GPS, ATTI, OPTI Modes - what controls modes and are they controllable

[Lon Denard]

I'm glad my vehicle doesn't return to home if getting low on fuel, or park if I get near the kerb

You're half way there already, the self driving car is coming. Well, here in the first world anyway.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Lol, we do have park assist on many makes, and testing of various driverless cars in some of our capitals.
No reports of serious episodes, so they might be trialling well enough.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

You're half way there already, the self driving car is coming. Well, here in the first world anyway.

Let's hope it doesn't run on DJI software.

 

[Kilrah]

I honestly don't get how the drone "just flies into a wall" without any control input. It might not hover perfectly stable from gps to atti or opti. That I get. The wind speed was about 15 mph outside, so I had to be careful coming back in because the drone was fighting a cross wind to zero suddenly. What I don't get or have never seen or understood, is how a crash would occur if gps came on while you were indoors? Why would it suddenly fly into a wall with you having no control?

OPTI uses cameras looking at the ground to determine movement. Bad lighting can cause it to misinterpret movements and think it is moving when it is not. If it thinks it's moving it will try to correct that "movement" by tilting the other way, which should stop the movement. But it wasn't actually moving, so now it is, towards some obstacle.
Same with GPS, reception indoors will be poor so instead of giving a nice stable position it may jump all over the place. The aircraft will think it's moving and try to correct for that.
You won't have proper control becasue all you do with the sticks in P mode is tell it a ground speed and direction you want it to move at, but it's confused to what it's doing already so won't respond properly to that.

Just put your phone on a table with google maps open in a place with poor reception and look at how it shows you moving around (or Pokemon go, some people are using that inaccuracy to count walked distance...)

As said yes it may/will work most of the time. But it WILL fail to work fine occasionally, and many people have crashed before becasue of that so just be aware of it and don't come crying when it happens

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

As said yes it may/will work most of the time. But it WILL fail to work fine occasionally, and many people have crashed before becasue of that so just be aware of it and don't come crying when it happens

^^^ THIS

 

[Lon Denard]

Oh yea because the major auto makers are perfect...

OPTI uses cameras looking at the ground to determine movement. Bad lighting can cause it to misinterpret movements and think it is moving when it is not. If it thinks it's moving it will try to correct that "movement" by tilting the other way, which should stop the movement. But it wasn't actually moving, so now it is, towards some obstacle.
Same with GPS, reception indoors will be poor so instead of giving a nice stable position it may jump all over the place. The aircraft will think it's moving and try to correct for that.
You won't have proper control becasue all you do with the sticks in P mode is tell it a ground speed and direction you want it to move at, but it's confused to what it's doing already so won't respond properly to that.

Just put your phone on a table with google maps open in a place with poor reception and look at how it shows you moving around (or Pokemon go, some people are using that inaccuracy to count walked distance...)

As said yes it may/will work most of the time. But it WILL fail to work fine occasionally, and many people have crashed before becasue of that so just be aware of it and don't come crying when it happens

Yea I don't think I'd come crying to you for any reason. You can talk about theories to your heart's content but I'm talking actual usage. All this conjecture just hasn't happened. Besides, as someone that has crashed a few drones and aircraft, I'm willing to admit my first reaction was to blame the equipment too.

ANYTHING is possible, I guess, and if you're scarred to fly indoors, then don't fly indoors. It just seems you're implying that anyone that flies indoors is stupid or taking on some monumental risk. The drone is designed to fly indoors, so I fly it indoors. The same with my Parrot mini drones. They haven't exhibited any of the behavior you describe in probably over a hundred flights. I get there's no GPS, BTW so put that gun back in the holster. I wouldn't fly my Karma indoors, it's not designed for it. I wouldn't fly my Solo indoors, it's not designed for it. The Mavic is designed for it, so I fly it indoors. There's always a risk no matter where you fly. However, and I don't think DJI is perfect or whatever, I find it difficult to believe that they would market a product as capable to fly indoors knowing that it could take off at any moment removing someone's eye. It would be much easier to warn against indoor flight or even not allow the craft to take off without a sufficient sat lock.

 

[Kilrah]

You can talk about theories to your heart's content but I'm talking actual usage

Just search this board for "indoor crash" and you'll see the number of "actual usage" scenarios this "theory" was derived from.

 

[Lon Denard]

Just search this board for "indoor crash" and you'll see the number of "actual usage" scenarios this "theory" was derived from.

Oh I'm sure and like I said, it's common for guys that crash to blame the drone. I blame the controller every time I get my butt kicked on Injustice 2! I'm a Master Service Tech and I listen to customers try to explain to me everyday how their equipment suddenly X or Y'd and broke. I have to go into the log and show them what they or their employees did to cause the malfunction. I'm sure DJI deals with this everyday as well.

Customer: "My drone just flew into the wall for no reason!"

DJI: "Sir, the log shows you pushed the stick to the left."

Customer: "Whatever" click. Posts on here that DJI customer service sucks and their drone just flew into a wall for no reason.



Besides, I never said the Mavic is perfect or there's never been a defect or failure. You're presenting the situation as a crash indoors is fate accompli and I disagree. I hope that your not talking about guys flying 2" from a wall and it bumps it and crashed. It sounds like you're saying that the drone took off across the room and crashed for no reason. That's what I disagree with to be precise, not that the thing might correct a few inches during flight.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

The Mavic is designed for it, so I fly it indoors.

What's the source of this info?

 

[Lon Denard]

What's the source of this info?

Huh? They launched the Mavic with it flying indoors. In front of a crowd of people and press...

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Huh? They launched the Mavic with it flying indoors. In front of a crowd of people and press...

I just RTFM'd and indeed, they mention indoor flying. Personally, I'd still never do that, it's very sketchy.

 

[Lon Denard]

I just RTFM'd and indeed, they mention indoor flying. Personally, I'd still never do that, it's very sketchy.

Whew, so you concede that I'm right? Thank you. To be honest, for a moment I thought I had imagined it.

BTW.... ahem...

I'm not sure why you'd market these babies for anything but indoor flying. If they could bring them down to under $100 I'd buy them even though I've never used the prop guards I already have. Hahaha!

 

[Lon Denard]

Then there's...

Buy Mavic Propeller Cage

The aircraft becomes heavier after mounting it, but the flight time can still be up to of 12 minutes, suitable for flying indoors, in areas with obstacles and under Tripod mode.

 

[Kilrah]

Yup, that's what they had to come up with to limit the damage when it goes bonkers

It sounds like you're saying that the drone took off across the room and crashed for no reason.

Yep because it HAS been reported several times here, with logs, video etc proving it.

Anyway as said - yes they advertise it that way (although in their live demo it failed to respond as it was supposed to - interestingly enough they haven't done a live demo for a product launch again since then). Yes it works most of the time. But is also fails more often inside than outside, so there's an added risk that's yours to take or not, and even if you don't care it's important to mention it clearly for other viewers who will come aross this thread in the future so they can make an informed decision.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Yup, that's what they had to come up with to limit the damage when it goes bonkers


Yep because it HAS been reported several times here, with logs, video etc proving it.

Anyway as said - yes they advertise it that way (although in their live demo it failed to respond as it was supposed to - interestingly enough they haven't done a live demo for a product launch again since then). Yes it works most of the time. But is also fails more often inside than outside, so there's an added risk that's yours to take or not, and even if you don't care it's important to mention it clearly for other viewers who will come aross this thread in the future so they can make an informed decision.

Indoor flying and associated crashes are a cash cow for DJI. Advertising Mavic as indoor-capable brings more buyers. Crashes bring more cash via expensive repairs or purchases of replacement units. It's all good for DJI! Not so good on naive people's wallets.

crash = cash

 

[Lon Denard]

Tin foil hats for sale! Come get you to foil hats!

You lose your original argument that it's not marketed as an indoor flyer, so now they do it on purpose to drive sales? BTW on a product they can barely keep in stock? BTW on a product that they'll replace for $80 if you have DJI Care Refresh. BTW because they're somehow immune to law suits if it came out that they purposefully mismarketed their product and endangered customer's safety just to drive sales. Say what?

With the attitude some of you have towards DJI I can't imagine why you'd buy their products. I feel that way about GE, hence you won't find their products in my home. I feel that way about Chrysler, hence you won't find their products in my garage. I used to believe a lot of bad things about DJI which kept me from buying their products. I see now that I was wrong and was misled. I doubt I'll ever buy any other brand.

 

[Kilrah]

DJI definitely do a load of bad things, but given everybody else is in the stone age in comparison it's still (somewhat unfortunately) the best choice.
Would love for anyone else to do something as good without screwing up with people, they'd instantly steal a truckload of customers who are only waiting for that.

 

[Lon Denard]

Yup, that's what they had to come up with to limit the damage when it goes bonkers


Yep because it HAS been reported several times here, with logs, video etc proving it.

Anyway as said - yes they advertise it that way (although in their live demo it failed to respond as it was supposed to - interestingly enough they haven't done a live demo for a product launch again since then). Yes it works most of the time. But is also fails more often inside than outside, so there's an added risk that's yours to take or not, and even if you don't care it's important to mention it clearly for other viewers who will come aross this thread in the future so they can make an informed decision.

You sound like guys that come up to me on my sport bike and say things like, "I'll never ride one because they're dangerous" or guys that gave me crap for being in airborne, "why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?". You're not protecting anyone, what you are doing is denying others an experience you're too cowardly to try yourself. I don't know the exact numbers but DJI has sold a crap load of Mavics. A few guys claiming that it just flew into a wall for no reason while flying indoors, doesn't constitute a reason to not try it in my book. I have prop guards and know how to put it into tripod mode. Besides, I'm talking about flying it in warehouses, as I clearly stated. Flying it around my living room would get boring pretty quickly.

 

[MadValley]

Flying it around my living room would get boring pretty quickly.

Not if it's as dangerous as they're saying...

 

[Lon Denard]

DJI definitely do a load of bad things, but given everybody else is in the stone age in comparison it's still (somewhat unfortunately) the best choice.
Would love for anyone else to do something as good without screwing up with people, they'd instantly steal a truckload of customers who are only waiting for that.

Okay, that's a different argument. I agree that there needs to be other parties in this segment but I've tried most of them and it's not even close! I never wanted to buy anything DJI because of guys just like you here and in other forums that bash them relentlessly. So I bought a Yuneec, a GoPro and even stuck with 3DR through SEVERAL replacements just to avoid supporting the EVIL DJI COMPANY!!! Here I am, several thousand dollars and significant frustrations later, an owner of the dang drone I should have purchased in the first place with the other ones collecting dust. I don't know by what standards you're judging DJI but I honestly wonder if you apply those same standards to other companies whose products you purchase? When I compare my overall experience with DJI verses what I've experienced with GM, Samsung, Suzuki, Microsoft, Sony, Yuneec, GoPro, 3DR, etc I have to say that my experience has been pretty positive.