Let's be careful out there'

HomePoint Posted at 2017-9-7 10:43
Let's be careful out there'
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no mater how careful you are there can always be that one time you make a small error like I did when catching the drone with my hand like I did 100 times already for practice.  If you don't grab the spark in time just as it's landing , then your fingers will hit the spinning propellers. I see that most youtube videos show the grabbing with your hand more than the open palm landing. So I am going to practice 100 more times and do open palm landings with my fingers down... so no grabbing the spark.  This open palm technique, which I am sure DJI recommends, does have the risk of the spark falling to the ground. I am practicing hand takeoffs and landings to give me the option to launch from a 3rd floor balcony.  And the Prop Gurds DJI makes does not protect you for this type of injury. my thumb seems okay though, but it sure was a lesson because when struck it hurt so much I thought for sure there would be blood.  this happened indoors... and the good news is, the spark ended up hovering for a few seconds then landed on my Kitchen floor with no damage to the props or motors.

it seems that engineers behind the spark thought of this, the marketing team packaging material did not.   the spark pretty much the very instant it wacks something, it stops operating and falls..  so if it nails you it shouldn't do much damage if any just surface scratches and maybe little blood.   compare this to the mavic pro or the phantom series.. that will chew you you up good if you dont completely stop the props even then it can gash you deep because they will attempt to power through something slowing them down before giving up.. sometimes they try to restart at full force again after giving up for a half second, that would be less than pleasant.

so it seems marketing team and engineering team need better level communications...  and engineering team should be the lead for the marketing, not the other way around.

I have also suffered injury from my spark. Mine was due to palm landing and a gust of wind. I don't hold the spark or dji responsible in this case, and I have purchased prop guards since then and use them whenever doing anything without a controller.

For those with comments questioning the authenticity of the OP's injuries: the spark's blades are razor sharp. I did not feel these injuries when they happened and felt no initial pain. Understand that they are deep and clean cuts. There is also bruising at all the impact points. I do appreciate the prop design, the collapsing blades undoubtedly saved me from continued injuries as the motors continued to spin.

dezign999 Posted at 2017-9-8 04:55
I have also suffered injury from my spark. Mine was due to palm landing and a gust of wind. I don't hold the spark or dji responsible in this case, and I have purchased prop guards since then and use them whenever doing anything without a controller.

For those with comments questioning the authenticity of the OP's injuries: the spark's blades are razor sharp. I did not feel these injuries when they happened and felt no initial pain. Understand that they are deep and clean cuts. There is also bruising at all the impact points. I do appreciate the prop design, the collapsing blades undoubtedly saved me from continued injuries as the motors continued to spin.

Ouch. I wonder how often this happens.
Not everybody has 'ninja' skills....

todoweb Posted at 2017-6-15 06:57
Because of my bad English, I do not answer those who ask me about my blessings. They are superficial, but they have seen the time on the face ...
I am not unhappy with Spark, but with the response from European customer service. It's scandalous.
For a free handed UAV, if the anti-collision system does not work, this can be dangerous.

My first question would be if you had activated the obstacle avoidance to start with? So far I have not seen any evidence for that. Secondly it would never come to my mind to fly Spark with palm start or landing or gesture control without the prop guards mounted. And if these were not included in the package that I have bought, I would have ordered them seperately before using these features.
There is something called "common sense"...

Even with the prop guard installed, I can fit my face between the gaps... Just saying. Hope all is well.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-9-8 07:46
My first question would be if you had activated the obstacle avoidance to start with? So far I have not seen any evidence for that. Secondly it would never come to my mind to fly Spark with palm start or landing or gesture control without the prop guards mounted. And if these were not included in the package that I have bought, I would have ordered them seperately before using these features.
There is something called "common sense"...

Except at the time I bought it, the protections were not sold .... So the judgments ...

But they are being sold now and the case happened now. Did I miss anything?

And the real topic here are not the prop guards, but the question whether obstacle avoidance had been activated. Unfortunately the complainant remains silent so far on this very important question. I do not want to speculate here whether user manual had been carefully read before use, I hope to hear true facts. At the same time I can not exclude, that the criticised response from the responsible DJI support center might have been absolutely appropriate. But as mentioned, everything remains pure speculation until the true facts are presented. Very unfortunately the same is the case with so many other posts here. A heavy complaint on something that has been perceived as having gone wrong is posted, but no substantial information to verify what the real cause might have been is provided. This does not help anyone in my opinion.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-9-8 11:59
And the real topic here are not the prop guards, but the question whether obstacle avoidance had been activated. Unfortunately the complainant remains silent so far on this very important question. I do not want to speculate here whether user manual had been carefully read before use, I hope to hear true facts. At the same time I can not exclude, that the criticised response from the responsible DJI support center might have been absolutely appropriate. But as mentioned, everything remains pure speculation until the true facts are presented. Very unfortunately the same is the case with so many other posts here. A heavy complaint on something that has been perceived as having gone wrong is posted, but no substantial information to verify what the real cause might have been is provided. This does not help anyone in my opinion.

Are you talking about me, car I created this post. yes, obstacle avoidance was activated. DJI changed the drone.

I wish to sincerely apologise because I only realised now that your case is not a recent one, but only somehow has emerged as new in the Forum. Happy to hear that you have got a new Spark in exchange and I hope that all is working well now!

Sued. Not acceptable

How can  they allow this

Please... why do you keep posting this...

No offense but that is merely a wound LUL! He does not need any hospital care

Meh, put a bandage on it, call it a day.  

Don’t catch with your feet

Maybe they need to include a pair of welding gloves with the spark?

I am going to keep this thread for those who post about their rights to fly over other people or near them (super bowl parade).

The Spark AI carefully evaluates the owner during the first few flights.  If they don't meet the intelligence test, the Spark will fly away.  But, the system isn't perfect and some Sparks stay with substandard owners who eventually hurt themselves or others.  Sad.

It is a spinning prop!  There are rules about messing with them.  Ron White said, "You can't fix stupid."