Mavic 3 Flyaway

[vlieg]

I have an ongoing discussion going on DJI who are telling me that a loss of control of my Mavic 3 while using the DJI RC PRO was because I changed the Home Point to a position a mile away from me before activating the Return Button. The Home Point did in fact change 2 minutes I took off, but my research shows me that the only way that you can change your Home Point to a point that is not either the Controller or the Aircraft is by activating option 3 after going into Change Home Point, and dragging the map.
So far DJI are saying that the Home was changed by Pilot, when at the the time I had not yet learned to follow the steps to do that.
I have asked them to explain to me how the Home Point could change by itself and that if it did that, I have to assume that there is either a hardware or software issue with the DJI RC PRO. Fortunately I eventually found the Craft in thick bush using Find my Drone. This was a very dangerous incident regarding flying over homes and freeways where I would not normally go.
Any Ideas about this anybody ??

 

[sar104]

Post the log file.

 

[dirkclod]

Do as sar104 said and please stop posting in others threads .
Thanks.

 

[vlieg]

Sorry not familiar with the site

 

[dirkclod]

Sorry not familiar with the site

That’s fine and you will learn. Jumping in others threads with your issue only causes confusion.

 

[vlieg]

That’s fine and you will learn. Jumping in others threads with your issue only causes confusion.

Ok thanks, good to know ! I think that I have figured out how to stick to my own thread

 

[Skwirl]

heres a link to the tutorial on how to access and post a link to your flight logs.

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

 

[zeusfl]

There is a problem with the current firmware that the Mavic 3 with the RC Pro is taking about 2 or more minutes to acquire the satellites. If you don't wait until you hear the voice "the home point has been updated" and you start flying away then the home point will be set in the trajectory of your flight once the drone acquire about 11-13 satellites. This can set your home point far from home. You can set manually the home point back to your location or just wait until the home point is set before you move the drone.

 

[Meta4]

I have asked them to explain to me how the Home Point could change by itself and that if it did that, I have to assume that there is either a hardware or software issue with the DJI RC PRO. Fortunately I eventually found the Craft in thick bush using Find my Drone. This was a very dangerous incident regarding flying over homes and freeways where I would not normally go.
Any Ideas about this anybody ??

If you want help 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.

Then someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

 

[zeusfl]

Here is a video that I made explaining how to manually change the home point.

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[Crashdummytest]

There is a problem with the current firmware that the Mavic 3 with the RC Pro is taking about 2 or more minutes to acquire the satellites. If you don't wait until you hear the voice "the home point has been updated" and you start flying away then the home point will be set in the trajectory of your flight once the drone acquire about 11-13 satellites. This can set your home point far from home. You can set manually the home point back to your location or just wait until the home point is set before you move the drone.

My biggest complaint so far with my M3 - it takes forever to acquire satellites. Really bad compared to my Air2S/SC combo. DJI please fix this horrible and dangerous problem.

 

[vlieg]

There is a problem with the current firmware that the Mavic 3 with the RC Pro is taking about 2 or more minutes to acquire the satellites. If you don't wait until you hear the voice "the home point has been updated" and you start flying away then the home point will be set in the trajectory of your flight once the drone acquire about 11-13 satellites. This can set your home point far from home. You can set manually the home point back to your location or just wait until the home point is set before you move the drone.

Thank you so much ! This is the answer that I have been looking for. It absolutely parallels what I experienced. In future if this happens again I can take steps to remedy the situation by correcting the position of the Home Point.
DJI will say that the Home Point changed but they won't admit that the problem is regarding satellite acquisition time taken by the DJI RC PRO. If I had not been able to retrieve the Mavic 3 in thick bush a 1/2 mile away they would not have honored a warrantee claim. Fortunately I don't have to deal with that now.

 

[zeusfl]

I recommend you to wait until the home point is set automatically in the take-off place. Normally what I do is just hover at 3FT from the ground on top of the landing pad until getting the satellites and I hear the home point has been updated.

When the manual home point works fine, the truth is the aircraft will not be able to return home until has sufficient satellites or fly correctly. Not having sufficient satellites and being flying high the vision sensor will not be able to stabilize the aircraft and you have a good chance to have the aircraft go in ATTI mode. If you don't know how to do this can be challenging for you and can result in a crash.

 

[vlieg]

Here is a video that I made explaining how to manually change the home point.

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Thank you for the video illustrating the steps how to move the Home Point. I have been aware how to do this and this is is not what I did that caused the flyaway problem.
Your answer regarding satellite acquisition time is the answer. I was racking my brains until you gave me the answer to the flyaway. It would be nice if DJI would take responsibility for this.Thanks !!
I was terrified when the Mavic 3 flew over a busy freeway just clearing telephone lines and then flying over homes. Much to my relief I was able to regain control by rebooting the DJI RC PRO , turning the craft round and attempting to bring it back to me. That was when it went to the incorrect home point where I was at least able to land it safely using the view on the controller but not knowing exactly where that was. Thankfully I did not crash into the telephone lines or someones home.

 

[zeusfl]

I need to clarify another thing. The Mavic 3 even when had sometimes over 12 satellites sometimes not set the home point and I need to force it and then I hear the voice and see in the screen has been updated.

This step is critical not only in the M3 but in all drones from DJI.

 

[vlieg]

If you want help 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.

Then someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

I am getting some help from my son in law who is a software wizard and also a droner, regarding flight log analysis.

 

[vlieg]

I need to clarify another thing. The Mavic 3 even when had sometimes over 12 satellites sometimes not set the home point and I need to force it and then I hear the voice and see in the screen has been updated.

This step is critical not only in the M3 but in all drones from DJI.

I hear you. For some reason I have not run into this problem with my Air2S. Lucky perhaps, or perhaps because I use different controllers with the Air2S. It seems to get enough satellite connections pretty quickly with the smart controller or the regular stock controller.

 

[slup]

...they won't admit that the problem is regarding satellite acquisition time taken by the DJI RC PRO.

The answer to that is simple ... a possible acquired GPS position made by your remote controller have nothing to do with the ordinary recording of the HP ... it's your drones GPS position that counts. You can set your HP to your remote controllers present location but that always require a manual deliberate action from the pilot.

...how to move the Home Point. I have been aware how to do this and this is is not what I did that caused the flyaway problem.

DJI have earlier shown that they can be rather confusing in their explanations regarding the cause for a incident ... that's why it's so useful that a flight log is recorded in the mobile device (in your case, in the RC Pro), there it's usually easy to see what happened & what went wrong.

...I was racking my brains until you gave me the answer to the flyaway. It would be nice if DJI would take responsibility for this.

So far we don't know what happened ... as you haven't shared the flight log so we can help you go to the bottom with this.

I sincerely urge you to share the flight log ... it should be rather straight forward, it's a file on your RC Pro ending with .TXT. Just connect your RC Pro to your computer & it should show up as a new drive unit ...

In the ordinary file explorer in your computer, go here Android\data\dji.go.v5\files\FlightRecord ... or possibly here DJI\dji.go.v5\FlightRecord and there you should find all the log files from all your flights. Chose the one with the date & time for the incident (most probably the newest dated one) & drag it over to your computers desktop.

Then go here --> DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and upload that file there ... once uploaded they will provide a link that you can copy & share with us in a new post.

You can there see exactly what happened, how you flew, your stick inputs, where the HP was recorded, #GPS sats & more ... you can even replay the flight & watch the route on a map there.

Here a example from a uploaded flight to that site ... (click on the picture below to study it closer...)

 

[vlieg]

The answer to that is simple ... a possible acquired GPS position made by your remote controller have nothing to do with the ordinary recording of the HP ... it's your drones GPS position that counts. You can set your HP to your remote controllers present location but that always require a manual deliberate action from the pilot.


DJI have earlier shown that they can be rather confusing in their explanations regarding the cause for a incident ... that's why it's so useful that a flight log is recorded in the mobile device (in your case, in the RC Pro), there it's usually easy to see what happened & what went wrong.


So far we don't know what happened ... as you haven't shared the flight log so we can help you go to the bottom with this.

I sincerely urge you to share the flight log ... it should be rather straight forward, it's a file on your RC Pro ending with .TXT. Just connect your RC Pro to your computer & it should show up as a new drive unit ...

In the ordinary file explorer in your computer, go here Android\data\dji.go.v5\files\FlightRecord ... or possibly here DJI\dji.go.v5\FlightRecord and there you should find all the log files from all your flights. Chose the one with the date & time for the incident (most probably the newest dated one) & drag it over to your computers desktop.

Then go here --> DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and upload that file there ... once uploaded they will provide a link that you can copy & share with us in a new post.

You can there see exactly what happened, how you flew, your stick inputs, where the HP was recorded, #GPS sats & more ... you can even replay the flight & watch the route on a map there.

Here a example from a uploaded flight to that site ... (click on the picture below to study it closer...)
View attachment 141681

I have tried to do this a few times with no success. My MacBook Pro does not show the controller as new drive unit either on the desktop or in Disk Utility. I will keep trying.
I did mention that my computer whizz son in law will help me at some point to display the flight log here.
zeusfl has given me the answer about satellite acquisition time and the manual setting of the home point. This is the problem and the solution. I would be very happy to see an analysis of the Flight Log with all the information regarding this, as you are suggesting. I think that the ability to display all the information that you have been able to display above would be very useful for me to learn to do. I want to keep pursuing this skill.
Is there perhaps an incompatibility between the Android system of the controller and macOS that is making it difficult to see it as a disk drive on the Mac ?
If you know how to overcome this I would be happy to hear it.

 

[slup]

I have tried to do this a few times with no success. My MacBook Pro does not show the controller as new drive unit either on the desktop or in Disk Utility...

Have you tried Android file transfer... download it here --> Android File Transfer