Mavic Mini dropping

[KNS]

I have yet to fly my Mini, but saw on you tube an owner talking about his Mavic inexplicably dropping touching the ground and then going back up again. In the comments section other owners were mentioning similar.
I am hoping there isn't an issue with this model which is just coming to light.

 

[grahamjohnson10]

I have yet to fly my Mini, but saw on you tube an owner talking about his Mavic inexplicably dropping touching the ground and then going back up again. In the comments section other owners were mentioning similar.
I am hoping there isn't an issue with this model which is just coming to light.

I saw that video as well, but he has not uploaded and shared a link to the flight log.
So with the lack of flight log there's not much to say.

 

[Antaire]

This ?

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[Drone Master]

The Mini has been a good flyer for me. I have not had any issues thus far.
Many have had great success with the MM.
Be sure to do read the mini manual and perform full updates and calibrations as stated in the MM manual before first flight!
This should keep you out of trouble.
https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_Mini/Mavic_Mini_User_Manual_v1.0_en_1.pdf

 

[monty.roman]

We've been talking about this in our Czech drone community yesterday. My opinion is that Li-Ion battery packs used in Mini are more vulnerable to freezing conditions and they're unable to provide enough power, especially on low battery. One of our members returned his mini to local authorized DJI store because of same issues. He took a flight and when battery was at 50-60%, he initiated RTH. Drone was returning normally (against light wind) and during return when it was still over 2000ft away, the app showed the message about insufficient power and drone started to lose speed and altitude without any input. Pilot cancelled RTH and tried to keep it in the same altitude to bring it back safely but without a chance. He was forced to land it on its way back and retrieve it on the ground - luckily without any harm.

 

[UGel]

We've been talking about this in our Czech drone community yesterday. My opinion is that Li-Ion battery packs used in Mini are more vulnerable to freezing conditions and they're unable to provide enough power, especially on low battery. One of our members returned his mini to local authorized DJI store because of same issues. He took a flight and when battery was at 50-60%, he initiated RTH. Drone was returning normally (against light wind) and during return when it was still over 2000ft away, the app showed the message about insufficient power and drone started to lose speed and altitude without any input. Pilot cancelled RTH and tried to keep it in the same altitude to bring it back safely but without a chance. He was forced to land it on its way back and retrieve it on the ground - luckily without any harm.

Battery will not be issue here, I think! Because my battery was fully charged, just taken out of car (warm place) and drone dropped anyway in water, without ANY warnings before (no strong wind, or max power reached warnings).
Reasons can be (guessing, because still didnt received DJI analysis conclusion, but received notice that it is guarantee case and drone will be replaced):
- ground sensor glitch when it is near water or snow;
- motor work in low temperatures (even not minus Celsium);
- some software glitch when in C or P mode isnt enough power (maybe some wind or full throttle) and drone isnt switching to higher power modes even if it starts to fall.

I hope to receive some explanation from DJI, otherwise it will be scary to fly in any conditions not knowing reason why it fell in water.

 

[netsonic]

He took a flight and when battery was at 50-60%, he initiated RTH. Drone was returning normally (against light wind) and during return when it was still over 2000ft away, the app showed the message about insufficient power and drone started to lose speed and altitude without any input. Pilot cancelled RTH and tried to keep it in the same altitude to bring it back safely but without a chance.

There might be a problem with the wind as insufficient power is related to that.

ground sensor glitch when it is near water or snow;

I would bet on this one.

Or even a combination between the two. Let's not jump to conclusions and await their analysis.

The Cold ist not that severe issue. I've flown mine at 2.6 C and did not have any problem.


I keep the battery in my wind fleece inside pocket under the jacket. According to Airdata when i took off it had 19C temperature and while flying it went up to 26.5C.


Never had a problem so far.

 

[old man mavic]

my take on this is downwards sensor issue,they are unable to function correctly due to the surface they are flying over,and the GPS alone is not able to maintain a stable hover ,i think it is all down to the size of the sensors, they are very small and this limits they capabilities in certain conditions GPS alone can have a height variance of up to at least a metre each way for holding altitude and when close to the surface it relies on the sensors to correct for this

 

[KNS]

Temperature issues might have been the cause, if it was not misbehaving when indoors as shown later on in the video which Antaire kindly provided a link to.
Many thanks for the responses, and from a positive whilst there are a few people unlucky enough to experience this, it's still only a few.

 

[grahamjohnson10]

This ?

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Yes that's the video I was talking about.

 

[Deleted member 109934]

I'm not sure why he is not posting the logs anywhere, oo wait it would probably show he is just click biting.
I could probably recreate this in my backyard.
leave the battery in -10C load up some weight on the MM, do not wait for GPS lock, cover bottom sensors or fly over white snow in S mode up then down hit the snow and post just the clip of MM hitting the snow gracefully. I have trust issues those days on the internet.
I have flown MM in cold in wind in snow, it is behaving exceptionally well for what it is and how light it is.

 

[Capt KO]

If DJI is going to replace it from the data provided, they must know of this problem, wherever it’s coming from. I don’t fly over snow but I do over water. Seems clear to me that over those two surfaces, it’s best to fly the Mini at over 18 feet to eliminate the bottom sensors from the equation. IMO
Better to learn from others mistakes, than your own.

 

[Capt KO]

my take on this is downwards sensor issue,they are unable to function correctly due to the surface they are flying over,and the GPS alone is not able to maintain a stable hover ,i think it is all down to the size of the sensors, they are very small and this limits they capabilities in certain conditions GPS alone can have a height variance of up to at least a metre each way for holding altitude and when close to the surface it relies on the sensors to correct for this

I hope new mini owners are paying attention. The DJI instructions for flying over water do not truly apply to the mini. It can lose track of the ground (water/snow surface) when close.
Oldmm, You look so good in your avatar photo. Not a day over 91. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your posts.

 

[old man mavic]

thanks at least it stays the same not like my real photo the avatar is better looking

 

[Deleted member 109934]

Purely from a marketing perspective, cost of this drone to DJI is probably 40$ (cost of replacement), it cost them 40$ but kept their reputation, it is win-win situation, especially user already posted in all the forums, knowing big companies they probably add cost of the replacement in full fly more combo price, those 2 extra batteries and 5$ case is not worth 100$ ... and reputation is everything those days. They are great company

 

[hiflyer201]

I'm not sure why he is not posting the logs anywhere, oo wait it would probably show he is just click biting.
I could probably recreate this in my backyard.
leave the battery in -10C load up some weight on the MM, do not wait for GPS lock, cover bottom sensors or fly over white snow in S mode up then down hit the snow and post just the clip of MM hitting the snow gracefully. I have trust issues those days on the internet.
I have flown MM in cold in wind in snow, it is behaving exceptionally well for what it is and how light it is.

KNS is well known on you tube and he flys the heck out of these things so I surely trust this well done video.
I don't have a Mini (yet)..I'm surprised at how massive those prop guards are. I can only imagine what it fly's like outside in the slightest flutter of wind.

 

[TDZHDTV]

Seems to be more videos appearing on YouTube with MM dropping

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[Deleted member 109934]

KNS is well known on you tube and he flys the heck out of these things so I surely trust this well done video.
I don't have a Mini (yet)..I'm surprised at how massive those prop guards are. I can only imagine what it fly's like outside in the slightest flutter of wind.

I'm not questioning his skills, on the other hand, he could not get flight logs from MM to be able to upload them to airdata, it should be a non-event for an expert I would guess, any expert would already have analyzed even slightest off behavior. I suspect he is a great Youtuber no doubt about it, but might not have technical skills like some people here on the forum, altho he is working in IT I believe.

The error he gets should be fixed in the new firmware, I suspect he is still on old firmware or video was done some time ago. Every YouTuber needs some drama to get the hits, I think it is a little lame to release video with a title like his without a link to logs and as much info as possible. I suspect he knows exactly what's going on, but just tries to milk the hits about issues, just my opinion.

 

[TJBC]

I had a similar issue happen to me yesterday. Conditions were about 40 degrees F., 5 to 10 mph winds and partly to mostly cloudy. On three occasions during the flight, the Mavic Mini just started descending on its own from about 125 feet even though I was frantically trying it to get it to go up through stick input. The first time it came down near a house and almost seemed to bounce off some adjacent tree branches or possibly a roof overhang and then I was able to get it back up to 125 feet. Then, within a minute, it went down again and nearly landed but it bounced up to about 25 feet and then flew about 75 feet while I was trying to get altitude, but it again started a descent by itself and landed in a agricultural field. Talk about scary!!! Stick input did not work to gain altitude. It had a mind of its own. Mine is only 10 days old with 9 flights, so I am sending it back and asking for a refund! This should not happen!!!!

Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lQX1z5DhmQ

REPLY

 

[netsonic]

I had a similar issue happen to me yesterday. Conditions were about 40 degrees F., 5 to 10 mph winds and partly to mostly cloudy. On three occasions during the flight, the Mavic Mini just started descending on its own from about 125 feet even though I was frantically trying it to get it to go up through stick input. The first time it came down near a house and almost seemed to bounce off some adjacent tree branches or possibly a roof overhang and then I was able to get it back up to 125 feet. Then, within a minute, it went down again and nearly landed but it bounced up to about 25 feet and then flew about 75 feet while I was trying to get altitude, but it again started a descent by itself and landed in a agricultural field. Talk about scary!!! Stick input did not work to gain altitude. It had a mind of its own. Mine is only 10 days old with 9 flights, so I am sending it back and asking for a refund! This should not happen!!!!

Here is the video:

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Hey TJBC, any chance that you share your airdata logs as well ? We would like to see the full picture.