Sure I did something wrong but I lost my Mavic Mini yesterday.

[A.O.]

I agree with everything you’ve said, staying calm is most important. I was attempting to point out that some of us are able to recognize Atti mode when we see it and therefore react to it appropriately.

Ok, what is ATTI mode? And where would I see it?

 

[Zbip57]

Pg 11 of the Mavic Mini User Manual.



On the Mini, ATTI mode cannot be triggered manually. You need to lose GPS signal and defeat the Vision System at the same time. When the Mini cannot rely on either of those to hold position when the control sticks are centred, then it will just drift freely. You still have control to manoeuvre the Mini any way you like, it just won't stop and hold a fixed hover.

For example if you're flying forward and let go of the sticks (centred), the Mini will level off but continue drifting forward until you give reverse stick input to add brakes.

 

[Meta4]

Ok, what is ATTI mode? And where would I see it?

Atti Mode is all that's left when there's no GPS or VPS to give horizontal position holding.
Read this for details:

Mini 2 jumps into "Atti mode" by itself- Not fun

As I was doing some control tests indoors in the C mode (of Mini 2) and just trying to get a feel for fine control at very slow speeds, I was in the bedroom and got an unexpected surprise. In mid flight, without changing anything the DJI Voice (what should we call her?) announces suddenly...

mavicpilots.com

 

[DanMan32]

Pg 11 of the Mavic Mini User Manual.

View attachment 118746

On the Mini, ATTI mode cannot be triggered manually. You need to lose GPS signal and defeat the Vision System at the same time. When the Mini cannot rely on either of those to hold position when the control sticks are centred, then it will just drift freely. You still have control to manoeuvre the Mini any way you like, it just won't stop and hold a fixed hover.

For example if you're flying forward and let go of the sticks (centred), the Mini will level off but continue drifting forward until you give reverse stick input to add brakes.

Actually it will stop, but won't do much to actively counter its momentum. What's more at issue is external influences, mainly wind, that causes it to drift.

Not panicking is key. Last year I flew my P3 after not having flown it for a while. About 10 minutes into the flight my FPV view was way crooked. I thought that was the gimbal. Shortly thereafter I got a compass error. Oh crap, not much one can do to compensate for that. Then it went into ATTI mode which gave me back level view and flight. I was high enough to avoid obstacles.
Ok, deep breath, get your bearings, and fly it home. Whatever went wrong cleared up shortly thereafter. Landing where I took off would have been a challenge as there were trees there but I could have landed in the football field.

 

[Tony McDrone]

Actually it will stop, but won't do much to actively counter its momentum. What's more at issue is external influences, mainly wind, that causes it to drift.

Not panicking is key. Last year I flew my P3 after not having flown it for a while. About 10 minutes into the flight my FPV view was way crooked. I thought that was the gimbal. Shortly thereafter I got a compass error. Oh crap, not much one can do to compensate for that. Then it went into ATTI mode which gave me back level view and flight. I was high enough to avoid obstacles.
Ok, deep breath, get your bearings, and fly it home. Whatever went wrong cleared up shortly thereafter. Landing where I took off would have been a challenge as there were trees there but I could have landed in the football field.

This is the point that I tried to make earlier in this thread. Stay calm above all else. If you do not have experience with Atti mode, it could result in an overcorrection and a crash that may not have happened otherwise, altitude impending. At that point it would become pilot error.

 

[makemineamac]

Only 2 stories to the ledge. Easy grapple for a climber. Sounds like a job for the “Phantom”. P4

 

[makemineamac]

Some news.

Could not find the building super today and it has been raining here non-stop since yesterday morning. It is the Pacific Northwest so we do live in a rainforest.

Anyway, at 4pm today I ran a Craigslist ad offering $75 to anyone with a ladder and the ability to get here to help me get it.

A guy named Jamie came with a 24' ladder on his car, super-helpful, it was still pouring, we took the ladder up from the parkade and he went up and got it. Ended up giving him $100 as I was extremely grateful.

He mentioned there was a woman in her office that was quite surprised to see someone on the roof!

It is super damaged, not sure how to process my Refresh claim but thankful I can do it now.

I believe most of the damage is from the fall after it hit the building.

Anyway, the battery seems fine, got my SD card and will now let it dry out for a few days before sending it off to DJI.

Thanks for everyones support and ideas here in this thread, this is a great community that I will continue to support.

Thank you

Andrew

 

[Tony McDrone]

Let me be the first to say congratulations on your recovery. You’ve earned you reward...another drone, ASAP.

Secondly, let me say that I would not trust that battery under any circumstances again...ever!!! Send it in with the drone, who knows they might replace it. You’ve been given(minus $100) a second chance at drone life, use it wisely. Since you have the refresh program it will only cost you $69 to replace it. They charge $69 for a repair diagnostic without the care program, so you really break even there. Email DJI support to get the whole process started.

It appears that the gimbal/camera is still intact and survived the brunt of the fall. That would’ve been the most expensive out-of-pocket part of the repair, had it been out of your pocket. Good decision to go with the refresh program, many might debate that otherwise. Everything else in terms of the repair costs would’ve been minor.

I hope you’re back in the air soon. Fly safe.

 

[makemineamac]

Thanks Tony!

I was told not to send the battery the last time, so not sure about that.

The batteries are on sale right now at Best Buy so maybe I should buy one.

So happy it's not sitting on that roof in the rain...

 

[Tony McDrone]

Thanks Tony!

I was told not to send the battery the last time, so not sure about that.

The batteries are on sale right now at Best Buy so maybe I should buy one.

So happy it's not sitting on that roof in the rain...

You’re welcome.

DJI will tell you not to send in anything but the drone. Remove the props, battery and gimbal cover, and send in the rest. Since most batteries do not survive a water intrusion, you have nothing to lose by sending it in. They will put new props on your drone before sending it out, just to test it, but you will be charged for those. As best I can tell, there’s no way around that $11 charge.

Sounds like the perfect time to score some batteries. Safe flying.

 

[DanMan32]

I wasn't charged for replacement props when I sent in my M2Z for repair/refresh. The only extra cost was $2 for broken RC antenna.

 

[Doug3601]

Good luck with the retrieval, please keep us posted.

 

[GFields]

Did you launch from the top of that building? The behavior certainly acts as a compass issue.

 

[makemineamac]

No, I launched near it, and have many times in the past. As many have suggested, it appears that the building, and the state of darkness were valid reasons it started to drift. So happy I got it back and it's on it's way back to DJI for my Refresh.

 

[rickfmdj]

I had a crash yesterday near an office building and want to better understand what happened.

While I was taking some photos of an existing Construction site that I photograph every other week the drone started to drift.

There was no wind at all and it wasn't that high. It was probably 70 feet or so away from the office building when it started heading towards it.

I thought I was trying to guide it away but it wasn't responding. I do see from the log that the amount of satellites dropped as it got closer, but it still had signal. Why wasn't I able to control it?

The log is here: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

I've racked my brain trying to think of what could have caused this.

Any input appreciated.

I had this exact thing happen to me taking photos of a building about 23ft, full VLOS looked at the phone for 3 sec to snap a pic and it drifted left right into a slanted roof. Still was able to fly after replacing all props. The gimble glass was cracked from the drop roof to concrete. Sent to Refresh and they said:

1. Unit was in GPS mode and was responsive to RC commands.
2. At t=05:08s, relative height=6.8m, the unit recorded an impact.
3. User commanded PITCH forward prior to impact.
According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction. So my fault for the drift =$40.

 

[mini5]

On the Mini, ATTI mode cannot be triggered manually. You need to lose GPS signal and defeat the Vision System at the same time. When the Mini cannot rely on either of those to hold position when the control sticks are centred, then it will just drift freely. You still have control to manoeuvre the Mini any way you like, it just won't stop and hold a fixed hover.

Does the App show the Atti mode (for example instead of the P/S/C icons)? Or you have to realize it yourself by looking at how the drone behaves? In the logs in this thread there are many warnings about bad GPS and too dark environment, but is there at least a warning specifically saying the drone is now in Atti mode?

 

[jsflyrv]

Is there a problem with asking the building owner or manger if yo can get it or a maintenance person can get it? I don't see the problem getting it back unless yo were not suppose to be flying there.

 

[slup]

Is there a problem with asking the building owner or manger if yo can get it or a maintenance person can get it? I don't see the problem getting it back unless yo were not suppose to be flying there.

Never a bad idea to eye over the thread before posting ... all here --> #47

 

[jsflyrv]

Never a bad idea to eye over the thread before posting ... all here --> #47

Yup my bad I did read the whole thread but for some reason missed 47. sorry.

 

[Zbip57]

Does the App show the Atti mode (for example instead of the P/S/C icons)? Or you have to realize it yourself by looking at how the drone behaves? In the logs in this thread there are many warnings about bad GPS and too dark environment, but is there at least a warning specifically saying the drone is now in Atti mode?

I've never managed to trigger Atti mode on my Mini, so I don't know what the Fly app displays. But it does verbally announce that it is in Atti mode. See at 3:37 in this video by Ken Heron when he launches his Mini inside the Kentucky Capitol Bldg. It looks like he doesn't get a GPS signal inside and it's too dark for the Vision System to get a good fix on the floor. The moment the Mini takes off the app announces it's in Atti mode. Note that it still hovers nicely in one spot, but I suspect that's just because there's no wind to affect it here.