Drone crashed after using RTH

[Russ43Phantom]

See this dropbox clip (720p) -- The DJI OA system was able to detect those leafless winter branches, and moved the AC up (and backward) until re-establishing RC contact. Maybe the lighting condition was at optimal at the time for the OA.

In your example, the trees had leaves ... many leaves. My only crash was from backing into a leafless tree ... LEAFLESS. In one other incident, my P4P was traveling under an overhead canopy of leafless trees when it hit some very thin extremity branches. It acted like a hedge trimmer but kept on flying.

I ordered a MAVIC AIR, which will compare to my P4P much like my iPhone X compares to my Nikon 750. I am hoping that it will have a more advanced avoidance system.

 

[spacetrakker]

Firstly let me say that I feel pain for the newby at crashing his drone.....

BUT it is absolutely proven from the flight data that it was entirely due to pilot inexperience / error. It has nothing to do with DJI updates resetting default parameter values. DJI warn that values could be reset to defaults and should be checked before flying! AND, irrespective, any pilot who does not check critical flight parameter values as part of every preflight routine is just setting himself up for the inevitable disaster.

The op needs harden up and take responsibility for his own lack of thorough preflight checking and understanding the reality and limitations of avoidance systems and flying out of sight behind obstacles and hills.

Good luck if DJI repairs the aircraft. But give us a break from more than 5 pages of excuses and whining.

 

[John Locke]

The other way to avoid the consequences from the negligence of checking settings all the time, is to turn off auto update on apps, the tablet OS, and resist the urge to update the RC or CRAFT firmware.

If you have a perfectly good flying craft and you have no problems with it, keep it that way, don't change anything! I think the majority of pilots are fearful of what they don't know. Their logic is... OH MAN... A new firmware has been released! There must have been some bugs in the firmware! I better upgrade right now! This logic is backwards IMO. Unless there's a compelling reason to upgrade your firmware or app version, you shouldn't try to fix what's not broke. Most the time DJI is inserting new things you DON'T WANT, and they don't tell you what they are up front. We all know that has happened, multiple times.

The other motivator I hear about is ..... OH BOY, new features in the Go4 app. Panoramas, Yay! This is the classic way to get sucked into doing something that you'll regret later, thinking you're getting something for nothing. Panoramas have been available with Litchi for a long time, a much better option IMO, less risk.

I recommend freezing everything if your craft is flying OK. Fly it and have fun. Don't fret over all the work and risk of upgrading because you'll eventually get bit.

My P4P with old 1.3.509 firmware from last May is flying like a champ. No problems, because EVERYTHING is frozen. But that's just me, you guys can do what you want. I'm flying higher than anyone else with later firmware. I love climbing mountains and looking over the top. Here's one from last Oct, flying at 14,000 MSL about 2.5mi away from home point, a 2500' climb to the top. I'll be visiting this area again this summer. EPIC scenery.

 

[fiberdude]

See this dropbox clip (720p) -- The DJI OA system was apparently triggered by a pole of 4-5 cm in diameter, although the abrupt OA braking was entirely unnecessary as the AC was travelling sideways to the left in a Litchi mission.

That worked nicely, but it's not clear that it was the small leafless branches rather than the abundant foliage in the field of view that triggered the OA.

In your example, the trees had leaves ... many leaves. My only crash was from backing into a leafless tree ... LEAFLESS. In one other incident, my P4P was traveling under an overhead canopy of leafless trees when it hit some very thin extremity branches. It acted like a hedge trimmer but kept on flying.

 

[sar104]

See this dropbox clip (720p) -- The DJI OA system was apparently triggered by a pole of 4-5 cm in diameter, although the abrupt OA braking was entirely unnecessary as the AC was travelling sideways to the left in a Litchi mission.

That was a significant, high-contrast obstacle - quite different from thin branches.

 

[John Locke]

I'm not sure how DJIs profit margins and business plan is set up and if it makes room to help incidents like this one. I know other drone companies have it built into its price and plan to do so.

Can you show me where you got this knowledge?

Seems like a stretch to expect DJI to help out if you didn't read the manual, and as a result didn't check the RTH settings, but they might. It will depend on the evidence you present. In my experience DJI has always been pretty generous at replacing craft for failed craft functionality, but mine were all warranty claims, no crashes. I assume they plan on a percentage of failures for warranty and have that built into the price. Crashes are harder to justify, but possible with the supporting data. Others have received replacements when circumstances of a crash were the result of the craft not operating properly, however the flight log and video needs to support that scenario so DJI can justify replacement. Can you show us the video from your unfortunate flight?

 

[lickitysplit11111]

I wonder if GO4 app settings were reset to default settings during update.

Yes this happens sometimes I believe that’s why after updates you gotta check your settings

 

[elsapo2001]

As a new pilot this is why a start small, practice using RTH and always follow a basic checklist. Ie verify all settings, take one minute to spool up the props and keep it in the air for about a minute to make sure no issues. Keep my flight times short enough where i always have enought time to make it back with plenty of safe time in the event of winds etc.

Its an amazing tech but it is something i am very careful with since it is like flying your own airplane.

 

[elsapo2001]

Looking online and at the damage this is going to cost half of what I paid for it. Just ridiculous.

Yeah they cost quite a bit. Why i started out with the Phantom 4 at 760 dollar blow outprices.

That way if i lose one its less painful at 760 vs 1500.

 

[RémyHeli]

I got an idea: could be useful in some cases for diagnostic purpose when RTH is triggered: Auto start camera recording.

 

[lickitysplit11111]

I got an idea: could be useful in some cases for diagnostic purpose when RTH is triggered: Auto start camera recording.

Hmm video doesn’t really show the important stuff , flight records do

 

[elsapo2001]

Funny today was my first RTH. it looked like some kind of RF since I was 1200 feet away not the farthest I have gone. but its cool to see it in action, got a lost video warning and asked if I want to activate RTH. I say yes and about 30 seconds later it shows back up and it was climbing up to my specified safety altitude. I immediately cancled the RTH and took her home manually. Amazing technology but the funny thing is when I did check before my flight it did reset it to 30m which would have caused a big problem crashing into power-lines. For some reason I have noticed this happens but I always verify before my flight.

 

[Andy9]

It must be a pretty big tree if you hit it at 30m high.

 

[WBN3]

It must be a pretty big tree if you hit it at 30m high.

Remember that the elevation is relative to your take-off elevation, not relative to the terrain. If you fly anywhere that has hills, the 30m RTH elevation can put you into the middle of a decent-sized tree pretty easily.

 

[Dan cutter]

Unpaved airspace message fly with caution... Thats it.

Flying on unpaved airspace voids warranty.

 

[KonstantinePhotos]

DJI was taking forever because of the Chinese New Year but finally got back to me. They confirmed faulty equipment and not pilot error. Sending me out a brand new unit.

 

[John Locke]

Amazing technology but the funny thing is when I did check before my flight it did reset it to 30m which would have caused a big problem crashing into power-lines. For some reason I have noticed this happens but I always verify before my flight.

Remember when you set the RTH height value you must be connected to the craft to enable a new RTH height. You cannot set it in the app without a craft connection because the setting is programmed IN THE CRAFT, not just the app.

Once you successfully program it into the craft it won't change unless you update the app, which can trigger a new setting to the 30m default. It's best to set your iPad or Android to disable auto update, otherwise you could be surprised someday and find yourself flying a new version GO4 without knowing you have a new default RTH value of 30m.

 

[Way2Fst4U]

DJI was taking forever because of the Chinese New Year but finally got back to me. They confirmed faulty equipment and not pilot error. Sending me out a brand new unit.

I'd say that's pretty freaking amazing customer support don't you? I'm also willing to bet you have a pre-flight checklist now. If not, I would suggest making one ASAP! Congrats and fly safely.

 

[pdmike]

Very often with a Go4 app upgrade, the settings will revert to the factory default, hence 30m RTH. This is exactly why you should turn off auto updates, which can surprise you because you weren't notified of the auto update. You should never update anything unless you have a compelling reason to update, software or firmware, IMO. You should NOT UPDATE thinking that you get to have the latest and greatest for free. That's what DJI wants you to think so you'll update, but DJI updates are often laced with things you may not want. With each update, DJI has been known to add things to an app that are often undesirable. So before deciding to update anything, READ AND READ this forum to determine what each update changes, and what new restrictions they have introduced. DJI is not good about telling all, they will hide things they have done, and only flying with the apps will reveal the things they don't want you to know about before updating, because if you knew the full truth, many folks wouldn't update.

Thank you! Great advice.

 

[ibuyufo]

I think I have some idea as to why your RTH setting was not saved. Correct me if I am wrong but you tried to change both maximum altitude and RTH altitude at the same time? If that’s the case, your settings will not change. The proper way to do it is to set the max altitude, exit screen, and go back in to change the RTH height.