Spark can't fly downward- HELP!!

[Paul215]

Hey Guys,

I Need your help. At the 4th I wanted to take some pictures from a ship lock. First everything was normal. Then I wanted to take a Picture from above and rised to 100m. After taking the picture I wanted to fly back but suddenly the spark can't fly downwards anymore. The altitude on my Smartphone was a red Zero and everytime I pressed the stick down I got an acoustic alert (like auto-home) and the gimbal swinging Forward. When I press the stick up the alert stops. I could fly in every Direktion but downwards. Autohome and Autolanding also don't work to bring my Spark down. With flying around the Spark lost a Little bit height but super slow. I tried to disable the collision avoidence but this doesnt work, too. With sinking batterylevel the spark came down faster but the last meters were in free fall. (Could catch it

Here is my flight log:
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Hardware: Spark + Remote + Huawei P20 with GO4 and OTG connection (Everything with newest updates)
Weather: 5°C, windy and high air humidity

My idea was a waterdrop under the drone but that shouldn't affect the GPS altitude….. That was my longest flight (17m) and was really scared that my Spark fall from 100m like a Stone.....

Any ideas?? Is there a possibility to force it down when this happen again?

Thank you!

 

[msinger]

Did you have any 3rd party accessories installed near the bottom of your drone? The downward sensors were detecting something beneath the drone at altitudes when nothing should have been in range.

 

[Paul215]

Did you have any 3rd party accessories installed near the bottom of your drone? The downward sensors were detecting something beneath the drone at altitudes when nothing should have been in range.

View attachment 8247

Thank you for this fast answer
No Nothing installed…. The IMU ist the GPS- Altitude and VPS the downward sensor? Maybe the air humidity was to high and there was a water drop? If that was the case is there any possibility to disable it (like the front senor) for a forced Landing? Can't believe there is no way to get the drone done….

 

[msinger]

Maybe the air humidity was to high and there was a water drop?

I doubt it since the downward sensors were detecting an obstacle as soon as you took off. Was it foggy?

If that was the case is there any possibility to disable it (like the front senor) for a forced Landing?

You'd have to disable the Landing Protection setting in order to prevent the Spark from going into Forced Landing mode when holding the throttle in the full down position (like at 5m 42.2s in your log) or from automatically ascending when it detects an obstacle below the drone. While Landing Protection is a feature of the Spark, DJI GO does not show that setting to allow it to be disabled.

 

[SLOJO]

Had a similar incident descending through some thick fog... I was a bit panicked so I'm not sure which of my actions worked to get it down, but I think it was either resetting g my home point to the controller/device location or just holding left stick down and hitting cancel when it alerted me of it's "landing". All the while I was just hoping I would see it energe from the fog. Eventually it did. Gotta be a way to prevent this.

 

[Spark 317]

Hello from the Hoosier Heartland, SLOJO.

Gotta be a way to prevent this.

Yeah, don't fly in the fog unless willing to suffer the circumstances.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Hello all,

This is a bit troubling and something I had not even though about until I saw this thread. I've always flown Phantoms and when I got the Spark I was surprised by the forced landing mode. I am used to having the choice of either landing completely manually or choosing to auto-land. Generally I always land manually as it gives me the most control over the process.

When I got the Spark, I saw no way of landing with full manual control and thought it was odd, but I could live with it. However, if an issue like the one from to OP were to come up then basically I have no way of landing it. That seems like a very big problem. No one has found a way to override the sensors and force the Spark to land under manual control?

 

[msinger]

No one has found a way to override the sensors and force the Spark to land under manual control?

VPS can be disabled in Litchi (just switch back to DJI GO after doing so). I haven't tested that to see how it affects the Landing Protection feature.

 

[PhantomFandom]

VPS can be disabled in Litchi (just switch back to DJI GO after doing so). I haven't tested that to see how it affects the Landing Protection feature.

They really need to add it to DJI Go. I have Litchi as well and haven't tried it on the Spark, but I usually fly with Go.

 

[Paul215]

I doubt it since the downward sensors were detecting an obstacle as soon as you took off. Was it foggy?

I was not really foggy but I startet a short time after the rain stopped. Maybe it is the same problem for the sensor.... Ok lessson learned, never fly with a lot of water in the air!

Do anybody know if the front sensor is a different type of sensor? It never detected a obstacle in the front...

That there is no chance to shut off the landing protection feature is really shitty. You see your little Sparky in the Air and have no chance to get it down until the battery is empty....
I'm a little bit afraid to use third party apps (like litchi) because of warranty reasons.

 

[Spark 317]

I was not really foggy but I startet a short time after the rain stopped. Maybe it is the same problem for the sensor.... Ok lessson learned, never fly with a lot of water in the air!

You may be correct in the assumption of condensation on the bottom of the Spark.

Who knows, other than scientist / engineers in white lab coats, what the "atmospheric condition" is directly under the Spark at the time with the prop wash, moist air, etc.

It could have fogged up the lens enough to affect the sensors.

 

[ulnar]

There're videos on YouTube where shows the same problem flying in dense mist... Certainly, DJI must include an option to disable sensors and let control it fully manual.

 

[Paul215]

Today was the first no-rain-day after a couple of days. So I wanted to try out my Spark again and.... Problem is not gone Weather is cold (5C) but the battery was warm an the most important thing: Air was dry.

Same problem again. After starting the drone I got altitude alarms and Go4 showing zero high. Sometimes the high switch to a correct high but immediately I got the red zero again.

Any other ideas or is that a warranty case? Nothing is installed under the spark and the kamera and the two sensors are clean.

Thanks!

 

[Bob Johnston]

Not familiar with teh "landing protection setting. What does it do?
Is it in the menu.
Thanks

 

[Paul215]

Not familiar with teh "landing protection setting. What does it do?
Is it in the menu.
Thanks

There is no menu in Go4, thats the problem. If the the spark detect something unter it (fog, clouds, raindrops) and the downward sensor say altitude=zero there no chance to get the spark down.

But my problem now it that even the weather is good the sensor is measuring wrong

 

[msinger]

Not familiar with teh "landing protection setting. What does it do?

It prevents the Spark from smashing into the ground when landing.

Is it in the menu.

No. It's always enabled.

 

[Bob Johnston]

It prevents the Spark from smashing into the ground when landing.


No. It's always enabled.

Thanks