Skydio support's response regarding my Skydio 2's crash

[Hiflyer808]

The most interesting thing for me in this thread, and elsewhere, is the claim that the Skydio 2 is actually WORSE at obstacle avoidance than the R1. As in, users having flown the R1 on certain places without problems and then crashing the 2 in the same place. I'd like to hear from more people who have flown both. Did the Skydio 2 OA seem better, worse, or about the same?

 

[Jim]

It very seldom is ever cost effective to diagnose and repair a device like this drone.

If its covered under warranty then expect a new or refurbished unit.

If and when they do repairs unless it something minor expect to
pay as much for repair as a new unit, especially with shipping charges.

Maybe once they catch up some parts may be available to do your own repair.

I was actually thinking this might be a good aftermarket item - some lightweight, replaceable, anti-scratch optically pure lens covers. I know I’d put some on if they were available for rough landings - cases where what happened is not rough enough to damage the drone body or gimbal, but all it takes is a well placed rock to scrape one of the cameras. Hmmmm. Any of our YouTubers here want to set up a side business?

 

[leenanj]

I was actually thinking this might be a good aftermarket item - some lightweight, replaceable, anti-scratch optically pure lens covers. I know I’d put some on if they were available for rough landings - cases where what happened is not rough enough to damage the drone body or gimbal, but all it takes is a well placed rock to scrape one of the cameras. Hmmmm. Any of our YouTubers here want to set up a side business?

Good idea but I think any kind of lens cover no matter how good is going to interfere with the OA.
Would have been nice if Skydio made these screw on/off.

 

[DrZ]

DJI and Skydio are not the only game in town now. EVO is here

 

[OldBlueHeron]

DJI and Skydio are not the only game in town now. EVO is here

Meh, nothing new there....

 

[Mshmovie]

Meh, nothing new there....

Isn't the Autel Evo 2 with its new specs and 40 minute flight time new and differentiating? I haven't seen anything substantial about its OA except a comparison to the Skydio 1 and "the most powerful OA on a foldable drone".

 

[OldBlueHeron]

Isn't the Autel Evo 2 with its new specs and 40 minute flight time new and differentiating? I haven't seen anything substantial about its OA except a comparison to the Skydio 1 and "the most powerful OA on a foldable drone".

Couple more minutes of flight time, and unusable 8k unless your cropping. I dunno, nothing groundbreaking. I would wager the Evo 2’s OA is about as good as the M2P. 9km flight distance? I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[leenanj]

Isn't the Autel Evo 2 with its new specs and 40 minute flight time new and differentiating? I haven't seen anything substantial about its OA except a comparison to the Skydio 1 and "the most powerful OA on a foldable drone".

I think the Evo 2 compares a lot with the new DJI Phantom Pro. They both have OA all around but neither have intelligent OA like the Skydio that can steer around objects rather than just stop and wait for input.

 

[dirkclod]

Guys let’s not wonder away from the OP.
Let’s stay on topic.
Thanks.

 

[DoomMeister]

@Jim and @stefanonwheels

I am curious about flight telemetry logs that were not recorded on each of your S2 drones.

What Mode was the aircraft operating in when the flight was not logged?


How many flights were missing from the logs?

What if anything has Skydio said about what could cause this?

My reason for asking this is that the S2 uses WiFi for control and video feed, and so does a drone made by another manufacturer that is very prone to not recording telemetry logs.

 

[Ridefreak]

The most interesting thing for me in this thread, and elsewhere, is the claim that the Skydio 2 is actually WORSE at obstacle avoidance than the R1. As in, users having flown the R1 on certain places without problems and then crashing the 2 in the same place. I'd like to hear from more people who have flown both. Did the Skydio 2 OA seem better, worse, or about the same?

R1 has prop guards, that alone sets the 2 apart when it comes to crashing due to small branches. I've flown both and when it comes to slow speed avoidance they are very similar in how they respond. The SD2 avoids more more seamlessly and at a faster pace when needed. Both slow significantly when confronted with dense overgrowth or thin branches.

 

[Hiflyer808]

Thanks for that info! I guess the Skydio 2 design precludes it having prop guards?

 

[skydioconvert]

Thanks for that info! I guess the Skydio 2 design precludes it having prop guards?

I believe Skydio has publicly stated that it's very unique OA system depends on nothing obstructing the view of its 6 camera's. That's the reason exterior attachments like prop guards (and even landing gears) aren't part of it's design. Adding such attachments must seriously complicate how well the OA system works.

 

[Lon Denard]

I believe Skydio has publicly stated that it's very unique OA system depends on nothing obstructing the view of its 6 camera's. That's the reason exterior attachments like prop guards (and even landing gears) aren't part of it's design. Adding such attachments must seriously complicate how well the OA system works.

Yup! I asked!

 

[Skyking]

Skydio support finally got back to me with the expected disappointing response:
Regarding your crash, Thank you for uploading the logs and sending the video. We are glad that your Skydio 2 survived that tumble. I'm sure you have gone back seen how many close calls you had with thin branches. While Skydio 2 is a giant leap forward in autonomous tracking there are still limitations. While that type of collision would not have been covered under the warranty, there are steps you can take to avoid future crashes. For example, if you had set the Skydio 2 to a higher altitude and maybe further away it would have avoided most if not all the thin branches completely. While I don't think you should have to anticipate every trail you're flying in, It's always beneficial to take some time to consider the situations you are placing your Skydio 2 in. It's always better to err on the side of safety when it comes to co-piloting with the Skydio 2. You do have some incredible footage on your channel and we really hope that Skydio 2 can continue to help you capture amazing footage.

Skydio support also mentioned that they don't even have the means to repair Skydio 2 drones at this point, so even if I was willing to pay them, they wouldn't be able to fix my drone at this point. So right now, if your camera lens is scratched, well, please buy another $999 drone or just live with it.
The most annoying part about that is that in case my Skydio 2 crashed again and it's not thin branches or anything they blame me for, they will simply say that it crashed because my cameras were scratched due to the first crash and therefore, they won't cover it under warranty, either.

Fail #2 is that my Skydio 2 didn't record any flight logs since 12/21/2019 and as it crashed on 12/22/2019, it didn't have any flight logs for my crash. It almost looks like the drone intentionally forgets flight logs from crashes, so it's easier for Skydio to blame to user. But... that would not be nice at all, right? Must be just a coincidence.
After Skydio support instructed me to factory reset my Skydio 2, it is now recording flight logs again.

Also, interestingly, they have stopped to re-post my Instagram photos and stories since the crash. Before the crash, they reposted about every Skydio 2-related Instagram photo and story I would post. So not only do Skydio ignore issues in their obstacle avoidance and leave users with damaged drones hanging, no, they also take it personally and stop supporting their supporters on social media. So if your Skydio 2 crashes and you want to continue to receive social media support from Skydio, better don't tell anyone and keep pretending and telling people that Skydio 2 obstacle avoidance is bullet-proof!

Here's my response to Skydio support:
Hi John,

got it. Thanks for confirming the disappointing but expected response. I won't even comment on it. Could you please just convey the following to your product development team?

In all the situations that we've seen Skydio 2 crash so far, would the R1 have crashed? Are you really making a step forward in usable (!!!) drone autonomy?
I sincerely hope that you don't seriously believe "innovation" is to sell a drone whose significant limitations require you to enforce a customer-unfriendly warranty statement that rules out about 50% of the areas that people would like their autonomous drone to be able to fly in.
Failure to acknowledge deficiencies in a product is the beginning of the end of that product, I hope you realize that. People are less and less capable, expect more and more and the world consists of thin branches and power lines, so please make your drone able to cope with those situations, otherwise is pretty much worthless to me and many other people who use Skydio 2 for what it's made for.

Stefan

Crash videos:

(part 1)

(part 2)

I hear you but don't call what happened to your Skydio 2 a "deficiency". They specifically say to avoid small twigs, branches, leaves, wires etc. I see too many videos of people trying to "test" the obstacle avoidance". That's not smart. It's "looking for trouble". As I see it, the Skydio 2 obstacle avoidance is way better than anything DJI has or that I've seen so far. IMHO, the obstacle avoidance is to keep flying safely ONCE the PILOT as use proper judgment in the route of flight, weather conditions and prevalent "obstacles".

Unrelated to the post I'm replying to,

I will also add that I am shocked to see such poor customer service from Skydio ! There is absolutely no excuse for that and poor customer service from a start-up with a great product is will not foster customer loyalty nor company longevity.

Lastly, charging a credit card before an item will ship is a no-no. I ordered a Pro Case, extra props and the Dual Charger about 10 days ago. My card was immediately charged for $350 or so. No indication at the time I ordered that there would be a delay, in fact I was told before my Skydio 2 arrived, that I didn't need to order things like the pro case, dual charger etc in advance and to order it when my Skydio is ready to ship because, they said, they have that stock in hand.

I love my Skydio 2, especially the exposure quality and color quality. I am not happy at all with substantial image/lens distortion. In the 12 days that I've had it, I've done 4 shoots with it. My other drone of choice is a DJI Mavic 2 Pro but I feel "safer" with the Skydio 2's obstacle avoidance when shooting real estate, with wires, clothes lines, bushes and trees to avoid.

 

[Skyking]

Or at least crash insurance until Skydio can perform repairs on S2. I hope they get the repair business part sorted out by batch 3.

State Farm offers drone coverage for fly aways, thefts and crashes on their personal property insurance policies. I had a Typhoon H Pro fly away a couple of years ago. They paid my by ACH the full replacement cost in 2 days. The cost is very inexpensive. Minimal and no deductible. If interested, look up your local State Farm Insurance Agency. If they say that State Farm does not offer it, say YES THEY DO and have them contact the Jen Dunn State Farm Agency in Brookfield CT for more underwriting info. Be advised that if you have MULTIPLE claims, they will not renew your policy.

 

[Lon Denard]

State Farm offers drone coverage for fly aways, thefts and crashes on their personal property insurance policies. I had a Typhoon H Pro fly away a couple of years ago. They paid my by ACH the full replacement cost in 2 days. The cost is very inexpensive. Minimal and no deductible. If interested, look up your local State Farm Insurance Agency. If they say that State Farm does not offer it, say YES THEY DO and have them contact the Jen Dunn State Farm Agency in Brookfield CT for more underwriting info. Be advised that if you have MULTIPLE claims, they will not renew your policy.

Boy that last part is true! I had two claims 4 years ago and I'm still blacklisted!!!

 

[dirkclod]

Interesting. He states that his Skydio flew into telephone wires on the way home. Skydio specifically mention that Skydio 2's OA is inactive when it's landing, so I'm now confused why they accepted his warranty claim and rejected mine and others'. I'm gonna follow up with them right now.

Customer service

skydiopilots.com

 

[skydioconvert]

Not sure if Skydio is ramping up their customer service or not but those working problems have also done alright by me. It took them several days to get back to me (see earlier post) regarding a concern I had but their response was anything but dismissive.

Regarding who gets priority isn't the type of answer I would like to see (I'm in batch #3) but I went into this with my eyes wide open and want to give them a fair chance to remedy whatever problems they're having.

 

[AntDX316]

DJI and Skydio are not the only game in town now. EVO is here

Then get the Evo II. I need the M2P to finish up this job today.