Apparently, users of the DJI Spark drone have reported their units have been doing a GoPro Karma and dropping out of the sky like heat struck cockatoos. They say the Sparks are unexpectedly shutting off mid-flight and then … well fly like bricks can’t as Douglas Adams once said.
This would certainly remove their status of “Mostly Harmless”.
So, do we have an engineering issue or a software bug? Are Sparks acting as Karma twins and going out in sympathy.
Well according to DJI, they claim to be investigating each reported incident on a case-by-case basis, but according to an independent source, many of the reports posted in forums either point directly to—or leave a wide berth—for user error.
Shock horror!
It seems that the majority point to some sort of battery issue AFTER the drone has been involved in a crash. Rolls Royce poetically call it “cease to operate”. Either the battery has not been secured correctly, one of the clips holding the battery in place had been broken in the previous crash, or wait for it, a flat battery!
The lesson is to always do a full flight check before flying and especially after a crash!
DJI released a statement to website Quartz on July 15th:
““DJI is aware of a small number of reports involving Spark drones that have lost power mid-flight. Flight safety and product reliability are top priorities. Our engineers are thoroughly reviewing each customer case and working to address this matter urgently.
DJI products are tested for thousands of hours, and the overwhelming number of customers enjoy using our products with minimal disruption.
We are looking to implement additional safeguards with a firmware update which will be issued soon. When prompted on the DJI GO 4 App, we recommend all customers to connect to the internet and update their aircraft’s firmware to ensure a safe flight when flying their Spark.”
There has been no recall so one assumes that DJI has found no major manufacturing or software issue, so the old standby of “Mummy it did it all by itself” does not seem to wash.
Just as you would check your camera / camcorder for battery power and status, enough memory cards, have a tripod etc etc, then a full drone check on every aspect takes only a few minutes and could save your drone – or worse if it falls out of the sky and lands on someone or damages something.
Australian Drones 