Just have a look.

Yet another pilot lost his drone, because of flying close to water, and the downwards sensors decided to dive the drone into water.

Me personally never had the problem because I always disable it in Go 4 and duct tape it with Fly.

But duct taping? Forcing the user to duct tape the sensor to avoid crash into water when they need to take some low altitude vista shots over the lakes?

Literally what's wrong with the dude who made this decision?

Why not give us the option to disable downwards sensors? Just like any other DJI Go 4 drones?

This arrogant kind of attitude really annoyed me a lot!

How many drones do you want to drown in the water, DJI?

There were already so many posts about people losing their minis, their airs, into the water, simply because the lack of such stupid switch!

Do you understand that even if you block people from turning the thing off when they needed, they can still duct tape your sensors? Safety is never the reason for such stupid mistakes!

And he's not "any other pilot". He's a licensed pilot, a professional drone youtuber with 151k followers. If people like him can crash their drones due to the VPS, what about the 99.9% of normal users?

Cmon DJI stop ruining lake trips!

And other cases that you need to disable the downwards sensor:
1. Landing on a yacht or boat. If you don't give the user this option to switch the sensors off, it can be EXTREMELY HARD AND FRUSTRATING for user to land their drone in one piece. Because a yacht is always swaying, and it's very difficult to provide a stable platform unless you go for hand catching. In such case it's absolutely a must to be able to turn off the downwards sensors otherwise the drone would not keep itself stable.

2. Trying to do a fly-over shot close to the ground while being completely knowing the position of the drone. In this case if you were flying at 0.5m and some obstacle is 0.3m high, your drone would bump up 0.3 m to 0.8m, ruining a very smooth shot.

Hello there FriedChicken_II. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing this video and these information with us. I will cascade this information to the designated DJI department for further attention. Thank you.

Or perhaps it was lost because his screen dimmed out and he couldn't see it,  possible due to the forced phone charging change that they launched on iPhone a while back.

Yet another pilot lost his drone, because of flying close to water, and  the downwards sensors decided to dive the drone into water.

You really need tro learn a lot more about how these drones work before you make a fool of yourself.
His sensors did not make his drone dive into the water.
They could not do that, it's not how they work, no matter how many misinformed people suggest such things.
Show me the flight data form one incident where this happened.
You won't be able to because it never has.

He flew his drone into the lake because of a lack of situational awareness.
It was his fingers on the left joystick that did it.
Don't contribute the misinformation.

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-1 21:24
And he's not "any other pilot". He's a licensed pilot, a professional drone youtuber with 151k followers. If people like him can crash their drones due to the VPS, what about the 99.9% of normal users?

Cmon DJI stop ruining lake trips!

And he's not "any other pilot". He's a licensed pilot, a professional drone youtuber with 151k followers. If people like him can crash their drones due to the VPS, what about the 99.9% of normal users?

Is that the standard that identifies someone that knows what they are talking about?
Unfortunately it isn't.
There are plenty of youtube people with high numbers of "followers" that have very little idea and spread misinformation with their videos.
There was one a month or two back who couldn't even tell which way the wind was blowing, flew a mile downwind and blamed DJI when he had difficulty flying back against a headwind.
There's another who regularly posts here who spreads myths and misinformation about compass calibration and other topics.
Try to explain facts to him and you get a very nasty response back.
These people just care about getting clicks, rather than knowing and understanding drones.

And if you listened to this particular one guessing what might have caused his incident, it's clear that he knows very little about how drones work.
His suggestions of possible causes included several that were nonsense.

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:34
Or perhaps it was lost because his screen dimmed out and he couldn't see it,  possible due to the forced phone charging change that they launched on iPhone a while back.

Or perhaps it was lost because his screen dimmed out and he couldn't see it,  possible due to the forced phone charging change that they launched on iPhone a while back.
Losing your screen (a common Apple problem each summer) doesn't cause a drone to lose altitude or cause you to push the left stick down.

DJI Stephen Posted at 8-1 21:39
Hello there FriedChicken_II. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing this video and these information with us. I will cascade this information to the designated DJI department for further attention. Thank you.

I will cascade this information to the designated DJI department for further attention.
What actually happens to the hundreds of things you "cascade to the designated DJI department for further attention".
Wouldn't it be better to just stay silent rather than copying and pasting that platitude all the time?

Labroides Posted at 8-2 00:01
Or perhaps it was lost because his screen dimmed out and he couldn't see it,  possible due to the forced phone charging change that they launched on iPhone a while back.
Losing your screen (a common Apple problem each summer) doesn't cause a drone to lose altitude ar cause you to push the left stick down.

Agreed,  but its where it starting going down hill,  and the last change to force charging on the iPhone certainly caused enough screens to dim much faster than Ive ever had before.

Labroides Posted at 8-1 23:53
Yet another pilot lost his drone, because of flying close to water, and  the downwards sensors decided to dive the drone into water.

You really need tro learn a lot more about how these drones work before you make a fool of yourself.

In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash. Maybe you should have a look first?


Cropped from the video. 0.1s, 8 feet of height drop? That's a 80feet/second descend speed! DJI drones don't work like that.

We all know that Air 2S drops at ~20feet/second.

Let alone the data provided by IMU and VPS differed from each other so much.

The altitude dropping rate provided by IMU was about 3feet/s. Absolutely instant brake if he released the stick. At the moment of this drop, his stick input has been released for a while. The IMU height also proved that: after the input stopped, the IMU height don't change anymore.

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-2 03:13
In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash. Maybe you should have a look first?
[view_image]

In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash.  Maybe you should have a look first?
What makes you so sure that I haven't?
If you knew anything about the different sources or altitude data, you'd realise that it's normal for them to show different heights.
You'd also realis that the VPS cannot be relied on over water or reflective surfaces.
That doesn't absolve the flyer from responsibility.

Cropped from the video. 0.1s, 8 feet of height drop? That's a 80feet/second descend speed! DJI drones don't work like that.
We all know that Air 2S drops at ~20feet/second.
Let alone the data provided by IMU and VPS differed from each other so much.
And people who understand flight data realise that you cannot rely on the numbers you are believing.
It helps to know which data is reliable and ignore that which is not.

The altitude dropping rate provided by IMU was about 3feet/s. Absolutely instant brake if he released the stick. At the moment of this drop, his stick input has been released for a while. The IMU height also proved that: after the input stopped, the IMU height don't change anymore.
What makes you so sure he released the sticks?
Have you seen his data to confirm that's what happened?
I think you'll find that he flew it into the water.

Labroides Posted at 8-2 04:42
In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash.  Maybe you should have a look first?
What makes you so sure that I haven't?
If you knew anything about the different sources or altitude data, you'd realise that it's normal for them to show different heights.

Yes, the moment that the VPS dropped to 0.x feet, he has released the sticks long enough to stop the descending. The video showed the virtual stick with the time stamps.

I do understand that VPS is not reliable in such case. And that's exactly the reason that we want it disabled in such situation.

Labroides Posted at 8-2 04:42
In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash.  Maybe you should have a look first?
What makes you so sure that I haven't?
If you knew anything about the different sources or altitude data, you'd realise that it's normal for them to show different heights.

Here is 51drones flightlog.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/HF91D8HNCR3RCY2EXNQ5/

Pleomax Posted at 8-2 06:45
Here is 51drones flightlog.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/HF91D8HNCR3RCY2EXNQ5/

Hi,

Had a look at this log as well. (and the video ofcourse)

Last part of the flight ; when VPS height started to measure again, see chart.
at 1m2.9s > BARO height 8.7 and VPS height 6.2D  (difference 2.5 meter)
Descending due to down stick
Both heights decreasing.
at 1m4s BARO h 5.3 and VPS h 2.8  (difference 2.5 meter) [ so VPS height is oke measuring that time)

next part of the flight MA2 steady flying at 5.2 meter BARO height, VPS steady as well.

At 1m28s apporx 50% down stick ; thus craft closing to get wet.
VPS height doesn`t show height during descend, bad reflecting signals i guess.

Last record at 1m30.4 ; VPS h indicates now 0.3 meter and pitch roll angles drones huge, so impact time.
Vertical speed with 50% down stick at max 1.6 m/s.After releasing down stick, vertical speed in approx 1 second to reach zero value, but ofcourse still descending during this.
And reached water at Baro height 2.3, wich is a true value, see the difference before between the 2 heights.


BAD that DJI fly app does not show the VPS height on the screen!  and mayby sound an alert if lower that user choosen value!

I fly alot over water (low), imo no need to disbale VPS height bottom sensor, this sensor gets only confused flying low over streaming water.If the reflections are worse, than no value in the log (depending i you use AIRDATA or PH). BUT this will not bring the craft down!

Only when the bottom sensors measures a value of 0.5 meter (false or true measurement), than with short moment of max down input drone will enter into a forcelanding.Nasty feature bc craft will go down even in the user releases all the sticks. Only 100% UP will cancel this automated landing.

I agree with you that the user must have an option to disable the bottom sensor;1) flying in misty cloudy weather ; VPS height false height readings, if 0.5 is measured false that always into forcedlanding (real slow) to get the drone down!
2) flying low over objects (top of trees ect)m same as above, VPS measures 0.5 now for true value and again  into landing somentimes.....

cheers
JJB

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-2 06:28
Yes, the moment that the VPS dropped to 0.x feet, he has released the sticks long enough to stop the descending. The video showed the virtual stick with the time stamps.

I do understand that VPS is not reliable in such case. And that's exactly the reason that we want it disabled in such situation.

Now that you can see his flight data, you can also see that he flew the drone into the water.
That's what happens when you are flying fast and pull the left stick downwards.

Now what was that about the downwards sensors decided to dive the drone into water?

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-2 03:13
In his video it's very clear that the flight data showed a wrong VPS height against the IMU altitude right before the crash. Maybe you should have a look first?
[view_image]

Hi,

do you know that the the VPS height value will show the last value in the log when signal reflectings are bad ??

Fly low and climb out of the range of the bottom sensor, check the log and notice that the last value is copied every next record until in gets into range and measuring again ?

BTW there is a difference how AIRDATA and PH show these values....

cheers
JJB

Labroides Posted at 8-2 07:29
Now that you can see his flight data, you can also see that he flew the drone into the water.
That's what happens when you are flying fast and pull the left stick downwards.

Hmm I don't know if you had the experience but I do encountered a few times that the drone followed the VPS to go low when flying over stages low.

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-2 07:58
Hmm I don't know if you had the experience but I do encountered a few times that the drone followed the VPS to go low when flying over stages low.

I don't know what relevance that has.
(I also doubt your interpretation of the incident).
His flight data clearly shows him pulling the left stick down and holding it there until the drone went splash.

Labroides Posted at 8-2 15:41
I don't know what relevance that has.
(I also doubt your interpretation of the incident).
His flight data clearly shows him pulling the left stick down and holding it there until the drone went splash.

Now check this one:
https://app.airdata.com/share/XeSMeO/GENERAL

https://www.reddit.com/r/drones/ ... ly_4_days_may_nemo/

What do you think about this? He hovered the drone for absolutely multiple seconds, and without an input the drone chose to dive into the lake. And the flight log showed a strong relationship between the VMU change and the drone's dive action.

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-10 06:41
Now check this one:
https://app.airdata.com/share/XeSMeO/GENERAL

No mystery here. Pilot flew into lake just like 51Drones. Pilot error.
Uploaded pics show last 1.5 secs of flight data. Full throttle, - 0.7m altitude, 116.2m from home point.

Pleomax Posted at 8-10 08:53
No mystery here. Pilot flew into lake just like 51Drones. Pilot error.
Uploaded pics show last 1.5 secs of flight data. Full throttle, - 0.7m altitude, 116.2m from home point.
[view_image]

he wasnt even touching the left stick before the impact

Pleomax Posted at 8-10 08:53
No mystery here. Pilot flew into lake just like 51Drones. Pilot error.
Uploaded pics show last 1.5 secs of flight data. Full throttle, - 0.7m altitude, 116.2m from home point.
[view_image]

You better double check his video and the flight log.

Yes, he did descend the drone, but his inputs of descending stopped much earlier before the crash.


At 875s, he stopped the throttle commands (rc_throttle = 1024 = no input). The drone is now hovering above water close, but not close enough to hit the water. Z speed now is zero or close to zero. RC_Throttle kept at 1024 until the last record. Z speed changed a lot though it was 0 when he stopped descending.

Seconds later, because he's now flying forward again, even though he didn't make a throttle input, the drone kept descending for seconds contributing to a Z speed that shouldn't be there.

It's the drone dived into water, not he's command.

FriedChicken_II Posted at 8-10 06:41
Now check this one:
https://app.airdata.com/share/XeSMeO/GENERAL

Finding a part of the flight where he was hovering, I see that from 653.2 sec he left the drone hovering for 32 seconds.
Over that time the altitude varied between 9.8 & 16.8 ft.
The VPS height (from VPS sensors) matches this altitude  (from barometric sensor) perfectly..

This is a pretty good indication that his drone had poor vertical stability to start with and that the VPS height data was good..

Towards the end of the flight went hands-off from flying forward at full speed from 875.6 seconds.
As the drone slowed to a stop its altitude rose from -5.9 ft to -1 ft and then lowered to -2.3 ft.
At 879.7sec, with the drone very close to water level, he applied full right stick for 1.4 seconds and the drone continued descending into the water.

I don't know how calm the water surface was or if wave height might have been a factor.
I don't see a problem caused by VPS sensors.
I do see a problem flying close to the water's surface with a drone that had difficulty holding altitude.

Hi all, maybe someone could guide me: I have a drone DJI Mavic Air 2. And I am a new at this.

I flew it 3-4 months ago 5 times in the desert in UAE without any problems - just basic movements, up, down, sides, forward and backward. It didn't fall, didn't crush, didn't give me any warnings.

Now I went for a summer vacation to Belarus and took it with me. I really wanted to practice here, as in UAE a lot of areas are not allowed to fly it in. Second week trying to get it to fly.

First was an error: Gimbal IMU data error. Code 40021.

I switch it on, try to switch modes on DJI Fly, and then suddenly front view goes black, I can't see the camera view, and even card is not showing properly, can't format it... I replaced the card, issue didn't go away.

And then today I've got the front view, was happy that it might actually work and then got another Error: Downward vision sensor error. (Code: 180016 and 180017).

P.S. My warranty is still valid, so worst case scenario after my return after 1 month I would go to the shop where I bought it and try to exchange it. But anything can be done here by myself? As I bought drone not in Belarus, so I doubt in my small town I will be able to find DJI Support for assistance.

HELP!