A few Mavic Air 2 Observations after recent flights

[cab124]

A few Mavic Air 2 Observations after recent flights:

1. The obstacle detection alarm only seems to work occasionally, usually on take off and landing. At any other time, I can bring the drone in close to me and not get an alarm. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
2. After flying figure-8's in a field for a while just to practice with the sticks, I noticed that when the drone was about 60-70 feet in the air, the altitude read -5 ft. I have seen this before. Over time during a flight, my altitude number sometime seems to take on a large offset. Not sure why!
3. ADS-B used to work all of the time, but I had about 5 planes fly near where I was flying today and I did not get a single warning. Yes, I checked and it was turned on.
4. Precision landing on the Mavic Air 2 is very hit-or-miss. I always climb to 25 ft. after take off and allow the drone to hover there for about 10 seconds. Even so, it hits the landing pad maybe once every 5 tries. Most of the time it is off by 5-8 feet. I am really surprised that DJI can't do better than this!
5. I love the way the drone rolls a little bit during turns since the last firmware update. This makes turning feel much more natural.
6. Swallows are very aggressive birds!!! Sometimes, when I take off, I will get about 5 of them coming out of nowhere circling the drone. So far, no collisions!
7. If I turn on Tripod mode, and leave it on while I change a battery, when I get back in the air the drone will fly with what are obviously the normal mode settings even though the controller is still in Tripod mode. The software does not appear to re-sync the switch position when the drone is reconnected.
8. I am not sure exactly what the "good" and "too small" indicators mean when settings waypoints in hyperlapse mode. I need to look into that.

Has anyone else notice any of this?

Thanks!

 

[Kyle76]

I got a funky distance reading today saying the drone was over 200 feet away when it was probably only 50 feet. I did try a couple of precision landings, however, and they were spot on the center of my landing pad.

 

[zeusfl]

About the precision landing, try take off straight up and stop between 11-15 ft. Wait about 8 seconds and then go up what ever place you want. That whats works nice for me.

 

[cab124]

About the precision landing, try take off straight up and stop between 11-15 ft. Wait about 8 seconds and then go up what ever place you want. That whats works nice for me.

I was under the impression that you had to ascend to 7m. I will try a lower altitude and see what happens. Thanks!

 

[cab124]

I got a funky distance reading today saying the drone was over 200 feet away when it was probably only 50 feet. I did try a couple of precision landings, however, and they were spot on the center of my landing pad.

Did you ascend to 7m on take off prior to your precision landings?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

A few Mavic Air 2 Observations after recent flights:

1. The obstacle detection alarm only seems to work occasionally, usually on take off and landing. At any other time, I can bring the drone in close to me and not get an alarm. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
2. After flying figure-8's in a field for a while just to practice with the sticks, I noticed that when the drone was about 60-70 feet in the air, the altitude read -5 ft. I have seen this before. Over time during a flight, my altitude number sometime seems to take on a large offset. Not sure why!
3. ADS-B used to work all of the time, but I had about 5 planes fly near where I was flying today and I did not get a single warning. Yes, I checked and it was turned on.
4. Precision landing on the Mavic Air 2 is very hit-or-miss. I always climb to 25 ft. after take off and allow the drone to hover there for about 10 seconds. Even so, it hits the landing pad maybe once every 5 tries. Most of the time it is off by 5-8 feet. I am really surprised that DJI can't do better than this!
5. I love the way the drone rolls a little bit during turns since the last firmware update. This makes turning feel much more natural.
6. Swallows are very aggressive birds!!! Sometimes, when I take off, I will get about 5 of them coming out of nowhere circling the drone. So far, no collisions!
7. If I turn on Tripod mode, and leave it on while I change a battery, when I get back in the air the drone will fly with what are obviously the normal mode settings even though the controller is still in Tripod mode. The software does not appear to re-sync the switch position when the drone is reconnected.
8. I am not sure exactly what the "good" and "too small" indicators mean when settings waypoints in hyperlapse mode. I need to look into that.

Has anyone else notice any of this?

Thanks!

Number 7: Yes it will always default to the Normal mode when starting up , this has gotten me a few times when I thought I was in sport mode .

Number 2. I think it fair to say that its easy to confuse the drone and or its sensors ..

Number 4. The problem with this method is that you dont really know what is taking place at 25 Ft if its working or not so without a cue thats its fired a picture , its worthless . Better to just rely on the Home Point has been recorded .

Number 5. You need to research pretty quickly how to negotiate birds , and one of those is my not looking like a wounded bird.

So Unless there is another update were all experiencing the same things on the Air 2 .

 

[Meta4]

A few Mavic Air 2 Observations after recent flights:

1. The obstacle detection alarm only seems to work occasionally, usually on take off and landing. At any other time, I can bring the drone in close to me and not get an alarm. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
2. After flying figure-8's in a field for a while just to practice with the sticks, I noticed that when the drone was about 60-70 feet in the air, the altitude read -5 ft. I have seen this before. Over time during a flight, my altitude number sometime seems to take on a large offset. Not sure why!
3. ADS-B used to work all of the time, but I had about 5 planes fly near where I was flying today and I did not get a single warning. Yes, I checked and it was turned on.
4. Precision landing on the Mavic Air 2 is very hit-or-miss. I always climb to 25 ft. after take off and allow the drone to hover there for about 10 seconds. Even so, it hits the landing pad maybe once every 5 tries. Most of the time it is off by 5-8 feet. I am really surprised that DJI can't do better than this!
5. I love the way the drone rolls a little bit during turns since the last firmware update. This makes turning feel much more natural.
6. Swallows are very aggressive birds!!! Sometimes, when I take off, I will get about 5 of them coming out of nowhere circling the drone. So far, no collisions!
7. If I turn on Tripod mode, and leave it on while I change a battery, when I get back in the air the drone will fly with what are obviously the normal mode settings even though the controller is still in Tripod mode. The software does not appear to re-sync the switch position when the drone is reconnected.
8. I am not sure exactly what the "good" and "too small" indicators mean when settings waypoints in hyperlapse mode. I need to look into that.

Has anyone else notice any of this?

Thanks!

2. Is that a one-off thing only for a short time or was the altitude consistently in error by 60-70 ft?
3. Not all planes have or use ADS-B so you won't always get a warning
4. Precision landing isn't hit or miss, it's precise.
Precision landing was not working if the autolanding is 5-8 ft away and the landing was guided by GPS only.
It might have been because Precision Landing was disabled or was the landing surface unsuitable for precision landing to identify?

 

[cab124]

2. Is that a one-off thing only for a short time or was the altitude consistently in error by 60-70 ft?
3. Not all planes have or use ADS-B so you won't always get a warning
4. Precision landing isn't hit or miss, it's precise.
Precision landing was not working if the autolanding is 5-8 ft away and the landing was guided by GPS only.
It might have been because Precision Landing was disabled or was the landing surface unsuitable for precision landing to identify?

2. After flying around the field for a while, I glanced at the altitude and noticed that it read -5 ft., even though the drone was about 70 ft in the air. I then raised the drone until the altitude read 0 ft just to see if I could. I then pressed RTH because my battery was low. It did a normal RTH. I forgot to look at the altitude as it was landing.
4. I have not disabled precision landing. The landing surface was grass with a round, blue “H” landing mat.

 

[Meta4]

4. I have not disabled precision landing. The landing surface was grass with a round, blue “H” landing mat.

But your landing was not using the Precision Landing feature which will put the drone within inches, not several feet.
It might have been that the grass isn't a good surface for the technology to be able to find identifiable features to guide it.
Try somewhere else.

 

[cab124]

But your landing was not using the Precision Landing feature which will put the drone within inches, not several feet.
It might have been that the grass isn't a good surface for the technology to be able to find identifiable features to guide it.
Try somewhere else.

I have noticed the same behavior whether I place the landing mat on the pavement or on the grass. I would have thought that it would be easy for the precision landing technology to spot a bright blue mat sitting on a green field of grass. I have also tried using the orange side of the mat with the same results.

But every once in a while, for no apparent reason, the drone does land inches away from where it took off.

 

[Meta4]

I have noticed the same behavior whether I place the landing mat on the pavement or on the grass. I would have thought that it would be easy for the precision landing technology to spot a bright blue mat sitting on a green field of grass. I have also tried using the orange side of the mat with the same results.

But every once in a while, for no apparent reason, the drone does land inches away from where it took off.

The manual section about Precision Landing says:

The Home Point terrain features must be sufficiently distinctive​

The lighting conditions must not be too light or too dark ​

It needs area doesn't have distinctive features/pattern/texture or lighting, it will be difficult for the drone to know which way and how far to move to do its thing properly and the landing will be guided by GPS alone.
A large grassy area might have insufficient recognisable features for the system to work properly.
If that's the case, placing a few conspicuous objects around would help - or using a different spot.

 

[Kyle76]

Did you ascend to 7m on take off prior to your precision landings?

Yes, with bright orange pad on green grass.

 

[itsneedtokno]

A few Mavic Air 2 Observations after recent flights:

1. The obstacle detection alarm only seems to work occasionally, usually on take off and landing. At any other time, I can bring the drone in close to me and not get an alarm. Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
2. After flying figure-8's in a field for a while just to practice with the sticks, I noticed that when the drone was about 60-70 feet in the air, the altitude read -5 ft. I have seen this before. Over time during a flight, my altitude number sometime seems to take on a large offset. Not sure why!
3. ADS-B used to work all of the time, but I had about 5 planes fly near where I was flying today and I did not get a single warning. Yes, I checked and it was turned on.
4. Precision landing on the Mavic Air 2 is very hit-or-miss. I always climb to 25 ft. after take off and allow the drone to hover there for about 10 seconds. Even so, it hits the landing pad maybe once every 5 tries. Most of the time it is off by 5-8 feet. I am really surprised that DJI can't do better than this!
5. I love the way the drone rolls a little bit during turns since the last firmware update. This makes turning feel much more natural.
6. Swallows are very aggressive birds!!! Sometimes, when I take off, I will get about 5 of them coming out of nowhere circling the drone. So far, no collisions!
7. If I turn on Tripod mode, and leave it on while I change a battery, when I get back in the air the drone will fly with what are obviously the normal mode settings even though the controller is still in Tripod mode. The software does not appear to re-sync the switch position when the drone is reconnected.
8. I am not sure exactly what the "good" and "too small" indicators mean when settings waypoints in hyperlapse mode. I need to look into that.

Has anyone else notice any of this?

Thanks!

1. Depends on a few things. Are you in sport mode? Do you have APAS enabled? Do you have VPS off? How close is close?
I hand land always, and usually I come close, then orient the drone to be perpendicular to me and use left or right pitch (no side sensors) to bring it close enough to "catch".

2. This happens occasionally.

3. Not all planes have ADS-B.

4. Read Meta4's suggestions.

6. Ascend straight up in sport mode,multiple times if necessary. Birds can't climb like that, so they get "weirded out" by it, and tend to leave you alone.

7. That is normal operating procedure.

8. They are telling whether the angle difference between waypoint 1 and 2 is "too small", "good" or "too large". If it is too small, you don't notice the turn, if it is too big,the turn looks choppy.

Welcome to the club!
Always lots to learn!
Enjoy your new addiction!

 

[NLOL]

Green and blue are adjacent colors - use orange on grass. Brown and orange are adjacent colors - use blue on brown surfaces.

 

[zeusfl]

I always use orange side on grass.

 

[cab124]

1. Depends on a few things. Are you in sport mode? Do you have APAS enabled? Do you have VPS off? How close is close?
I hand land always, and usually I come close, then orient the drone to be perpendicular to me and use left or right pitch (no side sensors) to bring it close enough to "catch".

2. This happens occasionally.

3. Not all planes have ADS-B.

4. Read Meta4's suggestions.

6. Ascend straight up in sport mode,multiple times if necessary. Birds can't climb like that, so they get "weirded out" by it, and tend to leave you alone.

7. That is normal operating procedure.

8. They are telling whether the angle difference between waypoint 1 and 2 is "too small", "good" or "too large". If it is too small, you don't notice the turn, if it is too big,the turn looks choppy.

Welcome to the club!
Always lots to learn!
Enjoy your new addiction!

Good info. Thanks!!