There are enough of these reports, mine included, that it's clear to me that DJI either has major QC problems or a fundamental flaw in the software/hardware. Mine was brand new, less than an hour of flight time and ignored my commands to land at its current position. There are liability issues here that are going to bite one day. I don't trust autonomous-assisted devices, so I flew the fourth flight on a day when no one was on the beach. Had there been, the Spark would have become a low-flying weedeater, cutting a swath at four feet of altitude all the way down the beach. I had to jump out of the way when the obstacle avoidance failed. Instead of people, it chose a red cedar to cut a swath through, chewing through a few needles before stopping 54 feet up according to the telemetry data. My wife is an attorney and says that DJI IS liable for warranty coverage of a defective product if the consumer is deprived of use of that product owing to a manufacturing defect or failure during the warranty period. I've asked for a refund from DJI which was refused. I'm not done yet. I WILL NOT fly another autonomous-assisted drone of any brand. There are just too many liability issues if things go wrong as has been amply demonstrated on this forum.
I Lost My DJI Spark
- Thread starter Beniamin
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There are enough of these reports, mine included, that it's clear to me that DJI either has major QC problems or a fundamental flaw in the software/hardware. Mine was brand new, less than an hour of flight time and ignored my commands to land at its current position. There are liability issues here that are going to bite one day. I don't trust autonomous-assisted devices, so I flew the fourth flight on a day when no one was on the beach. Had there been, the Spark would have become a low-flying weedeater, cutting a swath at four feet of altitude all the way down the beach. I had to jump out of the way when the obstacle avoidance failed. Instead of people, it chose a red cedar to cut a swath through, chewing through a few needles before stopping 54 feet up according to the telemetry data. My wife is an attorney and says that DJI IS liable for warranty coverage of a defective product if the consumer is deprived of use of that product owing to a manufacturing defect or failure during the warranty period. I've asked for a refund from DJI which was refused. I'm not done yet. I WILL NOT fly another autonomous-assisted drone of any brand. There are just too many liability issues if things go wrong as has been amply demonstrated on this forum.
JD4x4
Well-Known Member
Crap answer, clearly to cast doubt in their favor. It boils down to them not considering the failure of their product to log the possibility of faulty or incomplete TRANSMISSION of signal to YOUR device as a possibility, imo. They instead incorrectly assume that it was somehow transmitting yet your device couldn't capture it.
Pure obfuscation to cover their butts, and every DJI product owner should take your situation under advisement in their purchase decisions. Pure crap. My condolences.
Pure obfuscation to cover their butts, and every DJI product owner should take your situation under advisement in their purchase decisions. Pure crap. My condolences.
My video feed failed when the Spark went into autonomous mode, and I was about 15-20 feet away before it took off on its own down the beach. I have the initial video record on the phone when I was cruising the beach under control. I wish I had the video when I had to jump out of the flight path and the subsequent wild flight into the forest.
Those of us who have lost Sparks owing to failures need to continue to press DJI for compensation as well as demands for honest analysis of the failures. I don't want to be liable for property damage or personal injury because of their carelessness. The pilot, whether remote or onboard, is always the first -- and easiest -- target for seeking compensation. As a lifelong pilot of aircraft, RC and man-carrying, I've kept this uppermost in my mind. I don't have deep pockets.
JD4x4
Well-Known Member
I probably could have stated it better, but DJI can't tell you with any certainty if their Spark was or was not transmitting data to you (a possible defect "abnormality") or if it was your device that failed to receive their transmission.
I know what I'd do in this case if I was the device mfr., and I'd give you a new Spark because I'd hope you'd buy another, upgraded device (and I'd have more $ than you!).
I know what I'd do in this case if I was the device mfr., and I'd give you a new Spark because I'd hope you'd buy another, upgraded device (and I'd have more $ than you!).
I was surprised by how little concern they showed in their response and how they said no compensation in such a cavalier fashion. After the fact, I did some reading and found out they have a poor reputation for support. I have a friend who flies higher-end Hubsan products, and he says they have been excellent in reliability and company support. DJI, like Apple, seems to be resting on its laurels -- and huge amounts of cash from sales.
Maybe your Spark was more than 100 meters from your home point at the time of the crash? The manual says that obstacle avoidance does not work if the Spark is more than 100 meters from the home point?
I later (text continues beneath photo--couldn't fix)
recorded screenshots of the flight path, and it shows the Spark arbitrarily relocated its home point twice, the second time in the forest. Even though I chose land in the current position, it chose to go to its third home point, in the red cedar.
landude
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Have you guys thought about getting together and writing an open letter to DJI on thier web site? Put a link to it here,make it a sticky. Everyone with this issue can sign it in one way or another, keep it a living document so to speak. They seem to monitor their site pretty well. Maybe collaborate on it here then post there. It's sounds like we have a legal professional here that might be willing to help.
When i fly my drone on the beach, usually i'll set the limit for 200m max to prefent lost connection.
Sent from my SM-N9208 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N9208 using Tapatalk
It is upsetting to see DJIs response to you. I had the exact same situation happen last week in the same place I have flown without issue countless times. The drone disconnected from the controller out of nowhere and it fell into the bay. I submitted my log to DJI last week and still have not received any response. Seems like a software or hardware malfunction leading to the loss of your drone would lead to more assistance than a 30% off coupon.. How long did it take for them to respond to you?Hi everybody. The support has finished the data analysis.
It's quite expected because logs don't exist any information about lost connection and auto-landing
But I have one more question. Why the record ended when the drone was 30 feet away from me and at an altitude of 8.5 meters? How is it possible? How can they explain it to me? Also the last recorded coordinate it's a place over the sea.
I think it's because big interference at that time, before I use spark, I'm using h502s and h501s which it never getting higher than 18 meters high in near cell tower, if I pushed it more higher it's initiate RTH procedure, and I just can regain control when altitude below 18 meters.
After that I move place and it still can reach 254 meters without self RTH.
After that I move place and it still can reach 254 meters without self RTH.
Hi. The first response I have waited for 2 days. You are right, they answer too long.
Correct, the Spark was just over a 100 meters away from the home point. This doesn't give explanation to the fact that the return to home altitude was set to 20 meters and the AC only ascended to 8-10 meters height. The connection was lost b/w the AC and the RC/phone combo such as the case of Benjamin. The difference is that I could send the drone to DJI and the recorded video as well (it was intact on the SD card.
Hello,
A modded app what you can find on this forum: DJI GO 4 MOD 2.0 | DJI GO 4 MOD LITE [ Additional Features | Android | App Ver. 4.1.15 ]
I mainly use this app with OTG connection, it works fine for me so far with added functions from the Mavic line, such as course track and cinematic mode.
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