What did I do wrong?

[radio5991]

Flying Mavic Platinum this afternoon in a open field. After takeoff I set drone to active track and locked on my tractor pulling a harvester at about 2 mph- set to profile and just let drone fly while I watched
what was going on. Mavic was about 50 feet high and 40 feet west of machine. Everything good for several minutes EXCEPT battery level did not leave 100%. Suddenly drone just started flying backwards- rapidly. Almost before I could react, it backed into some trees about 300 feet away and shut down rotors but camera kept on( I have been keeping the clear cover on during flights). It was on my property so I knew area well.
Very thick underbrush but after a time I saw myself come into camera view and eventually found drone about 30 feet high in some vines. Finally managed to shake vines and drone just bumped down through vegetation and I was able to reach it. Small chips on 3 props and a small scratch but otherwise seems ok. Took a low slow flight afterward and think it is fine but have not attempted a long or high flight. i will replace all rotors. Anyone have an idea of what my have caused this accident?

 

[lannes]

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[radio5991]

I have studied my flight records but I can find no reason for MPP to suddenly accelerate backwards
What am I missing?

 

[Mrmund]

Not the cause of you crash but the clear cover is the gimbal cover and needs to be removed before flight to let the camera move about freely and it also is an air intake for cooling. Obstructing the airflow will definitely cause problems.

 

[DanMan32]

The MPP, unlike later models has a separate cover from the lock. Indeed having the lock on prevents gimbal movement but the cover doesn't. Also studies found the cover doesn't improperly impede needed airflow.

That said, it's still not recommended to leave it on as the camera image can lose optical clarity. Active track uses the main camera to track an object, so the cover could have been a factor if not the cause of the tracking error.

 

[radio5991]

Yes I have seen some distortion in the camera view with the cover on. I have also noted drone senses obstacles in wide open airspace and blamed it on the glare/reflection from the cover. Worse when sun is lower in sky. So you believe MPP may have lost subject and raced backwards to try to locate it again?

 

[SpitFire]

I only use the clear cover over the gimbal, when its locked. Painted the gimbal cover bright Red, which forces me to remove, and reminds me that I have the Gimbal locked.
That is how I use my clear gimbal cover, , now RED. And, only put that on when traveling, or put my bird in back pack. Instead of throwing it away, I made it useable.

 

[Romulus Archibald]

Clearly everyone has their own opinions and experiences, fact is the clear gimbal cover does not impede normal function at all b even with slight glare caused by the curvature of the gimbal cover.

OP: I read on other threads it's most likely a compass/imu argument with the satellite and each other. Let us know what you find after posting the logs

 

[radio5991]

The logs are posted but no feedback yet

 

[Malcx]

At 3:54.4 just when the problems begin the input is a hard right on the right stick. No idea if that makes a difference but if it pushes the POI out of view does the drone pull back to try and keep it in shot? Maybe that combined with an IMU failure led to the incident?

 

[radio5991]

That is the best guess so far Thanks
Drone was flying sideways to it's right
This was quite a large target and moving at 2 mph