RTH Fail

[Deadshot08]

I initiated the RTH function when my Mavic was running low on battery. Halfway from returning home, it started to descend on its own before it was directly above me. Since there were obstacles of different heights all around me I tried to force it back up. But it got to a point where it wouldn't let me and kept going down, by the time the RTH feature had brought back, it was 169 ft. to the left of me at 200 ft. I could hear it but still couldn't see it. The battery ended up being so low that it had to force land, which happens to be by the trees. Now I keep getting the "Gimbal Overload" error and there is no video feed nor can I move the camera around.

1. Would this be considered a RTH issue since it was so drastically off from the Home Point and started to land before it was anywhere near me?
2. Would the gimbal/camera be fixable under warranty since this wasn't a user error?
3. What would the fix be for the gimbal/camera?

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

You would have to post the logs in order to answer questions 1 & 2.

 

[Hollow Dog]

Running a battery too low to get back is user error.

 

[Deadshot08]

Running a battery too low to get back is user error.

It hit the RTH point and came back on its own. I didn't begin the flight when it was already on low battery.

 

[sar104]

It hit the RTH point and came back on its own. I didn't begin the flight when it was already on low battery.

But if it was unable to get home before reaching critically low battery because you left it too late to tell it to RTH, then that is user error. But, as mentioned above, post the flight log and we can take a look.

 

[Hollow Dog]

This is the first sentence of your post.
"I initiated the RTH function when my Mavic was running low on battery."

 

[Mr. Salty]

It hit the RTH point and came back on its own. I didn't begin the flight when it was already on low battery.

But as others have said, you flew it until the battery was too low to get home before initiating RTH. This is pilot error, not a warranty issue.

You still need to post your flight log for us to help you much more beyond that.

 

[msinger]

Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.

 

[Deadshot08]

So I've decided to not send it back to DJI. I agree that a lot of things could have been done to prevent the "crash". I reviewed the log several times today and these were the chain of events:

1. The battery hit the RTH point but I cancelled it for about 10 seconds before initiating it manually.
2. Immediately after I hit RTH the drone began to descend while moving towards the home point slowly.
3. The battery was still at 15% when the drone was at 200' when it was 169' left of me.
4. The drone was at 11% and forced itself to land.
5. There was a "Gimbal Obstructed" message at 8' (that's when I think the drone hit the branches).