Losing altitude while mapping

July 12, 2021 13:54
4 comments

Hi Jim. I am having an issue with the mapping function on my Mavic Air 2. While I was scouting a research plot using the "on the flight map" function, the aircraft started at the altitude of 10m ATL, as programmed. But then I noticed the aircraft started losing altitud while flying the different legs of the mission. At the end of the mission, the aircraft was flying at less than 2m above ground, even though the app still indicated "A 10.0 m" on the screen. It happened 3 times, since I tested starting form different directions in the same plot. The height was set At ATL, and the plot slope is not significant. The only particular negative condition was a constant wind of around 15 to 20 km/h in the same direction of the mapping orientation. Any idea of what could be happening? I am running the app "Version 2.4.1 (156) | Version 2.4.0" on a Motorola Edge Special Edition phone (6gb / 256gb). Thanks!

Comments

4 comments

Jim McAndrew Dronelink Staff
- July 12, 2021 13:56
At the end of the mission, the aircraft was flying at less than 2m above ground, even though the app still indicated "A 10.0 m" on the screen.

This appears to be a DJI firmware bug right now, and it affects the Mavic series the worst. We are currently creating a detailed report of the behavior and will let you know if/when DJI has a solution.

FWIW, we are able to reproduce this same behavior in DJI GO / DJI Fly by just flying around manually on the sticks.

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Sebastian Sabate
- July 12, 2021 14:44
Thanks for the quick response Jim. This is a(nother) really serious issue from DJI! I'm glad I noticed this while keeping the aircraft in line of sight!
I hope this is not a way they found to discourage the use of third party apps running virtual sticks!
Are you aware of any way to reverse the aircraft to previous firmwares?

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Mike (Arizona Wyldwest) Dronelink Expert
- Edited July 13, 2021 01:09
A lot of pilots don’t trust Third Party Firmware but you can do it with Drone-Hacks. I did it once after several DJI mess-ups and I had no issues with the Firmware. It may take some time going over the website to find it and load the program but doesn’t take too long. I wish DJI would go back to the old DJI Assistant 2 which kept the older Firmwares. With all their mess-ups I did it several times in the past. Hope this helps

Just some info: The last Firmware update from DJI was way back in January. Version .610. I haven’t noticed any issue with my MA2 and I’ve used it quite a bit with both Fly app and DL. Maybe because I haven’t flown at low altitudes with mapping plans. Usually 100 feet minimum or higher. I’m sure Jim is correct tho.

Enjoy, Mike……..

https://drone-hacks.com/#about

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Sebastian Sabate
- July 15, 2021 15:54
Thank you very much for that info Mike. Ill take a look to it.

Best

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