Forward Sensors and Glaring Sun

[jamiemink]

So here in Michigan, it's winter. Overcast, and when the sun shines it's low in the sky and extremely harsh and stark... it can be almost blinding. Last weekend I flew the Mavic about 1/2 mile out, and when coming back around 150 feet high I was pointed directly into this harsh blinding light I've described. The Mavic communicated it sensed an obstacle in it's path and wouldn't go forward. I was 150' up, there was certainly no obstacle... it was definitely the brutal sunlight fooling the sensors looking forward.

I know I can turn off obstacle avoidance, set the software to "go around" an obstacle instead of hover, etc. What I did in this case was simply turn the drone 90 degrees and side-fly the rest of the way home. No biggie. My question is, had I hit the RTH command would it still not have flown back because of the sensors being fooled? I didn't try it, should have. Just curious if the forum knows if RTH bypasses obstacle avoidance. Had I been a long way from home and a low battery this could have been interesting. Thanks!

 

[Jr. Stafford]

So here in Michigan, it's winter. Overcast, and when the sun shines it's low in the sky and extremely harsh and stark... it can be almost blinding. Last weekend I flew the Mavic about 1/2 mile out, and when coming back around 150 feet high I was pointed directly into this harsh blinding light I've described. The Mavic communicated it sensed an obstacle in it's path and wouldn't go forward. I was 150' up, there was certainly no obstacle... it was definitely the brutal sunlight fooling the sensors looking forward.

I know I can turn off obstacle avoidance, set the software to "go around" an obstacle instead of hover, etc. What I did in this case was simply turn the drone 90 degrees and side-fly the rest of the way home. No biggie. My question is, had I hit the RTH command would it still not have flown back because of the sensors being fooled? I didn't try it, should have. Just curious if the forum knows if RTH bypasses obstacle avoidance. Had I been a long way from home and a low battery this could have been interesting. Thanks!

I now believe that is exactly what happened to mine.......I did hit RTH, and am now awaiting repair.
Litchi locked me out, crashed!

 

[phemmert]

Had the same problem on my Mavic (after repair from a defective product) and recalibrated the forward looking cameras and vertical sensors. Glad to report that cured the problem.

 

[4wd]

Just curious if the forum knows if RTH bypasses obstacle avoidance. Had I been a long way from home and a low battery this could have been interesting. Thanks!

If you have OA turned on it stays on during RTH - if turned off it won't come back on.
You should be able to cancel RTH provided you are aware what happened and are still able to connect.
Putting it in Sport Mode quickly turns OA off.

I'm not a fan of OA in most flights as it also significantly reduces forward speed.

 

[znuttyone]

If you have OA turned on it stays on during RTH - if turned off it won't come back on.
You should be able to cancel RTH provided you are aware what happened and are still able to connect.
Putting it in Sport Mode quickly turns OA off.

I'm not a fan of OA in most flights as it also significantly reduces forward speed.

on the RTH issue, see Litchi locked me out, crashed! this was not an issue with Litchi, it was the "RTH Obstacle Check"

 

[znuttyone]

Re-calibation of this visual sensors did not solve the issue for me.. see
Litchi locked me out, crashed!... BTW the subject of the thread is a bit misleading.. was not really a Litchi issue, its a firmware bug with the "RTH Obstacle check" being set and lack of the forward sensors to distinguish between the sun and a real obstacle.

 

[Capra Vecinului]

Does any of the new Mavic 2 Pro (or Zoom) users encountered this problem, due to the fact that the new drone models come with side and back vision sensors??

 

[JoostGT3]

I have had the same thing on a number of occasions, and mostly falsely (sun glare). It spoilt a lot of otherwise perfect shots.
Also for landing, I come in, and when it is close to me, I will turn the Mav around and fly backwards to the landing spot. I think having the rear facing obstacle avoidance with the M2 would frustrate me a lot... Can OA be assigned to one of the custom buttons?