Someone else experiencing, that the MAVIC looses GPS and starts to drift away. In my case this problem exists from the beginning. I tried it with firmware reset, compass and IMU callibration and so on...

Many people have reported their Mavics spontaneously going into ATTI mode, but as best I can recall I've only heard of it happening occasionally and not "very often". I'm assuming you're flying outdoors; is that correct? And if so, how often does this occur? For example, 50% of the time? 5%? It might also be helpful if you uploaded your flight logs showing examples of this behavior to either here or here.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-2-16 06:30
Many people have reported their Mavics spontaneously going into ATTI mode, but as best I can recall I've only heard of it happening occasionally and not "very often". I'm assuming you're flying outdoors; is that correct? And if so, how often does this occur? For example, 50% of the time? 5%? It might also be helpful if you uploaded your flight logs showing examples of this behavior to either here or here.

Yes, good idea i will upload the logs next time possible.

Very often is meant as 2 out of 3 flights, where Flight means the time between one take off and the landing. Usually when it comes to loosing the GPS during one flight it happens more than once. It goes than to ATTI for 20 to 90 seconds and comes back after that.

TLC.SCOT Posted at 2017-2-16 08:29
Yes, good idea i will upload the logs next time possible.

Very often is meant as 2 out of 3 flights, where Flight means the time between one take off and the landing. Usually when it comes to loosing the GPS during one flight it happens more than once. It goes than to ATTI for 20 to 90 seconds and comes back after that.

Wow, that's a long time.  It has only happened once to me & that was just the day (before FW update).  It lasted over 7 seconds, but I was in high wind (for the Mavic) at the beach.  I actually think it's the GO app.  I just hope it doesn't happen farther away...

I think this is quite a common problem and it happened to me for a second time yesterday when it was 400ft up and about 1000 to 1200yds away.
It was lucky I still had 80% battery as I had great difficulty getting it home.

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-16 09:18
I think this is quite a common problem and it happened to me for a second time yesterday when it was 400ft up and about 1000 to 1200yds away.
It was lucky I still had 80% battery as I had great difficulty getting it home.

"I had great difficulty getting it home"

Was it difficult because the winds were so high or did you just have trouble controlling direction and / or altitude?

Difficult as it was drifting all over and when I managed to get it moving in the right direction it seemed to be flying sideways and just when I got it above me it went back into GPS mode but it got the old heart going for a while.
First time it was just above me and started drifting and just missed a telegraph pole and I managed to bring it down in a nearby field as there is no way I was attempting to land in the street.
I was hoping the latest firmware would solve this but this was about 4 hours after installing the latest yesterday.
I also cant understand why it drifts so quick when it enters ATTI mode and why its so difficult to control as its like trying to balance a spinning plate on a stick.

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-16 09:26
Difficult as it was drifting all over and when I managed to get it moving in the right direction it seemed to be flying sideways and just when I got it above me it went back into GPS mode but it got the old heart going for a while.
First time it was just above me and started drifting and just missed a telegraph pole and I managed to bring it down in a nearby field as there is no way I was attempting to land in the street.
I was hoping the latest firmware would solve this but this was about 4 hours after installing the latest yesterday.

Yep, same experience for me too.  It was more than just ATTI, it was like a weird course lock ATTI.  Pushing forward made it go sideways.  Other inputs just seemed off.  I get what you're saying, for sure.  That plus a good amount of wind made for a horrible experience!

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-2-16 11:28
Yep, same experience for me too.  It was more than just ATTI, it was like a weird course lock ATTI.  Pushing forward made it go sideways.  Other inputs just seemed off.  I get what you're saying, for sure.  That plus a good amount of wind made for a horrible experience!

"It was more than just ATTI, it was like a weird course lock ATTI."

That's what I've been wondering about -- and suspected -- since I got around to deliberately flying my Mavic in ATTI mode outdoors and found that it was surprisingly easy to fly. My experience just didn't seem to jibe with all the folks who've said that it becomes almost uncontrollable when it spontaneously went into ATTI mode.

Keep an eye on the wind...Don't venture with high (10 MILES OR HIGHER)... you will loose your MP. P4P is NOT as steady but HAS MORE THRUST and you can bring it back...

dronist Posted at 2017-2-16 12:07
Keep an eye on the wind...Don't venture with high (10 MILES OR HIGHER)... you will loose your MP. P4P is NOT as steady but HAS MORE THRUST and you can bring it back...

So now I've got to hire an assistant to stand there with an anemometer?  

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-2-16 12:55
So now I've got to hire an assistant to stand there with an anemometer?

Must be tall, blonde, (then she will need an assistance) you can choose the  gender...  

I had the same problem (twice in one flight). The first time it happen was just after I initiated RTH and I had no control as it started to drift out to sea but the second time I was able to continue flying forward. Although it lasted about 90 seconds in total it seemed a lot longer.

Alan

Mmhhh. This is interesting.

1. IMO a drone never should loose GPS. There must be something wrong.
2. I asked the same question in another Mavic community and there was none pilot with this issue. But here a some having this problem,
     so i am pretty sure there a few Mavics out there flying with some kind of a defect.

dronist Posted at 2017-2-16 12:07
Keep an eye on the wind...Don't venture with high (10 MILES OR HIGHER)... you will loose your MP. P4P is NOT as steady but HAS MORE THRUST and you can bring it back...

This part makes no sense to me about thrust.  If your Mavic is flying just fine in the wind, and then all of a sudden losses GPS, and gets caught up going with the wind, there is no reason why it now all of a sudden shouldn't have power.  Before it lost GPS, it was having to battle the wind, even though you didn't know it.  After the GPS loss, it still has just as much power, its just that you have to apply it now.  So if it feels as if it doesn't have power to battle the wind even though it initially did under GPS mode, there is something else going on, not just losing GPS.

For my own experience, when it went into ATTI mode, it had a mind of its own.  I uploaded a video of my 90 second flight, and I clearly shows where I'm giving it full power forward as its pointing forward and its not reacting at all to this input until GPS was restored.  It was flying all over the place, so even if it was wind initially pushing it in one direction, I have no idea why it kept switching direction.  There is absolutely a bug.  The only thing that helps is having altitude so you don't hit anything, and praying that your GPS comes back in several seconds.  For those who have been unlucky to have a crash as a result of this didn't have the luxury of altitude and were close to objects.

Stewie Griffin Posted at 2017-2-16 23:06
This part makes no sense to me about thrust.  If your Mavic is flying just fine in the wind, and then all of a sudden losses GPS, and gets caught up going with the wind, there is no reason why it now all of a sudden shouldn't have power.  Before it lost GPS, it was having to battle the wind, even though you didn't know it.  After the GPS loss, it still has just as much power, its just that you have to apply it now.  So if it feels as if it doesn't have power to battle the wind even though it initially did under GPS mode, there is something else going on, not just losing GPS.

For my own experience, when it went into ATTI mode, it had a mind of its own.  I uploaded a video of my 90 second flight, and I clearly shows where I'm giving it full power forward as its pointing forward and its not reacting at all to this input until GPS was restored.  It was flying all over the place, so even if it was wind initially pushing it in one direction, I have no idea why it kept switching direction.  There is absolutely a bug.  The only thing that helps is having altitude so you don't hit anything, and praying that your GPS comes back in several seconds.  For those who have been unlucky to have a crash as a result of this didn't have the luxury of altitude and were close to objects.

Yes I totally agree luckily when you loose control and it starts to drift it still maintains altitude. I had some control but it crabbed its way back and was very slow as if it was fighting its self.
I'm on the latest firmware and changed the battery and went straight back up without any problem so have no idea what causes this but it gets your heart pumping.

So far I've had four flights with my mavic and in none of them this happened. Gps stays strong with 16 to 18 sats and the aircraft is stable as a rock.

Something is surely not fine with your bird. Check the sensors status and see if you need to recalibrate.

If that doesn't work open a case with dji, if it is defective they'll replace it!

CuaC Posted at 2017-2-17 00:23
So far I've had four flights with my mavic and in none of them this happened. Gps stays strong with 16 to 18 sats and the aircraft is stable as a rock.

Something is surely not fine with your bird. Check the sensors status and see if you need to recalibrate.

This seems to be quite a common problem and it is stable most of the time then out of the blue it happens.
I've had it about a month and its happened twice.
I was hoping the latest firmware would fix it but the last time it happened was about 1 hour after the update and not happened again since.

Stewie Griffin Posted at 2017-2-16 23:06
This part makes no sense to me about thrust.  If your Mavic is flying just fine in the wind, and then all of a sudden losses GPS, and gets caught up going with the wind, there is no reason why it now all of a sudden shouldn't have power.  Before it lost GPS, it was having to battle the wind, even though you didn't know it.  After the GPS loss, it still has just as much power, its just that you have to apply it now.  So if it feels as if it doesn't have power to battle the wind even though it initially did under GPS mode, there is something else going on, not just losing GPS.

For my own experience, when it went into ATTI mode, it had a mind of its own.  I uploaded a video of my 90 second flight, and I clearly shows where I'm giving it full power forward as its pointing forward and its not reacting at all to this input until GPS was restored.  It was flying all over the place, so even if it was wind initially pushing it in one direction, I have no idea why it kept switching direction.  There is absolutely a bug.  The only thing that helps is having altitude so you don't hit anything, and praying that your GPS comes back in several seconds.  For those who have been unlucky to have a crash as a result of this didn't have the luxury of altitude and were close to objects.

"For my own experience, when it went into ATTI mode, it had a mind of its own"

That seems to be a common theme from almost everybody who has experienced this: it clearly isn't just going into ATTI mode. I've never experienced this problem, but I have flown my Mavic outdoors in ATTI mode and had no problem controlling it, so what you've experienced was apparently more than just a loss of GPS.

TLC.SCOT Posted at 2017-2-16 22:17
Mmhhh. This is interesting.

1. IMO a drone never should loose GPS. There must be something wrong.

Where are you flying ,  what height are you flying at?
I.e.  Flying at low altitude surrounded by trees or buildings gps will be low , also flying under any cover will have an effect on gps signal.

Have you tried flying higher to see if your picking up better gps?

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-17 04:28
Where are you flying ,  what height are you flying at?
I.e.  Flying at low altitude surrounded by trees or buildings gps will be low , also flying under any cover will have an effect on gps signal.

It was at 400ft and first time 30ft but nothing overhead.

Here in the UK  90% of the Sats are below 30 degrees angle and maybe more ( so they sit low in the sky),  sats change all the time , but are predictable,  apps are available to show how many sats are predicted at the times you want to fly (forcastable),  also Kp will induce or can induce strange behavoir once it climbs up over 5Kp,  worth checking,   but as OP said,  it appears the craft is doing something else also when sats are lost,  What does DJI say about this ?     DJI-Ken or Nat what do you think?,   is it purely the manual fight against wind effect,  or is there some other condition thats added to the control issues ,    i fly race drones too in full ACRO/ Manual/ and level modes,   in level mode it is very noticeable fighting against the wind drift,   so my question to any one who has had this issue but has also flown a race drone but in level mode is it the same thing ???

Stewie Griffin Posted at 2017-2-16 23:06
This part makes no sense to me about thrust.  If your Mavic is flying just fine in the wind, and then all of a sudden losses GPS, and gets caught up going with the wind, there is no reason why it now all of a sudden shouldn't have power.  Before it lost GPS, it was having to battle the wind, even though you didn't know it.  After the GPS loss, it still has just as much power, its just that you have to apply it now.  So if it feels as if it doesn't have power to battle the wind even though it initially did under GPS mode, there is something else going on, not just losing GPS.

For my own experience, when it went into ATTI mode, it had a mind of its own.  I uploaded a video of my 90 second flight, and I clearly shows where I'm giving it full power forward as its pointing forward and its not reacting at all to this input until GPS was restored.  It was flying all over the place, so even if it was wind initially pushing it in one direction, I have no idea why it kept switching direction.  There is absolutely a bug.  The only thing that helps is having altitude so you don't hit anything, and praying that your GPS comes back in several seconds.  For those who have been unlucky to have a crash as a result of this didn't have the luxury of altitude and were close to objects.

Am just talking about fighting the wind and NOT GPS.

I have MP, P4, P4P, P4P+ am talking from my own experience. I was on the beach and the wind gust was around 18 miles. MP was steadier than the P4 HOVERING but when it got caught in the wind as I flew it with the wind it was being pushed by the wind like a little paper umbrella, flying away and it seemed like a fly away. When I tried to bring it back it took for ever. I had to keep flying in an infinity shape route to fight the wind every few meters. It was high adrenaline feeling because it was only 20 feet up in the air.

I did the same fly with the P4P and it had no problem fighting the wind.

MikeQView Posted at 2017-2-17 07:08
Here in the UK  90% of the Sats are below 30 degrees angle and maybe more ( so they sit low in the sky),  sats change all the time , but are predictable,  apps are available to show how many sats are predicted at the times you want to fly (forcastable),  also Kp will induce or can induce strange behavoir once it climbs up over 5Kp,  worth checking,   but as OP said,  it appears the craft is doing something else also when sats are lost,  What does DJI say about this ?     DJI-Ken or Nat what do you think?,   is it purely the manual fight against wind effect,  or is there some other condition thats added to the control issues ,    i fly race drones too in full ACRO/ Manual/ and level modes,   in level mode it is very noticeable fighting against the wind drift,   so my question to any one who has had this issue but has also flown a race drone but in level mode is it the same thing ???

I have been testing this now with different drones at the same place, same time. None of them lost their GPS, but the MAVIC did !

Take a look at that link and you will see how the Mavic performs in ATTI mode and he's just about 6ft up

I've (deliberately) flown in ATTI mode too, but didn't find the Mavic particularly difficult to control. Then again, mine didn't have a Go Pro mounted on it at the time (just some aluminum foil), so maybe that's the difference. Yes, it drifted with the wind, coasted to a stop when I released the throttle, and needed regular altitude adjustments when flown close to the ground, but that's what I'd expect in ATTI mode. But overall it was nowhere near as difficult to fly as I expected after hearing the stories from people who've experienced the "spontaneous ATTI" mode.

Based on the comments I've read, including some from experienced fliers like DRONE-flies-YOU -- who wrote that "It was more than just ATTI, it was like a weird course lock ATTI" -- my guess is it isn't just GPS and VPS that are effectively disabled in the "spontaneous ATTI" mode but perhaps also maybe other systems (e.g., compass). If that's the case, DJI providing a user-selectable ATTI mode wouldn't be much help in preparing people to deal with this problem.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-2-18 05:02
I've (deliberately) flown in ATTI mode too, but didn't find the Mavic particularly difficult to control. Then again, mine didn't have a Go Pro mounted on it at the time (just some aluminum foil), so maybe that's the difference. Yes, it drifted with the wind, coasted to a stop when I let off the throttle, and needed regular altitude adjustments when flown close to the ground, but that's what I'd expect in ATTI mode. And overall it was nowhere near as difficult to fly as I expected after hearing the stories from people who've experienced the "spontaneous ATTI" mode.

Based on the comments I've read, including some from experienced fliers like DRONE-flies-YOU -- who wrote that "It was more than just ATTI, it was like a weird course lock ATTI" -- my guess is it isn't just GPS and VPS that are effectively disabled in the "spontaneous ATTI" mode but perhaps also the compass and / or maybe other systems. If that's the case, DJI providing a user-selectable ATTI mode wouldn't be much help in preparing people to deal with this problem.

There have been multiple reports of dropping into Atti with the AC diificult to control after loosing GPS. Check this forum and mavicpilots.com.

We need to clarify what is meant by dropping GPS. In the majority of cases, the number of satlellites remained high, but the "gps health", as indicated by the bars next to the GPS number suddenly dropped. If it goes below 4 it will cause the AC to drop into Atti mode. The causes of this sudden drop in GPS health are uncertain, and hopefully the smart folks in DJI engineering are working to resolve this. Some have theorized that it may be caused by electrical noise caused by pushing the limits of the Mavic, especially in sport mode, although this has also been reported in normal GPS Atti mode. As for the difficult time flying when it drops into Atti, lots of theories on this also. Everything from compass issues to poor IMU. I know IMU is not required when new, but it's a very simple procedure. I did mine to assure all was good after a trip from the other side of the world. Important thing is to assure the surface you perform IMU on is level as checked with a bubble level.

fans06b77ccc Posted at 2017-2-18 06:03
There have been multiple reports of dropping into Atti with the AC diificult to control after loosing GPS. Check this forum and mavicpilots.com.

We need to clarify what is meant by dropping GPS. In the majority of cases, the number of satlellites remained high, but the "gps health", as indicated by the bars next to the GPS number suddenly dropped. If it goes below 4 it will cause the AC to drop into Atti mode. The causes of this sudden drop in GPS health are uncertain, and hopefully the smart folks in DJI engineering are working to resolve this. Some have theorized that it may be caused by electrical noise caused by pushing the limits of the Mavic, especially in sport mode, although this has also been reported in normal GPS Atti mode. As for the difficult time flying when it drops into Atti, lots of theories on this also. Everything from compass issues to poor IMU. I know IMU is not required when new, but it's a very simple procedure. I did mine to assure all was good after a trip from the other side of the world. Important thing is to assure the surface you perform IMU on is level as checked with a bubble level.

"There have been multiple reports of dropping into Atti with the AC diificult to control after loosing GPS. Check this forum and mavicpilots.com."

I know; I've ready many of them. My point was that what's occurring in some of these cases isn't just a loss of GPS and may very well be more than just GPS and VPS being disabled.

I know IMU is not required when new, but it's a very simple procedure. I did mine to assure all was good after a trip from the other side of the world.

I didn't say or imply that you or anyone else had performed an improper IMU calibration. My comments were largely related to the general problem and, to a lesser extent, the video that was linked.

Same issue with my mavic. In some other thread DJI KEN told that if the FW didnt fix it then we should start RMA. He wasn't talking about some future firmware. He said that it was already fixed with FW that came out at late december 2016. Going to start my RMA when i come back from the vacation

I think DJI are well aware of this problem as there silence is deafening

Can anyone from DJI explain what's happening here as these are 7 seconds apart both 19 Satellites but it went into ATTI mode and nearly lost her
Signal strength just disapeared

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-18 13:47
Can anyone from DJI explain what's happening here as these are 7 seconds apart both 19 Satellites but it went into ATTI mode and nearly lost her
Signal strength just disapeared

This is exactly what i am experiencing ! Loosing the GPS although there are plenty of sattelites !

fansbcbcf80d Posted at 2017-2-18 06:48
Same issue with my mavic. In some other thread DJI KEN told that if the FW didnt fix it then we should start RMA. He wasn't talking about some future firmware. He said that it was already fixed with FW that came out at late december 2016. Going to start my RMA when i come back from the vacation

I am wondering if there someone that started RMA and received a MAVIC back without this problem ?!

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-18 13:47
Can anyone from DJI explain what's happening here as these are 7 seconds apart both 19 Satellites but it went into ATTI mode and nearly lost her
Signal strength just disapeared

DJI Silence again

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-19 08:19
DJI Silence again

For those of you that have flown in Atti, either because you were forced to or you forced it into Atti by blocking gps, AND had a difficult time controlling it with little or no wind, had you ever done an IMU calibration?

I question this because if the IMU was off, even slightly when it lost GPS, the AC may  not know true level needed to hover in one place. I've looked at numerous flight records downloaded from the Mavic where the AC reportedly took off as if it had a mind of its own. In all of the logs I looked at, when hovering with no reported wind, the pitch and roll were  higher than 2 degrees.  The gps could compensate for that, but once there was a gps loss, the AC would probably take off in the direction of pitch or roll.  I looked at my hover pitch and roll after an IMU calibration, and it was well under O.5 degrees.  This would indicate the AC was properly calibrated for level. (I also used a bubble level to assure the surface where the IMU was performed was as level as possible). Just a theory on what may make it difficult for some to fly in Atti. Could also be compass issues.

fans06b77ccc Posted at 2017-2-19 09:07
For those of you that have flown in Atti, either because you were forced to or you forced it into Atti by blocking gps, AND had a difficult time controlling it with little or no wind, had you ever done an IMU calibration?

I question this because if the IMU was off, even slightly when it lost GPS, the AC may  not know true level needed to hover in one place. I've looked at numerous flight records downloaded from the Mavic where the AC reportedly took off as if it had a mind of its own. In all of the logs I looked at, when hovering with no reported wind, the pitch and roll were  higher than 2 degrees.  The gps could compensate for that, but once there was a gps loss, the AC would probably take off in the direction of pitch or roll.  I looked at my hover pitch and roll after an IMU calibration, and it was well under O.5 degrees.  This would indicate the AC was properly calibrated for level. (I also used a bubble level to assure the surface where the IMU was performed was as level as possible). Just a theory on what may make it difficult for some to fly in Atti. Could also be compass issues.

Yes I had and even used a Spirit level but you have no control at all as It does not respond to the controls.
I thought I had managed to get some control but when I checked the GPS mode had returned at that point.
How can you go from 19 Satellites at 392ft in open space with full strength signal to no signal and ATTI mode in seconds.
I am off next week and will refresh the firmware and do all calibrations again but if this happens again its going back as its dangerous.
Its very strange if you talk about a minor problem on here the DJI people are all over it but this ATTI mode problem Silence and its dangerous .
Its a real pity as I think its great but if you cant trust it.

The Rev Posted at 2017-2-19 09:37
Yes I had and even used a Spirit level but you have no control at all as It does not respond to the controls.
I thought I had managed to get some control but when I checked the GPS mode had returned at that point.
How can you go from 19 Satellites at 392ft in open space with full strength signal to no signal and ATTI mode in seconds.

You are absolutely correct. Dji needs to correct this.  This is a major safety issue!

The GPS health dropping to 0 while maintaining all satellites may be caused by internal or external interference to the compass, that causes the gps and compass to disagree. Some theorize this compass error may cause the gps health to drop, causing it to drop into Atti mode. Some of reported this drop in gps health occurred during high current manovers, but not always.

. Has anyone monitored sensors/compass in various flight modes? This is an indicator of something affecting the compass. While at hover mine is below 20 on the active compass. While in sports mode at full speed increases to above 100. I read somewhere that on some Mavics this can go over 400 causing it to error. Would be interesting if this compass number correlates with other problems.

Hi!
Just want to follow along on this thread. I had a similar experience today. Mavic rock solid earlier. Installed latest firmware yesterday and today I almost lost it in the sea. It all happened so fast but Im pretty shure that I experienced the same that DRONE-flies-YOU posted in post #8 above. In the same flight there were several GPS-losses before.
After a new startup (and exchanging a broken propeller) it was again super solid just like I know it from before. Expecting an official reply on this from DJI. I can not take the risk of flying my Mavic before this is fixed.

TLC.SCOT Posted at 2017-2-19 05:14
This is exactly what i am experiencing ! Loosing the GPS although there are plenty of sattelites !

I can confirm having exactly the same problems. During my first four flights I all of the sudden lost the GPS mode, even though there were plenty of satellites available. (That was at around 100m altitude in an open area).

289 flights and it happened to me once around flight 200. Have to admit it does make your heart race. 15 of the longest seconds later re-established gps. Next part is tongue in cheek... I think DJI needs to fix this immediately. How hard can it be to keep my drone fixed in space relative to 15 or 20 spacecraft traveling 8700 mph 12,500 miles above the Earth. Come on DJI, this isn't rocket science.  Also, who do I sue because my AM radio goes out every time I drive under an overpass. THIS MUST BE FIXED!!!