You guys will love this one.  So, new drome, Mavic Pro Platinum.  Had a heckuva time loading firmware, finally sorted that.  Drone flew perfectly on 8 or 9 flights. Yesterday, I took off as normal, got an RTH confirmation and had a strong GPS lock with 21 sats. Flew about 100' away to make a waypoint for a route, and started getting "strong interference" warnings, I was within sight of drone and helplessly watched it drift out over thick trees. Looked at the iPAD/DJI Go 4 app and the drone is now in ATTI mode.  I tried regaining control, but it was too late.  Quickly lost sight due to tall trees and had no idea where the drone was.  Hit RTH...nothing.  Could not control drone to get home or to an open space to land.  Then, "Entering No-Fly Zone, Forced Landing" and that's all she wrote folks.  So, somewhere within a mile or so of my house is a nice Mavic Pro Platinum in a tree or a snowbank waiting for you to find it.  


I have the flight logs to back this up. Is this actionable by DJI?  Was there a fault with the Mavic?  What do you suppose happened?  


The way I understand, if you lose GPS and go into ATTI, you better drop right now if you want any hope of getting your drone back.  RTH is useless with no GPS.  Word to the wise!

From DJI Go app Flight Logs:

Hello and good day akman2014. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. This is not the experience we want you to have with DJI. If your product is within the warranty period, the best thing you need to do is to contact our support team at: https://www.dji.com/support for additional help and analysis on the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. Please take note that DJI will not perform data analysis for cases occurring after the expiry of the warranty. If you need further assistance with your case, please let us know. Thank you for your support.

DJI Stephen Posted at 3-17 09:07
Hello and good day akman2014. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. This is not the experience we want you to have with DJI. If your product is within the warranty period, the best thing you need to do is to contact our support team at: https://www.dji.com/support for additional help and analysis on the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. Please take note that DJI will not perform data analysis for cases occurring after the expiry of the warranty. If you need further assistance with your case, please let us know. Thank you for your support.

[view_image]

Trying!  What do you suggest as the best support option, once the website is back up?  

Can you upload logs from your device ie phone iPad, to link below , come back here and post link.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/4DRP16ZBZOLF0VK1LL8T

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 09:18
Can you upload logs from your device ie phone iPad, to link below , come back here and post link.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/4DRP16ZBZOLF0VK1LL8T

Holy cow!  I had no idea all this info was available.  I might actually be able to start a search!  What do you think about the problem?
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/VI5YRCDJQUYNQ1XABRM2/

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 10:14
Holy cow!  I had no idea all this info was available.  I might actually be able to start a search!  What do you think about the problem?
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/VI5YRCDJQUYNQ1XABRM2/

It’s my guess that you picked up magnetic interference on the ground, so only you will know for sure, I can see you took off from close to some buildings , would you have been close to rebar concrete metal objects ?
You may not and most likely didn’t get compass warning and what happens in these situations I will try to explain below.

The best way I can explain this is. If you put your Aircraft on the ground in normal circumstances, start it up, then lift it up and turn it 90 degrees to the right both your compass heading and IMU will both move together 90 degrees and no problems.
If you put your Aircraft on the ground and there is magnetic interference only the heading of your compass will change, your aircraft will still take off. But when it clears magnetic interference compass will then move to correct heading which you would think was great. But No, what happens is IMU is then conflicted and confused because of this sudden movement by compass, so you receive IMU exceptional heading warning, your aircraft cannot deal with data conflict so decides to switch to Atti mode dropping gps in favour of compass simply because aircraft can fly without gps but not compass.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 10:14
Holy cow!  I had no idea all this info was available.  I might actually be able to start a search!  What do you think about the problem?
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/VI5YRCDJQUYNQ1XABRM2/

This is last recorded position of your craft, it was moving very slowly according to log so maybe into the wind, it did have 75% battery and would have continued until low battery and landed, looking at your log it seemed to be holding it’s heading moving .02 mph so if you can calculate this speed down to what ever you set RTH to kick in , it may have landed when battery reached low battery.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 10:14
Holy cow!  I had no idea all this info was available.  I might actually be able to start a search!  What do you think about the problem?
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/VI5YRCDJQUYNQ1XABRM2/

Compass distances.

Natural and Artificial Magnetic Anomalies Warning
Note
The following information has not been objectively tested to determine it’s impact on a Drones compass accuracy in flight.
        1        Many things can distort the earth’s magnetic field in the area you are flying:
        •        Steel framed or reinforced concrete buildings, bridges and roadways, iron pipes and culverts, high power electric lines, heavy equipment, trucks and automobiles, steel tanks, electric motors and even computers.
        •        Flying between steel framed or reinforced high rise buildings will distort the magnetic field in addition to causing GPS multi-pathing.
        2        Safe distances for compass calibration
        •        6” (15 cm) minimum: Metal rim glasses, pen/pencil, metal watch band, pocket knife, metal zipper/buttons, belt buckle, batteries, binoculars, cell phone, keys, camera, camcorder, survey nails, metal tape measure.
        •        18” (50 cm) minimum: Clipboard, data collector, computer, GPS antenna, 2-way radio, hand gun, hatchet, cell phone case with magnetic closure.
        •        6 ft (2 m) minimum: Bicycle, fire hydrant, road signs, sewer cap or drain, steel pole, ATV, guy wire, magnets, chain-link fence, bar-wire fence, data collectors
that use a magnet to hold the stylus.
        •        15 ft (5 m) minimum: Electrical box, small car/truck, powerline, building with concrete & steel.
        •        30 ft (10 m) minimum: Large truck, metal building, heavy machinery.

Thanks for the replies, folks.  I took off from my wooden, snow-covered deck.  No rebar/concrete/metal structures anywhere.  I have flown many "missions" around this area with no problems, ie. https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/LYWGIS42GAP6HHOS27DK/  and  https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/X7JGU0S2SID6SPCSEF0K/  .  Any chance DJI will see it was a failed compass/IMU and replace the drone?  Otherwise, I'm done with drones.  Too fickle for me.  

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 10:37
This is last recorded position of your craft, it was moving very slowly according to log so maybe into the wind, it did have 75% battery and would have continued until low battery and landed, looking at your log it seemed to be holding it’s heading moving .02 mph so if you can calculate this speed down to what ever you set RTH to kick in , it may have landed when battery reached low battery.

[view_image]

The way I understand, in ATTI mode, there is no RTH anymore.  I pressed it several times, no luck.  Funny that does not show on the flight records.  Also, right at the end of my flight, there was a warning, "You have entered a no-fly zone, forcing landing" I don't see that on the flight records, either.  Any idea how to get all the info from the flight?  

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 11:34
The way I understand, in ATTI mode, there is no RTH anymore.  I pressed it several times, no luck.  Funny that does not show on the flight records.  Also, right at the end of my flight, there was a warning, "You have entered a no-fly zone, forcing landing" I don't see that on the flight records, either.  Any idea how to get all the info from the flight?

bit like being a real pilot is the issue here sometimes.   you lose IMU and compass. means cant and should not rely on automated systems anymore, the drone flips into ATTI mode to prevent automated systems from taking over and causing a crash. it doesn't even trust itself any longer, neither should you trust it automatically flying.      this means you are now in full control, aircraft is altitude stabilized but otherwise is full manual control...  you could have saved it and recovered it..if you knew how to manually fly it safely. or understand what was going on..    there are alot of fail safes in these drone dji makes, but sometimes you are the failsafe, just like in a real aircraft are some conditions where you have to take over again..  infact thats suspect reason why those new boeing jets going down. one of their sensors (aot sensor maybe?) was faulty or something... and pilots trusted their aircraft too much i suspect and didnt taske complete manual control and left the faulty sensor/sensors enabled...   

as for what caused these issues, i have no idea.. maybe a defect, damage.. maybe or maybe something near by where it flew that was spewing tons of energy out that something fried like an emp hit it, like unshielded high voltage, high frequency line...  hard to really say..

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 11:34
The way I understand, in ATTI mode, there is no RTH anymore.  I pressed it several times, no luck.  Funny that does not show on the flight records.  Also, right at the end of my flight, there was a warning, "You have entered a no-fly zone, forcing landing" I don't see that on the flight records, either.  Any idea how to get all the info from the flight?

RTH needs GPS to work, so in Atti mode no gps no RTH .

Can you tell us where you actually launched from

Hiya,

In ATTI loosing connection with the RC MPP starts an autolanding.
See the orange marking for my calculated landing spot,
Just drifting speed for few seconds, autolanding in seconds to loose height 60 meters to ground level.
So search area in the line last postion to marking with divergence lines.

as already said ; in ATTI you have to fly the drone manually.
Simply said but not done : ATTI > gain height if needed, yaw craft back home (if not VLOS use compass indicator in the app), apply fwd pitch to bring it towards home.


cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 3-17 12:13
Hiya,

In ATTI loosing connection with the RC MPP starts an autolanding.

Where in the log do you see loss of signal , is it a presumption, also we know loss of signal and no gps  in spark initiates landing, I’m not certain this is the same for Mavic PP, I do know it’s not the same with Phantom.

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 12:31
Where in the log do you see loss of signal , is it a presumption, also we know loss of signal and no gps  in spark initiates landing, I’m not certain this is the same for Mavic PP, I do know it’s not the same with Phantom.

last recorded data as follows....
if there was a drone<>rc connection the data stream would be alive.This a typical example of a full disconnect, but agree with you : "nothing is sure in live and techniqs"
So my guess is disconnect and MPP will commence autolanding.
Have to look in all my files to see if that for the MPP too (autolanding), hope so and think i have seen that for a MPP. If not than drifting at 180 feet with 75% batt level.....lost for sure! (can be anywhere)

Sorry to hear of your loss.  Hopefully the info the rest of the group is providing can help you to be able to try to retrieve your drone.  I would hate to see you give up on drones just because of this particular incident.  I know if you aren't able to find your drone, it will have been an expensive lesson to learn, but now that you are learning the lesson, you are well over the hump!  

I think this is a good learning experience for you and anybody else reading this thread.

• ATTI mode is not a death sentence for your aircraft.
• If you fly enough, ATTI mode during flight will happen to you at some point.
• ATTI mode will cause the drone to attempt to hold height/altitude, however, will drift with the wind or inertia or previous movement
• In ATTI mode, the drone will not automatically brake or position itself to stay in a location.  It will slide around like a drunken sailor on a slick frozen pond.
• GPS does not work in ATTI mode, so RTH will NOT work.  Don't waste you time hitting the button
• Use the sticks to fly the drone home (or to a safe alternate landing zone).
• Do NOT give up, try to fly it to safety.  It will not respond in the same way it does in P-MODE, but don't give up!
• If you have to land it far away from you, jump in your car (or run/bike) quickly to try to get close to it before the battery dies so that you can try to get a signal from it and get its coordinates.
  

In this case, it looks like there was a period of about 4.5 minutes from the time it went into ATTI mode at 2m24s until the drone presumably went far enough away to lose signal at 7m01s, to attempt fly the aircraft back to safety.  Unfortunately, in this case, during those 4.5 minutes there was no stick input to try to fly the aircraft back home or to a safe landing zone.  All the while, it was gently floating in the breeze just waiting for the pilot to give it some input to fly it back.  I think with a bit of effort, you could have flown it back close to your for a safe retrieval.

Best of luck in finding your drone and moving forward!  I hope you have many safe and fun flights ahead!

JJB* Posted at 3-17 12:38
last recorded data as follows....
if there was a dronerc connection the data stream would be alive.This a typical example of a full disconnect, but agree with you : "nothing is sure in live and techniqs"
So my guess is disconnect and MPP will commence autolanding.

I hope your right.
If it is the case on aircraft going into Atti mode and loosing control and sight, to avoid further fly away it would make sense just to give up and switch control off and allow craft to land, unless of course it’s over people or water .

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 12:31
Where in the log do you see loss of signal , is it a presumption, also we know loss of signal and no gps  in spark initiates landing, I’m not certain this is the same for Mavic PP, I do know it’s not the same with Phantom.

I would guess it was loss of signal at the end as well.  In the last 15 seconds of the flight, there are multiple disconnects leading up to the end of the log.  Its an assumption on my part, but it fits the pattern one would likely expect to see as the signal strength gets lower.  One would expect it to flutter in and out before going away permanently.

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 12:06
Can you tell us where you actually launched from

Exactly where the log shows.  Right behind my house.

KlooGee Posted at 3-17 13:14
I would guess it was loss of signal at the end as well.  In the last 15 seconds of the flight, there are multiple disconnects leading up to the end of the log.  Its an assumption on my part, but it fits the pattern one would likely expect to see as the signal strength gets lower.  One would expect it to flutter in and out before going away permanently.

Funny thing though, I was getting messages from the Mavic for several minutes after the log ends.  The last thing I got was 'Approaching No-Fly Zone, Forcing Landing."  Then I think I saw "Looking for safe place to land."  


Pretty amazing that the GeoFencing worked with no GPS, eh?

My guess is that the drone continued to the No Fly Zone and landed in the forest.

KlooGee Posted at 3-17 13:14
I would guess it was loss of signal at the end as well.  In the last 15 seconds of the flight, there are multiple disconnects leading up to the end of the log.  Its an assumption on my part, but it fits the pattern one would likely expect to see as the signal strength gets lower.  One would expect it to flutter in and out before going away permanently.

Yeah I kinda knew it might be signal loss, but I know on signal loss with no gps Spark will go to land Phantom will drift , I’m not sure with Mavic or Mavic PP .

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 13:28
Funny thing though, I was getting messages from the Mavic for several minutes after the log ends.  The last thing I got was 'Approaching No-Fly Zone, Forcing Landing."  Then I think I saw "Looking for safe place to land."  

Just to be clear, it didn't lose GPS, it was a compass issue.  It had an extremely strong GPS signal the whole time.  You can see in the log, it was connected to 20+ GPS satellites for the duration of this flight.

I guess that is a good thing that you saw those messages, but it is a bit curious they aren't in the logs...

I'm just hoping it did try to land and didn't continue on towards the airfield.  That could be a bit of a mess if it got there....

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 13:28
Funny thing though, I was getting messages from the Mavic for several minutes after the log ends.  The last thing I got was 'Approaching No-Fly Zone, Forcing Landing."  Then I think I saw "Looking for safe place to land."  

Then you should have on your flight playback the coordinates where it landed, you can find these bottom of that screen, just use slider to go to end of log and under slider coordinates are there, if you just enter them into google earth your drone should be at that spot and unless it hit something on the way down it should have survived .

Coordinates are just above slider .

Just a thought on this (and diverging from topic a bit).

You would think the FAA would require defined "stick and rudder" skills for drone pilots as they do for piloted aircraft and licenses. Having fleets upon fleets of drones with really the only available mode to fly with being P mode does nothing to prepare the drone pilot for emergency situations like the one the OP described. Just another example of how Part 107 should include some practical flying skills as well with emergency procedures fully trained upon. How many hours is required for a Private Pilot license? 40 minimum I believe? Maybe for 107 a quick 3-5 hours on the sticks with lessons in emergency procedures is called for.

Granted, the risk matrix they teach for Part 107 greatly reduces the chances of an emergency situation happening like the OP's situation (know the airspace, know the flight restrictions, know the weather, know the aircraft, etc. etc.), but still, why completely disregard an added safety subject like practical flying and emergency procedures like surprise ATTI mode?

I know, safety versus sales. Shore-up the safety requirements and sales may go down because people don't want to make the effort to train and therefore skip the drone purchase. Maybe it is a the "Drone Manufacturers Lobbyists" keeping increased safety training from happening. Just a little conspiracy theory of mine . HAHA!

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 14:06
Then you should have on your flight playback the coordinates where it landed, you can find these bottom of that screen, just use slider to go to end of log and under slider coordinates are there, if you just enter them into google earth your drone should be at that spot and unless it hit something on the way down it should have survived .

Coordinates are just above slider .

Trouble is, the log stops well before the flight ended.  Maybe the conspiracy theorists should be alarmed?  It sensed an imminent incursion into No-Fly zone so it stopped all black box recordings?  lol

The log never shows a landing.  Wish it did.

JPilotR Posted at 3-17 14:11
Just a thought on this (and diverging from topic a bit).

You would think the FAA would require defined "stick and rudder" skills for drone pilots as they do for piloted aircraft and licenses. Having fleets upon fleets of drones with really the only available mode to fly with being P mode does nothing to prepare the drone pilot for emergency situations like the one the OP described. Just another example of how Part 107 should include some practical flying skills as well with emergency procedures fully trained upon. How many hours is required for a Private Pilot license? 40 minimum I believe? Maybe for 107 a quick 3-5 hours on the sticks with lessons in emergency procedures is called for.

yeah, yeah...I've actually played with no-GPS flying on my old Phantom 3, but I'll tell you, unless you are in a massive open field you will crash it if there's trees around.  

KlooGee Posted at 3-17 13:44
Just to be clear, it didn't lose GPS, it was a compass issue.  It had an extremely strong GPS signal the whole time.  You can see in the log, it was connected to 20+ GPS satellites for the duration of this flight.

I guess that is a good thing that you saw those messages, but it is a bit curious they aren't in the logs...

Good point!  

JPilotR Posted at 3-17 14:11
Just a thought on this (and diverging from topic a bit).

You would think the FAA would require defined "stick and rudder" skills for drone pilots as they do for piloted aircraft and licenses. Having fleets upon fleets of drones with really the only available mode to fly with being P mode does nothing to prepare the drone pilot for emergency situations like the one the OP described. Just another example of how Part 107 should include some practical flying skills as well with emergency procedures fully trained upon. How many hours is required for a Private Pilot license? 40 minimum I believe? Maybe for 107 a quick 3-5 hours on the sticks with lessons in emergency procedures is called for.

In retrospect, I should have forced a landing in the nearest open spot as soon as I went ATTI.  I kept hoping the GPS mode would re-appear and regain control.  The forums are full of that scenario.

We'll see what DJI says, I'm hoping they send me a replacement after viewing the files (wishful thinker here). Otherwise, my drone days are over.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 14:32
Trouble is, the log stops well before the flight ended.  Maybe the conspiracy theorists should be alarmed?  It sensed an imminent incursion into No-Fly zone so it stopped all black box recordings?  lol

The log never shows a landing.  Wish it did.

You just said you got a warning forced landing , this should show up in your playback of your go4 app, and you can just playback this and you should see coordinates above slider .

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 14:33
yeah, yeah...I've actually played with no-GPS flying on my old Phantom 3, but I'll tell you, unless you are in a massive open field you will crash it if there's trees around.

Well I'm not saying you have to fly completely non-GPS all the time just to learn stick and rudder. Just some exposure to it to aid in the procedure to keep from drones falling into bad places and on people. I'm just saying I was surprised when I studied for and got my 107 that I didn't have to do a practical test like with my other ratings. Just thinking about shoring up safety is all.

hallmark007 Posted at 3-17 14:42
You just said you got a warning forced landing , this should show up in your playback of your go4 app, and you can just playback this and you should see coordinates above slider .

Wouldn't you think?  My Go 4 flight playback app actually stops displaying flight info after about 1:30 into the flight.  There is a completely different set of data in the TXT files of the same flight, but they, too, stop before the flight ended. The end of the flight shows up nowhere, but I'll bet it's stored in the Mavic black box if it could be retrieved.  Very strange.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 11:30
Thanks for the replies, folks.  I took off from my wooden, snow-covered deck.  No rebar/concrete/metal structures anywhere.  I have flown many "missions" around this area with no problems, ie. https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/LYWGIS42GAP6HHOS27DK/  and  https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/X7JGU0S2SID6SPCSEF0K/  .  Any chance DJI will see it was a failed compass/IMU and replace the drone?  Otherwise, I'm done with drones.  Too fickle for me.

Hate to see you go seeing how it is an excellent hobby.

Sprtbkrydr Posted at 3-17 15:21
Hate to see you go seeing how it is an excellent hobby.

We'll see if DJI comes through and coughs up a new drone.  If I wanted to fly something that I have to keep in my yard and didn't cost so much, I'd just buy a $5 kite.  

More and more, I think I had a serious compass malfunction that should be compensated by DJI. Not holding my breath.

Did you check your” find my drone” feature in DJI GO 4 app ?  Sorry if my question sounds stupid.

BossOlive Posted at 3-17 15:38
Did you check your” find my drone” feature in DJI GO 4 app ?  Sorry if my question sounds stupid.

Yep, that was my very first step.  Went there immediately upon loss.  It showed the drone was at the last confirmed point, in my driveway, 135' away.  I thought, "Sweet!  That works!'  Nope.  Drone is a mile or more away from where Find My Drone says.  FMD quits working when in ATTI mode, apparently.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 10:14
Holy cow!  I had no idea all this info was available.  I might actually be able to start a search!  What do you think about the problem?
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/VI5YRCDJQUYNQ1XABRM2/

First thing that stands out is Compass Error.  
2m 22.6s        P-GPS        20satellites        134.5ft        N/A        4.0mph        285.8ft        89%        11.966V        4.003V        3.986V        3.977V        0.026V        Compass Error

Given altitude, distance, and drone had been in flight for roughly 85 seconds, not likely that Compass Error was result of a source of magnetic interference at take off point.  Satellite image does not show any tall metal structures near drone at time of Compass Error, which would tend to point away from Compass having not been calibrated correctly prior to take off.

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 15:34
We'll see if DJI comes through and coughs up a new drone.  If I wanted to fly something that I have to keep in my yard and didn't cost so much, I'd just buy a $5 kite.  

More and more, I think I had a serious compass malfunction that should be compensated by DJI. Not holding my breath.

If I wanted to fly something that I have to keep in my yard and didn't cost so much, I'd just buy a $5 kite.  

If we keep having drones (aka government's UFOs) show up around airports, causing further paranoia of public, and giving power hungry politians an excuse - we will soon be either - a) Criminal pilots, or b) Flying kites (assuming they don't outlaw those too).

akman2014 Posted at 3-17 15:47
Yep, that was my very first step.  Went there immediately upon loss.  It showed the drone was at the last confirmed point, in my driveway, 135' away.  I thought, "Sweet!  That works!'  Nope.  Drone is a mile or more away from where Find My Drone says.  FMD quits working when in ATTI mode, apparently.

I would start your search at last known coordinates.

You will probaly notice that you will get some here who will be able to tell you what didn’t happen I’m not sure why particularly when your question was what did happen.
Reality is in both MPP and MP this has been a prevalent issue, we have seen it many many times and always results are the same.
It’s almost impossible to get magnetic interference when your 144 ft in the air unless your flying very close to a pylon or electrical cables which you weren’t.
I think if you find craft you will find it happened similar to many others with similar craft. And this is the opinion of many here who know .
I’m not sure why people continue to give advice that you could have got magnetic interference 144ft in the open air, it’s a ridiculous theory and it’s one that won’t help you get your drone back .

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 3-17 16:17
If I wanted to fly something that I have to keep in my yard and didn't cost so much, I'd just buy a $5 kite.  

If we keep having drones (aka government's UFOs) show up around airports, causing further paranoia of public, and giving power hungry politians an excuse - we will soon be either - a) Criminal pilots, or b) Flying kites (assuming they don't outlaw those too).

Well, thanks to a faulty compass, I just sent another UFO barrelling towards two active runways. Hopefully the GeoFence caught it.