Smart Controller lost connection to Mavic 2 Pro

[DavidNDC]

Hi Folks,

Yesterday, I was out shooting some property lots and everything went smoothly during the first flight and battery. However, about halfway through the second flight, my Mavic suddenly lost connection to the Smart Controller. I received a red message in the top left corner saying something like “Aircraft Disconnected.” I can’t recall the exact wording, as I was a bit panicked in the moment.

The live feed on the controller went static and gray, and the drone just hovered at 311 feet where the connection dropped. I expected the Return to Home (RTH) function to initiate, but it didn’t. Fortunately, despite the disconnection message, I was still able to manually control the drone and bring it back safely.

When I reviewed the flight logs, everything appeared normal up until the disconnection point (marked as Point S on the map below). At that moment, the recording of the flight just stops.

Any idea what could have caused this? I'm pretty concerned—especially with how difficult it is to replace DJI drones these days. While this drone has provided years of flawless performance, this incident definitely shook my confidence a bit.

For context, both the drone and Smart Controller are running the latest firmware versions.



Many thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to provide!
-David

 

[Dave Pitman]

Was it on an autonomous mission? You said it just stopped, but then you said you could control it is why I ask. It obviously did not loose control, only video downlink.

Can you power it on now and everything is normal or no video feed?

 

[DavidNDC]

Was it on an autonomous mission? You said it just stopped, but then you said you could control it is why I ask. It obviously did not loose control, only video downlink.

Can you power it on now and everything is normal or no video feed?

No, was not on an autonomous mission, fully manual flight. It just completely stopped while in mid flight when it happened. Paused there for at least a 30 seconds before I was able to control it and bring it back in, in the blind without any video feed or telemetry data.

Everything seems to work fine after I landed and powered off the drone and controller. Plan on doing some close range/low altitude test flights tomorrow before taking it back out on a real flight again, especially one over water.

I’ve lost video feed in the past (but not at less than 1,000 feet away) but have never had the flight data just stop recording. That’s the part that really seemed odd and concerning.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

No, was not on an autonomous mission, fully manual flight. It just completely stopped while in mid flight when it happened. Paused there for at least a 30 seconds before I was able to control it and bring it back in, in the blind without any video feed or telemetry data.

Everything seems to work fine after I landed and powered off the drone and controller. Plan on doing some close range/low altitude test flights tomorrow before taking it back out on a real flight again, especially one over water.

I’ve lost video feed in the past (but not at less than 1,000 feet away) but have never had the flight data just stop recording. That’s the part that really seemed odd and concerning.

If you have not performed a full calibration of all the Mavic 2 Pro's obstacle avoidance sensors, it is essential you do this immediately using DJI Assistant 2 For Mavics, which is the version compatible with the Mavic 2 Pro. If those sensors have gone out of calibration for any reason, your drone may stop randomly during flight, or may fly in a bizarre sawtooth pattern, interspersed with random stops. Those anti-collision sensors must be calibrated even if they are switched off, as I found at the cost of two drones that went AWOL.

If such random stops are seen and the drone's obstacle avoidance sensors are not promptly calibrated, the drone may stop and linger until it runs out of battery power far from home. While you are at it, you might as well calibrate the IMU, camera gimbal, compass, and controller joysticks to restore smooth, predictable flight.

 

[BossBob]

As long as the drone pointer on the app shows a direction consistent with the physical heading of the drone, ie, pointer towards north when drone heading is north I wouldn’t calibrate the compass unnecessarily. Even if there was an inconsistency I’d move the drone and check again in case there was a lump of iron or some other magnetic anomaly present. In 6 years, 3 gps and compass equipped drones and I can’t remember ever calibrating a compass.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

My thinking is that while the app might not always request the compass calibration, it is such a simple and quick procedure that there is no harm in doing it anyway. DJI recommends compass calibration for any drone that has been transported over 50 miles since its last use, or for any drone that has experienced a rough landing, which may have jarred the sensitive electronics.

The obstacle avoidance sensors, on the other hand, entail a finicky process that can take up to 20 minutes to calibrate, using DJI Assistant 2 for Mavics. There are numerous mentions in online forums about how obstacle avoidance calibration can be problematic. That said, calibration of those obstacle sensors is absolutely key to ensuring that the drone never makes those random stops mid-flight, as described by the OP of this topic.

I am so convinced that calibrating obstacle avoidance sensors will put an end to random stops that I will eat a bug live on TV if my hunch is proven wrong.

 

[DavidNDC]

As long as the drone pointer on the app shows a direction consistent with the physical heading of the drone, ie, pointer towards north when drone heading is north I wouldn’t calibrate the compass unnecessarily. Even if there was an inconsistency I’d move the drone and check again in case there was a lump of iron or some other magnetic anomaly present. In 6 years, 3 gps and compass equipped drones and I can’t remember ever calibrating a compass.

Interestingly enough, I’m having to do a compass calibration before nearly every day before my 1st flight. Hmmm..

Regarding the obstacle avoidance, had to do that a few months ago at the request of a prompt but it hasn’t popped back up again since, but will definitely recalibrate the obstacle avoidance sensors, along with the other items suggested to see if that helps.

But why would I lose the feed and the flight data logs end so abruptly at the same time? Just a weird coincidence?

Appreciate the help!

 

[Starz]

I’m having to do a compass calibration before nearly every day

Why?????

 

[DavidNDC]

Why?????

No idea. Never had a hard landing, always carried in a padded GPC case. But it seems like every 1st flight for the past year or so, I get the prompt.

 

[KB9Radio]

Compass calibration? Are you taking off from a steel structure or concrete with steel rebar in it. You shouldn't have to do a compass calibration ever or very seldom.

 

[DavidNDC]

Compass calibration? Are you taking off from a steel structure or concrete with steel rebar in it. You shouldn't have to do a compass calibration ever or very seldom.

I agree, but nonetheless I get a compass calibration prompt nearly day I fire up the drone. Usually launching from asphalt or dirt. I’ve had the OG Phantom 1 and every Phantom and Mavic Pro up until this 2 Pro and have never experienced this with the other birds. It’s just something I’ve been dealing with, no other issues at all since the day I received this Mavic 2 Pro at launch, up until the flight I’m referring to in this post. Guess my compass is somehow failing?

 

[EricJT]

I agree, but nonetheless I get a compass calibration prompt nearly day I fire up the drone. Usually launching from asphalt or dirt. I’ve had the OG Phantom 1 and every Phantom and Mavic Pro up until this 2 Pro and have never experienced this with the other birds. It’s just something I’ve been dealing with, no other issues at all since the day I received this Mavic 2 Pro at launch, up until the flight I’m referring to in this post. Guess my compass is somehow failing?

Would a factory reset make sense? Not sure myself, but it is an option. Others' thoughts?

 

[DavidNDC]

Would a factory reset make sense? Not sure myself, but it is an option. Others' thoughts?

I’ll give it a shot and see if that helps.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

During this 'compass needs calibration every day' period, has you always been working in the same general region? Did it keep happening after moving far away from that area?

I'm just wondering if there is any kind of interference in the area that would knock out OcuSync transmission, like perhaps strong radar installations.

 

[DavidNDC]

During this 'compass needs calibration every day' period, has you always been working in the same general region? Did it keep happening after moving far away from that area?

I'm just wondering if there is any kind of interference in the area that would knock out OcuSync transmission, like perhaps strong radar installations.

It varies really, I do real estate photography but typically within an area of about 50 miles or so.

 

[mrgadway]

Interestingly enough, I’m having to do a compass calibration before nearly every day before my 1st flight. Hmmm..

Regarding the obstacle avoidance, had to do that a few months ago at the request of a prompt but it hasn’t popped back up again since, but will definitely recalibrate the obstacle avoidance sensors, along with the other items suggested to see if that helps.

But why would I lose the feed and the flight data logs end so abruptly at the same time? Just a weird coincidence?

Appreciate the help!

I have to do the same basically every time the first time I take even though it’s the same place very often. It’s not a big deal but also curious.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Just curious, how far are you from your vehicle when you startup and launch?

 

[tribar]

The live feed on the controller went static and gray

In my opinion there's something wrong with your smart controller.
What you described is like disconnecting the USB cabel between a standard controller and a smart device (phone).
You still had full control over the drone because the wireless connection between the drone and controller was still intact, otherwise RTH would have been initiated. Most controllers have a seperate green status LED to check if the drone and controller are linked.

I'm not conviced that any calibration or firmware tinkering will solve your problem.
Most likely the frequency of this issue will increase over time until you have to send the controller to DJI.

 

[DavidNDC]

Just curious, how far are you from your vehicle when you startup and launch?

Usually at least 20 feet or so.

I did just refresh the firmware on both the drone and the smart controller, calibrated the IMU (one of the values were a little off) and took it for a quick flight with no issues.

 

[DavidNDC]

In my opinion there's something wrong with your smart controller.
What you described is like disconnecting the USB cabel between a standard controller and a smart device (phone).
You still had full control over the drone because the wireless connection between the drone and controller was still intact, otherwise RTH would have been initiated. Most controllers have a seperate green status LED to check if the drone and controller are linked.

I'm not conviced that any calibration or firmware tinkering will solve your problem.
Most likely the frequency of this issue will increase over time until you have to send the controller to DJI.

That's what I'm suspecting as well. May just switch over to the original remote for the time being. The range has always been less than stellar since switching to the Smart Controller, had far better results with the original. But it sure is convenient.