Mini destroyed, now what?

[aquahauler]

My issue is 2 part. The first is what happened. I have an original mini that has never failed. I was at a lake and decided to film a spillway from the lake. The opening from the bridge where I was standing to the actual fall was about 12'. The spillway was about 20' wide. I wanted to lower the drone to about 3' off the bottom and film going up and out. The second I was about 1' below ground level and where the camera would see the water spilling over, the drone suddenly backed up fast and crashed into the wall behind it. Not sure what happened but sadly I have some great mountain biking action on the sd card. Anyway, does anyone have an idea what happened. The drone had a clear view of the sky so I dont think it could have been GPS.

The second issue is I love the drone because I can easily carry it when bike riding. I think I am going to buy the mini 2. I currently have the fly more kit for the mini so I my choice it to either buy the base mini 2 and use my extra 2 batteries and charger or should I buy the fly more mini 2 and try to sell my mini kit. My current batteries should not have more than an hour on them.

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[slup]

... does anyone have an idea what happened.

Hi there & welcome to the forum ... even though it's due to sad circumstances.

If you want to know what happened you need to share your mobile device stored flight log, otherwise you will only get tons of speculations ...

Go here --> DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help & upload the mobile device .TXT flight log (scroll down a bit there & they will explain where to find it in the mobile device you flew with)

Once uploaded they will provide you with a link ... come back & share that in a new post.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

You might like to have a look at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Read the instructions there for retrieving the txt flight log, upload it to that page, copy the resulting link and post that link here.
If SAFE can you not retrieve the drone? The card should be salvageable.
Lesson to be learned, back up irreplaceable video or, as some do, swap memory cards.

A point the Mavic Mini's charging hub will NOT charge a Mini 2 battery, the Mini 2 battery will literally not fit into the Mavic Mini charging hub.

Note, just in case you are thinking of it, you CAN NOT uses Mavic Mini props with the Mini 2 nor vice versa.

Alternatives to buying a Mini 2, buy another Mavic Mini, they are probably quite cheap now for a second hand basic kit.

A mini SE, cheaper than a Mini 2 but might have an advantage in that the controllers might, note might, be interchangeable with your original Mini. I believe the SE uses Mini 2 props and batteries.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

So there is a good chance the sensors got wet on the bottom of the drone and the drone reacted because it got confused. Could have been the spray, or the reflection as they all have the ability to cause the reaction.

The Mini is also the fastest of all the drones to want to land on the water without a fight , compared to any other drone that we land on the water. Just saying .

I would get the Mini 2 as its a much stronger drone , and consider getting the Rain and Rescue Wet Suit Package to protect your next drone in case you decide to play over the water again.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mini 2 in the Rain, and Float on the Water.

 

[Desert Sands]

First off, sorry about the loss of your mini and its sd card.
I'm not familiar with what sensors it does or doesn't have so I can't help with the why.

As crazy as this sounds, instead of looking at this as a failure, look at it as an opportunity. First, you learned that, for whatever reason, flight near those spillways is risky. Second I would use this "opportunity" to upgrade to the mini2. The Mini 2 was my first DJI drone... and is still my "Go To" drone. It rides with me wherever I go.... I have an inverter in my truck, so I can easily recharge batteries using the multi charger if needed... or I can use the trucks USB charger for that matter.
I have 5 batteries for my Mini 2... its easy to fly has a "good enough" camera for most hobbyist applications, and with the fly more kit... its easy to take it on mountain bike, backpacking... or whatever adventure you find yourself doing.

Anyway, my 2 cents of advice would be to sell your low hour mini batteries charger and case... and get a mini 2. I know tons of people who fly mini 2s and haven't found anyone who didn't love it.

All the best, fly safely and, again, so sorry for the loss of your mini.

 

[aquahauler]

Hi there & welcome to the forum ... even though it's due to sad circumstances.

If you want to know what happened you need to share your mobile device stored flight log, otherwise you will only get tons of speculations ...

Go here --> DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help & upload the mobile device .TXT flight log (scroll down a bit there & they will explain where to find it in the mobile device you flew with)

Once uploaded they will provide you with a link ... come back & share that in a new post.

For some reason my phone will not show up on my PC so I took a look at the flight log on the dji app. I viewed the log and saw that just before it crashed it lost the GPS signal. At that point I think the bottom sensor saw the water passing from front to back and caused the drone to back up. It was only about 2 feet from the wall so it didn't take much. Thanks for the welcome and advise. Lesson learned now on to buying a new one.

 

[aquahauler]

You might like to have a look at DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Read the instructions there for retrieving the txt flight log, upload it to that page, copy the resulting link and post that link here.
If SAFE can you not retrieve the drone? The card should be salvageable.
Lesson to be learned, back up irreplaceable video or, as some do, swap memory cards.

A point the Mavic Mini's charging hub will NOT charge a Mini 2 battery, the Mini 2 battery will literally not fit into the Mavic Mini charging hub.

Note, just in case you are thinking of it, you CAN NOT uses Mavic Mini props with the Mini 2 nor vice versa.

Alternatives to buying a Mini 2, buy another Mavic Mini, they are probably quite cheap now for a second hand basic kit.

A mini SE, cheaper than a Mini 2 but might have an advantage in that the controllers might, note might, be interchangeable. I believe the SE uses Mini 2 props and batteries.

I watched the flight log on the app and saw where just before the crash it lost the GPS signal. Water passing under must have tricked the bottom sensor and caused the drone to back up into the wall. Unfortunately, it washed into the deep. I think I am going to get the mini 2. Thanks for the input.

 

[aquahauler]

So there is a good chance the sensors got wet on the bottom of the drone and the drone reacted because it got confused. Could have been the spray, or the reflection as they all have the ability to cause the reaction.

The Mini is also the fastest of all the drones to want to land on the water without a fight , compared to any other drone that we land on the water. Just saying .

I would get the Mini 2 as its a much stronger drone , and consider getting the Rain and Rescue Wet Suit Package to protect your next drone in case you decide to play over the water again.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mini 2 in the Rain, and Float on the Water.

After watching the flight log on the app, I realize that just before the crash it lost it's GPS signal. With water passing under I think it triggered the bottom sensor causing it to back up into the wall. I will be purchasing the mini 2. That rain gear looks pretty cool. Man it hurts loosing one of these. Cant imagine how you might feel loosing one of the expensive ones. Thanks for your help.

 

[aquahauler]

First off, sorry about the loss of your mini and its sd card.
I'm not familiar with what sensors it does or doesn't have so I can't help with the why.

As crazy as this sounds, instead of looking at this as a failure, look at it as an opportunity. First, you learned that, for whatever reason, flight near those spillways is risky. Second I would use this "opportunity" to upgrade to the mini2. The Mini 2 was my first DJI drone... and is still my "Go To" drone. It rides with me wherever I go.... I have an inverter in my truck, so I can easily recharge batteries using the multi charger if needed... or I can use the trucks USB charger for that matter.
I have 5 batteries for my Mini 2... its easy to fly has a "good enough" camera for most hobbyist applications, and with the fly more kit... its easy to take it on mountain bike, backpacking... or whatever adventure you find yourself doing.

Anyway, my 2 cents of advice would be to sell your low hour mini batteries charger and case... and get a mini 2. I know tons of people who fly mini 2s and haven't found anyone who didn't love it.

All the best, fly safely and, again, so sorry for the loss of your mini.

I just viewed the flight log on the app and saw where at the last seconds it lost the GPS signal. It was very close to the concrete wall and with water passing underneath, it probably tricked the bottom sensor causing it to back up into the wall. I decided to go with the mini 2 more fly kit. Perhaps I will sell the charger, case and batteries. Total time on the drone as per the log is 1 hour so the batteries would probably have no more than 40 minutes on each of them. Thanks

 

[Deleted member 103366]

What

I viewed the log and saw that just before it crashed it lost the GPS signal. At that point I think the bottom sensor saw the water passing from front to back and caused the drone to back up. It was only about 2 feet from the wall so it didn't take much. Thanks for the welcome and advise. Lesson learned

What lesson?

To be honest I think that by not looking into how to connect you phone to your computer and or retrieving the actual txt flightlog you are missing the opportunity to, perhaps, find out what actually happened.

I have seen something that might be in accordance with what you might be suggesting, i.e. the drone possibly tracking a moving object via the bottom sensors when there is no satellite lock, but I would need to test that again and again rather than base an entire theory on the observation of one event.
Note the use of might and possibly.

 

[Meta4]

For some reason my phone will not show up on my PC so I took a look at the flight log on the dji app. I viewed the log and saw that just before it crashed it lost the GPS signal. At that point I think the bottom sensor saw the water passing from front to back and caused the drone to back up. It was only about 2 feet from the wall so it didn't take much. Thanks for the welcome and advise. Lesson learned now on to buying a new one.

You really need to share your flight data with experienced flight data analysts, to find out what really happened.

 

[Capt KO]

Posting logs is a learning experience for those watching as well as yourself. Part of what this forum is about. Hope you figure it out and share. Better luck next time.

 

[STS-Mavic-Mini]

My issue is 2 part. The first is what happened. I have an original mini that has never failed. I was at a lake and decided to film a spillway from the lake. The opening from the bridge where I was standing to the actual fall was about 12'. The spillway was about 20' wide. I wanted to lower the drone to about 3' off the bottom and film going up and out. The second I was about 1' below ground level and where the camera would see the water spilling over, the drone suddenly backed up fast and crashed into the wall behind it. Not sure what happened but sadly I have some great mountain biking action on the sd card. Anyway, does anyone have an idea what happened. The drone had a clear view of the sky so I dont think it could have been GPS.

The second issue is I love the drone because I can easily carry it when bike riding. I think I am going to buy the mini 2. I currently have the fly more kit for the mini so I my choice it to either buy the base mini 2 and use my extra 2 batteries and charger or should I buy the fly more mini 2 and try to sell my mini kit. My current batteries should not have more than an hour on them.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Hi, and welcome. Just a guess, but I suspect the concrete wall was full of reinforcing iron bar. Could this have messed up the compass calibration?

 

[slup]

...but I suspect the concrete wall was full of reinforcing iron bar. Could this have messed up the compass calibration?

If he didn't actually do a compass calibration down there in the spillway (not likely as he was airborne there...) no calibration will be affected. Neither will a deflected compass cause any immediate problems when it happens airborne ... it's the IMU that handles the flight once the power on of the craft have been done, not the compass.

The only critical moment when it comes to magnetic interference ... is when the craft is powered on, if the compass is disturbed in that moment the IMUyaw direction will be initiated into that same wrong/deflected direction as the compass. This will pretty instantaneously cause a flyaway situation due to that the IMU doesn't have info about the craft's true heading & will use the wrong motors to counter outside forces to hold position.

 

[SJGMoney]

For some reason my phone will not show up on my PC so I took a look at the flight log on the dji app. I viewed the log and saw that just before it crashed it lost the GPS signal. At that point I think the bottom sensor saw the water passing from front to back and caused the drone to back up. It was only about 2 feet from the wall so it didn't take much. Thanks for the welcome and advise. Lesson learned now on to buying a new one.

Connect your phone to your computer, then go to the Phone screen and make sure you give permission for the USB connection to share files etc. Right now the only permission is probably just to charge it therefore you can't "see" it.

 

[aquahauler]

What

What lesson?

To be honest I think that by not looking into how to connect you phone to your computer and or retrieving the actual txt flightlog you are missing the opportunity to, perhaps, find out what actually happened.

I have seen something that might be in accordance with what you might be suggesting, i.e. the drone possibly tracking a moving object via the bottom sensors when there is no satellite lock, but I would need to test that again and again rather than base an entire theory on the observation of one event.
Note the use of might and possibly.

So busy over the next couple of weeks but I do plan on getting a handle on how to save the log data so I can learn for the future. Thank you for your advise.

 

[aquahauler]

Posting logs is a learning experience for those watching as well as yourself. Part of what this forum is about. Hope you figure it out and share. Better luck next time.

Thanks, very busy over the next couple of weeks then I will figure it out and post. Thank you.

 

[SJGMoney]

So busy over the next couple of weeks but I do plan on getting a handle on how to save the log data so I can learn for the future. Thank you for your advise.

In the time it's taking you to individually reply the same thing to people on this forum you could connect your phone (2 secs), change setting so you can share files (5 secs), find the file you need (30 secs) and then upload to the site and post your results (3 minutes) and then get some real answers.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Connect your phone to your computer, then go to the Phone screen and make sure you give permission for the USB connection to share files etc. Right now the only permission is probably just to charge it therefore you can't "see" it.

In the time it's taking you to individually reply the same thing to people on this forum you could connect your phone (2 secs), change setting so you can share files (5 secs), find the file you need (30 secs) and then upload to the site and post your results (3 minutes) and then get some real answers.

I just viewed the flight log on the app and saw where at the last seconds it lost the GPS signal. It was very close to the concrete wall and with water passing underneath, it probably tricked the bottom sensor causing it to back up into the wall. I decided to go with the mini 2 more fly kit. Perhaps I will sell the charger, case and batteries. Total time on the drone as per the log is 1 hour so the batteries would probably have no more than 40 minutes on each of them. Thanks

I agree with the best results being from the log but my own experience was similar. I was flying my mini over a fast flowing river at about 3-5 feet when, after a few minutes, the bottom sensor latched on to a shiny patch of water surface. The river then proceeded to quickly drag the drone along with it. Luckily I had read lots of valuable info on this forum about such events. I lifted the drone a few feet and the dragging stopped. I was too low to the water, surrounded by GPS signal absorbing trees and lucky to get away with it. Sorry for your loss of good footage and an old friend.

 

[SJGMoney]

I agree with the best results being from the log but my own experience was similar. I was flying my mini over a fast flowing river at about 3-5 feet when, after a few minutes, the bottom sensor latched on to a shiny patch of water surface. The river then proceeded to quickly drag the drone along with it. Luckily I had read lots of valuable info on this forum about such events. I lifted the drone a few feet and the dragging stopped. I was too low to the water, surrounded by GPS signal absorbing trees and lucky to get away with it. Sorry for your loss of good footage and an old friend.

Isn't it more likely the bottom sensor latched onto a patch of RIVER BOTTOM thru the water and now thought that was the ground level and went lower to stay the same altitude?