Let's talk about the downward facing sensors

[saudio]

After thinking about and discussing hand catching the Mavic (in another thread) I determined that I would probably disable the downward facing sensors when I need to hand catch. Then I started thinking about those sensors a little bit more. One problem is that turning off the sensors is a little bit of a pain because they are buried a few layers deep in the menus. Another is remembering to turn them back on.

I graduated from the P3A to the Mavic. I'm not sure how much I like Mavic this landing method where you have to hold down the stick to make it auto land from about 2 feet. With the P3A you flew the drone until it touched the ground, and I rather prefer that.

Also, with the P3A, I remember reading that if you had the downward sensors turned on and flew over any reflective surface (water in particular) it could cause the drone to behave unpredictably. So on the P3A I disabled the downward sensors, knowing that I would enable them for indoor flight.

So, where I'm going with this, is I'm wondering if just turning off the downward sensors on my Mavic and leaving them off might be a good choice for me.

Pros: 1. Hand catching is easier and safer (IMHO). 2. No worries about unpredictable handling over water, and I fly over water occasionally. 3. I have full control over the landing, not just down to 2 feet.

Cons: 1. Must remember to turn it back on for indoor flight. 2. RTH will not be as precise. 3. Obstacle avoidance during descent would be disabled (this is not a biggie for me, I rarely descend much unless I'm in line of sight or have the camera facing down).

Any thoughts about this?

PS the more I fly the Mavic the more I like it.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Pretty much the logic I've been playing around with myself. Love to hear more input on this, especially the downsides... (no pun intended)

 

[Chickenhoss]

Sounds pretty logical - give it a try for a few flights and report back how it went.

 

[Butterpuff 6]

After thinking about and discussing hand catching the Mavic (in another thread) I determined that I would probably disable the downward facing sensors when I need to hand catch. Then I started thinking about those sensors a little bit more. One problem is that turning off the sensors is a little bit of a pain because they are buried a few layers deep in the menus. Another is remembering to turn them back on.

I graduated from the P3A to the Mavic. I'm not sure how much I like Mavic this landing method where you have to hold down the stick to make it auto land from about 2 feet. With the P3A you flew the drone until it touched the ground, and I rather prefer that.

Also, with the P3A, I remember reading that if you had the downward sensors turned on and flew over any reflective surface (water in particular) it could cause the drone to behave unpredictably. So on the P3A I disabled the downward sensors, knowing that I would enable them for indoor flight.

So, where I'm going with this, is I'm wondering if just turning off the downward sensors on my Mavic and leaving them off might be a good choice for me.

Pros: 1. Hand catching is easier and safer (IMHO). 2. No worries about unpredictable handling over water, and I fly over water occasionally. 3. I have full control over the landing, not just down to 2 feet.

Cons: 1. Must remember to turn it back on for indoor flight. 2. RTH will not be as precise. 3. Obstacle avoidance during descent would be disabled (this is not a biggie for me, I rarely descend much unless I'm in line of sight or have the camera facing down).

Any thoughts about this?

PS the more I fly the Mavic the more I like it.

I've found hand catching with the sensors on to be pretty easy after a couple of times. Just grab it quickly and throttle down.


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[jerryflah]

Why not land on an appreciably sized pad, something in the order of 30" square or larger. I used one for my PhantomV2 and currently for my Chroma

 

[younumpty]

Good topic. Likewise I'm graduating from my P3A, which I absolutely love flying and it does all I could ask. Camera is easy to get some great shots with and I'm no expert at photography. More of a drone flying guy. Totally blown away by my mavic but having trouble getting the nice colours I do with my P3A.. have tried the hand catch sensors didn't seem to make it pull away or anything but motors went a bit mental. Have a landing pad too. Never had issues with flying over water with P3A though see https://www.skypixel.com/pilot/videos/share/playing-chicken-with-a-train-and-bridge?account=mlalloo




Fly safe...

 

[Dronebow]

In the same boat here. P3A to Mavic. I can say that I have done the hand catch with the sensors on and it's really ok. Just grab it before it realizes something is there and it's fine. Bottom sensor are used for some things that might be impacted though. If you are having the mavic follow you up an incline and want it to stay at the right level, I think it needs the bottom sensors. I could be wrong though.

 

[spiderpig]

Out of curiosity - why are you hand catching it?

I moved from a P3S to a Mavic and find the landings odd as well. I find that I like doing it better manually. But I've been getting used to all the sensors and how they behave.

 

[younumpty]

In the same boat here. P3A to Mavic. I can say that I have done the hand catch with the sensors on and it's really ok. Just grab it before it realizes something is there and it's fine. Bottom sensor are used for some things that might be impacted though. If you are having the mavic follow you up an incline and want it to stay at the right level, I think it needs the bottom sensors. I could be wrong though.

Needed for terrain follow I think....
maybe need to practice catching is all? Motors still went crazy. I will try throttle down. Just dodgy on forcing it when motors go mad after catching.


Fly safe...

 

[saudio]

Hmmm, terrain follow, I hadn't thought of that. Another con.

 

[saudio]

Good topic. Likewise I'm graduating from my P3A, which I absolutely love flying and it does all I could ask. Camera is easy to get some great shots with and I'm no expert at photography. More of a drone flying guy. Totally blown away by my mavic but having trouble getting the nice colours I do with my P3A.. have tried the hand catch sensors didn't seem to make it pull away or anything but motors went a bit mental. Have a landing pad too. Never had issues with flying over water with P3A though see https://www.skypixel.com/pilot/videos/share/playing-chicken-with-a-train-and-bridge?account=mlalloo




Fly safe...

I've noticed that the contrast with the Mavic is not as pronounced too. However, with ND filters on it makes it closer to the P3A images to my eye. And I always have to do levels adjustment to still images.

 

[f3honda4me]

Below 30 feet without the ultrasonic the drone won't be as solid holding height, so if you're filing that low, that could matter.

To be honest I've had zero issues with the downward system so I never disable it. Even over water. In fact the drone will prevent an auto or RTH landing on water if you have the system on.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Hasn't there been some evidence in past posts, of downward vision being responsible for some glitches after dark also. Correct me if I am wrong.

I know my forward vision will throw errors with dim lighting, so it would be reasonable to assume the same with downward.

 

[Mako79]

Out of curiosity - why are you hand catching it?

I moved from a P3S to a Mavic and find the landings odd as well. I find that I like doing it better manually. But I've been getting used to all the sensors and how they behave.

Due to portabilty, the mavic has a thin profile has issues landing in the following scenarios:
Tall grass
Dirty areas - fan sucks dirt in.
Belly sensors - can get dirty or wet.

Be a man and hand land. Hand/palm land is the best. It's different to grabbing. Just hover and place your hand under the belly and hold the left down stick til it lands in your hand.

 

[pureblur]

I've been turning the bottom sensor off to hand catch, then made the mistake of not turning them back on when I went to land and slammed into the ground pretty hard forgetting I had turned them off earlier and thinking I needed to hold the stick down. Drone is still ok but something to watch out for. I preferred the phantom 3s landing as well where it had bottom positioning sensors but still allowed u to fully control the landing.


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