First problem with the Matrice 4 E

[Jaybro130]

The Matrice 4 E has been great out of the box until I hit my first problem.

I attempted today to make my first map and model. A Smart 3D flight plan using corrections on the Custom RTK Network setting.

The drone's status would not go FIX and I was unable to fly the mission. I could of turned off RTK but decided to put in a Support Ticket.

The controller did connect to my RTK service provider and did show the base location correctly. But it was stuck at Converging and FLOAT.

When viewing satellites only the GPS constellations would show with Beidou flashing 7 and then 0 repeatedly and GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS showing 0 at all times.

When I got home I placed the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced with RTK module next to the Matrice 4 and had them both Connect to Custom Network and the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced went FIX and the Matrice was again stuck at Converging/FLOAT missing the satellites it should be seeing.
Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced with RTK module: GPS 11, Beidou 7, GLONASS 8 Galileo 7
Matrice 4 Enterprise: GPS 11, Beidou 0, GLONASS 0, Galileo 0, QZSS 0

I tried different Wifi sources and also a different Mount Point/Base with the same results.

I contacted DJI to start a Support ticket and they had me upload logs to them. The new log process is actually incredible. You choose the logs which are then uploaded to a cloud storage and generate a QR code. You send DJI the QR code to access them. Very high tech and very easy!

While this is a bit disappointing, I have no doubt that I wll be taken care of. Reading about others who have received their Matrice 4, this does not seem like a widespread issue that would be fixed with firmware since others have used the Custom Network setting. The drone is covered by both warranty and DJI Care Plus so I am not worried about getting the issue resolved. I am more worried about if it has to be replaced, with the current stock shortages.

I may just have been unlucky and received a bad unit, but this is pure speculation at this point.

I will update after DJI gets back to me with the next steps.

Jaja,
I have the exact same issue. Got the drone last week, used it on Thursday for a job. RTK connected to my Emlid and worked fine. Got my extra batteries yesterday and now…poof, RTK issue just like yours. Put in a ticket and have not heard back yet. Uploaded logs and screen recording too. I connected to my local CORS as well, same thing. Refreshed both drone and controller firmware but didn’t work. I’m guessing the latest firmware is not the culprit as your issue was before that release.

Thanks for posting your issue. It helped me see that I’m not the only one having this issue.

BTW…is your RTK still working ok?

Regards,
Bro

 

[jaja6009]

Jaja,
I have the exact same issue. Got the drone last week, used it on Thursday for a job. RTK connected to my Emlid and worked fine. Got my extra batteries yesterday and now…poof, RTK issue just like yours. Put in a ticket and have not heard back yet. Uploaded logs and screen recording too. I connected to my local CORS as well, same thing. Refreshed both drone and controller firmware but didn’t work. I’m guessing the latest firmware is not the culprit as your issue was before that release.

Thanks for posting your issue. It helped me see that I’m not the only one having this issue.

BTW…is your RTK still working ok?

Regards,
Bro

First, sorry to hear your problem.

My RTK is now working with the new, replacement drone, but I have questions on if DJI has this dialed in yet.
I received the replacement drone and immediately updated to the newest firmware:
Aircraft Firmware: v12.01.06.06
Remote Controller Firmware: v01.61.03.05
So, yes it is working with the newest firmware.

The last I ran RTK was on March 3 and it connected to RTK and I made a map/model etc.. And the RMSE as compared to indepedent check points was spot on for the nadir images, but the oblique image's RMSE was very poor. And, yes this was with the newest firmware.

When I am connected to RTK and viewing the RTK menu I get strange satellite counts and they differ if I am connected to a CORs or my Emlid RS2 as a base.

When connected to my Emlid, the RTK screen in Pilot 2 will show all the satellites the Matrice 4 is seeing, meaning in multiple constellations, but the Base will show GPS sateellites, with the other constellations GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo having a number that flashes, goes to 0 and then back to a number.

When connected to a CORs, it is the same as above but it will only show GPS satellites and only Beidou will flash a number, flash 0 and repea.

The original drone did the exact same thing, but the difference is that the new replacement drone will obtain FIX.

RINEX logs show that I am getting all constellations though unless I am not reading them correctly.


Here are the results of the March 3 mapping test. With my Phantom 4 RTK, oblique images always had a lower RMSE, without fail.

I will get back to you as I test if I still get FIX.


nadir images RMSE


oblique images

 

[Jaybro130]

First, sorry to hear your problem.

My RTK is now working with the new, replacement drone, but I have questions on if DJI has this dialed in yet.
I received the replacement drone and immediately updated to the newest firmware:
Aircraft Firmware: v12.01.06.06
Remote Controller Firmware: v01.61.03.05
So, yes it is working with the newest firmware.

The last I ran RTK was on March 3 and it connected to RTK and I made a map/model etc.. And the RMSE as compared to indepedent check points was spot on for the nadir images, but the oblique image's RMSE was very poor. And, yes this was with the newest firmware.

When I am connected to RTK and viewing the RTK menu I get strange satellite counts and they differ if I am connected to a CORs or my Emlid RS2 as a base.

When connected to my Emlid, the RTK screen in Pilot 2 will show all the satellites the Matrice 4 is seeing, meaning in multiple constellations, but the Base will show GPS sateellites, with the other constellations GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo having a number that flashes, goes to 0 and then back to a number.

When connected to a CORs, it is the same as above but it will only show GPS satellites and only Beidou will flash a number, flash 0 and repea.

The original drone did the exact same thing, but the difference is that the new replacement drone will obtain FIX.

RINEX logs show that I am getting all constellations though unless I am not reading them correctly.


Here are the results of the March 3 mapping test. With my Phantom 4 RTK, oblique images always had a lower RMSE, without fail.

I will get back to you as I test if I still get FIX.


nadir images RMSE
View attachment 31050

oblique images

View attachment 31051

Thanks for replying in detail. I have seen the drone RTK constellation anomalies you mentioned on the remote, flashing a number, then 0. GPS usually stays steady, but beidou, gallileo, Glonass all drop out, hence, no fix.
I hope they get this fixed. Otherwise, The 4E is not ready for prime time yet.

 

[jaja6009]

Thanks for replying in detail. I have seen the drone RTK constellation anomalies you mentioned on the remote, flashing a number, then 0. GPS usually stays steady, but beidou, gallileo, Glonass all drop out, hence, no fix.
I hope they get this fixed. Otherwise, The 4E is not ready for prime time yet.

I do get FIX though with the new drone even with the flashing numbers on all of the other (Not GPS) constellations. On the first drone, it did the same exact thing, but never could obtain FIX.

I am going to contact DJI Support, not for a new drone as this seems to be an issue with all drones.

I will send them:
Screen recording of the constellations flashing 0 and other numbers.
RINEX logs while this is happening.
RMSE from outputs, since the oblique images map was disappointing. May Phantom 4 RTK mapping the same area put my new bird to shame, although at a much longer time to obtain images.

I think the more information they have, the faster they fix it with firmware.
I'm surprised there is an issue at all since they have had RTK on several drones now.

Please keep us posted on your end and I'll do the same.
Tommorow I will test the RTK again.

 

[Jaybro130]

I do get FIX though with the new drone even with the flashing numbers on all of the other (Not GPS) constellations. On the first drone, it did the same exact thing, but never could obtain FIX.

I am going to contact DJI Support, not for a new drone as this seems to be an issue with all drones.

I will send them:
Screen recording of the constellations flashing 0 and other numbers.
RINEX logs while this is happening.
RMSE from outputs, since the oblique images map was disappointing. May Phantom 4 RTK mapping the same area put my new bird to shame, although at a much longer time to obtain images.

I think the more information they have, the faster they fix it with firmware.
I'm surprised there is an issue at all since they have had RTK on several drones now.

Please keep us posted on your end and I'll do the same.
Tommorow I will test the RTK again.

Yeah, I hope they can fix it through firmware. This is a result of them rushing to get these drones out before the ban…growing pains, and we are paying the price for it.

 

[Jaybro130]

jaja,
I decided to further troubleshoot the RTK issue and connected to my local CORS RTK network and flew from a different location this morning on my way to work. It actually connected and had a FIX! I'm not sure why it would not FIX yesterday, but my M3E RTK connects fine at that location I was at yesterday. It seems that the constellation connection is unstable compared to the M3E.

Hopefully, there can be a firmware update to get a more stable RTK connection. I think it keeps looking for the RTK2/3 to connect to. I constantly get an error message at the top left saying it fails to connect to base station, even though I don't have it selected in the RTK menu. But I did notice the deviation at the bottom of the screen was slow to correct. I will try my Emlid later this afternoon using caster and hotspot and report back. Like I said, the hotspot worked fine last Thursday.

This gave me a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to get a replacement. These drones are fickle...but I know DJI will improve them.

Cheers

 

[Jaybro130]

My optimism was good after this morning’s flight only to be shattered after further flights this afternoon. Connection is still very unstable. I received “connected” a few times, but only to go back to converging.

I compared it to my Mavic 3E side by side. The M3E had a solid connection via Emlid caster, Emlid hotspot, and state RTK service, while the M4E was all over the place.

The M3E displayed all satellite constellations solidly…GPS, Beidou, Glonass, AND Galileo. The M4E showed Beidou, Glonass, and Galileo intermittently as discussed earlier…drops to 0, then 6 or 7 satellites, then back to 0. This is very frustrating.

 

[jaja6009]

jaja,
I decided to further troubleshoot the RTK issue and connected to my local CORS RTK network and flew from a different location this morning on my way to work. It actually connected and had a FIX! I'm not sure why it would not FIX yesterday, but my M3E RTK connects fine at that location I was at yesterday. It seems that the constellation connection is unstable compared to the M3E.

Hopefully, there can be a firmware update to get a more stable RTK connection. I think it keeps looking for the RTK2/3 to connect to. I constantly get an error message at the top left saying it fails to connect to base station, even though I don't have it selected in the RTK menu. But I did notice the deviation at the bottom of the screen was slow to correct. I will try my Emlid later this afternoon using caster and hotspot and report back. Like I said, the hotspot worked fine last Thursday.

This gave me a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to get a replacement. These drones are fickle...but I know DJI will improve them.

Cheers

Thats good news. I am pretty sure that my original drone was the same as the current one. It's just being new and DJI Support not having experience with them yet.
I have no doubt that DJI will dial them in within a firmware or two.

I have a new problem.
The images seem to have a dewarping problem. There are dark corners from the lens in my mapping images. I am not sure how I missed these!

It definitely seems like a dewarping issue. I had dewarp set of off in the mapping parameters mission.

For now I can easily mask them out in Agisoft. The images still calibrated decently, but I will reprocess with masks on the corners.

 

[Jaybro130]

Thats good news. I am pretty sure that my original drone was the same as the current one. It's just being new and DJI Support not having experience with them yet.
I have no doubt that DJI will dial them in within a firmware or two.

I have a new problem.
The images seem to have a dewarping problem. There are dark corners from the lens in my mapping images. I am not sure how I missed these!

It definitely seems like a dewarping issue. I had dewarp set of off in the mapping parameters mission.

For now I can easily mask them out in Agisoft. The images still calibrated decently, but I will reprocess with masks on the corners.

View attachment 31052

With dewarping off, the photos will look like that. You should be able to see it on the screen when you switch the dewarping off. They will disappear when you turn it on.

Funny thing is, I have a weekly mapping job that they want the dewarping on. This is out of the norm for most processing softwares that want it off.

 

[jaja6009]

With dewarping off, the photos will look like that. You should be able to see it on the screen when you switch the dewarping off. They will disappear when you turn it on.

Funny thing is, I have a weekly mapping job that they want the dewarping on. This is out of the norm for most processing softwares that want it off.

I forgot about that. I own a Phantom 4 RTK which doesn't have that look with dewarping off.
I use a Mavic 3 E sometimes at work and checked its old images and you are absolutely right.

Also I mapped twice today with me M4E, it went FIX rather quickly. It still had the flashing satellites.
I'll let you know the RMSE after I process.

We are the beta testers for this drone.
I only grabbed it the day it released because I was scared of the tariffs (They hit right after I got mine at the original low price) and also as you mentioned, the possible ban.


That is weird about the client wanting dewarp on. Agisoft's Alexy is adamant about giving his software the unmolested image and he does not want you to use the metadata with the camera parameters either.

My only regret is that I cannot afford to get the thermal version of this drone at this time. I am hoping that after a few months the drone only becomes available as I already have the controller, batteries etc..

 

[Jaybro130]

I forgot about that. I own a Phantom 4 RTK which doesn't have that look with dewarping off.
I use a Mavic 3 E sometimes at work and checked its old images and you are absolutely right.

Also I mapped twice today with me M4E, it went FIX rather quickly. It still had the flashing satellites.
I'll let you know the RMSE after I process.

We are the beta testers for this drone.
I only grabbed it the day it released because I was scared of the tariffs (They hit right after I got mine at the original low price) and also as you mentioned, the possible ban.


That is weird about the client wanting dewarp on. Agisoft's Alexy is adamant about giving his software the unmolested image and he does not want you to use the metadata with the camera parameters either.

My only regret is that I cannot afford to get the thermal version of this drone at this time. I am hoping that after a few months the drone only becomes available as I already have the controller, batteries etc..

I hate being the beta! I own the 3T as well as the 3E, but I am not going to upgrade to the 4T. It’s not enough of an improvement for me.

 

[Steve A]

View attachment 31052

That's a interesting picture, is that a hole in the beach? Was it a water main break?

 

[jaja6009]

I hate being the beta! I own the 3T as well as the 3E, but I am not going to upgrade to the 4T. It’s not enough of an improvement for me.

You and me both, LOL.

I want the T version since my thermal solution is a Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced. It is the slowest thermalmapping drone ever. I'll take a 3T though if I see a good deal on a used one.

How much of an improvement are you seeing so far between the M4E and M3E? At least when you had it working, but also in other aspects?
I am still shocked at well the zoom works.

 

[jaja6009]

That's a interesting picture, is that a hole in the beach? Was it a water main break?

Close, its a storm drain pipe on the beach underneath. I made a 3D model and was able to get the exact volume.
I told public works it needed 8 cubic yards, they didn't listen or believe me and only partially filled it when they came up short.

I'm concerned that it needs to be blocked off above the entire pipe run since we cannot gurantee that it won't collapse anywhere in the pipe's length.

I used my Matrice to model it, I hand flew 20 feet above the ground to obtain images and the Matrice did not dissappoint.

https://cloud.agisoft.com/shared/projects/a4b82735-ee69-4aaa-b495-b2c450e28ec8?position=-74.424926,39.356061,-23.9892&orientation=66.951,-50.67,360