Inspire 1Pro switches to ATTI and crashes

[RvdH]

Scary moments yesterday afternoon: after flying in P-GPS mode with 19 satellites present, I suddenly saw a message: "Compass error, exiting P-GPS mode" after which it switched to ATTI mode by itself; the controller still being in P-mode.

What followed is funnily enough not recorded bij the DJI GO app: the Inspire Pro took a glide path down as if it had wings and crashed in a field. Nothing I did on the controller helped. As I got to the bird the controller said: "maximum altitude reached".

Visual damage: dislocated arms, broken screw of the landing gear, broken shock absorber. Because it was a training session I was flying without the X5.

I fly with the latest version of everything. Bird is still within warranty.
Any ideas, same experiences? Tips?

Tnx!

 

[The Editor]

Scary moments yesterday afternoon: after flying in P-GPS mode with 19 satellites present, I suddenly saw a message: "Compass error, exiting P-GPS mode" after which it switched to ATTI mode by itself; the controller still being in P-mode.

What followed is funnily enough not recorded bij the DJI GO app: the Inspire Pro took a glide path down as if it had wings and crashed in a field. Nothing I did on the controller helped. As I got to the bird the controller said: "maximum altitude reached".

Visual damage: dislocated arms, broken screw of the landing gear, broken shock absorber. Because it was a training session I was flying without the X5.

I fly with the latest version of everything. Bird is still within warranty.
Any ideas, same experiences? Tips?

Tnx!

The Inspire is programmed to switch to P-Atti in the event of a GPS/Glonass reception problem or compass data error which is the safest option in these circumstances.

What were your mod values prior to take off?
Did you do a compass calibration prior to take off? (Hopefully not)

 

[RvdH]

The Inspire is programmed to switch to P-Atti in the event of a GPS/Glonass reception problem or compass data error which is the safest option in these circumstances.

What were your mod values prior to take off?
Did you do a compass calibration prior to take off? (Hopefully not)

I calibrated the compass before take off. You say 'hopefully not'. Why not?
I had 19 sats in an open field. Never had problems there before. On Facebook a poster suggested it was the 601 version of the Inspire Pro with a too strong transmitter? His bird was replaced by a 600 Inspire Pro.

What mod values do you mean?

 

[The Editor]

I calibrated the compass before take off. You say 'hopefully not'. Why not?
I had 19 sats in an open field. Never had problems there before. On Facebook a poster suggested it was the 601 version of the Inspire Pro with a too strong transmitter? His bird was replaced by a 600 Inspire Pro.

What mod values do you mean?

Calibrating your compass before every flight is actually one of the worst things you can do - lots of threads on that on the forum behind the reasoning in that statement.

Mod values are in the sensors page in the app and should form part of your pre-flight checklist.
Again, lots on that on the forum
Have a go with the search function and you will get a lot of information on those two subjects.

 

[RvdH]

Thanks.

I red about the compass calibration. But I am in an impasse here: as DJI makes me calibrate with a pop-up at starting the GO app, and I do not do it and unfortunately the bird crashes (like happened to me), don't I give them a stick to hit me with?

Don't I have to operate my aircraft the way its manufacturer instructs me to via manuals and pop-ups in software?

 

[Kilrah]

You need to apply a bit of logical thinking on the info that is given to you.

Say you had properly calibrated your bird in a known good perturbation-free environment. If you move to a different place not too far away and get a compass error it does not necessarily mean that the proper course of action is to recalibrate - because the reason you get the error might well be that this location is perturbated. If it is and you calibrate now you'll be storing bogus calibration values that refer to the local perturbation you're having there, not to the larger scale environment. If you now take off and fly out of the disturbed zone the compass will drop out.
Had you not calibrated you might have no compass where you are but it would be fine once you fly away.

So when you get a compass error before takeoff in a random location when you have a known good calibration you should change location rather than recalibrate.

 

[RvdH]

You need to apply a bit of logical thinking on the info that is given to you.

Say you had properly calibrated your bird in a known good perturbation-free environment. If you move to a different place not too far away and get a compass error it does not necessarily mean that the proper course of action is to recalibrate - because the reason you get the error might well be that this location is perturbated. If it is and you calibrate now you'll be storing bogus calibration values that refer to the local perturbation you're having there, not to the larger scale environment. If you now take off and fly out of the disturbed zone the compass will drop out.
Had you not calibrated you might have no compass where you are but it would be fine once you fly away.

So when you get a compass error before takeoff in a random location when you have a known good calibration you should change location rather than recalibrate.

Well, I think I did apply common sense. But if the GO app wants me to calibrate, I do it. Now I might not, but yesterday I did.Too scared DJI uses it on me when something goes wrong "we instructed you to calibrate and you did not".

I flew perfectly ok on 4 batteries until during the 5th flight the sudden switch to atti occurred. I fly there often with no problems. No idea what happened, apart from a malfunction in the bird.

 

[Kilrah]

Again, GPS and compass glitches can and will happen at any time. You just have to be prepared for them anytime and anywhere you fly.

 

[Fanti]

I calibrated the compass before take off. You say 'hopefully not'. Why not?
I had 19 sats in an open field. Never had problems there before. On Facebook a poster suggested it was the 601 version of the Inspire Pro with a too strong transmitter? His bird was replaced by a 600 Inspire Pro.

What mod values do you mean?

I have both a T600 and 601 and both have this issue

 

[RvdH]

Again, GPS and compass glitches can and will happen at any time. You just have to be prepared for them anytime and anywhere you fly.

I can fly in atti. But the bird was not responding. Not on the 'up' command, not on any command from the controller. Otherwise I could at least have done something.
The GO app did not record the flight from the moment on the Inspire switched to atti by itself until the end of the flight as it crashed. This was ca 100 meters.
The bird crashed in a field. As I found it the GO app reported "maximum altitude reached".

I understand that I have to be prepared. Easier said than done. How could I in this situation?!

 

[Kilrah]

But the bird was not respjnding. Not on the 'up' command, not on any command from the controller

Aha, big difference - missed that given your initial question was focusing on the drop to ATTI.

Looks like you had a major fault of the entire system instead then. Contact DJI, explain the problem, send the logs they ask you for, and they'll likely replace your machine.

 

[lake_flyer]

A sudden loss of power for a split second would do that. Bad contacts that increase the resistance to a level that the systems have to reset.
Barometer will be totally offset and the bird needs to restart the GPS AND the transmitter needs to rebind, hence the switch to Atti, the lack of stick response, the sudden stop in data and video recording, and the max altitude message. Maybe the battery was not seated fully in the slot.
Be prepared that DJI could tell you that.

You could take it to Droneland in Almere, they are the European DJI repair shop.

 

[RvdH]

A sudden loss of power for a split second would do that. Bad contacts that increase the resistance to a level that the systems have to reset.
Barometer will be totally offset and the bird needs to restart the GPS AND the transmitter needs to rebind, hence the switch to Atti, the lack of stick response, the sudden stop in data and video recording, and the max altitude message. Maybe the battery was not seated fully in the slot.
Be prepared that DJI could tell you that.

You could take it to Droneland in Almere, they are the European DJI repair shop.

Thanks. I bring all my business there from the start. Wonderfull guys!
They will receive the Inspire tomorrow.

Your suggestion is plausable. The only things that debunk it in my opinion are that the arrow in the log keeps pointing to the direction the bird went while going down. Height was adjusted too, until 9 meters. Only the gps position was not recorded anymore after the compass error.
So there must have been some sort of transmission of data going on, which I think is not possible when the power was off.

All contacts of the battery and Inspire look like new. I always check that the battery is seated firmly. It was still in place and working even after the crash, the motors were working. Stopping the motors with the controller did not work though, I had tot kill the Inspire by switching off the battery.

I will have to wait what comes out of the investigation...

 

[lake_flyer]

Thanks. I bring all my business there from the start. Wonderfull guys!
They will receive the Inspire tomorrow.

Your suggestion is plausable. The only things that debunk it in my opinion are that the arrow in the log keeps pointing to the direction the bird went while going down. Height was adjusted too, until 9 meters. Only the gps position was not recorded anymore after the compass error.
So there must have been some sort of transmission of data going on, which I think is not possible when the power was off.

All contacts of the battery and Inspire look like new. I always check that the battery is seated firmly. It was still in place and working even after the crash, the motors were working. Stopping the motors with the controller did not work though, I had tot kill the Inspire by switching off the battery.

I will have to wait what comes out of the investigation...

The power doesn't have to be zero to have the bird reset itself, just not enough is enough to cause it, some systems will carry on, other parts will reset. A bad connection will often still show some current but with a very high resistance. Maybe the last battery you used is not ok.

I experienced this with a bad XT60 connector of a battery from a Phantom1. Exactly the same like you describe, until I changed the connector. Never a problem since.
But of course it's only a speculation that it could be the same in your case.

I hope you get it fixed or replaced under warranty. Tojtojtoj

 

[DesertWindAero]

Scary moments yesterday afternoon: after flying in P-GPS mode with 19 satellites present, I suddenly saw a message: "Compass error, exiting P-GPS mode" after which it switched to ATTI mode by itself; the controller still being in P-mode.

What followed is funnily enough not recorded bij the DJI GO app: the Inspire Pro took a glide path down as if it had wings and crashed in a field. Nothing I did on the controller helped. As I got to the bird the controller said: "maximum altitude reached".

Visual damage: dislocated arms, broken screw of the landing gear, broken shock absorber. Because it was a training session I was flying without the X5.

I fly with the latest version of everything. Bird is still within warranty.
Any ideas, same experiences? Tips?

Tnx!

Did you upload the flight log to healthydrones.com for analysis?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Meta4]

Well, I think I did apply common sense. But if the GO app wants me to calibrate, I do it. Now I might not, but yesterday I did.Too scared DJI uses it on me when something goes wrong "we instructed you to calibrate and you did not".

Look a little closer next time you think the app is telling you to recalibrate.
I think you'll find it is saying something like Compass Error - Please move or recalibrate.
And the correct action is almost always to move to a new location clear of magnetic interference like reinforced concrete.
It's easy to test. Just put your drone on the roof of your car, some reinforced concrete etc and start it up to see the error message.
Then move it clear of the steel that's giving the error and see the difference.
If you recalibrate within the distorted magnetic field that the compass error is warning you about, you are asking for trouble like this member of the calibrate-every-time club:

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[The Editor]

You need to apply a bit of logical thinking on the info that is given to you.

Say you had properly calibrated your bird in a known good perturbation-free environment. If you move to a different place not too far away and get a compass error it does not necessarily mean that the proper course of action is to recalibrate - because the reason you get the error might well be that this location is perturbated. If it is and you calibrate now you'll be storing bogus calibration values that refer to the local perturbation you're having there, not to the larger scale environment. If you now take off and fly out of the disturbed zone the compass will drop out.
Had you not calibrated you might have no compass where you are but it would be fine once you fly away.

So when you get a compass error before takeoff in a random location when you have a known good calibration you should change location rather than recalibrate.

Well let me think about this for a second......
Hmmmm...... yup, couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Kilrah]

like this member of the calibrate-every-time club

Facepalm moment when he says he only noticed the P3 drifting "when watching the video later and thinking he was making a nice slow pan"...

 

[Mad_angler1]

Well let me think about this for a second......
Hmmmm...... yup, couldn't have said it better myself!

Yours would have had a bit more sarcasm[emoji12]

 

[The Editor]

Yours would have had a bit more sarcasm[emoji12]

Might have been...