I was about 45 seconds into a flight yesterday when I got a notice that the power had gone critically low and the Mavic 2 Pro started to land itself. Fortunately, it responded to the controls and I was able to return it home without crashing into the trees it was flying over. Total flight was about a minute and a half.
The battery had been charged the night before and showed full charge before flight. Preflight inspection includes making sure the battery has no visible damage and passes the “flat test” (no bulging). Preflight also includes making sure the battery is seated and secure. The weather was sunny, clear and the wind was about 10mph. Temp was 62, a beautiful day to fly.
In the post flight check the battery button showed full charge. I shut off the drone, unseated the battery, reexamined it, reseated it and started the drone. It read critically low so I swapped batteries. I had two subsequent flights without incident.
When I got home I reinserted the problem battery for a test flight in a safe area (i.e. no problem landing or recovering the drone if I had an issue). The battery showed full charge and I flew 8 minutes without incident.
I am attaching the AirData notifications for the aborted flight. It shows insufficient force (speed control) errors starting about 28 seconds in up to the power crisis 45 seconds in. Between 46 sec and 50 sec things seem to return to normal.
I have also attached the battery graphs for the aborted flight and the test flight later that afternoon.
The battery was made in November of 2018 and has had 35 or so flights. It is now retired. I have also cleaned the battery contacts in the drone bay although I do not think this was a connection issue.
If anyone has had a similar experience or has preventative suggestions then please comment. If the drone was at distance or over water then the story would not have had a happy ending.
The battery had been charged the night before and showed full charge before flight. Preflight inspection includes making sure the battery has no visible damage and passes the “flat test” (no bulging). Preflight also includes making sure the battery is seated and secure. The weather was sunny, clear and the wind was about 10mph. Temp was 62, a beautiful day to fly.
In the post flight check the battery button showed full charge. I shut off the drone, unseated the battery, reexamined it, reseated it and started the drone. It read critically low so I swapped batteries. I had two subsequent flights without incident.
When I got home I reinserted the problem battery for a test flight in a safe area (i.e. no problem landing or recovering the drone if I had an issue). The battery showed full charge and I flew 8 minutes without incident.
I am attaching the AirData notifications for the aborted flight. It shows insufficient force (speed control) errors starting about 28 seconds in up to the power crisis 45 seconds in. Between 46 sec and 50 sec things seem to return to normal.
I have also attached the battery graphs for the aborted flight and the test flight later that afternoon.
The battery was made in November of 2018 and has had 35 or so flights. It is now retired. I have also cleaned the battery contacts in the drone bay although I do not think this was a connection issue.
If anyone has had a similar experience or has preventative suggestions then please comment. If the drone was at distance or over water then the story would not have had a happy ending.