Follow Me Mode Voids your Phantom Warranty?!!! Wow, just Wow

[flpholt]

You know there's always DJI and FAA as well as others always looking in here .At least with blade we can get some answers .
Might not be what we want to hear but still .
Blade left for awhile but to be honest I'm glad he came back . Well as a posting member anyway .
Hey...I bet even the Pumpkin Master reads in here

that's great made my day

 

[blade strike]

Hopefully, but be prepared for any adverse reaction when engaging follow me mode, as in the OP's post. The outcome of that adventure is still pending.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

We are working with him but the data shows that his mobile device's gps was recording a wrong location. When he went to trigger RTH he didn't press it long enough. The craft actually did what it was being told to do by the mobile devices gps location.

1. This is the target distance, once the user switched to the follow me mode, the distance from target kept increasing and keeps changing.



2. Here is the detail command from TX, notice the craft entered follow me mode around 549s, and the distance chart above showed the jump started from 550 second.



3. Here is an enlarged plot for the command, notice the RTH command was recorded in the data, but the user only pressed it for less than a half of a second, which will not trigger the RTH.



We are looking for ways to improve self checking against the mobile devices gps and maybe build some more safety features into this function.

Edited
By no means was this the standard "user error". The only thing that could help in this situation is to drop out of the mode, this is the fastest possible action. RTH can take from 2-3 sec press on the button.

I advise all pilots to practice this under normal conditions. It needs to become 2nd nature!

 

[blade strike]

I will also add that anytime using Fmode functions and the craft is starting to do something that is not right please just drop the craft back into GPS mode. This will kill any type of the F call functions.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wasn't the initial problem was a failure for the a/c to enter follow me mode, and instead took off on its own? And thanks for the tip on killing the F mode functions.


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[blade strike]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wasn't the initial problem was a failure for the a/c to enter follow me mode, and instead took off on its own? And thanks for the tip on killing the F mode functions.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

As you can see from the logs the AC went into Follow me.. But the Location of target kept increasing because it was trying to follow a ghost target (bad gps data from tablet). When your mobile device doesn't have solid gps lock it reverts back to tower and wifi as a backup. This isn't very accurate and as the log shows it could be off by a large error.

 

[captainmilehigh]

As you can see from the logs the AC went into Follow me.. But the Location of target kept increasing because it was trying to follow a ghost target (bad gps data from tablet). When your mobile device doesn't have solid gps lock it reverts back to tower and wifi as a backup. This isn't very accurate and as the log shows it could be off by a large error.

Ok. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't follow me link to the R/C for its reference, and not the tablet or phone?


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[flpholt]

Ok. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't follow me link to the R/C for its reference, and not the tablet or phone?


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cant win this one dji is always right pilot is wrong

 

[captainmilehigh]

cant win this one dji is always right pilot is wrong

Well, I did look at the manual (pg52) and I was wrong. It links to the device, not the R/C........but the R/C and device ARE linked during flight.

So, now what? [emoji31]


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[impilot51]

Ok. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't follow me link to the R/C for its reference, and not the tablet or phone?


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How can it do that? The R/C does not have any GPS capability (in the Phantom Series), it gets its GPS information from the Phone/Tablet. That's why your Phone/Tablet must have GPS if your going to use follow me mode.

 

[impilot51]

cant win this one dji is always right pilot is wrong

Ya know what...for a long time, folks on here have complained that DJI reps did not hang out here and help the community. Now that one is, why is the first response to denigrate their response. It looks to me like they are trying to get to the bottom of the issue. Yet you seem to be of the opinion that regardless of the cause, DJI should suck it up and warrant anything. I disagree. If it turns out to be pilot error, then the pilot should be on the hook for repairs, not DJI. If its a DJI malfunction, then DJI should warranty the repair. Regardless, bashing DJI or their rep will simply drive away any interaction, which I frankly, don't want to see happen. So perhaps if you have a problem with DJI, you take it up privately with DJI and don't ruin it for those of us that would like to see the relationship here get better, not worse.

 

[captainmilehigh]

I corrected myself above impilot51. Just trying to understand all this.


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[impilot51]

I corrected myself above.


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I think we were writing at the same time....

 

[flpholt]

Ya know what...for a long time, folks on here have complained that DJI reps did not hang out here and help the community. Now that one is, why is the first response to denigrate their response. It looks to me like they are trying to get to the bottom of the issue. Yet you seem to be of the opinion that regardless of the cause, DJI should suck it up and warrant anything. I disagree. If it turns out to be pilot error, then the pilot should be on the hook for repairs, not DJI. If its a DJI malfunction, then DJI should warranty the repair. Regardless, bashing DJI or their rep will simply drive away any interaction, which I frankly, don't want to see happen. So perhaps if you have a problem with DJI, you take it up privately with DJI and don't ruin it for those of us that would like to see the relationship here get better, not worse.

go look at dji forum then you will realize they skip around things alot

 

[captainmilehigh]

As you can see from the logs the AC went into Follow me.. But the Location of target kept increasing because it was trying to follow a ghost target (bad gps data from tablet). When your mobile device doesn't have solid gps lock it reverts back to tower and wifi as a backup. This isn't very accurate and as the log shows it could be off by a large error.

Blade Strike:
Is there any way to tell preflight or "pre follow me" that this could be an issue?


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[impilot51]

go look at dji forum then you will realize they skip around things alot

I do read the DJI forums as well. Point I am trying to make is this. DJI, like any other company, is in business to make money. Period. They have a product that is VERY PRONE to users wanting replacement due to their own mistakes. Just read through the forums for a few minutes at the amount of misinformation that is out there, the noobs that unbox and take off...right into obstacles, etc. You have a complex product that a large portion of the user community thinks will fly itself and not crash. So if I am DJI, I am going to investigate warranty claims thoroughly and not repair/replace product that is damaged/destroyed because of pilot error. And all you have to do is read here for an hour to see how much pilot error there is out there in the wild. Somehow a portion of the user community has decided that DJI should repair or replace every broken/destroyed quad that is brought to their attention. I sure would not do that if DJI were my company, and I doubt you would either if it were yours. Are mistakes made, and is language probably a barrier at times? Sure. But overall I think DJI is getting better. It's not going to happen overnight.

 

[blade strike]

Ok. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't follow me link to the R/C for its reference, and not the tablet or phone?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

No, the controller doesn't have GPS. This is why a mobile device with GPS is required for follow me to work,

 

[Passizle]

Service policy

Warranty

DJI guarantees that, under the following conditions during the warranty period (see Chart), starting from the date product is purchased, warranty service will be provided.
Diagnostic, labor, materials, tests and return delivery are covered pursuant to DJI’s service warranty.

1. The following conditions must be met for warranty service:

1. During warranty period, product is normal used, as intended by the manufacturer.
2. No unauthorized disassembling, modification or installation has been performed.
3. Labels, Serial Numbers, waterproof mark, false proof mark, etc. show no signs of tampering or altering;
4. Valid proof-of-purchase, receipt or order number DJI Online Store

2. Following situations are not subject to warranty service conditions:

1. Crash or burning caused by non-manufacturing factors.
2. Damage caused by unauthorized modification, disassembling or shell opening which did not follow the instruction of official manuals.
3. Damage caused by improper installation, or incorrect use or operation despite of the guidance of manuals.
4. Damage caused by unauthorized modification of circuit, mismatch or misuse of battery and charger.
5. Damage caused by any flights which didn’t follow the instructions of the manuals.
6. Damage caused by operation in bad weather (i.e. strong wind, rain, sand/dust storm, etc.)
7. Damage caused by operating the unit in an electromagnetic interference environment (i.e. mining area, radio transmitting tower, high-voltage wire, substation, etc.).
8. Damage caused by operating the unit in a known environment with interference with other wireless devices (i.e. transmitter, video-link, Wi-Fi signals, etc.).
9. Damage caused by operating the unit with a weight greater than safe takeoff weight.
10. Damage caused by forced flight when components have been aged or damaged.
11. Damage caused by reliability or compatibility issues when using unauthenticated third-party parts.
12. Damage caused by operating the unit with a low charged or defective battery

 

[flpholt]

true most problems are user error not understanding how to operate bird . and yes they always want dji to replace it which is laughable at times on here .but when firmware was making birds loose there range dji wouldn't admit to anything wrong then a week or so later another firmware update which I guess was to fix problem .I would just like for once to see dji say yeah we messed up sorry working on fixing that problem .but that wont ever happen just saying

 

[blade strike]

Ya know what...for a long time, folks on here have complained that DJI reps did not hang out here and help the community. Now that one is, why is the first response to denigrate their response. It looks to me like they are trying to get to the bottom of the issue. Yet you seem to be of the opinion that regardless of the cause, DJI should suck it up and warrant anything. I disagree. If it turns out to be pilot error, then the pilot should be on the hook for repairs, not DJI. If its a DJI malfunction, then DJI should warranty the repair. Regardless, bashing DJI or their rep will simply drive away any interaction, which I frankly, don't want to see happen. So perhaps if you have a problem with DJI, you take it up privately with DJI and don't ruin it for those of us that would like to see the relationship here get better, not worse.

This is why I stopped visiting this site because of user like the above. I will just ignore the troll and move on.

 

[blade strike]

true most problems are user error not understanding how to operate bird . and yes they always want dji to replace it which is laughable at times on here .but when firmware was making birds loose there range dji wouldn't admit to anything wrong then a week or so later another firmware update which I guess was to fix problem .I would just like for once to see dji say yeah we messed up sorry working on fixing that problem .but that wont ever happen just saying

If you took the time to read instead of making accusations you would realize it wasn't firmware but an issue with the app. We fixed the issue and submitted a new app to Apple to fix the issue. Even then that's still not good enough for a few!