I got to thinking about all the various problems a drone could have, and got to wondering how you could test out your drone to see if everything is in good shape. Does it drift? Will it dive in to someone on active track? Will it fly away? Do all the features work properly?

So I got to wondering about DJI's Quality Assurance (QA) plan for their drones. How do they test their drones to ensure they are functioning properly? I know there's an automated power-on self test (POST), but I'm looking for something more comprehensive. There is a huge amount of functionality so I magine that test plan would be very large. What test could you do on your own drone to see if everything is working properly? Or at least the features you care about? Should we (I don't really know who "we" is) create a community test plan for DJI pilots so we can run through a set of tests to verify whether everything is working properly? Otherwise, how would you know?

If anyone in DJI QA is reading this, what would you think about sharing some of you test plans for us pilots so we can know how you test things?

We are their testing ground !!

QuadKid Posted at 2018-6-20 14:47
We are their testing ground !!

True that. Sadly, we don't get to submit bug reports or even have a view into their list of open bugs.

May I ask which of the DJI drones you are flying and and what are the issues you are experiencing? This information would significantly help DJI support and your many co-pilots here to offer assistance and possible solutions.

My complete guess is they, DJI probably put some of their final model products through a battery of tests then those models are mass produced. If then up to the individual buyer to fly/test.

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-6-20 14:56
May I ask which of the DJI drones you are flying and and what are the issues you are experiencing? This information would significantly help DJI support and your many co-pilots here to offer assistance and possible solutions.

Thank you so much for asking that. I'm not actually experiencing any issues with my MA. Mostly, I've had enough issues out in the wild (and read reports from others) that I got to thinking it would be great if I could put my Air through a bunch of tests to check out if everything is in good order, before I do a major excursion.

Let's say I'm planning a week long trip where I'm taking a lot of drone video. I would happily invest a few hours in testing my drone out ahead of time to verify everything is good order. How would I do that?

There is a huge amount of functionality so I magine that test plan would be very large.  


Even though there is a huge amount of functionality to test, I am betting plan is not that large.

Picturing a test stand that holds drone while some go / no-go tests are run, and finally where drone can be spun-up, and lift up several inches, checking tilt, roll, and yaw.  With a picture for camera to view.

With the last two DJI GO 4 updates(4.2.20 and 4.2.21) I have been doing more testing than normal mostly due to trying to see if my POI continues to kill my C1/C2 functionality.  Because of this I have been testing many/most of the other intelligent flight modes testing different camera/video settings, also tested Active Track changing the EV all the way from +2 to -2 to see when it causes to lose it's object.  I also would test the speeds in normal mode/turning off OA/ and Sports mode to ensure they are what they should be. I of course test the video/stills to ensure no issues on the footage.  I also like to test out how hard/easy to get a disconnect from RC to AC and ensure it does what it is supposed to when it does loose connection to RC.  I also test the RTH is fairly accurate.  I will also test total distance on a battery as I know what I typically should get total distance wise per battery.  These are what I typically test after a new update comes out.

It’s difficult for people like us to perform proper QA as everyone test in different way. What you can do is try to perform the task you want and see is the drone perform as expected.

Danger Lampost Posted at 2018-6-20 15:01
Thank you so much for asking that. I'm not actually experiencing any issues with my MA. Mostly, I've had enough issues out in the wild (and read reports from others) that I got to thinking it would be great if I could put my Air through a bunch of tests to check out if everything is in good order, before I do a major excursion.

Let's say I'm planning a week long trip where I'm taking a lot of drone video. I would happily invest a few hours in testing my drone out ahead of time to verify everything is good order. How would I do that?

Best suggestion is to try everything you would normally do when videoing with drone.
Try to think of what you might do videoing on upcoming long trip you normally might not do, and test those capabilities.

For example: Usually use Tripod mode, test it.  Might use Asteroid mode on trip, test it.

SparksBird Posted at 2018-6-20 17:40
With the last two DJI GO 4 updates(4.2.20 and 4.2.21) I have been doing more testing than normal mostly due to trying to see if my POI continues to kill my C1/C2 functionality.  Because of this I have been testing many/most of the other intelligent flight modes testing different camera/video settings, also tested Active Track changing the EV all the way from +2 to -2 to see when it causes to lose it's object.  I also would test the speeds in normal mode/turning off OA/ and Sports mode to ensure they are what they should be. I of course test the video/stills to ensure no issues on the footage.  I also like to test out how hard/easy to get a disconnect from RC to AC and ensure it does what it is supposed to when it does loose connection to RC.  I also test the RTH is fairly accurate.  I will also test total distance on a battery as I know what I typically should get total distance wise per battery.  These are what I typically test after a new update comes out.

That is a most awesome answer!

Only testing needed is to shake it to mix up the electric fluids, then hold it up to your ear and make sure you hear the ocean.  

I am sure boot up does the normal built in test and the first rev up of the motors make sure they aren't stuck or spinning backwards.  Gimbal overload, motor overload, overheating, downward sensor fail, etc., are all the testing it needs.  

I may be wrong here, but i do seem to remember that you could buy the care-refresh after activation, but the burden of proof that you AC performs flawless is with you. This is done with a video you have to record and send to DJI. Supposedly, the test is fairly comprehensive (as DJI wants to make sure you don't buy care-refresh for a crashed and defective drone)