shows that protecting those batteries from Moisture is a must.



Phantomrain.org
Approved Vendor
Gear for flying in and out of the storm.

 

[MavicMikeK]

This is why I bought personal property coverage from State Farm instead of the DJI coverage. For $60/yr and zero deductible it's covered for virtually anything at full replacement cost. That plus my RC club AMA coverage for liability makes a whole lot more sense to me...

 

[Former Member]

I'm recently finding litchi beyond useless, unless you want your waypoints in straight lines with zero gimbal movement, otherwise it's so glitchy!

If you need any help with Litchi, you can post it here:

Control Apps - DJI, Litchi, Autopilot, etc...

mavicpilots.com

Lots of good info.

 

[BB Baggins]

Other consideration. Any chance this was a utility strike or magnetic interference? Reviewing the imagery there are a couple of utility poles in the field, one down and to the right at ~45 degrees. Following the inferred line to the next property back or down there appears a similar shadow cast in the green vegetation and what appears to be two utility poles on the property across the road. Possibly revisit the impact site and determine if poles shown have lines in place connecting the three closet building clusters. Just a thought.

 

[afarkas]

I gave a try to litchi a month ago or so... kept it and tested 2 days and asked for refund... nothing worked there.
Im using RedWaypoints instead. Great app...

 

[THE CYBORG]

It's pretty straightforward.
They'll cover you if there is evidence that the incident was caused by something DJI is responsible for.
Which is reasonable and what you'd expect.

My comment was meant as jest, after that long list - “What This After-Sales Policy Does NOT Cover” I had to say something

Inherent fault is a pretty standard clause for any product, just I found that long list of out clauses rather funny.

 

[pilifida]

Thanks all for your words of consolation. As its possible to fly without using any app (Not that I would) I don't think its Litchi at fault. Maybe the battery wasn't inserted properly. I'll have to do a test to see if it will power up with a partially inserted battery when I get it back. I doubt if I did that but who knows, I really want to know the cause of this failure, its a safety issue for me. In the future I will always wonder if the drone were to fail again would it hit someone or something? I will look for that file mentioned by SAR104 before I give them the go ahead to repair. Its tempting to just let it go and get the repair done ASAP so I can get back to what I love doing - making awesome videos using an amazing drone. (or so i thought)

Hey! Maybe a bit offtopic, buuut i have a MP1. A few days ago, after a 10 min flight, when i landed i noticed i didn.t inserted the battery full in its compartiment. It had like 5-7mm gap. One of the clips didn.t tighten it, but still.the contact was made and the drone turned on and flew. Lucky i made gentle maneuvers. Phew!

 

[fishys]

Hey! Maybe a bit offtopic, buuut i have a MP1. A few days ago, after a 10 min flight, when i landed i noticed i didn.t inserted the battery full in its compartiment. It had like 5-7mm gap. One of the clips didn.t tighten it, but still.the contact was made and the drone turned on and flew. Lucky i made gentle maneuvers. Phew!

The more time I spend thinking about the cause of my crash the more I'm thinking it may have been a loose battery. DJI did not want to read my supplied data from Airdata as I was using the Litchi app. I can see for myself that everything was running smoothly and then - nothing. The battery must have been loose. I had been travelling quite fast and when I came to a stop the battery could have jumped out. I have a replacement drone from DJI that I paid for and I have done some testing. The drone will power up and fly with the battery not being fully secured and latched. If I simulate the drone coming to a stop the battery will come out. I'm super careful now. I'll make a youtube video soon to show what can happen.