Drastic speed reduction with new Firmware

[ParsnipHysorter]

Sorry! All the latest; aircraft, transmitter, batteries iOS version.

Thanks; I flew yesterday after upgrade and didn't notice any reductions either but I hadn't read this thread yet... going to test here shortly, especially vertical speed -- sort of afraid of what I will find, but will report back here. Temperature today around 20 F so will be a bit colder then your test

 

[John Locke]

Ok, Just updated my P3p and my 4 batteries this morning.
I live in Las Vegas. 54 degrees F. No wind at all.

The vertical ascending speed is noticeably slower now. horizontal speed, I reached 36 MPH, but the
acceleration was noticeably slower. I used to love how fast this quad could accelerate upward. Now
it is very slow.

Very disappointing update. Feels like i am in Beginner mode or the Emergency brake was left on. LOL

Has anyone successfully switched back to the previous firmware and how did you do it.???

Thanks

Yes, your findings are the same results I got. Vertical ascent speed was reduced about 50%. I too would like to know if anyone has rolled back to 1.5 successfully and got their acceleration mojo back. I'm wondering if the "Battery protection" mode that shut down power was only implemented in the battery firmware in 1.5, or if part of it was in the firmware for the P3 main board too. If I roll back to 1.5 I'm unclear if the one battery will be risky to use. I assume yes, and I'm OK with that, since I have 4 batteries.

What's strange is this power battery protection "SHUT DOWN" problem appeared in 1.5, and if I recall there was no battery firmware update in 1.5, am I wrong? I'm wondering why it's believe to be an issue only with 1.5 FW if there was no battery firmware change in 1.5. Can anyone shed light on this?

 

[shockwave199]

What's strange is this power battery protection "SHUT DOWN" problem appeared in 1.5, and if I recall there was no battery firmware update in 1.5, am I wrong? I'm wondering why it's believe to be an issue only with 1.5 FW if there was no battery firmware change in 1.5. Can anyone shed light on this?

I have been asking this numerous times. There was no battery update with 1.5 even though some have said there was. It was only the bird- no batteries. And as I have asked previously, anyone seeing a reduction in VA speed have any tweaks to expos or gains that carried over that may be playing a role?

 

[ParsnipHysorter]

Ok tested 1 battery today, my results:

Newest firmware installed
Temperature 20 F. Decent wind blowing at 10-15 mph.

Tested vertical ascent speed numerous times. Result: Right off the bat I was still getting 10-11 MPH vertical speed on a few ascents, so my first thought was no performance changes with this latest firmware. But then about midway through the flight, when the battery voltage was around 3.7 V and probably 65% remaining, I noticed the speed suddenly changed to about 5-6 MPH vertical ascent max speed.

Horizontal speed and ability to fly into the wind didn't seem to be terribly affected though this was harder to test.

Will run another battery tomorrow and see.

 

[jasonb777]

ok, so if I wanted to roll back the firmware and I had already installed the new firmware on all my batteries, am I stuck with the latest "battery resting-fall out of the sky" firmware? Or can I roll back all the stuff?

 

[mirrorimage]

Anytime I put new props on my P3P seems a lot faster. Are your props old?

 

[pureblur]

I can confirm ParsnipHysorter's findings. I've tested out the 1.6 firmware and noticed that vertical speed seemed the same as the 1.4 firmware I previously had, 10-11 MPH with full battery and repeated tests for the next 8 minutes or so. Then once the battery had drained some (don't know the actual battery %, but probably around 60%) there was a significant drop in vertical acceleration for the rest of the life of the battery (7-9 MPH max vertical speed). Temperature was 70 degrees F., so not cold at all. The Vertical speed seemed to get slightly slower every time I tried it as the battery drained. I never got below 7 MPH vertical speed. The vertical speed wasn't consistent the whole accent either. It seemed slightly faster the first 30 feet and then I could visually see and hear a reduction in assent/motor speed.

I then downgraded to firmware 1.5 and retested under the same conditions. Vertical speed was back to 10-11 MPH no matter how much life was left on the batteries. I've gone back and forth on which firmware to keep on my phantom and decided to stick with version 1.6 for now. I don't want to risk the battery shutdown mid flight. I'll take the better piece of mind over the lower vertical performance even though I haven't witnessed any battery shutdown issues firsthand with the 1.5 firmware.

 

[ParsnipHysorter]

I flew today. Two batteries in a test field.

All results exactly the same as prior versions.

Max ascent 5 m/s.

Max descent 3 m/s (always been this speed from the PV+ onwards)

Max horizontal speed 17.75 m/s (39.7 mph)

All tests carried out at around 12/13 degrees Celsius.

No changes in behaviour from my testing.

Happydays can you confirm if you experienced no changes in speeds/acceleration for the entire flights, especially vertical speed? In my testing, albeit at lower ambient temperatures then yours, I also experience max ascent speed of 5-6 m/s but only during the top 30% of the battery. The remainder of the flight I see a reduced vertical ascent speed of about 3 m/s, which is definite change over prior versions. Looks like Pureblur (post above this) sees similar behavior but in even warmer weather.

 

[flyNfrank]

I've done a lot of testing on this and was putting it all together in a new thread. It was late and before I knew it I had dosed off and deleted everything. When creating a new thread it doesn't auto save like when responding. So I will give you the little I can remember.

My test came from using another members data from L.A. I wanted to use his data mostly because he flew in 54 degree temps and had changes. For this to take place at 15 degrees what most would say near perfect flying temps is ridicules. His Battery Temp started out at 85.2 degrees and at the end of a 11.5 minutes flight was 91.8 degrees. If those temps effect the battery as suggested, they better locate a better smart battery firmware guy.

The flight itself consisted of being launched to 380.5ft.

I do want to share some info worth paying attention to. From the point in which he launched the A/C, reached altitude of 380ft, and began to fly was 1.1 minutes. At that point he went full throttle and in 20 seconds he had reached the A/C's fastest speed of the flight which was 38mph. While remaining at full throttle, as soon as he reached 38mph it instantly began slowing down. And 20 seconds later from going 38mph it had reduced speed down to 24.6mph. 1 minute later 13.3mph. The A/C was full throttle during the list below. If you noticed it actually dropped to 13.3mph which is a 24.7mph reduction in speed all due to the firmware change per the smart battery issue. Battery went from 100% down to 83% to the 13.3mph 3 min point.

Battery full charge 100%
*Line--Speed--MPH
1077-17mps-38mph 1.8min (1 minute 48 sec)
1167-16mps-35.8mph
1193-15mps-33.5mph
1202-14mps-31.3mph
1208-13mps-29.1mph
1213-12mps-26.8mph
1217-11mps-24.6mph
1221-10mps-22.4mph 2.0min (20 seconds after fastest point)
1870-5.9mps-13.3mph (3.min total to reach mph)

I couldn't see where the battery temp had anything to do with this. They must use the barometer sensor per the air temp, or they used the speed as in this situation cause it was pretty much dead on the 17mps when it instantly began to drop. If the actual speed is what tripped the reduction setting, then we just need someone to do a mod that doesn't allow it to exceed 16.9mps.

 

[shockwave199]

I've done a lot of testing on this and was putting it all together in a new thread. It was late and before I knew it I had dosed off and deleted everything. When creating a new thread it doesn't auto save like when responding. So I will give you the little I can remember.

My test came from using another members data from L.A. I wanted to use his data mostly because he flew in 54 degree temps and had changes. For this to take place at 15 degrees what most would say near perfect flying temps is ridicules. His Battery Temp started out at 85.2 degrees and at the end of a 11.5 minutes flight was 91.8 degrees. If those temps effect the battery as suggested, they better locate a better smart battery firmware guy.

The flight itself consisted of being launched to 380.5ft.

I do want to share some info worth paying attention to. From the point in which he launched the A/C, reached altitude of 380ft, and began to fly was 1.1 minutes. At that point he went full throttle and in 20 seconds he had reached the A/C's fastest speed of the flight which was 38mph. While remaining full throttle, as soon as he reached 38mph it instantly began slowing down. And 20 seconds later from going 38mph it had reduced speed down to 24.6mph. 1 minute later 13.3mph. The A/C was full throttle during the list below. If you noticed it actually dropped to 13.3mph which is a 24.7mph reduction in speed all due to the firmware change per the smart battery issue. Battery went from 100% down to 83% to the 13.3mph 3 min point.

Battery full charge 100%
*Line--Speed--MPH
1077-17mps-38mph 1.8min (1 minute 48 sec)
1167-16mps-35.8mph
1193-15mps-33.5mph
1202-14mps-31.3mph
1208-13mps-29.1mph
1213-12mps-26.8mph
1217-11mps-24.6mph
1221-10mps-22.4mph 2.0min (20 seconds after fastest point)
1870-5.9mps-13.3mph (3.min total to reach mph)

I couldn't see where the battery temp had anything to do with this. They must use the barometer sensor per the air temp, or the used the speed as in this situation it was pretty much dead on the 17mps when it instantly began to drop. If the actual speed is what tripped the reduction setting, then we just need someone to do a mod that doesn't allow it to exceed 16.9mps.

If that's the case then forget about the P3 as the bird of choice for filming fast paced action- including the Inspire as well. That's hobbled. I wouldn't do distance flights anymore either. That could be bird suicide. I wonder what the effects of flying not full throttle the whole flight has in reducing horizontal speed. And the biggest question is, if you go back to 5.1 to get your speed back does the battery optimization still stick in any regard at all?

 

[Oso]

Could this have been a knee jerk reaction on the part of DJI to get something out quickly to intercept all of the new holiday Phantoms? They must have wanted to avoid even more instances of what was quickly becoming a big issue in the last 4-6 weeks with battery management code. I can't imagine the current implementation in 1.6 is intended to be the final fix for the battery issue. As @shockwave199 noted, it is just too much hobbling of previously stellar platforms. They can't want that, right? I have to think they are actively working on something more elegant from a coding perspective. Is that just wishful thinking on my part?

 

[kirk2579]

Could this have been a knee jerk reaction on the part of DJI to get something out quickly to intercept all of the new holiday Phantoms? They must have wanted to avoid even more instances of what was quickly becoming a big issue in the last 4-6 weeks with battery management code. I can't imagine the current implementation in 1.6 is intended to be the final fix for the battery issue. As @shockwave199 noted, it is just too much hobbling of previously stellar platforms. They can't want that, right? I have to think they are actively working on something more elegant from a coding perspective. Is that just wishful thinking on my part?

this would be nice to think is happening!

makes sense with so many hitting the sky at same time right now.
they figured they would "catch" many/most of new units on first startup till a total fix can be implemented.

 

[John Locke]

I've done a lot of testing on this and was putting it all together in a new thread. It was late and before I knew it I had dosed off and deleted everything. When creating a new thread it doesn't auto save like when responding. So I will give you the little I can remember.

My test came from using another members data from L.A. I wanted to use his data mostly because he flew in 54 degree temps and had changes. For this to take place at 15 degrees what most would say near perfect flying temps is ridicules. His Battery Temp started out at 85.2 degrees and at the end of a 11.5 minutes flight was 91.8 degrees. If those temps effect the battery as suggested, they better locate a better smart battery firmware guy.

The flight itself consisted of being launched to 380.5ft.

I do want to share some info worth paying attention to. From the point in which he launched the A/C, reached altitude of 380ft, and began to fly was 1.1 minutes. At that point he went full throttle and in 20 seconds he had reached the A/C's fastest speed of the flight which was 38mph. While remaining at full throttle, as soon as he reached 38mph it instantly began slowing down. And 20 seconds later from going 38mph it had reduced speed down to 24.6mph. 1 minute later 13.3mph. The A/C was full throttle during the list below. If you noticed it actually dropped to 13.3mph which is a 24.7mph reduction in speed all due to the firmware change per the smart battery issue. Battery went from 100% down to 83% to the 13.3mph 3 min point.

Battery full charge 100%
*Line--Speed--MPH
1077-17mps-38mph 1.8min (1 minute 48 sec)
1167-16mps-35.8mph
1193-15mps-33.5mph
1202-14mps-31.3mph
1208-13mps-29.1mph
1213-12mps-26.8mph
1217-11mps-24.6mph
1221-10mps-22.4mph 2.0min (20 seconds after fastest point)
1870-5.9mps-13.3mph (3.min total to reach mph)

I couldn't see where the battery temp had anything to do with this. They must use the barometer sensor per the air temp, or they used the speed as in this situation cause it was pretty much dead on the 17mps when it instantly began to drop. If the actual speed is what tripped the reduction setting, then we just need someone to do a mod that doesn't allow it to exceed 16.9mps.

Frank,
Can you elaborate on the direction you were flying? Were all these runs in the same direction in relation to the wind? Was it a calm day? Did you do any ATTI mode hovers at 380ft to see what the wind was like? Did you try any vertical ascent speed lifts at full throttle?

 

[shockwave199]

All I know is 13mph is beyond ugly. I went full throttle my first flight with 1.6 at about three different times during the flight but I was fighting wind and they were 400'sprints. It never dropped to 13mph. Each run topped out aprox 26mph. Rain forced me to land at about 60 percent battery left.

 

[Wacker2611]

Sorry, a bit anecdotal admittedly. Today I did a 14 minute flight , with furthest distance being about 1.2 km away. Speed was uniform @ 38km/h , sometimes a bit more , sometimes a bit less. Wind @ 10 mph roughly, temp @ 10c.
So, while admittedly I was hardly pushing it hard ( I rarely need to go over 40km/h) I did not notice any performance drop off whatsoever. Still had plenty in the tank after 10 minutes if I'd needed it.

 

[shockwave199]

Sorry, a bit anecdotal admittedly. Today I did a 14 minute flight , with furthest distance being about 1.2 km away. Speed was uniform @ 38km/h , sometimes a bit more , sometimes a bit less. Wind @ 10 mph roughly, temp @ 10c.
So, while admittedly I was hardly pushing it hard ( I rarely need to go over 40km/h) I did not notice any performance drop off whatsoever. Still had plenty in the tank after 10 minutes if I'd needed it.

Well that's good to hear.

 

[ParsnipHysorter]

Just repeated my test from yesterday, with similar results: Temperature 3 C, 38 F. Repeatedly ascending at max rate and noting speed and voltage/charge percentage. Here are my results:

65%-98% battery remaining: 10-11 MPH vertical ascent
50%-64% battery remaining: 7-8 MPH vertical ascent
30-50% battery remaining: 5-6 MPH vertical ascent

I haven't done a lot of horizontal speed tests BUT I did do a few runs when it was around the 50% level and max speed was 30-32 MPH and seemed to take longer to reach that speed.

Definitely seems like a hobbled bird now, especially on the lower half of the battery. Thinking about downgrading.

 

[shockwave199]

Just repeated my test from yesterday, with similar results: Temperature 3 C, 38 F. Repeatedly ascending at max rate and noting speed and voltage/charge percentage. Here are my results:

65%-98% battery remaining: 10-11 MPH vertical ascent
50%-64% battery remaining: 7-8 MPH vertical ascent
30-50% battery remaining: 5-6 MPH vertical ascent

I haven't done a lot of horizontal speed tests BUT I did do a few runs when it was around the 50% level and max speed was 30-32 MPH and seemed to take longer to reach that speed.

Definitely seems like a hobbled bird now, especially on the lower half of the battery. Thinking about downgrading.

Downgrading could be the worse of two evils though. Speed could kill, the bird that is. It's really important to know the absolute ramifications of downgrading in terms of what, if anything sticks from the battery optimization. Do you get speed back but still get some optimization benefits from 1.6? Or do you forfeit the optimization altogether? The speed hit isn't great enough for me to bail out of 1.6. As I continue to fly though, I could change my mind. But answers from dji are needed in regard to what happens if you go back to 1.5.

 

[N017RW]

Well... I've never owned a LiPo powered electric r/c toy that didn't see a reduction in performance as pack voltage drops.

 

[Oso]

You guys are awesome for all of the testing and posting of the speed changes as your batteries deplete. Plus, noting that it is happening in a variety of weather conditions and not just in cold weather. Thanks very much, it is really adding to the communities knowledge.