I am new to drones and have done my online test got my operator and flyer id.
I bought a used mini 2 se last summer and have flown it a few times around the house area just to get some practice.
I am careful when I go to take off for obstacles, people and animals etc and today was no different.
I let the controller automatically take off and hover at 1.2 meter and then I gradually took flight and started to raise the drone.
I got to about 5ft when a seagull decided to swoop down from my house roof and hit the drone.
The drone fell about 5ft onto the grass where I immediately shut it down and inspected it.
There was no damage at all to the outside.
As a precaution I recalibrated everything and waited until I got 12 satellites then started the drone.
The drone started all ok and just as I was about to take off the drone went into full throttle and tried to bank to the right. I tried to shut the drone down by pulling both sticks down and in to the left but nothing happened.
After about 15-20 seconds the drone eventually started to slow down and stop… although the controller still thought it was airborne and gave me the option to auto land.
I tried this quite a few times with the same results. Obviously I cannot let the drone take off from the ground now as I can’t imagine where it would go.
I seen no errors on my phone DJI fly app either.
Batteries were fully charged also.
Can anyone help with ideas? Is there anyway to diagnose the issue through the app or pc? Or I’m I looking at a brick?
Tia
Stuart
Hello.
I have searched for the file TXT log but cannot see anything that resembles that file.
The only logs I can see are in the DJI.go.v4.0/ Cache and they are unreadable and dated Aug 24 which is when I bought it.
Unless there is anything I can get off the remote which I will need to wait until I get my laptop back from the shop.
I always start my checks off in my kitchen. Firmware updates, drone assist, check for damage etc etc.
There is plenty space to get the drone up and test it before going outside.
I do this everytime with no issues.
I then went to the rear garden. Via the kitchen as it’s at the rear of the house. The garden is approx 22mts long by 20mtr wide and I stood approx 8 foot from the house.
Waited and found 12-15 satellites usually more.
Checked around for any dangers then started the drone and auto take off.
Got to about 5ft like I said and a gull on my roof dived down. Clipped the drone and flew away. The drone fell on the grass and I pulled both sticks in to shut the drone off.
Checked the drone over and cannot see any visible damage.
To be safe I went inside again and held the drone while restarting the drone and initially it started fine. Then after several seconds the drone went into full throttle and started pulling to the right.
The remote didn’t really want to work trying to do an emergency stop and took a while to power down and stop.
If I had done this outside the drone would have encountered severe damage or worse.
I have not touched it since as I don’t want to damage it further.
But I would like to see if anyone else has had this issue as all the small drone crashes I’ve seen the drones still work perfectly after or rotars at most really.
Any help would do. If needed I can strip the drone down and can solder etc if it’s repairable. But I would like to be able to diagnose it first rather than having a stab in the dark at it.
Thanks
The TXT flight logs will be located on the Apple or Android device you had connected to the remote controller. Since you’re using DJI Fly, those files will be located here:
DJI\dji.go.v5\FlightRecord (for older versions of DJI Fly)
or Android\data\dji.go.v5\files\FlightRecord (for Android devices)
Are you saying you power on the drone indoors, then walk outside and set it on the ground? If so, it’s best to always power it on when it’s sitting at the takeoff location.
It’s especially important to make sure there are no magnetic metal objects near the drone (within about 1 foot) when powering it on. That would include even small objects like nails, screws, and bolts.
That “full throttle banking” behavior is often the result of this type of interference.
hi sorry i was looking in the wrong area for the files.
please find a copy of all the flight logs for that day. all but one were in the house with no sat signal. the one outside did have signal.
I didn’t know that even a small bit of metal can interfere with the drone, but looking over where i fly it there is no metal withing 4 foot of it anywhere.
would it be wise to take it to a field to try it again, maybe lower the height in the controller to 1 meter and or tie a bit of string to it incase it tries to fly away on its own.?
Just a update. I took the drone out to the garden again. This time only switched it on when it was in the place to take off. No metal anywhere and 5 ft from any building.
Started drone and idled fine.
Started to bring it up and the drone flew up and banked to the right again. I couldn’t control it.
Eventually caught it mid flight but took some damage after hitting a fence then a brick wall. Broken props and slight broken arm.
Now this may be my savings grace this crash.
I took off all the props and felt the motors. Both motors on the right side feel very gritty when I turn them.
The front left is smooth and free. The rear left is smooth and 99%free to turn.
So could the motors on the right be at fault. It certainly could explain why the drone banks to the right.
I am going to take the motors off and replace them unless someone comes up with another suggestion if I can test them etc.
Thanks
While the satellite imagery isn’t very detailed, it looks like there’s quite a bit going on in your garden area. I’ve been flying DJI drones for a long time, and honestly, I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking off in a spot like that. Being only 5 feet from a building is risky, especially if you’re unsure whether the drone can hover or fly stably.
What does the ground surface look like where the drone was sitting at takeoff?
Looking at the flight log, it seems the drone was on the ground, yawing erratically (click the image below), until you first applied throttle at 17 seconds. Then at 17.8 seconds, you performed a CSC to shut the motors down.
Was the drone really just sitting on the ground for 17 seconds after the motors started? If so, the observed yawing likely didn’t come from stick input and may suggest magnetic interference affecting the drone while it was idle.
The image shown from Google is a relatively old image as in front of where it is shown where I took off was a 10ft trampoline which isn’t there anymore. The area in the picture marked red is all 2x2 slabbing with a removable washing line to the right of the pic. Again isn’t there when I take off.
The area marked in yellow is stone chips and a large shed on the rear fence…followed by a huge park after the fence.
I have always taken off at the same spot with no issues as it’s the safest area and I have never had issues doing it there.
There was NO sign of the drone yawing after I placed it down and started her up. The 17 second time was me probably checking everything was fine before I took off. That’s when the gull swooped down. I literally just got it off the ground.then had to do an emergency shutdown.
Realising now after attempting to try fly again yesterday and crashing into the house wall with another failed shutdown from the controller I did break the rotars and split one of the legs.
I have checked and found the front and rear motors are gritty feeling this could explain why the drone is banking/yawing to the right as the motors are not working properly.
I have ordered new parts already and will fit them when they arrive in about a month time as coming from china.
I will however take the drone out to the field where there is absolutely no interference to test it.
I have learned my lesson in flying it from where I am. Although as a wheelchair user it is sometimes hard for me to get a suitable location.
That would be fine as long as those slabs don’t contain any type of magnetic metal and/or no magnetic metal has been installed beneath them for added stability.
Thanks for sharing that!
If your wheelchair contains magnetic metal parts (which many do), it’s possible the drone was affected if it was too close when you powered it on, or if your wheelchair was nearby during takeoff. Since you were able to grab the drone as it was lifting off, I’m guessing you were pretty close.
For future flights, when powering on your drone, try to hold it as far away from your wheelchair as possible. Then, make sure your wheelchair is at least several feet away during takeoff to avoid any potential interference.
While that would certainly be problematic, it doesn’t explain the unusual yawing shown in the animated image above. I’ve only seen that kind of behavior when a drone is being affected by a nearby source of magnetic interference (like a wheelchair).
I can’t see the slabs having any metal in them , they are just cement slabs but I can’t be 100% sure. They were laid on top of a type 1 hardcore and then a wet cement mix. No metal rebar or anything as I was there when it was put down.
The wheelchair is mainly titanium and aluminium with Carbon fibre wheels. Although it does have some stainless steel bolts through out it I didn’t actually thing about the wheelchair being a issue as it never has been before.
I never managed to grab the drone as it was taking off I just picked it up after it crashed this last time after doing an emergency shutdown.
This is the same for the time prior.
I do a shutdown to prevent the drone flying away and to avoid further damage to the drone or worse to someone else or property.
