Can we have a Minimum altitude setting for Mavic series

[Crouching Leopard]

Does anyone know of a way of setting a minimum altitude for the 2 pro. I think this would be a useful safety feature for example setting a minimum altitude to avoid tree tops, flying in parks where someone might walk into the fieled, or in waypoints etc. Yesterday, I accidentally set 1 waypoint at 2 metres over water (it should have been 50. ( Long story but I found a bug in the waypoint setting function and have reported it.)

Being able to set a "standard minimum altitude could have flagged up an error asking me to check the altitude for that waypoint, and not allow me to fly. Almost lost a brand new out of the box 2 pro (warranty replacement). Drone was 200 mtrs out over a bay and I wasn't sure whether its apparent descent was parallax error or actual descent. Sun was obscuring screen. Hit the brake button "just to be safe" and discovered drone was about 3.5 metres above water and heading down. It might have stopped at 2 mtrs then head to next waypoint (50 mtrs alt) but it was too close for comfort.

For some time I have thought that a simple setting could avoid at least some accidents or losses.

 

[sar104]

There have been numerous cases of lost aircraft as a result of incorrectly calculated or entered waypoints, and I don't think that some kind of minimum altitude is the way to fix that. During manual flight it might sometimes be useful, most obviously over water, or if it used AGL derived from VPS.

 

[EyesWideShut]

Does anyone know of a way of setting a minimum altitude for the 2 pro. I think this would be a useful safety feature for example setting a minimum altitude to avoid tree tops, flying in parks where someone might walk into the fieled, or in waypoints etc. Yesterday, I accidentally set 1 waypoint at 2 metres over water (it should have been 50. ( Long story but I found a bug in the waypoint setting function and have reported it.)

Being able to set a "standard minimum altitude could have flagged up an error asking me to check the altitude for that waypoint, and not allow me to fly. Almost lost a brand new out of the box 2 pro (warranty replacement). Drone was 200 mtrs out over a bay and I wasn't sure whether its apparent descent was parallax error or actual descent. Sun was obscuring screen. Hit the brake button "just to be safe" and discovered drone was about 3.5 metres above water and heading down. It might have stopped at 2 mtrs then head to next waypoint (50 mtrs alt) but it was too close for comfort.

For some time I have thought that a simple setting could avoid at least some accidents or losses.

Mavic Maven, a 3rd party app in addition to WPs, CableCam features, has a Poly Geo Fence mode. You can set up a custom perimeter fence and also a maximum and/or minimum altitude. It is a great safety feature.

Here's a link to a Geo-fence demo by the Maven developer Michele Vagnetti. I have been using Maven with my mini for over a year. Works well. You can also set up you fencing off-line.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Update. I re-created the steps I took to create my (almost) disastrous mission and discovered something others may be interested to know. DJI go wont allow waypoint missions to be created unless the drone is turned on. After creating 4 waypoints (all at 50 metres), the drone turned off (flat battery) without my noticing, just at the moment I was going back through each waypoint to check the settings. The waypoint I was working on (no 2), suddenly dropped in altitude setting from 50 mtrs to 20 and no amount of "swishing" up and down on the screen could get it higher, only lower. I checked another waypoint and that also set itself to 20 mtrs whilst I was watching it. I replaced the battery and after a couple of minutes, was able to get the 50 metres back, but must missed setting the waypoint 2 back to 50 metres instead leaving it on the unintended confused/ erratic lowest point of 2 metres. Had I ended my "swiinged" upwards, it would have been safe at 20 mtrs.

I have managed to safely recreate the ïncident" several times. Resetting to 20 metres happened each time.

So if your drone loses power during waypoint setting in DJIgo app, recheck all your altitude settings before flying.
It was a very close call. Checking data logs showed my drone bottomed out at 1.9 mtrs above the bay.

My drone is ok but could this be considered unexpected software behaviour causing pilot confusion, after all, I had set all the parameters correctly and was merely confirming things before flying.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

A further update on the issues I had with the low waypoint over water. I tried recreating the issue on Android and failed. When the drone lost power, the waypoint settings disappeared from the screen as did all set waypoints (good I guess). On my ipad mini, they remained but clicking on one to confirm the altitude, reset itself to 20 metres and would not go higher, only lower. Have sent in a bug report as I think this is abnormal software behavior and a safety issue.

 

[zeusfl]

With Dronelink you can export the the mission and inspect in google earth to make sure you have everything clear. I always do this to be safe and make sure I have sufficient clearance.

 

[MS Coast]

With Dronelink you can export the the mission and inspect in google earth to make sure you have everything clear. I always do this to be safe and make sure I have sufficient clearance.

Same with Litchi, using the free Virtual Litchi Mission software.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

I have used both and like them. I just have a concern about warranty issues in the event of a failure. The go4 app records the use of 3rd party apps. I think the waypoints function on go4 is really limited (maybe for a reason) but almost losing a brand new drone due to a abnormal software behaviour makes me want to be able to check the flight before taking off.

 

[Lasidora]

I use Litchi for my Mavic 2 Pro, seeing it on the big screen in front of me via Litchi Mission Hub makes planning any waypoint mission very easy as every waypoint can be carefully reviewed for height/speed/direction etc before flying, I NEVER liked or trusted the Go 4 app for flying waypoints far too easy for it to fail or go wrong, plus the Litchi Mission hub lets you take your time planning the mission without ever needing the M2P to be switched on.