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- Nov 12, 2020
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Hello everyone, new forum user here hoping for some insight while Parrot investigates my case.
I have two Anafi drones for land mapping, one that I have had for a little over a year now, and one that we keep on the shelf as a back up unit. I would estimate to have put maybe 40 missions on the main unit using Pix4D Capture. This week, I saw my main unit fall from the sky at around 30% power left on the battery. It began a premature landing cycle, wavered, then plummeted in freefall to snap one of its arms. Dismayed, I sent a ticket and drew out the backup drone to continue chunking out my very large site.
On its *very first flight*, which is a repeat of the failed one, the new drone also fell out of the sky. After inspecting, it appeared undamaged, and I reduced my next few flight durations to under 14 minutes. On each of these, the drone recovered safely. I pushed my luck just a little on another flight, putting my duration at 14.5 minutes, whereupon the drone hit 33% power, started an early landing, then fell 200 feet to break an arm and a battery.
I am very careful to update all software and firmware, and have read horror stories of crashes and flyaways following firmware updates, but haven't had any such issue in the year that I have been flying. I have a separate Android tablet that I use for the flight software, and when I experimented with using my personal Android smartphone in Airplane Mode, it still resulted in a crash (the aforementioned non-fatal crash).
In short, I have two Anafi drones, two methods of software control, and a consistent ~30% battery drone crash problem. My company's gear supplier is fixing to send me a loaner so that I can continue my work, but in honesty my faith in the operating process is shaken somewhat. I love my little Anafi drones, and have had a wonderful time using them, but its getting to be that the thought of throwing one up into the sky knots my stomach.
Thank you for reading, and any insight is deeply appreciated
I have two Anafi drones for land mapping, one that I have had for a little over a year now, and one that we keep on the shelf as a back up unit. I would estimate to have put maybe 40 missions on the main unit using Pix4D Capture. This week, I saw my main unit fall from the sky at around 30% power left on the battery. It began a premature landing cycle, wavered, then plummeted in freefall to snap one of its arms. Dismayed, I sent a ticket and drew out the backup drone to continue chunking out my very large site.
On its *very first flight*, which is a repeat of the failed one, the new drone also fell out of the sky. After inspecting, it appeared undamaged, and I reduced my next few flight durations to under 14 minutes. On each of these, the drone recovered safely. I pushed my luck just a little on another flight, putting my duration at 14.5 minutes, whereupon the drone hit 33% power, started an early landing, then fell 200 feet to break an arm and a battery.
I am very careful to update all software and firmware, and have read horror stories of crashes and flyaways following firmware updates, but haven't had any such issue in the year that I have been flying. I have a separate Android tablet that I use for the flight software, and when I experimented with using my personal Android smartphone in Airplane Mode, it still resulted in a crash (the aforementioned non-fatal crash).
In short, I have two Anafi drones, two methods of software control, and a consistent ~30% battery drone crash problem. My company's gear supplier is fixing to send me a loaner so that I can continue my work, but in honesty my faith in the operating process is shaken somewhat. I love my little Anafi drones, and have had a wonderful time using them, but its getting to be that the thought of throwing one up into the sky knots my stomach.
Thank you for reading, and any insight is deeply appreciated