Pilot Error Or Drone Malfunction?

[MyAir2]

After watching my drone crash into a chain link fence I uploaded the flight log to PhantomHelp to try and find a clue as to what happened. It was a nighttime flight over a river and near a large bridge in an area I had successfully flown only 10 minutes earlier. I had 9+ satellites as I had before and Home was recalibrated to my new position. However, seconds after launching, I soon lost control. According to the logs the drone stopped receiving input from the joy sticks and quickly accelerated to maximum power in an 400' arc that ended in the fence. Towards the end of the flight GPS was lost, but control was lost long before then. The settings were set to "Hover" in case of lost signal, but that never happened.
Hopefully someone has more insight than I as to what happened. DJI tells me they can't analyze it because it's out of warranty.

 

[sar104]

It may well be possible to determine what happened, but not without seeing the log file.

 

[dirkclod]

Moved to correct section

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

To make it easy, if you have the phantonhelp report on your screen, you can just copy / paste the URL here for the analysis folk.

 

[slup]

Seconds after launching ... accelerated to maximum power ... flew away in an arc ... no perceived control.

Sounds familiar ...

Yeah, share that PhantomHelp link.

 

[Meta4]

and Home was recalibrated to my new position.

Can you rephrase that?
The meaning isn't clear.

However, seconds after launching, I soon lost control. According to the logs the drone stopped receiving input from the joy sticks and quickly accelerated to maximum power in an 400' arc that ended in the fence

Dollars to donuts the issue was a yaw error.
There's nothing else that would produce that outcome.
If you post the flight data it can be confirmed.

 

[MyAir2]

Flight data

It may well be possible to determine what happened, but not without seeing the log file.

Thanks, that's a very comprehensive link. I haven't heard of Airdata before. Gives a slightly different look than Phantom.

Can you rephrase that?
The meaning isn't clear.

Dollars to donuts the issue was a yaw error.
There's nothing else that would produce that outcome.
If you post the flight data it can be confirmed.

Sorry, "Home Point" is what I was trying to say.

 

[MyAir2]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[MyAir2]

 

[Meta4]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Do you remember the direction the drone was pointing at launch time?
Was it facing north-northeast as shown in the Phantomhelp summary?

The rapid uncommanded aceleration from around 50 seconds and the curved flightpath look very much like a yaw error incident.

 

[SladeSteele07]

Can you rephrase that?
The meaning isn't clear.

Dollars to donuts the issue was a yaw error.
There's nothing else that would produce that outcome.
If you post the flight data it can be confirmed.

What exactly is a yaw error? I'm wondering if this is why my m30 suddenly tipped to the side and then flipped over as it was landing.

 

[Meta4]

What exactly is a yaw error? I'm wondering if this is why my m30 suddenly tipped to the side and then flipped over as it was landing.

It's complicated but here's a short explanation.
Yaw errors are picked up at power on when magnetic interference close to the drone deflects the compass, making it give false directional data.
The gyro sensor in the IMU, uses the false directional data for it's initial direction values.
When the drone climbs away from the magnetic interference, the compass returns to normal, but the gyro sensor can't and the conflicting direction data from the gyro and compass causes fast, uncontrollable flight in a smooth curved path.

Your incident probably wasn't a result of a yaw error, but what caused it is impossible to say without seeing recorded flight data.

 

[SladeSteele07]

It's complicated but here's a short explanation.
Yaw errors are picked up at power on when magnetic interference close to the drone deflects the compass, making it give false directional data.
The gyro sensor in the IMU, uses the false directional data for it's initial direction values.
When the drone climbs away from the magnetic interference, the compass returns to normal, but the gyro sensor can't and the conflicting direction data from the gyro and compass causes fast, uncontrollable flight in a smooth curved path.

Your incident probably wasn't a result of a yaw error, but what caused it is impossible to say without seeing recorded flight data.

I got this error immediately before it started acting wonky and went into the drink: "aircraft antenna satellite signal searching error. Fly with caution". I have no idea what that means.

 

[Meta4]

I got this error immediately before it started acting wonky and went into the drink: "aircraft antenna satellite signal searching error. Fly with caution". I have no idea what that means.

That's not a message that I've seen on other drones, but just sounds like inadequate GPS which shouldn't cause sudden unexpected movement while landing.
The message might be a symptom, rather than related to the cause of the problem.
If the drone tipped over before it went under, that might be the cause of the message ... the GPS antenna works fine when horizontal, not so well when tilted 90°.
If you can come up with the recorded flight data, that might help to work out what happened.

If you have any more info ... go back to the original thread to keep things together.

 

[SladeSteele07]

That's not a message that I've seen on other drones, but just sounds like inadequate GPS which shouldn't cause sudden unexpected movement while landing.
The message might be a symptom, rather than related to the cause of the problem.
If the drone tipped over before it went under, that might be the cause of the message ... the GPS antenna works fine when horizontal, not so well when tilted 90°.
If you can come up with the recorded flight data, that might help to work out what happened.

If you have any more info ... go back to the original thread to keep things together.

Will do. I appreciate your input. I got an email from DJI this morning that their engineers are going to be reviewing the data. I sure hope that this will be covered under the care plan cuz I can't afford to buy another one.