i am concerened. Could you explain what the reasons are and how we can prevent from a flyaway like these reported the last days?

Apologies if this bothers you. Corresponding solutions will be offered according to the data analysis result. A fully pre-flight checklist is recommended before take-off every time.

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... &fromuid=260008

This link might help you.

The Spark, at its price point, opens the consumer to a more affordable option of smart drone technology. Most do not take the time to read the manual or understand their drone.

Most cases had normal pre-takeoff, gps locked then gps/compass error mid-flight, then fly away. Before 1 Sept., after updating to .0600, many encountered imu exception.

JoeCec Posted at 2017-9-11 03:43
The Spark, at its price point, opens the consumer to a more affordable option of smart drone technology. Most do not take the time to read the manual or understand their drone.

Unfortunately exactly this appears to be a frequent root of problems reported here.

fansa7dc5944 Posted at 2017-9-11 04:17
Most cases had normal pre-takeoff, gps locked then gps/compass error mid-flight, then fly away. Before 1 Sept., after updating to .0600, many encountered imu exception.

It doesn't mean you can't pick up geomagnetic interference on the ground only for it to take effect when AC is in the air.
IMU heading problems are a directly connected to compass and gps problems, I don't think all of these are genuine flyaways but rather badly prepared AC and flying in bad environments.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-9-11 04:24
Unfortunately exactly this appears to be a frequent root of problems reported here.

Very true. It's a great technology and no technology is perfect. There's going to be quirks and hiccups, but add an inexperienced operator and the problem is amplified significantly! Not saying DJI is perfect by an means, but to blame them for an issue that is more than likely operator error is silly, IMHO.

I find it interesting that most say they have carried out Compass/IMU caliabration's. I never carried this out, as not been prompted to by the app. So far, touch wood I have had no issues. Just wondering if the calibration sequence is either flawed or just not being done right (away from metal, interference etc).

IMU, GPS, Compass are totally seperate hardware and do different job. There is no direct relationship between them but the navigation software and attitude stabiliser use their measurement as input. I almost had never seen IMU exception before .0600 firmware. None of them should cause Spark to not respond to RC. I wrote a thread today suggesting that the VPS in Spark could be used to prevent Spark to hold its position during compass/gps error situation but was deleted by moderator. Perhaps they do not want this suggestion to be discussed.

Correction ... the VPS in Spark can be used to prevent Spark from flying away by holding its position at low altitude during cimpass/gps error ...

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-11 03:21
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=104222&fromuid=260008

This link might help you.

Great piece of advice.

I always do a pre-flight check and haven't had any issues.  On the weekend I was flying above railway tracks and was very careful.  I looked at the IMU status and compass to make sure there weren't any interference.  All was good so I kept flying with caution.  Always fly with caution and make sure you know your surroundings, electrical wires, concrete buildings, steel structures .. etc.  All these can cause interference and lead to fly-away or other issues.

Before i was update, my spark rth across hivolt powerline when rth... gps signal receive 11-16 sats.
My spark is not flyaway... anyone can explain?

ASEPK Posted at 2017-9-11 06:40
Before i was update, my spark rth across hivolt powerline when rth... gps signal receive 11-16 sats.
My spark is not flyaway... anyone can explain?

So did your Spark hit the powerlines when returning ? I think that it wouldn't be able to detect the actual lines, as they are too thin.

fansa7dc5944 Posted at 2017-9-11 05:55
IMU, GPS, Compass are totally seperate hardware and do different job. There is no direct relationship between them but the navigation software and attitude stabiliser use their measurement as input. I almost had never seen IMU exception before .0600 firmware. None of them should cause Spark to not respond to RC. I wrote a thread today suggesting that the VPS in Spark could be used to prevent Spark to hold its position during compass/gps error situation but was deleted by moderator. Perhaps they do not want this suggestion to be discussed.

I beg to differ with you there regarding IMU heading having no relation to compass or gps, IMU heading although controlled by operator, if you have a bad compass setting your heading in a different direction than you are trying to input your IMU will give you warning of incorrect heading.

And since Spark came out and many pre .600 FW have had IMU exception warnings with regards to magnetic yaw etc.
With regards to VPS, VPS works at limited height and will hold AC as best it can at low altitudes, if you take off without enough gps your aircraft will not be allowed rise above 16 feet, so I'm not sure the need for your thread.

jksphoto Posted at 2017-9-11 05:46
I find it interesting that most say they have carried out Compass/IMU caliabration's. I never carried this out, as not been prompted to by the app. So far, touch wood I have had no issues. Just wondering if the calibration sequence is either flawed or just not being done right (away from metal, interference etc).

I did the calibrations and they were quite painless and easy to do (albeit I had to watch a youtube video for figuring out the compass one).

fansa7dc5944 Posted at 2017-9-11 05:55
IMU, GPS, Compass are totally seperate hardware and do different job. There is no direct relationship between them but the navigation software and attitude stabiliser use their measurement as input. I almost had never seen IMU exception before .0600 firmware. None of them should cause Spark to not respond to RC. I wrote a thread today suggesting that the VPS in Spark could be used to prevent Spark to hold its position during compass/gps error situation but was deleted by moderator. Perhaps they do not want this suggestion to be discussed.

IMU's also contain barometers and magnetomers barometers are used to measure rate of change pressure as height increase and so present height information, magnetometers are used to determine the Quads heading , by sensing the the strength of the earths magnetic field and the rate of change of the earths magnetic field as the Quad rotate , a determination can be made of the Quads heading in relation to magnetic north.
So you can see connection between IMU and compass heading.

Can you tell me if an orange reading on the gyro sensor calls for imu calibration please?

fans9ea9c44f Posted at 2017-9-11 07:21
Can you tell me if an orange reading on the gyro sensor calls for imu calibration please?

You can do IMU if you feel it's a bit out of whack, just remember the better your preparation for IMU then you should see an improvement.

Level surface even use spirit level to insure, you can leave Spark in a cold room for 40 minutes or so before calibration, this will insure a quick warming up time when starting spark not necessary but won't do any harm.

Good luck.

Thanks for advice! My hesitation is simply because spark is not exhibiting odd behaviour at all, or giving any warnings. If it ain't broke etc!

fans9ea9c44f Posted at 2017-9-11 07:47
Thanks for advice! My hesitation is simply because spark is not exhibiting odd behaviour at all, or giving any warnings. If it ain't broke etc!

Then there is no need to do anything. Wait until Spark wants it from you.

fans9ea9c44f Posted at 2017-9-11 07:47
Thanks for advice! My hesitation is simply because spark is not exhibiting odd behaviour at all, or giving any warnings. If it ain't broke etc!

That is the way I would treat it, unless you had a hard landing or crash. Below will give you a better understanding of how IMU might work.

IMU "Inertial measurement unit" .

As far as I see it, IMU calibration on a level surface updates a table of values the flight controller software uses as a reference for a level stationary hover. From there the craft responds predictably to flight commands.  It also likely measures any sensor noise and thermal drift so that these technical imperfections are accounted for when using IMU sensor data in flight. - this is likely why there must be no vibrations during the calibration process.


Bad IMU calibration could cause drift and attitude issues as the flight controller fights to hold the craft in what it thinks is the correct attitude as opposed to the correct physical attitude.


The IMU usually has 2 types of sensors – angle and acceleration and in turn 3 sensors of each type measuring in the X,Y and Z axis. These sensors can, through vibration, aging, impact etc, drift in their response over time and thus an IMU calibration will establish a new reference for the IMU’s level/stationary state that the flight controller can work with to restore stable flight.


Think of calibration as the bringing back into line the measured craft attitude with the true physical craft attitude.


As to how often an IMU calibration is needed, Refer to your manual ; certainly after any impact or if there are suspicions the craft can’t hover in a level attitude in a windless environment.



Its also good to mention that the IMU is the reason why you are able to shut off the motors using just the throttle down command when on the ground. The IMU reads that the aircraft is unable to move any further, and after three seconds it determines that is has officially landed and can shut off the motors safely.

Thanks for all help. I' ll probably carefully monitor situation, unles spark calls for calibration. Thanks again.

Spoke with Tech support this morning regarding my loss of GPS and subsequent panic-causing flyaway. GPS did come back after about a minute and i found the Spark in the sky and flew home. Tech support said, "you lost GPS". I said I KNOW that... my question is WHY? I was in huge open space in foothills. Nothing around. Had flown for 30 minutes. Took off again, went out about 100 feet and got the WEAK GPS and then the ATTI notice and the Spark took off. Basically, he didn't tell me WHY this could happen. I had 13 satellites when I started.

I spoke with Tech Support this morning about my loss of GPS and subsequent panic-causing fly-away at warp speed. Basically, I got no answer. I had made three flights before this. Same area. In the middle of nowhere in low foothills with nothing around. Took off, went out 100 feet and got WEAK GPS notice, then ATTI notice and watched it fly away very fast. I lost it in the sky and had no control, or thought I didn't. Then I saw it and the GPS came back on the screen and I flew it home. My question was WHY did I lose GPS and I got no answer. I had 13 satellites connected.

rickmo Posted at 2017-9-11 10:31
I spoke with Tech Support this morning about my loss of GPS and subsequent panic-causing fly-away at warp speed. Basically, I got no answer. I had made three flights before this. Same area. In the middle of nowhere in low foothills with nothing around. Took off, went out 100 feet and got WEAK GPS notice, then ATTI notice and watched it fly away very fast. I lost it in the sky and had no control, or thought I didn't. Then I saw it and the GPS came back on the screen and I flew it home. My question was WHY did I lose GPS and I got no answer. I had 13 satellites connected.

And what was the Kp index at the time?

rickmo Posted at 2017-9-11 10:31
I spoke with Tech Support this morning about my loss of GPS and subsequent panic-causing fly-away at warp speed. Basically, I got no answer. I had made three flights before this. Same area. In the middle of nowhere in low foothills with nothing around. Took off, went out 100 feet and got WEAK GPS notice, then ATTI notice and watched it fly away very fast. I lost it in the sky and had no control, or thought I didn't. Then I saw it and the GPS came back on the screen and I flew it home. My question was WHY did I lose GPS and I got no answer. I had 13 satellites connected.

Why would a compass error disable GPS?
Orientation (compass data) and position (GPS data) are different but related.
When the Spark is moving and getting position information from the GPS that tells the Spark that it is travelling in a different direction from what it's getting from compass data, The Spark programming can't work with the data conflict.
The solution is to drop data from one source and since the Spark can't fly without a compass but can without GPS, it's the GPS data that gets dropped.

There have been some compass problems with Sparks lately or your issue may have been related to something you did.
I'd be curious about when and where you calibrated it and where you launched from as these may be relevant factors.
You can also see the flight data to learn more and perhaps solve the mystery of your incident.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-11 07:03
I beg to differ with you there regarding IMU heading having no relation to compass or gps, IMU heading although controlled by operator, if you have a bad compass setting your heading in a different direction than you are trying to input your IMU will give you warning of incorrect heading.

And since Spark came out and many pre .600 FW have had IMU exception warnings with regards to magnetic yaw etc.

I have been following this forum from start. I rarely saw the IMU Exception report prior to .0600 firmware. Since .0600 firmware was released there were report very often.

I can see that you know that the VPS can hold Spark in position at low altitude. If Spark flight controller detects the abnormality of GPS/Compass it can be programmed to lower itsself to appropriate altitude to use VPS to hold its position, rater than enter ATTI and goes with the wind, and wait for stick commands. ATTI mode alone is not easy for beginner. If DJI can implement VPS flying mode, something similar to visual positioning indoor, but for outdoor gps/compass error situation it can help a lot of people from loosing their Spark.

For the IMU, GPS and Compass, plenty quads model equipped with only IMU, not even barrometer. GPS usually comes together with compass because the navigating software needs them both, we know that. Compass error makes GPS meaningless but if VPS can be used instead to hold Spark in position and wait for stick commands, it will be great. Loosing IMU is a disaster. You can fly only in Manual mode, will crash soon.

A moment ago, I made a small test outdoor forcing Spark to fly Vision positioning. It did hold its position well, no drifting at all. I will make a test again tomorrow and will let you know how it performs outdoor at the altitude around 7 m.

Same problem after installing new firmware. I've travelled for 700 km from last flying spot  so I did a compass calibration. On the first battery everything seemed to be ok, on second one drone lost connection with the remote (distance was about 60m), entered home return sequence, suffered from compass error and started to drift avay above the river.  it drifted for about 70 meters away and than fortunately stopped and entered atti mode. I ran to closer a spot , regain control and return it back mannually. How can I be confident in my drone when it suffer from such a problem  in 60m distance???  

scorpionro Posted at 2017-9-11 07:07
So did your Spark hit the powerlines when returning ? I think that it wouldn't be able to detect the actual lines, as they are too thin.

my luck, spark can pass without hit the cable...  he fly very smooth between cables like no interference

zero900 Posted at 2017-9-12 03:57
Same problem after installing new firmware. I've travelled for 700 km from last flying spot  so I did a compass calibration. On the first battery everything seemed to be ok, on second one drone lost connection with the remote (distance was about 60m), entered home return sequence, suffered from compass error and started to drift avay above the river.  it drifted for about 70 meters away and than fortunately stopped and entered atti mode. I ran to closer a spot , regain control and return it back mannually. How can I be confident in my drone when it suffer from such a problem  in 60m distance???

Any interference around your drone?
What about changing an environment? Did the problem still exist?  

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-12 23:07
Let me be more specific: The Spark has an issue with the wifi channels in EU as vastly discussed in this forum. Personally I have a comprehensive pre-flight check list that I follow before any outing. The fact is that my drone keeps losing connection randomly and switches to ATI mode. RTH sometimes kicks-in, sometimes it just does nothing... the Spark was advertised to have a range of 2Km in EU, I get 120m if I am lucky. The Spark was advertised to be a "friendly" drone that you can use as a selfie camera... I believe by now all these issues don't make the Spark a very friendly drone. IMO you need to preocupate less with the Mavic than the Spark and thats supposely for a different target group. IMU / Compass errors, loss of connection, weak wifi signal, problems pairing with the RC, problems updating, fly-aways, dropping dead from the sky,... I would really like to see your comments if any of those things happen to you, specially if you ruin your Spark. Let me know if you would like to hear: "Perhaps you should read the manual..."

Sorry your having so much bother with your spark, they're are many flying quite happy.

Yes some having problems with radio connections, but Spark was advertised in EU not flying 2km but 300 metres in 5.8ghz and 500 metres 2.4ghz, this has to do with CE regulation it is the same with distance on the Mavic and P4Pro ,

If you lose radio control, for more than 2 seconds using RC it will initiate RTH , if you lose radio signal for more than 10 seconds using only phone it will also initiate RTH , if signal resumes in those times it will just continue.

If you lose radio signal your spark won't go into Atti mode and RTH this is not possible. If you lose gps or have bad compass your spark will go into Atti mode which you will then have to fly manually only barometer will continue to maintain altitude.

No it's not all about reading the manual but sometimes it helps with some confusion.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-12 23:07
Let me be more specific: The Spark has an issue with the wifi channels in EU as vastly discussed in this forum. Personally I have a comprehensive pre-flight check list that I follow before any outing. The fact is that my drone keeps losing connection randomly and switches to ATI mode. RTH sometimes kicks-in, sometimes it just does nothing... the Spark was advertised to have a range of 2Km in EU, I get 120m if I am lucky. The Spark was advertised to be a "friendly" drone that you can use as a selfie camera... I believe by now all these issues don't make the Spark a very friendly drone. IMO you need to preocupate less with the Mavic than the Spark and thats supposely for a different target group. IMU / Compass errors, loss of connection, weak wifi signal, problems pairing with the RC, problems updating, fly-aways, dropping dead from the sky,... I would really like to see your comments if any of those things happen to you, specially if you ruin your Spark. Let me know if you would like to hear: "Perhaps you should read the manual..."

Too bad you have so many issues/problems with your Spark. I own my Spark for 2 months now and the only issue I had was that distance in the previous app was limited to 50m ... But with the new software it was solved.
I live in the Netherland (CE) and my spark flies 500m on 5.8Ghz and easily get 800 on 2.4Ghz. At that point I have lost visual contact with my drone, so I won't fly further....

So not everyone is having troubles, but I agree, some will.... Some are user errors....

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-12 23:07
Let me be more specific: The Spark has an issue with the wifi channels in EU as vastly discussed in this forum. Personally I have a comprehensive pre-flight check list that I follow before any outing. The fact is that my drone keeps losing connection randomly and switches to ATI mode. RTH sometimes kicks-in, sometimes it just does nothing... the Spark was advertised to have a range of 2Km in EU, I get 120m if I am lucky. The Spark was advertised to be a "friendly" drone that you can use as a selfie camera... I believe by now all these issues don't make the Spark a very friendly drone. IMO you need to preocupate less with the Mavic than the Spark and thats supposely for a different target group. IMU / Compass errors, loss of connection, weak wifi signal, problems pairing with the RC, problems updating, fly-aways, dropping dead from the sky,... I would really like to see your comments if any of those things happen to you, specially if you ruin your Spark. Let me know if you would like to hear: "Perhaps you should read the manual..."

Yes indeed, you should read the Sparc specs and manual. For EU/CE it has never been advertised to have 2 km range.