EVO CRASHED AFTER IT WOULD NOT LAND!!!

[Wyvern]

Followup from this EVO CRASHED AFTER IT WOULD NOT LAND!!!

I did not know there was a dedicated forum here. Is this officially Autel as well?
I have a message to give to all autel engineers and probably any brave owners as well.
I think I figured out why that happened. It wouldn't even land with low battery. The key lies in the CABLES. The cables inside are FAR TOO BRITTLE! they snap VERY EASILY under stress! This is an UNACCEPTABLE DESIGN FLAW! I hope this is fixed in the EVO 2.

For reference, I figured this out after I had to disassemble my second Autel EVO (not an easy task. Not at all. The screws are glued in and took a considerable amount of force to twist open. There is a hidden screw under the Autel panel in the front which must be removed which I learned the hard way.) So, after the first one crashed mysteriously (the one in the link above, and I returned it to Amazon but they lost the return, long story) I no longer trusted brand new EVOs. But I wasn't in the mood to hack a DJI drone. (Really only buying the EVO since it puts control back in the users hands. Sometimes I need to fly close to but not over a no fly zone.) So I got a used EVO. I needed a drone on short notice for... reasons.

Anyways, during a mission a few nights ago, the battery drained EXTREMELY quickly after the signal failed and I was worried it would crash since it was carrying a ..... payload.... but luckily the string cut through the duct tape and the payload fell somewhere before it initiated an emergency landing due to critical battery.

So this used drone lands inside .. .shall we say hostile terrain. A highly secured area with fences that you need a code to get into. Blegh. And to make matters worse, they were closed for the night. And it rained endlessly sometime throughout the night. Needless to say I was very lucky to get the drone back and in one piece. (I was even luckier that the payload was missing and not there when they picked it up otherwise... well thats not important. They woulda asked some weird questions and yeah that would've sucked.) Anyways I thought I dried it out, or thought I did, and powered it on for a check. The camera feed took longer than usual to show which was worrying. I update the firmware since I feared the same bug that happened to my first EVO would happen again to this one and I had a mission for it as well. Lots of missions... lots of.. payloads... to drop.

Anyways the firmware fails to update and then suddenly the camera feed is completely FUBAR. I try snapping a photo and it suddenly says no SD card. I thoguht DAMN! Theres water damage to the lower board! We must disassemble this and try to dry it out. I manage to get the bottom panel out but.. nothing. Bone dry. But somehow theres steam building up on the downward camera lens. Weird, eh? How does the water get in that far???? I figure the main board is busted so I start the process of disconnecting the cables to pry the main board off.

SO!!!

As I'm prying the glue off, the cable somehow snags on and SNAPS!!!! I SNAPPED a cable that went from the main computer board to the power flight controller board or whatever. SERIOUSLY, AUTEL? THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN CABLES THIS WEAK!

So as to what happened to the first drone it's becoming very clear now. The ribbon cables are TOO BRITTLE! THEY SNAP TOO EASILY! AT THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH!!! The antennas and receiver is on the main board. The main board is connected to the flight controller via some WEAK AF RIBBON CABLES. If any of em snap from the tension of being bent somehow, then the drone will stop responding PERIOD to ALL CONTROLS from the controller. The failsafes will most likely fail too.

I am DISAPPOINTED, AUTEL! And yes I disassembled mine, because it's faster for me to order scrap parts from ebay and fix it myself than to send it in for repairs. And it was second hand, soooooo bye bye warranty. I truly see how fragile this drone is on the inside. Couldn''t you guys have designed a ventilation system that protects against a rainstorm?

What if it lands somewhere inaccessible because the battery is GARBAGE and a mere 400g payload makes the EVO eat batteries like crazy and drain power in 8 minutes?

And most importantly, HOW CAN YOU BE SURE YOUR WORKERS DON'T MESS UP WHE NASSEMBLING THEM? WHY ARE THE RIBBON CABLES SO FUCKIN WEAK?!!!! Brittle ribbon cables + being bent for long periods of time inside the chassis = suddenly drone stops responding and you think the Feds hacked your drone because... well thats not important. SERIOUSLY THE WHOLE TIME! Im going to reinforce the cables with cellophane tape or something! this is ridiculous! A single cable!!!! made my first drone crash! Because it wouldn't respond to commands anymore or do failsafe landing! Not that it matters because the stupid positioning of the sensors means theres nowhere for a payload to go without obstructing the sensors and.. lets just say you don't want the payload to hit the ground near the drone <_<. Thats all Imma say about that. (Im lucky the first drone didnt turn into a gooey melted mess of plastic and metal tbh. Ill leave it at that. )

CMON AUTEL! IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE AGAINST DJI MAKE YOURS CLOSER TO MILITARY GRADE!

I seriously hope the EVO 2 uses starlight sensors to see in the dark for obstacle avoidance. We all know you CAN make a drone that flies in the dark. It's just nobody has the balls to because of the scary government <_<.

 

[Ansia]

We aren't part of Autel Robotics, so your story won't reach them, unless you write to them directly. If you want to carry a payload, there are drones designed for this. A camera drone isn't really your best option. As for why it didnt want to land, most likely, something underneath was making the sensors think it wasnt safe. Next time try turning them off. Autel Robotics doesn't want the user messing with their tech. It's understandable that they make it in a way that will get damaged if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[claudius62]

This should not be a very busy and active forum when we see that the last News message dates from September 2019.
It is utopian to take an 800 gram drone to carry loads. There are other models to do this.
And his breakdown, I absolutely do not believe it. Since the Evo came out, no failure as it describes has happened. I believe that a poorly organized DIY has rather made his machine obsolete.

 

[DanielC]

Hanging an object below the drone may have activated the sensors to prevent the landing.

 

[ORANGE CRUSH]

I'm in cell block B, drop me a load please!

 

[Wyvern]

Yeah no you people clearly didnt read the FIRST thread, where it would not respond to ANY controls! Aka wont go up, down, left right forward backward or yaw. Gimbal wouldn't work. Turns out to be a damn connection issue between the main board.

Also you guys CLEARLY only ever used it for such lame purposes as photography. (Really? 1000 dollars for a flying camera? JUST a flying camera??? Pssshhh)

I've landed the drone with payload many times. It's called lets see here, turning off the downward sensors to land. Wow what a concept! You're all missing the point. The enterprise drones that CAN "officially" handle payloads are too overpriced (4 grand? wth???). We're not talking about a drone that can carry an array of rockets and launch them one by one! Just a simple drop. SIMPLE! And they are TOO BIG AND BULKY! Even the matrice cant fold down for a smaller profile!

In terms of flight characteristics the EVO handles payloads just fine and flies just fine.. .cvept for the part where the batteries only last 8 minutes. So. You guys clearly never stress tested this thing to see what it's REALLY capable of. And for the record I never disassembled the drone until my latest one. Got sick of having to replace them.

Seriously for this price it's not meant to be a fragile little baby thing with a camera up in the sky.

 

[Wyvern]

I'm in cell block B, drop me a load please!

Hilarious. why do you guys always think of pathetic things like drugs. If it drops on you, you're either getting 3rd degree burns or part of you is getting.. .well melted isnt really the right word but...

But seriously it CAN land with a payload sitting directly below. It's called turning off the downward sensors. With them on, it just lands super slowly is all.

 

[claudius62]

Yeah no you people clearly didnt read the FIRST thread, where it would not respond to ANY controls! Aka wont go up, down, left right forward backward or yaw. Gimbal wouldn't work. Turns out to be a damn connection issue between the main board.

It may be necessary to turn on the radio too, to control it .......

 

[Wyvern]

Obvious troll is obvious.

Seriously yall? you worrying about my post here? The industry is already ruined! RemoteID is already coming! It's time to FIGHT!!! Join the 2A brothers! Classify drones as weapons and lump them under 2A protection!

 

[ORANGE CRUSH]

Your Evo ate the payload and now wanting munchies to continue its mission!!!

 

[Wyvern]

Lord give me strength....

 

[GEH7552]

I don't normally post but.... reading this points out some concerning issues.
1. Flying at night.
2. Flying inside a fenced secure/restricted area where he was on the outside of the fence. This alone raises questions.
3. A 800gm drone not designed to carry loads, carrying a 400gm DYI load then complaining about the battery time. Is like a 200lb person with a 100lb weight strapped onto his back then complaining about endurance.
4. Load blocking the bottom sensors then blaming the drone and software.
5. Disassembling the drone breaking the wires then complaining it's Autel's fault.

 

[claudius62]

Luftwaffle said
"Lord give me strength.... " to leave this forum and to leave the peace with the numerous members who do not need the delirium of a remained ..

 

[Wyvern]

1. It's only forbidden for commercial use not for personal 8P. What? There's lots of uses for flying a drone unseen at night! <_<

2. That was not my intention, it was between me and my target. And it took the return path and happened to emergency land there. Believe me theres only a few places around here that you get to launch unnoticed and undisturbed. Why couldn't I pick a clearer path? I dunno. You ask those security personell patrolling around in all the industrial parks nearby. Hell I had to boost the signal with 3W amplifiers just to punch through the trees and buildings with the signal! Directional circular polarized antennas... and I get... 1.2km of range instead of 700m. Whoopee *eyerolls. Kinda wished they still kept 900Mhz as a band eh? Yeah yeah yeah you get cellphone signal interference, blah blah blah. whatever.

3. Cuz of the existence of a sport mode with very high speeds, you do the math. Max throttle can easily handle it. And because of this lying sack of **** right here

,

4. Did you not read or was it not clear? The problem isn't from that. That was a pet peeve but not a complaint. It would be NICE to have sensors in locations accomodating a payload but I can work around it.

5. I've disassembled many drones. Mavics. I got balls, mate. None of their wires are that weak. Cables I mean. Other cheap no name drones? Still strong ribbon cables.

In case yall lost track THE DRONE THAT CRASHED WAS FACTORY AND NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY! I FOUND OUT WHY IT PROBABLY LOST CONTROL AFTER SERVICING THIS SECOND USED DRONE!!!

<_<

GET SOME BETTER DAMN RIBBON CABLES, AUTEL!

dO THE MATH/LOGIC. What happens when you keep a BRITTLE ribbon cable BENT for a LONG TIME HMM?

 

[Wyvern]

P.S. I meant to say boosted the transmitter. I dont touch the drone if I can help it.

Luftwaffle said
"Lord give me strength.... " to leave this forum and to leave the peace with the numerous members who do not need the delirium of a remained ..

HAHAHAAHA Ok that made me laugh so I'll let that slide

 

[Ansia]

Problem is. You were carrying a payload for someone else, therefore the flight wasn't a hobby flight, which falls under Part 107. Part 107 can't fly at night. I understand your frustration on the drone not responding. Are you willing to upload your flight logs?

 

[Wyvern]

The first drone I would if I could but Amazon kinda.. lost it =_= and it was being returned back to Autel anyways...

No worries about the second drone. It didnt crash. It landed. Just water damage from being in the rain is all.
But it's thanks to fixing the second drone that I figured out the EVO's weaknesses and what might have happened with the first drone. It makes sense.


Also "You were carrying a payload for someone else, "
Not exactly, no. I was testing... a mechanism. On the payload itself.

I've done many payloads for many drones they work. The only thing about turning off the downward sensors is making a potentially rough landing with a payload still attached... (*mumbles which is only a problem when the payload has a mechanism that triggers on a certain amount of impact force but thats another issue altogether)

So the problem is not payloads. It's just annoying as hell theres not a higher capacity battery or something, or a secondary battery slot or something. It can hardly be advertised to go 7km when its battery only allows 300 - 600m safe range with a payload. There IS a way to make that certain payload much lighter, i.e, 100 g or less, buuuuuuut the contents would be different and uh... well.... no. No that would just be crazy. Thats only reserved for something serious.

And P.S. The first drone that mysteriously stopped responding was carrying a much lighter payload of only 167 G. Basically it has to drop it and it does a thing when it impacts the ground and funnily enuf, too much stuff around the mechanism cushions the impact and stops the thing from doing its thing, but this thing is relatively safe but it needs alot of the stuff to do anything. The other thing that doesnt need alot of stuff to.. well its just not practical to test THAT anywhere nearby

 

[J Lo's Behind]

What may I ask, is your payload?
Is it like you want the internet to know you're a drug dealer or somethin?

 

[Wyvern]

Hahah thats FUNNY! Ur FUNNY XDDD

... after I explicitly said drugs are pathetic and you...

No Im just doing a "shady movie villain" bit to demonstrate that Autel's only real claim to fame over DJI here is um... SUPPORTING FREEDOM! AND ANONYMITY!!1 SO.. GET BETTER AT IT!!!

Besides! think for a second! Why would a drug drop need a mechanism that activates on impact with the ground? In fact why the hell would anyone WANT drugs to IMPACT the ground?
Where the science fair experiments include optimizations on "what is the ideal height tradeoff between hitting the ground with sufficient force and still being more or lesso n target?"

 

[J Lo's Behind]

Let me answer your second question first.
So they can use them.