Mavic pro crashed : NoGpsError(9) error
1027 14 2018-4-1
Uploading and Loding Picture ...(0/1)
o(^-^)o
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

Hi everyone .
I already wrote about my problem but thread was moved to service section and is no longer available to public
hence this post .
My mavic is crashed and it had happen in very strange way. It just stopped reacting to commands from remote control and flew away and crashed on pavement.
Needless to say the only thing I was able to do was to watch my drone disappears from my sight.

I found it after some searching but afraid to power it so the only data I can have  is log from DJI GO app

Here it is : https://drive.google.com/open?id=12L6ECsNn5iHg96kJTieH2uKYy6W7jZOg

Is it possible to find out what had happen from this file ?
I appreaciate any help.

Drone is already on its way to service in the Netherlands so the file above is the only availible data for now.

thanks for any help

2018-4-1
Use props
Bob Brown
Second Officer
Flight distance : 4209662 ft
  • >>>
United States
Offline

First. Sorry for your loss. I have not crashed my MP but have had some close calls.
Here is the Flight Log on Phantom Help for others to view a bit easier.

0m 29.1s        P-GPS        16satellites        17.4ft        14.8ft        0mph        0ft        99%        11.369V        3.773V        3.781V        3.815V        0.042V        Compass Error

Compass Error was the cause as this is reapeted error message over and over in the logs. Perhpas also on your display as well.. would have been at the top flashing in BIG RED LETTERS. In the future I would avoid flying with this or any error for that matter. Did you by chance take off from the ground or a table of some sort? Metal surface? Keep in mind that sand can have high amounts of iron content also. A compass and an IMU calibration might have prevented this crash, but not knowing the takeoff point leaves that as a possiblilty also. Never take off from a metalic surface and never ignore even the smallest of errors on the display... preflight checks and a good understanding of the surroundings is also very helpful.

Hopefully DJI refersh will take care if this and get you back flying again.




2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

Bob Brown Posted at 2018-4-1 03:36
First. Sorry for your loss. I have not crashed my MP but have had some close calls.
Here is the Flight Log on Phantom Help for others to view a bit easier.

Thanks for some clarification.
I started the flight form the beach, didn't see any metal around, don't know what was under sand though.
Do you think the compass error could cause lost connection between drone and remote control ? Or maybe prioritise compass over  commands from remote control ?  If that's the case it is quite scary not to have control over drone when software decides so... The strangest thing was that it had happen after a while  when drone was hovering and I was just about to direct toward the sea. It had happen so quickly that my wife said it looked as if someone took control over the drone.  It was really horrifying.  Drone went no forward or backward but sideway and it looked like slightly leaning towards direction it went.
When I found drone it was without two left propellers and I guess they fell off on the impact but I couldn't find them and one of the first thought was that they fell off during flight . Is it possible ?  
2018-4-1
Use props
Suren
Captain
Flight distance : 13498560 ft
  • >>>
South Africa
Offline

adam s Posted at 2018-4-1 04:14
Thanks for some clarification.
I started the flight form the beach, didn't see any metal around, don't know what was under sand though.
Do you think the compass error could cause lost connection between drone and remote control ? Or maybe prioritise compass over  commands from remote control ?  If that's the case it is quite scary not to have control over drone when software decides so... The strangest thing was that it had happen after a while  when drone was hovering and I was just about to direct toward the sea. It had happen so quickly that my wife said it looked as if someone took control over the drone.  It was really horrifying.  Drone went no forward or backward but sideway and it looked like slightly leaning towards direction it went.

Did you take off from the sand directly. Generally you would need to have a case or take off mat to place the drone on. I have read some where before that sea sand contains some sort of metal substance which could be the cause of your compass errors.
2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

Suren Posted at 2018-4-1 04:23
Did you take off from the sand directly. Generally you would need to have a case or take off mat to place the drone on. I have read some where before that sea sand contains some sort of metal substance which could be the cause of your compass errors.

Yep... directly from the sand. I had done it before though and never have had any issues ( I mean starting from the sand) . Perhaps it gave me misleading confidence...  I had compass error not long before and had to make calibration. Twice actually. Compass error was keeping back now and again regardless surface . Recently it appeared during the flight when drone was over 100 meters up.
2018-4-1
Use props
Suren
Captain
Flight distance : 13498560 ft
  • >>>
South Africa
Offline

adam s Posted at 2018-4-1 04:33
Yep... directly from the sand. I had done it before though and never have had any issues ( I mean starting from the sand) . Perhaps it gave me misleading confidence...  I had compass error not long before and had to make calibration. Twice actually. Compass error was keeping back now and again regardless surface . Recently it appeared during the flight when drone was over 100 meters up.

I would avoid that sort of take off in the future. For me  if I need to take off from the beach I always take off from my case and before lift off always check my compass readings, well it has become a pre-checklist for me to check compass all the time now before take off, one cannot be to safe
2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

Suren Posted at 2018-4-1 04:41
I would avoid that sort of take off in the future. For me  if I need to take off from the beach I always take off from my case and before lift off always check my compass readings, well it has become a pre-checklist for me to check compass all the time now before take off, one cannot be to safe

You are right of course. However I still not sure if that (compass)  was a cause of what happened. I would be very happy to have certainty of what was wrong.
And as I mentioned earlier it is quite scary if compass has priority over remote control. Personally i don't believe in it so there had to be a different fault.  The drone was just meters away from me, no matter what fault occurs I would bring it down safely unless engines stops or battery die or even if compass is so serious problem the drone should land itself straight away or RTH instead of flying far off.  Correct me if I am mistaken.
2018-4-1
Use props
Suren
Captain
Flight distance : 13498560 ft
  • >>>
South Africa
Offline

adam s Posted at 2018-4-1 05:21
You are right of course. However I still not sure if that (compass)  was a cause of what happened. I would be very happy to have certainty of what was wrong.
And as I mentioned earlier it is quite scary if compass has priority over remote control. Personally i don't believe in it so there had to be a different fault.  The drone was just meters away from me, no matter what fault occurs I would bring it down safely unless engines stops or battery die or even if compass is so serious problem the drone should land itself straight away or RTH instead of flying far off.  Correct me if I am mistaken.

If you get compass error your drone has a redundancy and should switch to compass2 but if the interference is so strong that it affects both compass then your drone would enter attitude mode, this takes your drone out of gps mode and the pilot must now manually control and stabilise the drone. A lot of guys panic when the drone enters this mode has the hover and flight is not has stable due to drift sometimes caused by even a slight breeze. There is certainty that the sea sand caused the mal-function but is just a guess due to drone going haywire just minutes after take-off. You say you did a compass calibrate and then took off?

Were you wearing a smart watch when doing the calibration? was your phone in Airplane mode and was it away from the drone when conducting the calibration? there are a lot of factors that can affect compass so make it a pre-requisite to always check the compass readings before every flight.
2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

Suren Posted at 2018-4-1 05:41
If you get compass error your drone has a redundancy and should switch to compass2 but if the interference is so strong that it affects both compass then your drone would enter attitude mode, this takes your drone out of gps mode and the pilot must now manually control and stabilise the drone. A lot of guys panic when the drone enters this mode has the hover and flight is not has stable due to drift sometimes caused by even a slight breeze. There is certainty that the sea sand caused the mal-function but is just a guess due to drone going haywire just minutes after take-off. You say you did a compass calibrate and then took off?

Were you wearing a smart watch when doing the calibration? was your phone in Airplane mode and was it away from the drone when conducting the calibration? there are a lot of factors that can affect compass so make it a pre-requisite to always check the compass readings before every flight.

" A lot of guys panic when the drone enters this mode has the hover and flight is not has stable due to drift sometimes caused by even a slight breeze."

Wow. It makes perfect sense. It could be the case. My drone drifted heavily and I would agree to was a wind. Wind wasn't terribly strong but enough to drift drone if it was in manual mode  with sensors off.

" You say you did a compass calibrate and then took off?"

no before this flight. I did it few days earlier.

"Were you wearing a smart watch when doing the calibration? was your phone in Airplane mode and was it away from the drone when conducting the calibration?"

well.. I had my watch on the hand I was keeping the drone during calibration... although I am so surprised about it that it sounds for me like a conspiracy theory...  anyway, next time I'll be more cautious with calibration.

I hope DJI repair it and I get back it soon.
thanks for your time and advise.
When you stop learning you stop growing but why it is so costly
2018-4-1
Use props
Suren
Captain
Flight distance : 13498560 ft
  • >>>
South Africa
Offline

adam s Posted at 2018-4-1 06:03
" A lot of guys panic when the drone enters this mode has the hover and flight is not has stable due to drift sometimes caused by even a slight breeze."

Wow. It makes perfect sense. It could be the case. My drone drifted heavily and I would agree to was a wind. Wind wasn't terribly strong but enough to drift drone if it was in manual mode  with sensors off.

I hope has well you back in the air soon, feels terrible to be grounded, Good Luck
2018-4-1
Use props
G_Sig
First Officer
Flight distance : 9109311 ft
Iceland
Offline

adam s Posted at 2018-4-1 05:21
You are right of course. However I still not sure if that (compass)  was a cause of what happened. I would be very happy to have certainty of what was wrong.
And as I mentioned earlier it is quite scary if compass has priority over remote control. Personally i don't believe in it so there had to be a different fault.  The drone was just meters away from me, no matter what fault occurs I would bring it down safely unless engines stops or battery die or even if compass is so serious problem the drone should land itself straight away or RTH instead of flying far off.  Correct me if I am mistaken.

If compass don't work right nothing will work as the drone don't know what is East or West.
The first thing it do is to turn off GPS as it is useless if you don't know where you are heading.
It is the same as if you are lost in fog and don't know what is North or South, it wont help you if I phone you and tell you to go 45° as you don't know where it is. If the compass is not right after calibration you can newer thrust it. When you do calibration on compass you should not have any iron near you, not car keys or watch or anything which can affect the compass included your phone.
2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

G_Sig Posted at 2018-4-1 07:46
If compass don't work right nothing will work as the drone don't know what is East or West.
The first thing it do is to turn off GPS as it is useless if you don't know where you are heading.
It is the same as if you are lost in fog and don't know what is North or South, it wont help you if I phone you and tell you to go 45° as you don't know where it is. If the compass is not right after calibration you can newer thrust it. When you do calibration on compass you should not have any iron near you, not car keys or watch or anything which can affect the compass included your phone.

Thanks for explaining it. Next time I'll be  remember about it.  
2018-4-1
Use props
DJI Mindy
Administrator
Flight distance : 7 ft
  • >>>
Offline

Hi Adam, removing the thread to Service thread doesn't mean anything, it is just more convenient for us to keep following up, we apologize if there is any inconvenience that has been caused, hope the drone will arrive in facility soon.
2018-4-1
Use props
SparksBird
First Officer
Flight distance : 10731690 ft
United States
Offline

Hope you are able to get back to flying soon.
2018-4-1
Use props
adam s
lvl.3
Flight distance : 2441040 ft
United Kingdom
Offline

SparksBird Posted at 2018-4-1 19:31
Hope you are able to get back to flying soon.

Thanks.   
2018-4-2
Use props
Advanced
You need to log in before you can reply Login | Register now

Credit Rules