my drone autopiloted into tree, fell 50 ft onto grass then tarmac!?!?!?

[sdcpilot]

I was piloting my mav air from one side of my street to another at twilight. I know it wasn't the best time I was at 8 ft about to land when the battery fell critically low. the drone autopiloted to around 50 ft, which is half of what rth height should be, and flew straight into a tree which was blocking its path. it tarzaned down bouncing off branches till hit grass then bounced onto tarmac onto its back. it lay on its back till I retrieved it. my issue is that it was unresponsive to my commands when I tried to land. is this expected? if not then is dji liable? the right landing gear/antenna lost a securing piece now its all farschlumped and weird.

 

[Former Member]

the right landing gear/antenna lost a securing piece now its all farschlumped and weird.

At least it's only farschlumped but not kaput.

 

[sdcpilot]

At least it's only farschlumped but not kaput.

thanks. will check it out, and yes its only farschlumped. it is not dead yet. only slightly scratched and damaged antenna

 

[RayOZ]

I think you were trying to land more than 5m away but less than 20m away. So it rose to ~32ft, not 50ft. And since it's twilight, OA won't have worked.

 

[JDawg]

RTH catches a lot of people unaware, especially when the battery gets low. Note to self, return home when you are told.

 

[Nosebump]

OA does not work very well (-if at all) at twilight. There just isn't enough ambient contrast. Also, if you hit critically low (10%) on your battery power, the drone will begin the immediate landing sequence. You've seen the Youtube videos of drone pilots sprinting to catch their drone before it lands in the water. Could that have happened to you?

SO sorry to hear about your crash. I know the feeling (-the kite-eating tree gobbled one of my drones while I was flying in reverse)!

 

[PandaCheese]

Remember you still have some control even during the critical battery level initiated landing sequence. In my experience you can hold and even still increase altitude a little and try to navigate manually to a more suitable spot. It'll just continue to descent to land without stick input so it's somewhat of a struggle.

 

[sdcpilot]

thanks for replying. my problem is that it rose to only half the height i set for rth, unless the tree is over 80 ft tall.

 

[sdcpilot]

how much would a repair like this cost? 1 missing back landing pad, 1 wobbly retractable landing gear, outer camera lens fractured, possible but not immediately apparent gimbal damage, no structural or chassis damage.

 

[mad monkey]

Dji won't be blamed. The vision system has issues in low light. Stinks. But it is what it is.

@Thunderdrones can fix you up

 

[dvarapala]

"...If Forward Vision System is activated..."

Maybe that should be changed to "...If Forward Vision System is operational..." because clearly, even though it was activated it didn't avoid running smack dab into a tree. The Mavic reports an error in the Go4 app when light levels are too low, so clearly it knows enough to behave as if FVS were turned off. Seems like a bit of an oversight (no pun intended).

 

[mad monkey]

Yeah but remember that vision system although 'working' probably isn't too good before it hits the error phase. Plus objects cast different shadows and could be enough to blind it without disabling the system...

 

[RayOZ]

thanks for replying. my problem is that it rose to only half the height i set for rth, unless the tree is over 80 ft tall.

See post #4. It would've rose to 10m, not your set RTH, as it was < 20m away. It'll rise to RTH altitude if it was > 20m away.

 

[mad monkey]

See post #4. It would've rose to 10m, not your set RTH, as it was < 20m away. It'll rise to RTH altitude if it was > 20m away.

Good point.. Then apas had issues because of lighting conditions.. Makes sense.

 

[sdcpilot]

i didnt have a smartphone at the moment so i couldnt cancel rt

 

[mad monkey]

Push the pause button Short of critical rth situation it will pause the drone anytime you want

It's great for hitting the brakes in sport mode lol or during a quick shot you want to stop.

I recommend playing around with every button and feature. In a nice open area.

 

[sdcpilot]

i didnt know that. thanks for letting me know.

 

[bargee]

i didnt know that. thanks for letting me know.

I didn't know that either - thanks.
My (early) downfall was was a RTH hitting a tree & landing on concrete (on its back) as well - broke one motor & props.
I'm in the UK & sent it to "Drone Doctor" for repair.

 

[sdcpilot]

how much did that repair cost you?