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MightyFlier

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Was wondering if anyone has any experiences with Autels warranty coverage?? I am a part 107 pilot. I had a mission experience where my Evo 2 pro ran into an object during the flight. Obstacle Avoidance was on, was flying at 5 MPH. Slow enough i would think to give the system plenty of time to avoid any obstacles. What are the odds they will honor the warranty. the bird is only a few months old. I had just updated all the firmware, and ran all of the calibrations 1 flight prior and had no problems..... Any comments about how their warranty system works would be appreciated. Would like to be aware of how they intend to handle this, if possible!! Thanks, MightyFlier
 

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Was wondering if anyone has any experiences with Autels warranty coverage?? I am a part 107 pilot. I had a mission experience where my Evo 2 pro ran into an object during the flight. Obstacle Avoidance was on, was flying at 5 MPH. Slow enough i would think to give the system plenty of time to avoid any obstacles. What are the odds they will honor the warranty. the bird is only a few months old. I had just updated all the firmware, and ran all of the calibrations 1 flight prior and had no problems..... Any comments about how their warranty system works would be appreciated. Would like to be aware of how they intend to handle this, if possible!! Thanks, MightyFlier
 
Was in contact with Autel, they are saying that this was a PIC error. I say that's really BS, as it was in a mission mode, and we all know that while in mission mode the EVO 2 pretty much flies itself, with PIC supervision.
The unit flew toward the object at around 5 miles an hour, slowed, I actually thought it was going to do what it was supposed to and avoid the object, but by the time I realized that it wasn't, it was too late. Before i could cancel the mission and manually avoid the object, it had struck the object and fell 40' to the ground causing what AUTEL claims is close to $1150 in repairs needed.
Let's see, I paid almost $1900 for the bundle, now they want me to pay another $1150 to repair what I think is their units' malfunction. Crazy!! This unit had just been updated to the most current software and firmware. It is approx. 6 months old, and still under warranty. I think Autel is shucking their responsibility on this one. Their Object Avoidance system was evidently malfunctioning. I'm sure as most EVO 2Pro owners have done, when new, I flew this directly at a wall, full speed, and it stopped 20' away. I was impressed then, not so much anymore!! I was flying at 5 MPH, and it couldn't avoid an object!!!??? Sounds a little fishy to me. Unfortunately, I guess a person has no recourse, they examine, they make the determination of coverage. It's like the Fox guarding the chicken coop, I Think!!
If anyone has any info that would help, I would appreciate it.
Anyone thinking about purchasing one of these should really think about the AUTEL Warranty coverage or the LACK OF warranty coverage.
 
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Was wondering if anyone has any experiences with Autels warranty coverage?? I am a part 107 pilot. I had a mission experience where my Evo 2 pro ran into an object during the flight. Obstacle Avoidance was on, was flying at 5 MPH. Slow enough i would think to give the system plenty of time to avoid any obstacles. What are the odds they will honor the warranty. the bird is only a few months old. I had just updated all the firmware, and ran all of the calibrations 1 flight prior and had no problems..... Any comments about how their warranty system works would be appreciated. Would like to be aware of how they intend to handle this, if possible!! Thanks, MightyFlier
Buy from Amazon. They just refund you. No questions asked.

In fact, here in Australia, I returned a faulty tablet using one of their prepaid labels and my refund was already to my Amazon account that day, but they had not yet received it!

It seems that now, as soonas the label is scanned at the Post Office, their system issues a refund!
Beat that.
 
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Most likely DJI would have done the same. Unfortunately OA only works sometimes and should never be relied upon.
 
Was wondering if anyone has any experiences with Autels warranty coverage?? I am a part 107 pilot. I had a mission experience where my Evo 2 pro ran into an object during the flight. Obstacle Avoidance was on, was flying at 5 MPH. Slow enough i would think to give the system plenty of time to avoid any obstacles. What are the odds they will honor the warranty. the bird is only a few months old. I had just updated all the firmware, and ran all of the calibrations 1 flight prior and had no problems..... Any comments about how their warranty system works would be appreciated. Would like to be aware of how they intend to handle this, if possible!! Thanks, MightyFlier
From a piloting perspective, I never rely on automation for obstacle avoidance in flight. That is what th epilot is in the loop for. During mission planning I walk the entire site and note obstacles that pose a problem and document their height. The height of the tallest obstacle for the site +50 feet becomes the minimum altitude of the flight. Flying at the obstacle altitude or less is just reckless.
I make that statement because if your automated systems fails to perform, the chances of you intervening in time is not that great. You should always plan a flight with the worst case in mind and build that into your flight plan to ensure that you have an out if things DO go wrong. IMHO, your actions were indeed pilot error.
 
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I would never plan a flight that was going to be autonomous where I felt I might need to depend on collision avoidance technology. In most cases with accidents the buck stops with the PIC. Look at the majority of aviation accidents, most but not all are caused by pilots screwing up.
 
Just to let you all know how this turned out. First, I agree that Mission flight is still a PIC mission. Being a newer Part 107 PIC, I have flown my EVO 2 Pro directly at a building and it will stop some 20-30' away, forward stick full down. Evidently obstacle avoidance doesn't perform nearly as well when in mission mode. The Mission parameters seem, to me, to override the avoidance system somewhat, as it truly want to perform the mission as programmed. Unfortunalty, I've learned an expensive lesson that I will certainly never forget, and, I have to agree with the previous posters to this thread, that a person must never rely on the Mission planner, as to the safety of the mission and the UAS.
The end result is Autel denied any warranty coverage whatsoever. End of my sad expensive lesson... Thanks for all the comments. They are appreciated. I hope I never stop learning, just a little less costly would be nice!!
 
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Just to let you all know how this turned out. First, I agree that Mission flight is still a PIC mission. Being a newer Part 107 PIC, I have flown my EVO 2 Pro directly at a building and it will stop some 20-30' away, forward stick full down. Evidently obstacle avoidance doesn't perform nearly as well when in mission mode. The Mission parameters seem, to me, to override the avoidance system somewhat, as it truly want to perform the mission as programmed. Unfortunalty, I've learned an expensive lesson that I will certainly never forget, and, I have to agree with the previous posters to this thread, that a person must never rely on the Mission planner, as to the safety of the mission and the UAS.
The end result is Autel denied any warranty coverage whatsoever. End of my sad expensive lesson... Thanks for all the comments. They are appreciated. I hope I never stop learning, just a little less costly would be nice!!
Everyone here had at least one crash that hurt.
So don’t feel alone
 

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