maybe it's already be communicated and discussed and i just didn't see it, it's a big deal so i wanna bring it up.

there is a feature in the software that shuts down the props when a battery hits 10%. the software kills the props mid air. the auto land sequence doesn't kick in. the inspire doesn't just land softly, the props just turn off and cannot be restarted below the 10% level. people are getting battery readings from above 50% and then instantly drop to 3%, below the automatic shut down level and causes a crash. this 50% or above reading to 3% instantly is a in-accurate reading and even if it were ture there is penty of power at 2% to land the inspire safley.

you guys need to remove this feature all together. we should be able to fly the batterys down to zero percent if we want. not turn the props off at 200 ft at 10% and still have power transmit data and a camera feed, run the gimbal and lights and record the crash. if the props stop that means there is no power left to transmit the data, ya dig?

the software does not allow the motors to be started below 10%. i know this is desgined to save battery life but it's pretty stupid if it crashes inspires, which usually destroyes the battery anyway.

next update this problem better be solved.

I have not seen nor encountered this "feature".

The problem of sudden loss of power from 50% to below 10% ...
Batteries that has been stored for some days tend to act like this!
This is avoided if you make sure to charge your batteries pre flight.
If the battery is above 95% you need to turn the battery ON to charge it to 100%.

This problem might have been fixed with the latest update.

Any ways ... One of my batteries had this issue ... but it seams to be working OK now as I make sure to charge it pre flight.

I agree that there is no logic to turn the bird OFF at 10% ...
Logic says 10% power left ... not 0%.
And also no logic in turning of the bird in mid air just to save the battery cells ... as this probably causes the bird itself to be crashed and as we know it costs a little more to repair the bird then to buy a new battery.

How ever ... logic also says ... make sure you are able to land around 30% just to be on the safe side ...

Once 30% hits, I start to bring it in to land.  Higher if further away.
Never had a problem.  If it gets to 10% then you are just taking risks you shouldn't be taking.

I have not experienced this feature and I don't think it exists...I have tested and flown my batteries under 10% and have perfectly landed. The Inspire will NEVER shut off the motors until the battery can no longer supply sufficient power.

I have flown over 30 flights never had this issue, in fact when I get my first warning 30% I bring her home straight away  if you continue to fly away from the home point not watching where you  are then you are asking from problems... Do you really,expect DJI to respond to your rant....!!!
Post your flight from the Pilot App if you have a real problem then yes Admin will respod

"I have not experienced this feature and I don't think it exists..."
It is real, if you would like to test it, try this...

Sudden drop off and cut off phenomena instructions.

Step 1 - Store battery at 40% for 3 or 4 days.
Step 2 - Take off and fly at 1 meter, at more 33-37% you will get a low battery warning , and shortly thereafter the charge % will suddenly drop to 7-8%.  Shortly after that with about 7% still showing, the power to the A/C will shut down.


EDITED BELOW with added comments.
After trying this, please give us your impressions of the event, that by the way, is in complete compliance with DJI's written instructions.
BTW, if you take off with full batteries, or "re-fly" partially charged batteries that have not sat long enough to transition to the low powered state, you can fly them down to 0% wtihout the  7% cutoff occuring.
----
I was wrong about this being in compliance.  (as pointed out in the other forum.)

[size=14.6666669845581px]Page 49 of the user manual, item 1 (emphasis added) .:

[size=14.6666669845581px]Preflight Checklist

[size=14.6666669845581px]1.Remote controller, [size=14.6666669845581px]aircraft battery[size=14.6666669845581px], and mobile device are fully charged.
[size=14.6666669845581px]2.Propellers are mounted correctly and firmly.
[size=14.6666669845581px]3.Micro-SD card has been inserted if necessary.
[size=14.6666669845581px]4.Gimbal is functioning as normal.
[size=14.6666669845581px]5.Motors can start and are functioning as normal.
[size=14.6666669845581px]6.DJI Pilot app connected to the aircraft.

This is NOT true at all there is no such "feature" i can let my inspire fly all the way to 0% for another 70 seconds before the props stop. the props stop automatically when each individual cell drops below 3.0 volts that i noticed but that happens on my battery at 0% + 70-90 seconds

I agree.  This shouldn't be confused with the sudden drop in battery level bug.  

Are you 100% sure this isn't what you're referring to?

arunmehta Posted at 2015-6-7 10:00
This is NOT true at all there is no such "feature" i can let my inspire fly all the way to 0% for an ...

which firmware version you was using to testing this? I just tried two days ago with the newest firmware, my bird was around 30cm height on ground, once the battery sudden drop to 7% from 13%, the app show me a message of battery critical low, and auto landing. The landing seems not smooth (maybe it auto killed all motors' power). After landing, I cannot start motor anymore since the battery was only 7% left over.

healbunny Posted at 2015-6-8 01:03
which firmware version you was using to testing this? I just tried two days ago with the newest fi ...

after 10% my inspire tries to land i kept it in the air( by pressing forward the altitude stik ).............. about 6 inches above ground ....................and it ran for 90 seconds AFTER 0% it is the LATEST firtmware i am running ipad 2 air (you have to press cancel also when it tries to land at critical level

i tested this in my back yard, i flew my inspire 1 ft off the ground right over the home point. as soon as the battery went from 11 to 10% the props instantly shut off and the inspire fell to the ground, luckily i was only 1 foot so no damaged was cause,  the auto land sequence did not work, the inspire did not land it's self gently, it fell.  will all inspires do this? probably not because off all the firmware updates, 2 operation systems and endless types of devices running the app.

the dji pilot app should not have the ability to kill the props for any reason. it needs to be removed.

Shadrack Posted at 2015-6-7 04:26
Once 30% hits, I start to bring it in to land.  Higher if further away.
Never had a problem.  If it  ...

I take it a step further just to be safe.
I always plan on landing when I hit 30%
And always - ALWAYS - take off fully charged

thetravguy Posted at 2015-6-8 06:08
the dji pilot app should not have the ability to kill the props for any reason. it needs to be removed.

Not that it makes much of a difference but I do not believe the app is what's shutting off the motors.  I believe it is the internal logic of the Inspire itself in communication with the battery firmware, or it is the battery firmware shutting off the battery.  I agree that if the aircraft is at altitude as determined by GPS or VPS or altimeter the battery should not shut off until it is completely depleted even if it results in damage to the battery.  Far better to damage a $200 battery than a $3,000 aircraft.

Why would you fly at 200ft with a low battery thinking you could make it back safely even on 10% battery?
Besides you can adjust the low and critical values if needed... Dji don't change the feature please it does work as specified if you know how it's designed to work and pay close attention to your battery levels !

Shadrack Posted at 2015-6-7 04:26
Once 30% hits, I start to bring it in to land.  Higher if further away.
Never had a problem.  If it  ...

Exactly ! 30% depending where I'm at , altitude and distance ...
People think the inspire will just make all the decisions and corrections for them.
Read and understand before you fly !  Running your batteries down low or to minimum in flight is asking for
Disaster and a destroyed bird.

Maybe you have a software bug in your bird. Mine absolutely does not exhibit this behavior. I'm on the latest firmware, both batteries updated. No problems with any of the updates. Usually fly with my Iphone 6.

I have my first low battery warning set at 30%, critical at 10%. When I hit 30% I will get the warning and beep. If it's outside the minimum battery required to get back to the home point, it will initiate a RTH, which you can cancel. When it hits 10%, it will autoland. I've tested this a number of times with both batteries. Never has it done anything other than autoland when it hits the 10% critical battery level.

I have not tested flying with batteries stored at 30-40% for several days, as I'm not interested in that scenario. I charge my batteries to 100% before flying. However, I have landed and taken breaks on a number of occasions before relaunching with the same battery with no problems. It's not necessary to fly a battery to your endpoint in one flight, but if you are going to store it overnight or longer, you should definitely charge to 100% before the next flight.

When prompted to run my batteries to 5% or less at the 10 charge interval, I fly it down to the 10% or so, then idle, throttle up a bit, run the motors down until it shut off, which is 0% in the batteries logic. Recharge to 100%, then good to go. So far, knock on wood, with way over 100 flights, never had a problem.  

woodielb@xmissi Posted at 2015-6-9 01:30
Maybe you have a software bug in your bird. Mine absolutely does not exhibit this behavior. I'm on t ...

That's where my head goes as well.  I've had the same experience as you, woodielb.  Many flights and no troubles.  However, I've repeatedly seen disastrous problems posted by people who had tons of successful flights with no indication of a problem and then suddenly their aircraft did something completely unexpected.  Those people typically post with "I thought these reports were BS until this happened to me."

These are extremely complex systems with different software applications running simultaneously and interactively.  The idea that there could be obscure bugs that under just the wrong circumstances can lead to a disastrous result is quite reasonable.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-6-9 01:38
That's where my head goes as well.  I've had the same experience as you, woodielb.  Many flights a ...

There isn't a lot of those reports though.  As a percentage of overall sales, I would be curious as to the actual percentage.

Shadrack Posted at 2015-6-9 01:57
There isn't a lot of those reports though.  As a percentage of overall sales, I would be curious a ...

No, I agree - as a percentage of overall sales it doesn't look as though there are tons of these events.  But there's a significant number, including with highly experienced operators and complete with playbacks of the flight event in the app where the malfunction is clearly apparent in the app.  Several things could account of it.  Obscure software bugs are a notorious problem in complex systems.  Since they are only triggered when a specific set of parameters exists, they will only be seen by people who unwittingly become subject to those parameters.  Alternatively it could be a manufacturing QC problem in which a certain number of aircraft have one or more manufacturing defects, leading to failures.

And I completely agree that there's likely to be no shortage of at-fault accidents.

I just don't want to be quick to dismiss those who assert that they were doing everything right and the aircraft suddenly did something completely looney, especially when they can play back the flight record in the app and we can see it for ourselves.

thetravguy Posted at 2015-6-8 06:08
i tested this in my back yard, i flew my inspire 1 ft off the ground right over the home point. as s ...

Can you post some picts or video of this happening

kelleyre@gmail. Posted at 2015-6-9 04:05
Can you post some picts or video of this happening

Here's a video transplanted from another thread showing it happening for real, resulting in a crash:



Note how it starts with a nominal full charge (94%), appears to be normal operation through 50%, then suddenly drops to 7%.  Then watch carefully at how quickly it unwinds from there.  Even with the operator deciding not to return home and applying full down stick it reaches 0% at 20m elevation, shuts off and free-falls to the ground.


The thread this came from is here: http://forum.dji.com/thread-19602-1-1.html