Nigel_ Posted at 2016-10-7 10:40
"This means that bobmccracken1 is very likely correct, in that the river may not be in the same po ...

Yes, good point.

Nigel_ Posted at 2016-10-6 23:02
I think most people aren't giving an opinion because there isn't enough evidence.  Even the Health ...

The map shows land where now is much widened river. THis has happened due to significant storms that changed the cumbrian landscape (UK) last year

So the response from DJI so far....

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting DJI Support.

Our technician is unable to come to a conclusion with the information you have provided. Could you please tell us more about the circumstances you were flying in?
Were there any objects between you and the craft?
Did your craft have a gimbal protection board?
What were the weather circumstances?

Thank you for choosing DJI.

If anyone is interested in how badly our area was affected by the floods of 2015...
https://www.theguardian.com/envi ... emain-without-power

Here you go this is the shocking result I have hard from DJI........This is atrocious customer support. If the gimbal guard was a problem how come it just decided to be one! SHOCKING DJI JUST SHOCKING!!!!!!!

Thank you for contacting DJI Support.

Our technician has taken another look at your case. unfortunately we have to inform you your claim on warranty has been denied.
Our Vision Position System (VPS) which is attached on the bottom of the craft scans the area beneath him in order to let the craft know at what height he is flying. The VPS also helps when landing the craft. In this case the VPS was disorientated by the gimbal protection board. Because of the gimbal protection board the craft thought it  was on 0m height and when the pilot moved the craft down, it shut the motors off.

Thank you for choosing DJI.


Best regards,

DJI Support EU

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-10 08:36
Here you go this is the shocking result I have hard from DJI........This is atrocious customer suppo ...

I'm really sorry for this outcome, but there are many reports of crashes due to the gimbal guards. Obviosly its not your fault.  I knew about this, from this forum, not from any advise from DJI. DJI have to inform their customers by all ways possible about this FAST.

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-10 13:36
Here you go this is the shocking result I have hard from DJI........This is atrocious customer suppo ...

I dont follow, was the gaurd on when flying? or it thinks the gaurd was on? so confused.


EDIT i googled and found what may have been added to help protect the gimbal, but inadvertently caued the crash and a loss of a drone

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-10 13:36
Here you go this is the shocking result I have hard from DJI........This is atrocious customer suppo ...

Sorry to hear that, but assuming that there was an aftermarket gimbal guard fitted, the explanation does make sense.

It's not DJI's fault that you had obstructed it's view of the ground, or that it unfortunately fell in the river.  A warning of blocked vision would seem sensible but that's probably not easy as it may not be able to tell the difference between a gimbal guard and the ground, and height doesn't help since you may be flying up a hill at close to ground level.

I would blame the gimbal guard manufacturer since the product obviously wasn't fit for purpose, but getting compensation from them may not be easy - small claims court?  Trying may at least stop them selling any more.

spalding1968 Posted at 2016-10-3 06:07
Had mine for a month and I was nearly digging it out of the ground a couple of weeks ago.  it starte ...

was your drone spinning in a large circle or was it spinning like a top?

Bob.... so sorry that you lost your drone.  DJI issued a warning a while back that the Gimbal guard shouldn't be used because it causes problems with the VPS.  In your case, you said it had worked fine with the Gimbal Guard, so maybe recently you removed and replaced the guard?  If so, even a centimeter difference in placement could be the difference between interfering with the VPS or not.

Mabou2 Posted at 2016-10-10 20:52
Bob.... so sorry that you lost your drone.  DJI issued a warning a while back that the Gimbal guard  ...

Heres the thing the Gimbal guard has been used with the P4 all of its life until the moment it died. It had worked perfectly and I don't believe had the ability to move. I always do a bit of a check of the drone after take off that it raises and lowers and moves around. Lets also remember the flight was perfect in everyway no warnings or nothing. Also the height of the drone was perfectly displayed on the drone. This is a problem with the drone simple. I am going to hound DJI everyday. Remember the first report which included all the completed forms said they didn't know what happened. Then DJI change the goal posts and say oh sorry its all your fault. I watched all of DJIs tutorial videos and none of them led me to believe I was doing something wrong or using the incorrect equipment. DJI are trying to pull a fast one and I wont accept it. If I can persuade at least one person to bot buy a Phantom 4 then I will have succeeded in getting DJI to look at there customer service. I mean the signature of the response said "Thankyou for choosing DJI", what it should say is "Thankyou for choosing DJI but don't expect us to listen to any concerns or issues as long as we can keep selling units were happy". Right I need to start my youtube campaign!

It is pretty simple.  It is not DJI's fault.  

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-11 08:06
Heres the thing the Gimbal guard has been used with the P4 all of its life until the moment it die ...

Hi again Bob,  Understood.  I'm not arguing with you at all, nor am I being disrespectful.  I'm only trying to help. (and I feel bad for you losing your drone).  So, with all due respect.... From my perspective, you were using a piece of equipment (gimbal guard) that DJI warned us not to use, for the exact reasons that you expressed caused your crash.  It probably doesn't matter that your bird was fine one day and not the next.  It probably doesn't matter that the start of the flight checked out. (this could be somewhat akin to a driver saying that they always text safely when driving and it has never caused a crash so they are angry at the car company when they crashed their car).  What DOES matter is that you crashed while using an unauthorized piece of equipment, and you crashed under the exact parameters of expected erratic behavior when using said piece of unauthorized equipment.  Unless your gimbal guard was bolted in place, and unless you had some way to statistically know that this particular guard had absolutely no effect on the VPS, this is pilot error.  It could be that the simple vibration of multiple flights (or a simple bump when packing things away) eventually moved that guard a few millimeters forward.  It could be that the guard was always a borderline problem but the VPS was able to overcome it on most of your flights.  It could be that your VPS sensors acquired a small amount of dust (that would normally not be a big problem) but in this case the sensors were now more affected by the guard being in place.  I (clearly) don't know exactly what happened to cause your crash, but in armchair quarterback mode, you were flying with a piece of equipment that is known to cause a particular kind of problem, and you had that particular kind of problem.  DJI doesn't always have the best tech support responses, but that doesn't mean their final conclusion was wrong.  You escalated the issue with DJI, tech support took a deeper look at the parameters of the crash, and came to a final conclusion.  This doesn't mean they changed their mind, it means they looked deeper into the problem (as you requested) and based on telemetry coupled with the knowledge that you had a gimbal guard installed, concluded logically that the gimbal guard instigated the issue.  

DrACE Posted at 2016-10-11 13:20
It is pretty simple.  It is not DJI's fault.

Lets talk about how a control algorithm yhrn apportion blame

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-15 01:48
Lets talk about how a control algorithm yhrn apportion blame

Plus the motors did not shut down!

bobmccracken1 Posted at 2016-10-15 11:52
Plus the motors did not shut down!

Probably not, and I don't buy the DJI explanation either:
' In this case the VPS was disorientated by the gimbal protection board. Because of the gimbal protection board the craft thought it  was on 0m height and when the pilot moved the craft down, it shut the motors off. '

That shows a complete lack of understanding of how the aircraft detects that it has landed, because the VPS can be switched off in all models of the aircraft and it will still land properly.

The IMU is also involved in this process, and not until the aircraft has stopped moving will the left stick down action cause the motors to shut off.

Geebax Posted at 2016-10-15 09:12
Probably not, and I don't buy the DJI explanation either:
' In this case the VPS was disorientated  ...

I can buy the DJI description. In this case the VPS wasn't switched off, the bird was taken out of sport mode which re-enabled VPS. It then detected the gimbal guard proximity as the bird being on the ground and saw the down stick as a motor shutoff. It's feasible. Enough so that DJI can argue it in their favor because it's ambiguous at minimum.  

roger.crawford Posted at 2016-10-15 21:19
I can buy the DJI description. In this case the VPS wasn't switched off, the bird was taken out of ...

Sorry, but it does not work that way. You can switch off VPS entirely and land the aircraft normally by pulling down on the left stick, withouty shutting off the motors. This is because the ultrasonic detectors are not the sensors used to determine that the aircraft has landed, it is the accelerometers in the IMU that work out when the aircraft has stopped moving.