Hi Guys

My Drone Fell from the sky

Sorry my post didnt seem to fully send

Hi Guys,

My Drone fell from the sky,

Compass error occured and IMU Exception.

this is my flight log, if someone could take a look that would be great

http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/B6528ZDN6HZR7OYESEM6/

Drone is in bits  4 motors gone and a few other things.

I got multiple errors , yaw and speed errors

Drone felt quite erratic even after it got GPS signal.

Any ideas guys

So sorry this happened to you. I believe one contributing factor to the erratic feel you had could have been wifi interference and/or signal strength. You were flying in an urban setting and it would not be unusual. Was your video feed laggy and jerky? You also took off with less than 10 satellites showing. Granted, the number increased the further into your flight you got. But what we don't know from the link is what the signal strength was. You can be locked onto 12 satellites but if you have only 1 bar displaying for signal strength, it's not a good thing, especially for a beginner pilot. You went into ATTI mode after about one minute, which means your Spark lost all GPS connection. At that point even the RTH function will not work. You have to manually fly it back and it can be done, even though you may have to fight the wind in the process.

From reading the posts here, this situation seems to happen quite a bit for those who are playing around in Sport mode. If you search the forum you will find that you are not alone.

Tervist Posted at 2018-8-26 05:42
So sorry this happened to you. I believe one contributing factor to the erratic feel you had could have been wifi interference and/or signal strength. You were flying in an urban setting and it would not be unusual. Was your video feed laggy and jerky? You also took off with less than 10 satellites showing. Granted, the number increased the further into your flight you got. But what we don't know from the link is what the signal strength was. You can be locked onto 12 satellites but if you have only 1 bar displaying for signal strength, it's not a good thing, especially for a beginner pilot. You went into ATTI mode after about one minute, which means your Spark lost all GPS connection. At that point even the RTH function will not work. You have to manually fly it back and it can be done, even though you may have to fight the wind in the process.

From reading the posts here, this situation seems to happen quite a bit for those who are playing around in Sport mode. If you search the forum you will find that you are not alone.

Hey, I'm uploading the video of the flight itself as I was recording at the time.

What I don't understand is why would it fall from the sky. I saw it fall.

I'm also going to upload the video of the flight record.

I Know I wasn't GPS Connected, I left the drone hover in front of me until I got the home point recorded.

as I went into the flight GPS signal strength increased.

Then it lost the GPS signal. a few seconds later while in ATTI mode it fell from the sky.

The video wasn't too laggy from what I remember, but I do remember it being erratic so I was trying to get it high and to get back it back to me for a safe landing.

I would not take off with just 6 sats.....  but I agree with Tervist, you are in an area of wifi saturation most likely...  and lots of buildings, I dont think you had line of sight on it at all times... and Sport mode can be susceptible to yaw error...  how much wind was there?  Sorry for your crash, but its risky flying urban areas.  And not to preach but that flight was bending the rules quite a bit. (Irish Aviation Authority) https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones




Better luck and decision making next time.

HI, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sorry about what happened recently with your DJI Spark. I strongly suggest sending in the aircraft for evaluation of what happened during that flight. Kindly click the link provided below to fill out the form to create a ticket. Thank you.

Online Repair Request

Northwood Posted at 2018-8-26 06:16
I would not take off with just 6 sats.....  but I agree with Tervist, you are in an area of wifi saturation most likely...  and lots of buildings, I dont think you had line of sight on it at all times... and Sport mode can be susceptible to yaw error...  how much wind was there?  Sorry for your crash, but its risky flying urban areas.  And not to preach but that flight was bending the rules quite a bit. (Irish Aviation Authority) https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones

I had line of sight all the time, but why would it just fall form the sky?

i looked at streetview for your area, it looked like to me that LOS would be tough, But I guess as you went higher you could see it.  How about the wind?  The only other reason for dead drops in my opinion would be battery... did it pop out in flight?

Northwood Posted at 2018-8-26 06:32
i looked at streetview for your area, it looked like to me that LOS would be tough, But I guess as you went higher you could see it.  How about the wind?  The only other reason for dead drops in my opinion would be battery... did it pop out in flight?

video of the flight

https://streamable.com/8ccj2

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 06:36
video of the flight

https://streamable.com/8ccj2

Link seems dead here....  I have slow internet though... but its like site not found

Northwood Posted at 2018-8-26 06:45
Link seems dead here....  I have slow internet though... but its like site not found

double checked there,

the link works...

hmmm

Tervist Posted at 2018-8-26 05:42
So sorry this happened to you. I believe one contributing factor to the erratic feel you had could have been wifi interference and/or signal strength. You were flying in an urban setting and it would not be unusual. Was your video feed laggy and jerky? You also took off with less than 10 satellites showing. Granted, the number increased the further into your flight you got. But what we don't know from the link is what the signal strength was. You can be locked onto 12 satellites but if you have only 1 bar displaying for signal strength, it's not a good thing, especially for a beginner pilot. You went into ATTI mode after about one minute, which means your Spark lost all GPS connection. At that point even the RTH function will not work. You have to manually fly it back and it can be done, even though you may have to fight the wind in the process.

From reading the posts here, this situation seems to happen quite a bit for those who are playing around in Sport mode. If you search the forum you will find that you are not alone.

video of flight record from phone

https://streamable.com/k7cg1

DJI Gamora Posted at 2018-8-26 06:22
HI, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sorry about what happened recently with your DJI Spark. I strongly suggest sending in the aircraft for evaluation of what happened during that flight. Kindly click the link provided below to fill out the form to create a ticket. Thank you.

Online Repair Request

i will do,

but i want to get my proof of purchase from the camera shop i bought it from. i will get it tomorrow off them

cheers

stefano

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 06:50
i will do,

but i want to get my proof of purchase from the camera shop i bought it from. i will get it tomorrow off them

Hi, no worries. Have a good day.

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 06:48
video of flight record from phone

https://streamable.com/k7cg1

Thanks for sharing that video. Right at around the 1:12 mark on your flight (not the video), I can see that you were locked onto 12 satellites with and were no longer receiving a signal, hence the ATTI mode. Prior to that at 1:11 you were at 4 bars. It's scary how the signal dropped like that. As for your Spark dropping from the sky, the only two things that come to mind are the battery falling out midair, or perhaps it was subject to a sudden down draft. In ATTI mode you need to compensate for that. But when you're in a panic, that's not so easy to do.  You might have had a chance in an open field to compensate, but at this point it no longer matters. I see you're in touch with DJI and I hope they are able to resolve this issue to your satisfaction.

Tervist Posted at 2018-8-26 05:42
So sorry this happened to you. I believe one contributing factor to the erratic feel you had could have been wifi interference and/or signal strength. You were flying in an urban setting and it would not be unusual. Was your video feed laggy and jerky? You also took off with less than 10 satellites showing. Granted, the number increased the further into your flight you got. But what we don't know from the link is what the signal strength was. You can be locked onto 12 satellites but if you have only 1 bar displaying for signal strength, it's not a good thing, especially for a beginner pilot. You went into ATTI mode after about one minute, which means your Spark lost all GPS connection. At that point even the RTH function will not work. You have to manually fly it back and it can be done, even though you may have to fight the wind in the process.

From reading the posts here, this situation seems to happen quite a bit for those who are playing around in Sport mode. If you search the forum you will find that you are not alone.

I am always in SPORTS mode for the last 1 year !!   Also with lots of compass errors and GPS mismatch, the SPARK comes back as RTH location !
Very weird.  Experiences are different for the same malfunction !!

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 06:48
video of flight record from phone

https://streamable.com/k7cg1

My opinion is different

SPARK is able to take all those hits of GPS mismatch, Speed error , Yaw error , ATTi mode,Compass error  but  positioning yourself in between two concrete block building and shooting the SPARK in the SKY .I think you would have known this by now  that you have to stand in an open area !!

S.J Posted at 2018-8-26 09:24
My opinion is different

SPARK is able to take all those hits of GPS mismatch, Speed error , Yaw error , ATTi mode,Compass error  but  positioning yourself in between two concrete block building and shooting the SPARK in the SKY .I think you would have known this by now  that you have to stand in an open area !!

You are correct in that standing between two buildings like that in an urban setting was not a good idea. Yes, he would have stood a better chance of getting his Spark back had he been in an open field. You evidently have a lot of experience. Has your Spark ever dropped into ATTI mode in the process? What did you do when that happened? Just asking for my own education here.

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 03:00
Hi Guys,

My Drone fell from the sky,

Hi molleman1,

Just had a look at your flightrecord.

Started with low sat count (5x), but soon you had 12 (after some hovering closeby).
Pulling power and after 2 seconds your spark had a YAW-large error (not to been in the GoApp) for 0.5 second, followed by a Speed, Yaw and compass Error.
IMU got confused and disabled GPS from the system, this means into ATTI.

In ATTI drone is difficult to fly, i see a lot stick input but guess you were not in control anymore.

At the end of your record there is a disconnection, after that 1 line of data and nothing more.

As you have seen in falling....don`t know what happend ; or a battery came loose or it hit something or...nope, don`t know what happend.

Mayby DJI can tell more, hope you can find your drone!

cheers
JJB

Tervist Posted at 2018-8-26 09:54
You are correct in that standing between two buildings like that in an urban setting was not a good idea. Yes, he would have stood a better chance of getting his Spark back had he been in an open field. You evidently have a lot of experience. Has your Spark ever dropped into ATTI mode in the process? What did you do when that happened? Just asking for my own education here.

I really had a lot of ATTI mode situations. When i have an ATTI mode, i simply lift the AC atleast by 120 meters into the sky !! All the time i hit a success where the AC shifts back to P GPS mode and i bring home the AC by RTH.  But then again sometimes situation is a bit tricky in high wind condition but it works..

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-26 06:27
I had line of sight all the time, but why would it just fall form the sky?

I saw a video that, when flying while doing the same stick combination as you start (arms down and out or in), it stops and turns off the engine. There is one end of the log when you push both arms down. If you get a little bit inward (or outward) then it may be that this was the reason. Falling Sparks fell in an interesting way, always descending in descent (I observed cases)

What happened to Spark? the battery did not fall off?

Jakab Gipsz Posted at 2018-8-26 12:35
I saw a video that, when flying while doing the same stick combination as you start (arms down and out or in), it stops and turns off the engine. There is one end of the log when you push both arms down. If you get a little bit inward (or outward) then it may be that this was the reason. Falling Sparks fell in an interesting way, always descending in descent (I observed cases)

What happened to Spark? the battery did not fall off?

it just became erratic and it just fell from the sky,
check the logs it was 40m up when it lost connection, nothing near it

common failure due to agressive flying in sport mode.

Jos A Posted at 2018-8-27 01:21
common failure due to agressive flying in sport mode.

This had to be far more aggressive than what's seen in the video.
It had to be coordinated tight 180 degrees turn.... by coordinated I mean banked turn where you do fair amount of yaw, roll and some backwards pitch (to tighten the loop as much as possible) done suddenly in a moment while still having forward going inertia.

HOUSTON we have a Problem...      I had the same issue when i took off from an open field.   The Spark's wifi is glitchy and can do weird things every now and then.     I hope you have DJI Care Refresh so they can send you another one..         I fly my drone in Sports mode and i fly it hard and it has been fine..      Wifi dropouts seem to me a common issue with Sparks..        Here's my video of my flight..    Sorry poor quality as it was converted from the Facebook live feed..    Since then my trust of the drone has fallen to the point I won't fly it further than 200m.   

Jakab Gipsz Posted at 2018-8-26 12:35
I saw a video that, when flying while doing the same stick combination as you start (arms down and out or in), it stops and turns off the engine. There is one end of the log when you push both arms down. If you get a little bit inward (or outward) then it may be that this was the reason. Falling Sparks fell in an interesting way, always descending in descent (I observed cases)

What happened to Spark? the battery did not fall off?

Attached a video link where this Power off occurs with just one push down on the left stick !

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-8-27 02:14
This had to be far more aggressive than what's seen in the video.
It had to be coordinated tight 180 degrees turn.... by coordinated I mean banked turn where you do fair amount of yaw, roll and some backwards pitch (to tighten the loop as much as possible) done suddenly in a moment while still having forward going inertia.

I've had a similar problem in sports mode - yaw errors etc & I wasn't flying aggressive.  The compass/IMU/GPS can't handle sports mode reliably with normal use. Sudden barometric changes also affect Spark.  I guess Spark is not programmed correctly in Sports mode - common problem?

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-8-27 02:14
This had to be far more aggressive than what's seen in the video.
It had to be coordinated tight 180 degrees turn.... by coordinated I mean banked turn where you do fair amount of yaw, roll and some backwards pitch (to tighten the loop as much as possible) done suddenly in a moment while still having forward going inertia.

what do you mean?

the flight log and video correspond to each other,

i started filming when i was in the air, you can work from the end of the video with the flight log to see whats going on.

what i dont understand is why is just fell from the sky.

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-27 08:10
what do you mean?

the flight log and video correspond to each other,

What happened to Spark, broke?
I think the battery has fallen off. This is what happened to me a few days ago:

I took it up to 102m high, filmed a panorama around it, and then I started descending. I thought it was too slow, so I switched to Sports mode. 2 seconds later, the connection was disconnected, the motors stopped and the Spark 98m high fell with free fall. God's happiness happened! It fell under the grass under soft soil and the Propeller defenders (which I printed with a 3D printer) broke but they defended the bird. I examined it thoroughly and did not even scratch a small scratch. At present it is able to operate.
However, its battery was found 5 to 6 meters away and was still on (lit). I have come to the conclusion that what has happened with many Sparks has come to an end: the vibrations were released and the battery came down. This is a weak point in Spark's design.
3D I printed a battery clamp (5 grams) so it would never happen again because I will not be so lucky again.

Jakab Gipsz Posted at 2018-8-27 12:07
What happened to Spark, broke?
I think the battery has fallen off. This is what happened to me a few days ago:

yes  all motors are broken

I saw it come down, and i didnt see battery fall out but  when i got to the crash site, the battery was out beside it

i have requested a dji service so hopefully it comes back a pilot error because i dont feel i did anything wrong . as you can see from the log, the drone was very erractic even before it went into ATTI mode which is quite strange.

Jakab Gipsz Posted at 2018-8-27 12:07
What happened to Spark, broke?
I think the battery has fallen off. This is what happened to me a few days ago:

what do you think the outcome will be with dji???

Did you have Care Refresh? Or any other insurance? While it seems to me to be a Spark fault, it is reassuring to be insured.

How old was your Spark? The earlier ones had a smaller battery clip which was apparently made the battery more prone to falling out mid flight.

Good luck with your warranty claim.

S.J Posted at 2018-8-27 05:55
Attached a video link where this Power off occurs with just one push down on the left stick !

https://youtu.be/HVlCA04YDlQ

The propellers stopped but, power did not turn off. You can clearly see that the LEDs are still on.

In any case have you tired to reproduce this?

molleman1 Posted at 2018-8-27 08:10
what do you mean?

the flight log and video correspond to each other,

I meant to say that your flying was not aggressive enough to cause this course of events (yaw error, gps loss, atti mod, speed error...) as some other people suggested. My very wild guess is either battery brown/black out or battery disconnect.

marlowe Posted at 2018-8-27 15:18
The propellers stopped but, power did not turn off. You can clearly see that the LEDs are still on.

In any case have you tired to reproduce this?

Seriously it is the case.  U can shut off the motors with one joystick movement downwards !

S.J Posted at 2018-8-28 08:19
Seriously it is the case.  U can shut off the motors with one joystick movement downwards !

I did not say otherwise. What you said was not correct, "...where this Power off occurs with just one push down on the left stick !"

The motors do stop, but the Spark power does not turn off.

DJI Gamora Posted at 2018-8-26 06:22
HI, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sorry about what happened recently with your DJI Spark. I strongly suggest sending in the aircraft for evaluation of what happened during that flight. Kindly click the link provided below to fill out the form to create a ticket. Thank you.

Online Repair Request

Hi ,
I have sent in my drone for inspection but I am still waiting .

Any idea how long it should take

CAS-2169211-F0H3R2

The above is my case number

I just got my Spark back. I sent it 20.8. to the Netherlands and yesterday 3.9. it came back to Finland.

molleman1 Posted at 2018-9-4 03:17
Hi ,
I have sent in my drone for inspection but I am still waiting .

I totally understand how important this is for you, however, as of now good thing you were able to send the drone already, with regards to the status of it as of now, I would highly suggest you to kindly wait for the email notification since only the repair team can provide you the status of the repair process. Be needing more patience from you regarding this and we hope for your understanding.