Hello,

It was an extraordinary sunset today, and I decided to capture it with my Mavic mini. I took some great shots with it. But it lost control after I click the return home function. It just like tries to run away from me as quick as possible and flies in the opposite direction to my location. And ironically it still says returning home. I've checked the flight record, the home location was set correctly, just don't know why it still goes the wrong way.

Now it ends up in the woods, impossible to get it back. Sent an email to Dji and hopefully, they can help with this.

https://app.airdata.com/share/zCPiSY/GENERALOverview

Really nice sunset... Sorry for your loss.

The home location shows correctly on dji fly app, but not on the aridata website. Not sure why but my drone still flew to the wrong direction.

From what I can see you had a blow away.
It was to windy.

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 12-12 18:24
From what I can see you had a blow away.
It was to windy.

I was able to shot video steadily for almost 10 mins and it just blew away after I start rth and lost control? IDK

sad to hear that. hopefully get good feedback from dji support

After reading on many forums, he had a lot of trouble over the water and when it was black or very dark. I think there is a problem with the lower sensors.

It would be much easier for us to analyze the logs if you were to upload them to the following site:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Having said that, from what I can see, it looks to me like it was definitely the wind.  You say it only started getting blown away after you hit RTH.  However, looking at the log, that isn't what I see.  I see it continuously drifting while you are not providing any stick input.

There are also loads of "Not Enough Force/ESC Error" messages all through the logs during these periods where it appears to be drift from south to north.  I interpret those messages to mean that the Mini was trying as hard as it could to overcome the force of the wind, but just couldn't fight hard enough to overcome it.

It looks like the winds in the region were gusting between 18-25mph out of the south all day.  However, those wind readings are usually near ground level.  You were at an height of about 660ft where the wind would be significantly faster than at ground level.  Looking at the direction the drone was drifting, it was going in the same direction as the weather reports were indicating for the wind direction.

Just based on what I see, it probably wasn't a good idea to put the tiny little drone up in those winds at that heights and was very likely the reason for the loss.

Go to the HD player version of your logs and press the play button.  While it is playing through the logs, keep an eye on your sticks as well as the movement and speed of the drone as well as the messages being displayed in the notification column.  I think if you watch those items, there is a good chance you'll see the same things I mentioned above.

Very sorry for your loss.  I hope you are able to find it and get back in the air soon.

Some recommendations for future flights:

• Stay below 400ft to stay safer and legal
• When wind is blowing hard on the ground, it is blowing significantly harder the higher you go
• When you notice the wind making it drift, switch to Sports mode ASAP to allow it to use more power, lose altitude ASAP to get down out of the strongest winds, and bring it directly back home.
• When wind is blowing hard outside, try to plan your flight so that you are starting out flying into the wind so that if anything happens, it gets blown back in your direction rather than getting blown further away.
• Don't give up on it, fly it until its on the ground
• If it gets away from you, chase after it immediately so that you can hopefully be able to get its signal back before the battery dies.
  

Best of luck in moving forward!  I hope you are able to get back up and flying soon!

Charles Ma
i see how you got the mavic mini 200m altitude

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/I6MEHO7IQACG2LVWZE3I

you found the drone?

Get an app called 'Windy', it's free. That will tell you wind and wind gust speeds for your location. You can have low wind speeds but really high gust speeds. In the app set a location marker, than touch the arrow on the marker to get detailed wind and weather informations. Happy flying without blow aways in the future.

UAV Forecast the best!
https://www.uavforecast.com/

Hiya,

HP was set bit late (after 40secs), due to the fact that you took off with 5 sats and zero gps reception.
Lucky to stayed close from the takeoff point otherwise HP was set no where your were....

After 5m56 a user initiated RTH, flying at 200 meters height distance out 520 meters.
Heading start RTH 239, towards home hdg 194. Mini turning home in 10 secs, distance now 548 meters
RTH cancelled at 6m12, distance out now 580m. So mini facing home and flying backwards due to the wind.

Flight with lots of mode switching and loss of connection, RTH`s. Distance out finally tom1951 meters, batt level 15%
At 9m30s a 277 seconds loss od connection, distance from 1130 to 1928.
Last part in RTH mode, pitch down to 18 degrees, drifing still slowly (2.6m/s) backwards.
Guess soon a low battery landing initiated, takes some time to land safely from 186m height.

My guess is that the Orange marker is approx. the landing spot.

cheers
JJB

KlooGee Posted at 12-12 21:38
It would be much easier for us to analyze the logs if you were to upload them to the following site:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Kloo,
I note you advise the useof sports mode in excessively high winds to obtain 'more power'.
However my own observations suggest to me this cannot be true.
It must be the case that hovering in a  10 mph wind causes the quad to fly at 10 mph to stay still from the ground point of view.  This requires no control input. Rotate it 180 deg and it is now automatically flying backwarsds at 10 mph to stay still.
If forward stick then  requests say 10 mph   ground speed, the quad automatically obliges, and flies itself at 20mph, by digging into whatever the maximum speed can ever be , say 50 mph.
And so if rth  is invoked in 32 mph wind, it can still deliver 18 , but no more than 18mph penetration.
Switching to sport mode will not improve matters, since there is no headroom left. and cancelling rth  at 600 ft at night in high winds is simply an alternative to throwing it in the bin.

JJB* Posted at 12-13 00:19
Hiya,

HP was set bit late (after 40secs), due to the fact that you took off with 5 sats and zero gps reception.

Thanks JJB for your great work.

Please could you tell me how you produced that KML file.

Bright Spark Posted at 12-13 00:44
Kloo,
I note you advise the useof sports mode in excessively high winds to obtain 'more power'.
However my own observations suggest to me this cannot be true.

I don't think that's correct. From how the Mini behaves, I don't think that pushing the right stick full forward in P mode is saying to the Mini "I want to go forward at 18mph". It seems like it's just saying "I want full mode P power". The reason I'm saying this is:
- when flying in P mode without wind it's reaching ~18mph
- when flying in P mode with wind it's reaching lower speeds (let's say 14mph). Switching to S mode gets the speed above 20mph (these are things I saw in multiple youtube reviews). This suggests that it's not using the additional S-mode power when it can't reach its top P-mode speed.

In conclusion, my opinion is that yes, switching in S mode when trying to battle high winds *will* help.

I do agree with your comment about still being able to go normal P mode max speed (18mph) into a 10 mph head wind. So effectively it is moving at an airspeed of 28mph.  

However, I do have first hand experience with other drones (not the Mini) and I've seen other people's logs with other DJI drones where Sport mode definitely saved drones in high wind speed where it was losing ground in RTH.

The 2nd and maybe more important aspect of switching into Sport mode is the max descent speed.  Sport mode will descend at a rate of about 6.7 mph vs P mode only at about 4mph.  When your drone is at 660ft and it is drifting away, getting it down out of the higher speed winds ASAP can potentially be the difference in getting it back home or having to make this thread in a forum to ask for help.

Having said that, I agree, not putting the drone into an extremely risky situation in the first place is the best answer.

As others have pointed out, you didn't follow the preflight instructions for your drone. You took off with 0 satellites locked and yet somehow you think the drone is supposed to find it's way home via GPS afterward.  You need to go through a proper preflight every time you fly any drone. For the DJI models, that includes powering on the drone and letting it lock to at least 10-12 satellites before you take off. That's the only way that your drone can establish a home point and know where to return to when you press RTH.

Also as others have pointed out, you were flying at an altitude over 600 feet when you're supposed to be staying under 400 feet.

After looking at the flight log, I agree totally with what Kloogee has assessed.

KlooGee Posted at 12-13 05:43
I do agree with your comment about still being able to go normal P mode max speed (18mph) into a 10 mph head wind. So effectively it is moving at an airspeed of 28mph.  

However, I do have first hand experience with other drones (not the Mini) and I've seen other people's logs with other DJI drones where Sport mode definitely saved drones in high wind speed where it was losing ground in RTH.

I do agree with you.  Diving is the only option to find less wind.
I haven't tried it , but the manual says any inputs whilst in RTH will be obeyed, presumable even a request for more speed.
Since RTH is by far your best bet at a distance/height, as the quad knows which way is home, it is preferable to use that, especially if you've lost control anyway!
I would have hoped DJI would open the full speed range to enable the 18 mph return speed to be achieved, since that may be an emergency situation.
If the quad drifts backwards even when forward  control is input, the gps readings will be the opposite to what's expected and chaos must soon take over.
Looking at the guy blasting a mavic mini with a leaf blower suggests it wil take a huge beating before giving up.

Bright Spark Posted at 12-13 06:48
I do agree with you.  Diving is the only option to find less wind.
I haven't tried it , but the manual says any inputs whilst in RTH will be obeyed, presumable even a request for more speed.
Since RTH is by far your best bet at a distance/height, as the quad knows which way is home, it is preferable to use that, especially if you've lost control anyway!

If drifting backwards speed is indicating , as always, a positive number.

So if RTH is initiated bt the user ; a) wait and see its turning towards home and b) CHECK if distance is decreasing!  If not then decide what to do!  
If possible lower height to find mayby less head wind.
I see often that pilots wait and wait while drone is flying backwards....waisting batt power!
Same when RTH height setting is really high, drone will turn to HP, climb and after reaching RTH height it will start flying to home.
Mayby also waist of batt power.

RTH is by far best bet at distance/height, True but not when its windy. :-)
If OP is not sure where drone is flying, than do a RTH, wait a little (drone now facing HP), cancel RTH and select Sport mode + fully fwd stick.

BTW if compasses (drone+mob device) are OKE than use the 180 compass rose in the FlyApp ; fly white arrow towards home and fully forward. Even when you have no idea where its flying in the sky....if will fly to HP. Or use the map view ofcourse, just fly the arrow on the line to home.

AFAIK in Sport mode the max pitch down angle is more than in P-GPS mode. So if mini has enough power it can fly faster, thus can stand more headwind, so more groudspeed can be achieved.

As said first part of this flight in OPTI mode, OP did push up several time but craft did not go higher than 5 meters! (as in the manual)OP must have noticed this, mayby that`s why OP did not fly away from takeoff position (i hope this)


cheers
JJB

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 12-13 05:31
Thanks JJB for your great work.

Please could you tell me how you produced that KML file.

In FRAP / Menu / View / GE  or press F10 when file is loaded

JJB* Posted at 12-13 07:12
If drifting backwards speed is indicating , as always, a positive number.

So if RTH is initiated bt the user ; a) wait and see its turning towards home and b) CHECK if distance is decreasing!  If not then decide what to do!  

Thanks for the insights.
So the question (for me then) whether the max pitch down in p  mode set manually with full forward applied can or cannot be augmented automatically when facing wind.
If not, it would never reach 18 mph other than in still air (or downwind  - when it may well exceeed 18 mph and  thus have to check its speed with (much) less than the stick's input  ). Even a 5 mph breeze would cut it to 13, and a 10 mph to 8mph and so on to hover at 18 mph headwind.
For RTH to only achieve this would be unnecessarily limiting in my view, especially if it has 50 odd mph up its sleeve.
Still, to descibe a perfect circle on the ground with just fwd stick and some yaw whilst automatically doubling the speed for the upwind leg and halving it for the downwind leg is pretty amazing to me.

Bright Spark Posted at 12-13 07:50
Thanks for the insights.
So the question (for me then) whether the max pitch down in p  mode set manually with full forward applied can or cannot be augmented automatically when facing wind.
If not, it would never reach 18 mph other than in still air. Even a 5 mph breeze would cut it to 13, and a 10 mph to 8mph and so on to hover at 18 mph headwind.

Good question.

in P-GPS mode (with zero wind) with stick fully forward the software let the mini pitch down to 20 degrees.
Max speed set to a certain value by DJI software, depending on how much rpm the engine are allowed to run.
In Sport mode max pitch down is limited to 30 degrees. And max speed depends on max allowed rpm, but is faster than in P-GPS mode.Above is also true flying with wind, 10 knots pure head wind will reduce groundspeed with 10 knots.

So AFAIK and understand (and seen in mini logs) mini in Sport mode achieve higher groundspeed than in P-GPS mode.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 12-13 07:12
If drifting backwards speed is indicating , as always, a positive number.

So if RTH is initiated bt the user ; a) wait and see its turning towards home and b) CHECK if distance is decreasing!  If not then decide what to do!  

The main problem is when RTH is initiated after a signal lost, and there are many cases especially in the CE version. In this scenario :

A) you don't have any control
B) basically you are "blind" so you don't know what's the drone is doing

So the only thing left is hoping to the best based on the assumption you set your RTH high enough but not too high ..

My very first flight I set the RTH to 100m, (in my head it was a nice number) lost signal after 250 meter (bad remote angle I guess). Waited to RTH initiating. Three weeks later and 50+ "Fly away" threads  in this forum, I know I was just lucky..

the1shark Posted at 12-13 08:00
The main problem is when RTH is initiated after a signal lost, and there are many cases especially in the CE version. In this scenario :

A) you don't have any control

True!  When full connection is lost we have to trust the RTH performed by DJI software/drone.
Even when you see the drone in the air, you are indeed blind as you cannot control it by the RC.

If only the video is lost, than telemetry is working and you can use the map or compass to bring the craft home.

In this flight OP had full control in the first part, so fly back manually (or at least try it) was an option.

cheers
JJB

Thanks for sharing this issue constructively !
It's just that the sophistication  fascinates me.
The point I think most important here is the one you raised about the software limiting the pitch angles.
The 'throttle' is to my mind a fly by wire control, and in no way directly controls speed.
Thus DJI can  modulate this as requured.
With no restraints, it will gather enormous speed on full pitch.
Speed is entirely controlled by gps readings, in p mode as well as s mode.(except when ground sensors are dominant.)
But there we are, there's always more to learn!

Hello and good day Charles Ma. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Mini and thank you for contacting DJI through email. Rest assured that our DJI support team will be able to help and assist you with regards to this matter and would do their best to find out the reason of the said incident and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Again I am sorry and thank for your support.

Is it really impossible to get back?
Sorry for your loss, seems many things were against a safe flight plan.

What do you think about changing homepoint where we lost control during flight? Maybe quick change of HP in direction of wind is a good idea?

Do you know what is the price of Mini with offered 15% discount by DJI

BR
Paul

Pe_Gas Posted at 12-13 11:22
What do you think about changing homepoint where we lost control during flight? Maybe quick change of HP in direction of wind is a good idea?

Do you know what is the price of Mini with offered 15% discount by DJI

Interesting thought to reset HP during flight, but that option is not possible the way you describe.

Only a reset HP to new position of the RC/Mobile device is an option.
So after loosing control (but in connection with the drone), fast driving your bike/motorcycle/car/*.*  to new downwind position and set new HP, wait and see it land in front of you....

My 2 cents is flying my MINI with less wind.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 12-13 11:36
Interesting thought to reset HP during flight, but that option is not possible the way you describe.

Only a reset HP to new position of the RC/Mobile device is an option.

Such films should be banned:  
I've lost control on Mini (height 20m above ground, 2 minutes before flight I personally were bout 10m above ground) at 3 times weaker wind and finally lost him.

I thought we can indicate a home point on the map by hand.
edit:

It shows that what I thought. Could you check it?

JJB* Posted at 12-13 07:16
In FRAP / Menu / View / GE  or press F10 when file is loaded

Thanks please could you let me know when the new version is out.

Pe_Gas Posted at 12-13 11:53
Such films should be banned:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z07QNVYc3Uo
I've lost control on Mini (height 20m above ground, 2 minutes before flight I personally were bout 10m above ground) at 3 times weaker wind and finally lost him.

I agree. It appears you can update your home point while in flight, according to that video.

JJB* Posted at 12-13 07:12
If drifting backwards speed is indicating , as always, a positive number.

So if RTH is initiated bt the user ; a) wait and see its turning towards home and b) CHECK if distance is decreasing!  If not then decide what to do!  

I think they should update the firmware so as when it detects a blow away it alerts the OP and switches the RTH from P to S.  

How will it detect a blow away?

It could be very possible to determine in what directions is the drone being pushed, against, while trying to hover completely stopped. The same yo get a strong wind alert, you could get a "drifting" alert even in what direction.

If "not enough force" and stick full forward but HP distance increasing than alert "blow away". easy?

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 12-13 13:01
I think they should update the firmware so as when it detects a blow away it alerts the OP and switches the RTH from P to S.

if all flying is done automatically where is the fun.?!

It`s not that hard to understand and notice when a drone is blown away.
Just check heading drone, heading to home and distance value in- or decreasing.
Within few seconds you have the answer and time to do some corrective action.

cheers
JJB