Hey, disasterous day for me and my Matrice 100.  I just got this Matrice 2 days ago, bought from Precision Hawk in their smarter farming package.  I started flying it yesterday after upgrading the firmware to 1.3, controller upgrade, and compass calibration. I did two or three test flights with Dji go on a iPad around my property with no problems, flew great.  So today I decided to try it autonomously on a field right behind my house like the package is intended to do.  DataMapper Inflight is the app that precision hawk uses for this package.  I have flown this app on my phantom 4 in the same manner with no problems, flew the waypoints and collected all pictures and came back and landed no problem.  This wasn't the case for the Matrice.  I preflighted the Matrice, set up the flight plan, uploaded in into the Matrice, and thought everything was set to go.  I told it to take off and immediately it took off quite oddly and started flying somewhat sideways.  Concerned me quite a bit, but was still heading towards the first waypoint. Upon reaching the waypoint, it just continued past it.  That's when I panicked.  Forgetting I can't hand control it with datamapper inflight, I tried to get control with the sticks, before realizing this wasn't going to work.  I then hit the button in app to go home.  It still continued on its erratic path... Fast...   I decided to abandon Datamapper Inflight and quickly loaded Dji Go because it worked fine on that before, which immediately connected.  Still I was not able to get control. At one point, while attempting to get control it flew a figure 8... Erratic flight, but mostly trended in a south direction. I pressed and held the return to home button and it told me it initiated but still no help.  I quickly began to worry about range is it continued to get further and further away.  I tried to run after it, pointless now after thinking about it as traveling way faster than I could run but I was panicked (GS after reviewing logs was around 40 mph.).  It then lost link miles away from me. I ran back to the house, got in my car and took off after it, but I had no visual anymore and no connection on the iPad. It was too far gone, and I was not able to locate it, I know it's last position before lost link, but flight was erratic and who knows where it went after that. I notified the police in case someone finds it, but this is farm country and it could be anywhere. All this happened in about 10 mins or less of the 28 min flight time on the battery(was only using one) it could be anywhere. .  I have absolutely no idea why it behaved like that, why I couldn't gain control and why neither of the return to home functions worked. But I am completely devastated. I have synced my flight logs if someone could please take a look and figure out what happened.  Keep in mind, this doesn't cover the start of the flight as it was started with Datamapper Inflight and Dji go only was the second half.  I have those logs from inflight too if anyone would like to see them. I'm confused, I'm completely bummed out as around 4K worth of aircraft just flew Away with out me being able to take control.... Please help!

We had similar problem. Also  waiting to hear  what  happened.  100  plus flights  and now this is happening with  other customers  and us. That really is bad. I hopeyou find it they are very tough  aircraft  and we like ours a lot  until  we fix the issue  no  practice  not good.

I'm really sorry for your loss. Once you used a 3rd party app, it's uncertain as to what caused the incident to occur. You can try to see if you can find any answers through the Developer community who may be using the same software as you:

http://forum.dev.dji.com/en

Dear larson_It, sosrt and DJI-Jamie.

Larson_It. We have had this same experience on 14th October resulting in the total loss of aircraft and sensors (thermal and visual cameras). We were not using Datamapper but instead Dronedeploy to execute an automated grid flight pattern and control cameras. This same mission was completed successfully on two DJI Inspire platforms, but when using a Matrice 100 we experienced the result as you experienced.

By way of background, we are a commercial RPAS (drone) operator in Victoria Australia with significant government contracts. This particular assignment was to identify flora and fauna on an island for a Victorian Government department who were represented at the scene of this incident.   

In brief:
All preflight checks completed successfully (operating manual available on request)
Compass calibrated on-site
IMU and compass all report within tolerances
Home point updated successfully
Aircraft orientated to 000 degrees (North) armed and launched successfully using Dronedeploy.

Immediately after take-off (10feet AGL), the aircraft began to bank slightly to 90 degrees (Left) and continue to climb
Pilot in Control (PiC) was instructed to take manual control of aircraft. This caused the vehicle to speed up and bank sharply to Left.
PiC reported no directional control of aircraft but could maintain a safe height
Dronedeploy was shut down and DJI Go app loaded
DJI Go app indicated correct home point, aircraft position, mode, orientation and video downlink was functioning normally (all logs available on request).
P-GPS mode invoked. No orientation or directional control aircraft continued an erratic path at speeds of up to 30.5m/s
F-GPS mode invoked. No orientation or directional control
RTH mode selected. Aircraft orientated towards home point but continued to travel left at av. 20m/s
Aircraft was monitored until depletion of power caused a ditching at sea.

GJI-Jamie: We believe that the issue that Larson_It, sosrt and others have experienced warrant DJI's attention. Whilst we understand that DJI is not responsible for third-party software, Dronedeploy is a "DJI Partner" and its use is pervasive amongst DJI's customers. Further; both Larson_It and Uaviation have noted in our accounts that third-party software was disconnected - the drone was being operated with the assistance of DJIGo app; and the forum article titled Matrice 100 drift abnormally describes strikingly similar behaviour.

Please note that due to the significant risk represented by this incident, it has been reported to Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) and Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for investigation. We were fortunate by being in a remote setting and away from populous areas. This issue - unresolved, poses a significant risk to public safety.

We look forward to working closely with DJI and other operators to resolve this issue.

Regards
Chief Controller

Hi Larson_It
Did you have any luck diagnosing the Datamapper logs or any other diagnosis of this issue?

Hi.

I will join this, as I also experienced  both flyaway and heavy drifting.
Flyaway was with guidance mounted in autonom flight, after alot of succesful flights.

Now guidance is dismounted, but the it is impossible to fly free, it is just heavy drifting.
I calibrated everything by the book, it is the same.

/RUDY
Dissapointed M100 owner, and unable to use it at the moment. Loosing money.

Uaviation Posted at 2016-10-16 12:33
Dear larson_It, sosrt and DJI-Jamie.

Larson_It. We have had this same experience on 14th October re ...

Just to clarify, do you use Guidance with your M100s? If so, have you checked how they are mounted and whether they have been calibrated recently?

rudysogaard Posted at 2016-10-17 23:44
Hi.

I will join this, as I also experienced  both flyaway and heavy drifting.

Just to make sure I'm visually on the same page, you had successful flights with Guidance installed or was that without Guidance? When you uninstalled Guidance, did you adjust your CG values in the N1 Assistant? Does the M100 drift in a random pattern, or is it more of a toilet bowl effect?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-10-17 20:11
Just to make sure I'm visually on the same page, you had successful flights with Guidance installe ...

Hi.

With guidance installed I had a fly away, in autonom flight.
Started to go up 20m like normal, then it suddenly went in another direction than scheduled.
To about 60M in the air, going in a kind of circle in full speed.
All I could do was to lower the altitude, nothing else was controlable.
After that, when checking IMU it needed calibration.
After that it was OK, free flight and autonom WITH guidance.

As I almost only fly autonom, and not to have too much payload I removed guidance.
But then it can only fly autonom, in free flight it is drifting.

Not 100% sure what you mean about CG values ? Center of gravity ?
I adjust placement of GPS antenna
But I have calibrated IMU, and GPS after.

It drift random.

rudysogaard Posted at 2016-10-17 23:08
Hi.

With guidance installed I had a fly away, in autonom flight.

The M100 will now be send to DJI in Netherland.

We where on dji go .  Guidance  was not  installed  on this flight.  We are hoping for the resolution  and repair  to our m100 as we to are down and currently  can only refine  our system.

rudysogaard Posted at 2016-10-18 05:08
Hi.

With guidance installed I had a fly away, in autonom flight.

When Guidance was installed, was it enabled during those successful flights? It's good to hear that you're working in getting this with the Europe facility. They would be able to better diagnose and rectify the issue as soon as possible.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-10-18 05:03
Just to clarify, do you use Guidance with your M100s? If so, have you checked how they are mounted ...

Hello DJI-Jamie

Guidance was not being used on this M100 at the time.

Since my previous message, we have been told (through contacting DJI directly and uploading the log files) that the issue was related to compass calibration. We question this finding for the following reasons:    The compass was calibrated successfully only minutes before the flight
    The compass was within accepted tolerances
    Solar distortion (KP index) was very low
    The flight was in a remote area with no magnetic interference (-37.556 149.919)
    The aircraft would not respond to orientation or direction controls, but would respond to altitude controls
With no RC stick input, the aircraft's course was erratic (it was not "toilet-bowling" (circling)) or any other known characteristics of a compass calibration issue.

My concerns include the following:
    This issue seems to be affecting Matrice 100 (N1 flight controllers maybe?) only and just during the last couple of months. Could it be related to the most recent upgrade?
    I believe that this loss of control could be a public safety issue (our experience shows the M100 travelling horizontally at over 35m/s - significantly faster than the specified max flight speed.
NB

Uaviation Posted at 2016-10-23 07:26
Hello DJI-Jamie

Guidance was not being used on this M100 at the time.

Honestly it would be speculative based on what you seem to be running. Your best course of action would be to have the unit sent in for evaluation.

Hello again, yes our m100 lifted off to 6 feet turned  due south  and went 77 miles an hour,  U aviation  has stated the facts we are very  concerned about this happening  again as I have been invoiced and not yet received  the data from  DJI.  Our  maintenance  director  50 year A&P Inspector  Authorization.  Has not been satisfied and will not  allow me to fly. When  we receive the email I  will  discuss the  details of the accident  with  him to determine  what  our protocol  states  what we will do. We are a commercial aircraft per the FAA 107. We have paid  the invoice  waiting for the aircraft to be sent back.  As dji  stated  by the invoice our fault.

You have received  our m100 . U aviation  had to ditch in the ocean  .

We have noticed no action  on this thread why. We have not received any  information on  why our m100  flew away.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-10-24 10:42
Honestly it would be speculative based on what you seem to be running. Your best course of action  ...

Hello Jamie

As stated earlier, the M100 was lost at sea as a result of this. There is no opportunity to send in for evaluation.
Log files have been sent to DJI. The response was that a suspected compass calibration issue was a possible cause. This is rejected by Uaviation as:
      the compass was calibrated on site before takeoff.
      Compass, Gyro and Accelerometer were all checked as part of our pre-flight procedures (all within tolerances).
      The area was free from all magnetic interference (remote island of the Australian coast).
      The aircraft armed correctly and take-off was uneventful.
      After loss of control, invoking ATTI mode had no effect. The aircrafts path was erratic and random.

There is commonality in the characteristics of these three incidences. Un-diagnosed and repaired, this represents a risk to public safety. As we stated ealier, the Australia Transport Safety Board (ATSB) has been informed of this incident. It is incumbent on us as commercial operators to work with the manufacturer to diagnose and fix this issue. I look forward to DJI's continued attention to this.  

Nigel Brown
Uaviation

We have had our m100 returned from dji a software for sure failure occurred  with no explanation  after several attempts. We to are obligated to report this to the FAA and want to get to a resolution with dji. I have stated  to dji  that upon return  they certified the aircraft  as completely  airworthy  with no reason for the flyaway.  There is no response other than  your aircraft  has been sent  back only after you pay the bill before they fix it unable to  tell us why. The for sure software  failure was stated  by dji  tech so what happened still a mystery  head tech in China to review and get back to us. These are only the facts. I believe Nigal you  should look  to see if the aircraft was flown on simulator as I believe this to be part of the issue.

sosrt Posted at 2016-11-3 22:59
We have had our m100 returned from dji a software for sure failure occurred  with no explanation  af ...

Could you please provide your ticket number or case number in order to better follow up?

Just as an update, I have chatted with DJI support and have resolved this issue and they have replaced the m100 and all equipment that I had on it.  Both companies(DJI and Precision Hawk) were given flight logs and evaluated them.  Precision Hawk evaluated the problem and believed it to be a gps mounting issue and that the plate seemed to not be forward and that I had to take it up with them since they installed and fully set up my system before shipping. But they didn't seem to be too sure what the issue was.  I made sure to pre-flight the aircraft so I knew to check that the arrow on the GPS was facing forward, and although it could be possible it moved, I highly doubt it, so I'm not very confident in that answer.   After talking to DJI, they claimed it was a "warranty" issue but never told me, even though I attempted to ask a couple times, what exactly happened but appeared to be some language difficulties and after it took 24 hours to respond to every question, even though I replied immediately, I gave up trying to ask because it was slowing the process of replacing.  My main concern, which I never received a good answer on, is why this happened in the first place, and if I try it again autonomously, like the package is designed to be flown, is it going to happen again?  Precision Hawk claims this is the first issue that they have had, which i doubt, but guess time will only tell when I try it again :/.  If i ever receive a better answer(if anyone from DJI can look into this I'd appreciate it and have the case number) I will be sure to let everyone now.  But the good thing is that it was replaced and I'm thankful to DJI for taking care of their customers.

We just had the same problem occur. Luckily, it started drifting (out of control, even after changing to P-mode) only 3m off the ground and crashed into nearby shrubs. The symptoms were the same as others have reported: only altitude control possible, maximum speed horizontally.

mabrowning Posted at 2017-2-15 11:10
We just had the same problem occur. Luckily, it started drifting (out of control, even after changing to P-mode) only 3m off the ground and crashed into nearby shrubs. The symptoms were the same as others have reported: only altitude control possible, maximum speed horizontally.

I updated my z3 firmware to use with my osmo.. next flight on my matrice 100 flew away... taking forever to get responses back from dji.. Any help would be greatly appreciated as now I am out a lot of cash .

I make a lot of autonomous flights using Litchi for waypoint-settings. These waypoint flights are quite special as I have to follow the lines of solar modules. Fortunately I never had flyaways with the M100. But I had a flyaway with S800 under manual control, just lost connection (also visual) and it was gone. Since then I mount a GPS-Tracker before I take off. In case it might get lost, I can try to call the position by calling the GPS-Tracker, it then sends an SMS with the coordinates.

Hello everyone,

I own a drone business and have used my Matrice 100 with over 50hrs of flights. Today, I did everything as usually and went it went to take off it's motors started going really fast and then it went absolutely crazy and started going around in circle at maximum speed at about 30m height and decided to shoot off 500m away whilst spinning in 360 degrees. I had DJI Go app open and did all my usually checks, IMU was calibrated, compass calibrated, connected to 16 satellites. Multiple warnings like "Maximum gimble roll reached"and "maximum motor speed reached".

At first I had a flight planned in DroneDeploy. Within DJO Go multiple flight modes was enabled, and I had it set to 'F' mode. It went crazy as I stated above and even if I switched it to 'P'mode or press returned to home it didnt respond to anything. I had to fight the drone and force a landing.

Second time I again made sure every app was closed, and I simply opended it in DJI Go, did all the checks and simply tried to take off slowly upwards, then WOW....crazy mode and off it went. Going around and around at top speed spinning 360 degrees, just missing power lines by cm's. This was all in 'P' mode and just trying to do a simple vertical take off and hover.

Third fly, I got my Phantom 4 out and thought maybe there's something wrong with my environemnt. Did all my checks, and the P4 without fault conducted a planned flight.

Fourth fly, I prepped the Matrice 100 again, and did all my checks. Opened DJI Go, everything checked out and staed was good to fly. Closed that and opened PrecisionFlight app for a planned flight. PrecisionFlight did all of it's checks and stated was good to fly. Uploaded the flight plan, started mission....and BOOM....crazy mode again. Same reaction, spinning around, motors maxed out and I couldnt control it.

I've made sure there was no other wifi or signals interfering and I did all my checks as I have so many times before, the P4 works no problem, I have all the latest firmware updated.... just can't work out WHY. I'm in Australia so I can't call DJI. Can anyone give me some red hot tips or has someone got the same problem!???

Looks like a signal interference.

I was out in the middle of 4ooo acres of crop.... the closest thing was power lines about 500m away.

fans65fe93aa Posted at 2017-8-24 15:04
I was out in the middle of 4ooo acres of crop.... the closest thing was power lines about 500m away.

Was there a recent GO App update?  If yes, maybe it got corrupted during the upload.  You may want to delete the GO App off the tablet or smartphone and then re-do the upload.  This approach could also apply if you did a recent firmware update.

Robert M Serino Posted at 2017-8-24 18:56
Was there a recent GO App update?  If yes, maybe it got corrupted during the upload.  You may want to delete the GO App off the tablet or smartphone and then re-do the upload.  This approach could also apply if you did a recent firmware update.

Also, are there any cell phone towers on the power line towers?  To check for interference, go to HD and engage "Custom" mode.  Then make sure your selected channel has the smallest peak preferably with small peaks on both sides of the selected channel.

Good ideas. DJI GO was updated the night before. I was 800km from home, so won't be able to confirm mobile phone towers nearby. Any idea Robert why the Phantom 4 had absolutely no problem though? And the M100 did? (Simply because the P4 uses GO4 and the M100 uses the original GO?)
I use the M100 for business, and I'm losing out on money as a contractor. But on the same hand if I try to get it in the air again and it crashes it's going to take months to get a replacement...I can say it would be hard to take DJI to court to compensate for all my financial loss!

fans65fe93aa Posted at 2017-8-24 21:44
Good ideas. DJI GO was updated the night before. I was 800km from home, so won't be able to confirm mobile phone towers nearby. Any idea Robert why the Phantom 4 had absolutely no problem though? And the M100 did? (Simply because the P4 uses GO4 and the M100 uses the original GO?)
I use the M100 for business, and I'm losing out on money as a contractor. But on the same hand if I try to get it in the air again and it crashes it's going to take months to get a replacement...I can say it would be hard to take DJI to court to compensate for all my financial loss!

If you did the last GO App update the night before the challenges you encountered by a simple upload, and there was any hiccup during the update, then there may be seeing a cause-and-effect.  When people have reported glitches in the Forum, have seen DJI here in the USA recommend completely deleting the GO App from the device, shutting it off, turning it back on, and then doing a GO App upload as new.  Not saying that this will solve the problem, but it is possible.  You should also make sure that your device's software is current to insure full compatibility.  Finally, make sure you're in a low noise situation when you fly next time by checking HD "Custom" mode.

Thank you again Robert, I'll always check the HD "custom'' mode. Why however did the P4 have no issues? Simply because of the different app? Regards, Josh

fans65fe93aa Posted at 2017-8-25 17:12
Thank you again Robert, I'll always check the HD "custom'' mode. Why however did the P4 have no issues? Simply because of the different app? Regards, Josh

Since the new update of the GO App is coincident with the behavior, then there's perhaps an upload, s/w performance and/or data compatibility issue of that GO App upload with the other Apps you are using in support.  The GO4 App and P4 seems to have served as a pretty good "Control" or baseline.  If you retrograde the GO App to the previous version and all is OK, then we have our answer.  Also, you should submit a trouble report to DJI thru customer support so they can be aware and render a fix.  I did same about a year ago after a GO App release had some issues, and then the "problem" went away within a few days.

So according to PrecisionHawk, if the red arrow on the GPS plate is not exactly facing forward it will have the effect of what I had. So I checked mine out and it was a few degrees off! I haven't tested it out again yet, but it is CRAZY to think that if that is slightly off it can cause absolute mayhem!

fans65fe93aa Posted at 2017-8-30 00:14
So according to PrecisionHawk, if the red arrow on the GPS plate is not exactly facing forward it will have the effect of what I had. So I checked mine out and it was a few degrees off! I haven't tested it out again yet, but it is CRAZY to think that if that is slightly off it can cause absolute mayhem!

I actually had the same situation last week. I bought a Matrice 100, and on first flight as soon as I brought it up to 4 feet it started drifting away from me and accelerating. I tried bringing it back by joystick but it kept moving. It crashed within 15 seconds.

I am scared to fly it again. I can confirm that my GPS wasn't aligned properly, and in fact you can see it in this video since the drone is moving straight ahead but the orientation is slightly off angle. See this video here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_qb4ADByn6H8nXaMsTKlvRfQ. In the video you can see what I saw in DJI Go, as well as the controller inputs.

crisscrosskao Posted at 2019-9-6 22:18
I actually had the same situation last week. I bought a Matrice 100, and on first flight as soon as I brought it up to 4 feet it started drifting away from me and accelerating. I tried bringing it back by joystick but it kept moving. It crashed within 15 seconds.

I am scared to fly it again. I can confirm that my GPS wasn't aligned properly, and in fact you can see it in this video since the drone is moving straight ahead but the orientation is slightly off angle. See this video here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_qb4ADByn6H8nXaMsTKlvRfQ. In the video you can see what I saw in DJI Go, as well as the controller inputs.

So, I don't see any new posts since Sept of 2019... have the problems been resolved with the GPS arrow heading?  Did everyone have to go back to an earlier version of DJI GO?
I ask because I have started working with an M-100 after it spent a few years with our Marketing team, and I am now experiencing these same problems.  
I've updated the firmware, but no improvement.  
I tried the Red Arrow trick, no improvement.
I'm willing to downgrade the DJI GO app (assuming I can find an earlier version, but before I tried, I thought I'd check to see if that actually helped anyone first.
The custom sensors we make, that I need to flight test with, are worth $30K to $250K... so I need to know I have a good craft before I send one up.  I have an M-600 Pro that I will be using as well, and I'm wondering if I should just ground the M-100 permanently (give it back to Marketing to hang up at trade shows) and stick with the M-600.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance