Hello Forum

I have my Spark for about 4 weeks now and it works quite well. Quickshot modes working, gestures with some limitations (bright light) and I do not have losses, power cut offs.... and so on. But from reading here in the forum, a lot of devices are buggy. So I think there must be some serious problems at DJI with hardware and software. Which leads me to my question: Is it too complex? And I mean this in two directions.
One direction is "too complex for DJI":
Is DJI capable to handle such a complex system from sensors and actors influenced from outside by enviroment and operators?
Are they developing according ISO26262 (Automotive) or whatever a standard could be valid for UAVs/aircrafts? And if they would do so, are we as customers willing to pay the price for it?
Which leads me to the second direction, "is it to complex for the customers":
Especially with the pricepoint of the Spark, DJI enters a market of "Non-nerd"-customers.
You can read here in the forum about customers, who cannot find out, how to switch the unit on and off, which does not read the manual and are able to understand what are the different conditions at RTH and how the aircraft reacts different according to these conditions. To only mention two examples.
There is also a tendency to estimate the risk wrongly to fly in difficult enviroments (wind, public areas, inner cities and so on).
Which leads me to my conclusion: The realiability of these drones is not high enough yet to be used by everyone.
Either we need a higher maturity (higher standard) of system safety and failsafe behavior from the suppliers of these drones or
we need a higher skill level of the users.
The status right now is dangerous and can not only lead to serious damages but also to more strict regulations for drone usage.
So please lets work on both sides to avoid this.

Thanks

Is it to complex for some people.

Well if you read through other forums here you will see a very similar picture to what your reading here, so your question might be addressed to all dji drones.

Spark is probably the least complex dji drone, but that doesn't mean it's not complexed and some don't have great difficulty in figuring the complexity of it.

Buggy software/firmware seems to be part of flying drones and almost certainly will be in the future I expect for awhile, but drones are not the only technology to suffer from buggy SW/FW this happens in most technology products, but the risk of something going wrong is much higher with drones than phones, and leads those who are new to flying drones much more anxious and scared of something going wrong.
Are dji capable of handling such a complex system, well they are the clear market leaders in drone technology and nothing out there comes near to there technology whether from a flying platform photography platform or safety platform, if this was not the case then they would not be as successful as they are.

Is it to complex for new users. It can be daunting for some initially but for those who take the time to prepare for flying i.e. Watching the video tutorials reading the manual flying in suitable environments and asking questions before they fly. These people will learn quickly and safely. And will be around for a long time enjoying this hobby.

For those who want to just take this out of the box and fly and try to learn as they go , these are people who will be at risk of crashing causing damage to people property etc.

But there is an age limit for flying this drone 16 there are many countries where it's legal to ride motorcycles or even drive cars, which are obviously a much bigger risk to general public than a small drone.

So for those who are responsible and do the right things this hobby and these AC will not be a problem to them.
But for those who ignore their responsibilities they will be the ones with the most complaints and do the most irresponsible stuff, but hey is this not the same for everything in life.

I would say that buggy soft/firmware is not just part of using drones but part of any complex device including phones and computers.  The issues with gesture modes for instance remind me of the early days of scanning documents into OCR to convert the into editable files.  Or automatic translation software, or voice recognition typing. So many variables, voice and accent for voice recognition or light, clothing distance for the spark gesture mode. I think it will take a while for these features to become reliable.

I am only  using my spark manually with the RC.  No gesture mode, no fancy special whatever and so far so good in probably 4 hours of flying

The only thing when I think DJI cut corners is in the sensitivity of the GPS receiver. I guess there are size and battery usage behind this but while I have only had one  inflight gps error, there was no reason for it as I was flying the drone over an undeveloped Bahamian Cay with zero interference.  Clear skies, no hills, no trees, no skyscrapers. No reason to loose gps.

You also have a point about users not reading the manual as evidenced by some of th questions we see here.

One thing I don't really understand is when using the spark in gesture only, no RC no App control, how do you know gps signal is strong enough and the home point has been set? I do this mentioned n the manual for gesture mode and launch with face recognition.  Without gps lock, how does spark know where to return if it loose visual contact with your face or hand?

STOP SPAMMING PLEASE!!!

Thanks for the info

Many people seem to have the view that reading the manual is the last resort. Try it 1st and if it doesn't work, complain until some one helps you. Of course I am never guilty of this.
Speaking of manuals, I looked in the Spark manual before flying today, because I hadn't flown my Sparx for a few weeks (being repaired after a swim in saltwater), and found this great advice.

"3. Avoid obstacles, crowds, high voltage power lines, trees, and bodies of water."

Now they tell me!

Warriewoodlad Posted at 2018-8-30 23:33
Many people seem to have the view that reading the manual is the last resort. Try it 1st and if it doesn't work, complain until some one helps you. Of course I am never guilty of this.
Speaking of manuals, I looked in the Spark manual before flying today, because I hadn't flown my Sparx for a few weeks (being repaired after a swim in saltwater), and found this great advice.

Bodies of water ~ This is so true ... evening flying 3-5 metres above water might also messed up with the downward sensors. On a few occasions I tried flying at that height to capture some low flying shots of boats or jetties and my Spark suddenly gave haywired readings of the flying height and started descending into the water. Luckily I managed to pull it up in the nick of time. Never mess around with bodies of water .... but I like low flying shots.

Yes, it is a risk flying over water but it does produce some excellent shots. I need a waterproof Spark - or flying lessons.

Alexey Batalov Posted at 2018-7-21 04:38
STOP SPAMMING PLEASE!!!

just report them as spamming/trolling  

It was pretty complex to get everything linked and logged in.

Now it's just: Turn on the phone. Turn on the spark. Turn on the remote. Plug the OTG cable, start the GO 4 app, wait a minute. Check the checklist. Watch for 10 or more satellites and GO.

Stop spamming please