A few days ago, I noticed during a flight that my Air 2S was gaining altitude at about 5mph. I found that if I turned off OA, it stayed at relatively the same altitude for the remainder of the flight.

Today, I did a calibration of the OA sensors with DJI Assistant and went for a test flight. The problem still exists. Can anybody help me determine if this is something I can fix on my own? I don't really want to send it in since I don't have Care Refresh on this one.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/11KQ1OVAZ7HE0EG0L34S

Here is a test flight after firmware update and all other calibrations. As well as cleaning of the sensors and flying at a higher temperature outside.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/7M47L9CFKRXJKYW65OLX

Hi, blue_canyon21. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the inconvenience. Is there any obstacle in the flight environment?  In addition, what is the obstacle avoidance action you set? Please provide a screenshot or video showing the operation and issue to double-check it. Thank you for your cooperation.

Try your return to home feature.  My Air 2 is doing something very similar.  Automated RTH gains altitude till it hits max allowable, then stalls.  Only reason I suggest trying this is to be sure your RTH works in the event you experience something unplanned and need the feature to work.  Good luck, ill be following this closely.

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-17 22:00
Hi, blue_canyon21. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the inconvenience. Is there any obstacle in the flight environment?  In addition, what is the obstacle avoidance action you set? Please provide a screenshot or video showing the operation and issue to double-check it. Thank you for your cooperation.

Hi Gamora,
Thanks for your response. No, there aren't any obstacles in the environment. This happens well above any structures or trees. The OA action is set to Bypass.

Below is a test flight I did this morning:

https://despain.me/Screen_Recording_20221119_090810.mp4

0:12 - Takeoff. Notice that the drone slows quite a bit just after takeoff. My MA2 doesn't do this but I've just figured that it is supposed to do this.
0:23 - I've noticed that in the last few days, I've also been getting the 'No GPS' notification more than usual. I don't get this on my MA2.
0:25 - I take it up to 125 feet and start heading to the south in Normal mode.
0:30 - Almost immediately after the drone starts moving horizontally, the altitude begins to rise without me touching the stick. The drone seems to be flying very unstable as well.
1:11 - After turning around, I turn OA off. The rest of the video is smooth and level flight.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/0Z8CZCHOXV3SX21FJRQ6

Chris Kaye Posted at 11-18 07:36
Try your return to home feature.  My Air 2 is doing something very similar.  Automated RTH gains altitude till it hits max allowable, then stalls.  Only reason I suggest trying this is to be sure your RTH works in the event you experience something unplanned and need the feature to work.  Good luck, ill be following this closely.

Thanks for the tip, I tried RTH and it works as expected.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-19 09:22
Hi Gamora,
Thanks for your response. No, there aren't any obstacles in the environment. This happens well above any structures or trees. The OA action is set to Bypass.

Hi,

It looks like DJI smoothed out the OA braking....

Normally seeing an obstacle (or false obstacle) drone will brake, gain height, go forward again ect ect.
Shown as a height line with 90 degrees steps.

Your height line is really smooth.

Flying into the sun gives false reading on the OA.

See my chart of your data : blue height line is yellow = gain height without RC up input, red = loosing height without input.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 11-19 09:45
Hi,

It looks like DJI smoothed out the OA braking....

The sun was my first thought too. However, the drone still climbs even when flying away from the sun and even at night.

JJB* Posted at 11-19 09:45
Hi,

It looks like DJI smoothed out the OA braking....

Here is another test flight. This time, I made sure the sun was well behind the drone.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/5IZ6H3BZGLX4GTVQ1IKI

Post a screen recording if you will.

Mobilehomer Posted at 11-19 11:59
Post a screen recording if you will.

Sorry, my phone didn't record the most recent test flight even though it said it was.

I have screen recording of the issue in the 6th comment though.

I, personally, have never seen that with my 2S. It will rise if 3 feet of the ground due to OA. I would open a case with DJI warranty. It should not be rising at that altitude. Watching the screen recording, then the PhantomHelp info, there was no pilot input on the elevator.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-19 11:55
Here is another test flight. This time, I made sure the sun was well behind the drone.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/5IZ6H3BZGLX4GTVQ1IKI

Hi,

Look at the vertical speed line, fluctuates...Must  be an OA sensor in error.
cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 11-19 12:55
Hi,

Look at the vertical speed line, fluctuates...Must  be an OA sensor in error.

Is there a way to diagnose and/or fix that without sending it in?

I wouldn't think so. If it is a warranty, and I believe it is, You should get your new drone in about a week to ten days. The depot is in Texas.

Mobilehomer Posted at 11-19 14:13
I wouldn't think so. If it is a warranty, and I believe it is, You should get your new drone in about a week to ten days. The depot is in Texas.

Unfortunately, it is about 2 months out of warranty.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-19 14:40
Unfortunately, it is about 2 months out of warranty.

It sounds like you've already done the diagnosis back in your first post.
This only happens when obstacle avoidance is enabled and goes away when OA is active.
The issue is caused by obstacle avoidance.

Labroides Posted at 11-19 15:35
It sounds like you've already done the diagnosis back in your first post.
This only happens when obstacle avoidance is enabled and goes away when OA is active.
The issue is caused by obstacle avoidance.

Yeah, in my first post, I asked if anybody knew if I could fix this on my own or if I would have to send it in. So far, I've just gotten a few people verifying that it is an OA sensor issue.

I contacted DJI support today and will be sending it in.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-19 09:22
Hi Gamora,
Thanks for your response. No, there aren't any obstacles in the environment. This happens well above any structures or trees. The OA action is set to Bypass.

Hello, blue_canyon21. Thank you for these information and for providing an update about sending in your unit. It's a great decision so that they can diagnose the issue properly. Thank you for your valued support.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-19 15:45
Yeah, in my first post, I asked if anybody knew if I could fix this on my own or if I would have to send it in. So far, I've just gotten a few people verifying that it is an OA sensor issue.

I contacted DJI support today and will be sending it in.

Let us know what DJI says once they analyze your drone.  I was having similar issues but it would just keep climbing, and climbing till it hit max height.  I have recalibrated the OA sensors about 6 times.  This last time (yesterday) I flew out about 3000 feet, hit RTH and it actually worked perfectly.  Hopefully DJI can give you a good factory re-calibration and it will be good to go with minimal cost.   I can see the possibility of a future firmware update coming, I mean my drone never tried to avoid the sun before, now I think it does.  They got the sensitivity way to high.  Good luck.

Chris Kaye Posted at 11-21 05:04
Let us know what DJI says once they analyze your drone.  I was having similar issues but it would just keep climbing, and climbing till it hit max height.  I have recalibrated the OA sensors about 6 times.  This last time (yesterday) I flew out about 3000 feet, hit RTH and it actually worked perfectly.  Hopefully DJI can give you a good factory re-calibration and it will be good to go with minimal cost.   I can see the possibility of a future firmware update coming, I mean my drone never tried to avoid the sun before, now I think it does.  They got the sensitivity way to high.  Good luck.

I mean my drone never tried to avoid the sun before, now I think it does.  
It's a commonly reported issue.

So, some new developments:

I took my MA2 out yesterday to fly around and noticed that it was doing the same thing... but not as badly. Upon coming back in and complaining to my wife that now my second drone is having issues, she pointed out that I had updated the app from 1.7.8 to 1.8.0 before the A2S started having the issue.

So, I downgraded to 1.7.8 this morning and went out for a flight. I'm happy to report that the drone no longer climbs unless I tell it to. However, it does still brake like a teenager learning to drive stick. In the log below, I had OA on between 5:48 and 6:12. The drone was pointing away from the sun during that time.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/7M38M8DGKQZKLXY76NMZ

Another issue that has arisen is that my MA2 seems to slow down by about 2mph. In the log below, the drone moves at 26.7mph with OA off and 24.6mph with OA on. Is that normal? I rarely turn OA off so I've never noticed a difference.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/39O29T767BTA7IRXT8GP

Labroides Posted at 11-21 05:11
I mean my drone never tried to avoid the sun before, now I think it does.  
It's a commonly reported issue.

My MA2 tries to avoid the sun all the time!

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-22 09:00
So, some new developments:

I took my MA2 out yesterday to fly around and noticed that it was doing the same thing... but not as badly. Upon coming back in and complaining to my wife that now my second drone is having issues, she pointed out that I had updated the app from 1.7.8 to 1.8.0 before the A2S started having the issue.

Hi,

In your first log flightmode all the P-GPS all flight. so no change in mode between 5.48 and 6.12
But indeed braking (speed reducing) many many times! but also lot of yaw inputs, so mnay not braking for obstacles, see chart2

Second log, see tha chart.
Did you know that with full forward speed, the speed is reduced a lot applying yaw input ?
Check the chart to see this.
AFAIK the max speed is limited with APAS on, going to fast drone is not able to stop on time or change route on time approaching an obstacle.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 11-22 12:40
Hi,

In your first log flightmode all the P-GPS all flight. so no change in mode between 5.48 and 6.12

no change in mode between 5.48 and 6.12
Yeah, i didn't change the mode at all during that time. That's just a part of the log that a good clean example of the issue.

AFAIK the max speed is limited with APAS on, going to fast drone is not able to stop on time or change route on time approaching an obstacle.
After some research, I have found this to be true.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-23 14:11
no change in mode between 5.48 and 6.12
Yeah, i didn't change the mode at all during that time. That's just a part of the log that a good clean example of the issue.

oke, but you wrote "In the log below, I had OA on between 5:48 and 6:12"....

good example of what?  speed is reduced due to yaw input, wich in 'normal' for the latest firmware on DJI drone. Only yaw input and drone gets automatically roll too and speed reduction.

Glad that you find it is true....  ;-)


cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 11-24 00:44
oke, but you wrote "In the log below, I had OA on between 5:48 and 6:12"....

good example of what?  speed is reduced due to yaw input, wich in 'normal' for the latest firmware on DJI drone. Only yaw input and drone gets automatically roll too and speed reduction.

It's a good example of the unintentional breaking.

I'm aware that yaw input significantly reduces speed but between those times, the yaw wasn't touched and the GPS shows a perfectly straight flight path.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-24 21:00
It's a good example of the unintentional breaking.

I'm aware that yaw input significantly reduces speed but between those times, the yaw wasn't touched and the GPS shows a perfectly straight flight path.

do we look at the same flight?   upper chart post #25, see the yaw inputs.

JJB* Posted at 11-25 01:05
do we look at the same flight?   upper chart post #25, see the yaw inputs.

I'm guessing we are not.

In post #23, I referenced 2 flights. The first link is to my test flight with my A2S that shows no yaw input but lots of braking while flying in a straight line between 5:48 and 6:12. This is the lower chart in post #25. The link to this flight is https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/7M38M8DGKQZKLXY76NMZ/

The second flight I references was a test that I did with my MA2 demonstrating the difference in speed between OA on and OA off. After some direction from you and some additional research, I've figured this one out.

I am talking about the flight with the A2S. I believe you are looking at the one with the MA2.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 11-25 14:18
I'm guessing we are not.

In post #23, I referenced 2 flights. The first link is to my test flight with my A2S that shows no yaw input but lots of braking while flying in a straight line between 5:48 and 6:12. This is the lower chart in post #25. The link to this flight is https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/7M38M8DGKQZKLXY76NMZ/

Hi,

thanks, now looking at the correct log.
In my chart your OA braking, charts zoomed in between 5:47 and 6:13.

See also my typical OA braking behaviour. What i normally see in my logs and others...a steady full forward RC input = steady craft pitch down value = steady speed.
Braking action shows as rapid pitch up! (speed reduces, stick forward input still at same input)

Your data shows a different behaviour, cannot say if that is wrong or simply normal but different.

cheers
JJB

Well, here's an update:

• I made a case with DJI Repair on Nov. 19th.
• On Dec. 4th, I realized I hadn't received a shipping label so I got on the Customer Support Chat and asked for an update.
• On Dec. 5th, I received a shipping label.
• On Dec. 7th, I packed up the A2s and dropped the package off at UPS.
• On Dec. 12th, the package arived at DJI's repair facility in Texas.
• This morning (Dec. 14th), I got the damage assesment and quote.
  

According to the quote, the Downward Vision Module had "malfunctioned causing the aircraft to avoid obstacles in the wrong direction."

Cost is $20 for the module and $65 for the 'Repair Service Fee'.

I paid it this morning and it is now 'Under Repair'. Hopefully, it can be shipped back soon.

Overall, I'm pretty happy this experience so far.

Well, I received the package from DJI Service this morning.

As it would turn out, it's a new drone. Different serial and I had to connect it to my account.

And they returned the SD card that I forgot to remove from the old one.

blue_canyon21 Posted at 12-20 10:26
Well, I received the package from DJI Service this morning.

As it would turn out, it's a new drone. Different serial and I had to connect it to my account.

Many happy landings with your new drone
Too much work labour to replace that module, sending a new drone is cheaper for DJI.