Mavic Flyaway, Logs Provided

[schilderley]

Hello

Tonight I took the drone out at night. Calibrated Sensors, placed it down and launched take off. The drone hovered for about 5 seconds before veering off in the wrong direction uncontrollably. I tried to control the drone but it seemed I had no control. The drone then hit railings resulting in the propellers being broken.

This was the first this has ever happened. Is this my fault?

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Lastrexking]

Well, a cursory glance tells me you didn’t wait for gps home point to be recorded. Your drone thought it was about 900 miles off the west coast of equatorial Africa rather than in Nottingham.
Why did you calibrate the compass? Were you prompted to?

 

[schilderley]

Well, a cursory glance tells me you didn’t wait for gps home point to be recorded. Your drone thought it was about 900 miles off the west coast of equatorial Africa rather than in Nottingham.
Why did you calibrate the compass? Were you prompted to?

I guess that explains it. Indeed, it popped up so I went along with calibrating it.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Its not as much your fault as its just Pilot Error not being able to recognize when you do not have enough GPS signal to get a home point and being at a disadvantage of it being at night so your sensors were not able to help you.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on Water.

 

[schilderley]

Thank you for commenting. - I've ordered new propellers! Lesson learnt!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Thank you for commenting. - I've ordered new propellers! Lesson learnt!

Tip: As a general rule if your Drone is asking for Calibration there is something wrong with where you are taking off , Shut the drone down and take off from a different spot and that drone should be fine. Calibration is just one way the drone is trying to talk to you , letting you know they dont like what your doing. Most of the time.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in and out of the Storm.

 

[Lastrexking]

I guess that explains it. Indeed, it popped up so I went along with calibrating it.

Always wait until ‘the home point has been recorded’ message before you take off.

 

[Flycaster]

I always wait for the nice lady to say "The home point has been updated, please check it on the map"...

 

[schilderley]

Tip: As a general rule if your Drone is asking for Calibration there is something wrong with where you are taking off , Shut the drone down and take off from a different spot and that drone should be fine. Calibration is just one way the drone is trying to talk to you , letting you know they dont like what your doing. Most of the time.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in and out of the Storm.

Thank you. I have learnt this lesson very quickly. When the drone hit the floor even my bank account had a heart attack for me!

I will now wait for home to be recorded before doing anything.

 

[Flycaster]

Thank you. I have learnt this lesson very quickly. When the drone hit the floor even my bank account had a heart attack for me!

I will now wait for home to be recorded before doing anything.

Wait, did you say : "When the drone hit the floor even my bank account had a heart attack for me!"

Were you indoors? GPS reception no workie so good indoors....

 

[schilderley]

Wait, did you say : "When the drone hit the floor even my bank account had a heart attack for me!"

Were you indoors? GPS reception no workie so good indoors....

No, I was outside. I meant it asin, "Oh no, I've broken it, now I have to buy another, my bank is not going to like that."

 

[Flycaster]

No, I was outside. I meant it asin, "Oh no, I've broken it, now I have to buy another, my bank is not going to like that."

OK, got it...

 

[DanMan32]

My experience with DJI repairs is that it's not at expensive as you would think.
Crashed my P3A into utility wires, smashed gimbal into several pieces. Most would quote a gimbal replacement which was like $400, and we haven't touched body, leg and compass damage yet. Repair cost was somewhere between $170 to $280.
Backed over M2Z by car accidentally. It was covered by refresh but repair quote was like $270 and that included cosmetic damage to the body.

 

[DanMan32]

Tip: As a general rule if your Drone is asking for Calibration there is something wrong with where you are taking off , Shut the drone down and take off from a different spot and that drone should be fine. Calibration is just one way the drone is trying to talk to you , letting you know they dont like what your doing. Most of the time.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in and out of the Storm.

Not necessarily. Since M2, they tend to ask for calibration unconditionally based on time or distance from last flight.
M2 tended to accumulate residual magnetism if stored near big magnets like speakers which often required degaussing but a recalibration could compensate. That may be why DJI opted for timed calibration.

 

[Thomas B]

Not necessarily. Since M2, they tend to ask for calibration unconditionally based on time or distance from last flight.
M2 tended to accumulate residual magnetism if stored near big magnets like speakers.

True... but the problem resolved almost always by just powering down an moving 8-12’ then restarting. It has also often resolved for my M2P by moving the same distance w/o powering anything off.

 

[slup]

True... but the problem resolved almost always by just powering down an moving 8-12’ then restarting. It has also often resolved for my M2P by moving the same distance w/o powering anything off.

The last thing is a bit risky Thomas ... the calibration prompt might very well be initiated due to that you powered on in a magnetic disturbed place, & have by that already initialized the IMU wrongly. So carry the AC away from the interference still powered on may wipe away the prompt but it will not re-initialize the IMU ... & away it goes on height.

I would take the hazzle & power cycle to be on the safe side...

 

[Thomas B]

The last thing is a bit risky Thomas ... the calibration prompt might very well be initiated due to that you powered on in a magnetic disturbed place, & have by that already initialized the IMU wrongly. So carry the AC away from the interference still powered on may wipe away the prompt but it will not re-initialize the IMU ... & away it goes on height.

I would take the hazzle & power cycle to be on the safe side...

Thanks, Good thought... will abandon the latter method.

 

[DanMan32]

Confirmed when some power in one place, such as indoors, then move outdoors and fly, after which AC flew in an unexpected manner. That may be more of an IMU initialization issue than a magnetic issue though.

So in general, avoid hand moving the AC while it is still powered on.

 

[boblui]

.... I tried to control the drone but it seemed I had no control. ..... Is this my fault?

I am afraid the answer is yes

As mentioned in some of the replies, the craft has not yet acquired sufficient satellites and the environment was too dark for vision positioning to work so it went into ATTI mode. The craft was actually well under your control as can be seen in the following chart. The roll angle followed the aileron input perfectly



However, in this mode, the craft will not attempt to hold it's position so it will not stop automatically as it normally does when the sticks are released. It's just like driving your car, it wont stop immediately after the throttle pedal is released. You have to apply brake. That gave you the feeling that the drone was moving by itself and not controllable.

 

[pdipasquale]

Well, a cursory glance tells me you didn’t wait for gps home point to be recorded. Your drone thought it was about 900 miles off the west coast of equatorial Africa rather than in Nottingham.
Why did you calibrate the compass? Were you prompted to?

Sounds like atti mode and rushed to takeoff. Gps is crucial.