DANGER Will Robinson. Be Aware of potential issue with obstacle avoidance

[Trafcon]

I do not know if this has been covered already and if it has I apologize, but worth the reminder. I was flying my Mavic Pro over a lake and dam last weekend getting some scenic videos. I was about 10 minutes into the flight and at a distance of 1500 feet out and an altitude of 170 feet or so. I figured it was time to come back and had lost sight of the drone. I looked at the terrain map and the satellite map and estimated where the drone was. It was over the dam in wide open space with nothing anywhere near it. I turned it so the attitude arrow pointed to home and hit the gas. All of a sudden the obstacle avoidance kicked in and it stopped. I raised it in altitude hoping to regain line of sight. When it got to about 200 feet I saw it and again pushed full right stick to come home. Again the obstacle avoidance kicked in. I tried again and same thing. I hit the Return to Home button and saw it go up to the preset 300 feet and start to return again the alarm and a screeching halt for obstacle avoidance. Luckily I had plenty of battery left so was not in a full panic mode yet. I was about to get in my car and drive over by where it was so I could see it if I had to force a landing. Then I thought of trying one other thing. I then lowered it to 70 feet and turned 90 degrees right. I tacked it back and forth and finally got it back with plenty of battery. I looked at my screen recording and my drone captured video and then figured the one thing it might have been. The obstacle avoidance seemed to be triggered by flying directly at the setting sun behind me. I don't know if the light spectrum from the sun or what was the issue. This could have been a disaster if my battery had been critical and landing was invoked (big splash). If the weather here ever clears I am going to test my hypothesis of the sun disrupting the obstacle avoidance. But be aware it may be an issue for any bird with avoidance.

 

[kidroc]

what has lmao..

 

[Mossiback]

There may be several issues with obstacle avoidance. Which one were you referring to?

 

[daniel84ramirez]

When I’m flying & i turn my Mavic towards the glare of the sun my Obs avoidance is activated.

 

[msinger]

If the weather here ever clears I am going to test my hypothesis of the sun disrupting the obstacle avoidance.

This is a known issue with the Mavic. If it happens again, just disable the obstacle avoidance in DJI GO mid-flight.

 

[Mossiback]

When I’m flying & i turn my Mavic towards the glare of the sun my Obs avoidance is activated.

What msinger said. Plus it is even worse if pointed toward the sun over water.

 

[ATLDroner]

Sport Mode is your friend in situations like these, fastest way to turn off obstacle-avoidance and get home quick. Make sure you have enabled the alternate flight modes in settings before you try to flick the switch.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

and then figured the one thing it might have been

That's why we're here, sharing knowledge with each other, and this one thing has been discussed here a gazillion of times, and the solution is two taps to disable OA in-flight (or better still before fllight if sun is low). This is a trivial know-how and saves $1000 per occurrence.

 

[davmcw]

The real nightmare scenario with this known issue would have been if you had lost connection with the Mavic and it had tried to return home on its own into the sun. In that scenario it would potentially never make it back before the battery died. It would "hit" the sun, stop, rise a few feet in an attempt to climb over the "obstacle" then repeat over and over.

I had an experience similar to yours early on and since then my default flight condition is with the obstacle avoidance OFF. Don't need it anyway unless flying at tree or building level. By my estimation, for most situations when flying well above ground level or at distance, the obstacle avoidance is more likely to ruin your day than save it.

 

[HWCM]

You can turn off obstacle avoidance on the sensor screen, but RTH OBSTACLE CHECK will stay on. I turned my obstacle avoidance off, but when it was RTH it was facing the sun and would not come back. I found the second setting and turned it off. Then it came back.
Go to VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS, then ADVANCED SETTINGS, then turn off RTH OBSTACLE CHECK. This setting stays ON even if you turn off ENABLE OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE under VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS.

 

[Trafcon]

You can turn off obstacle avoidance on the sensor screen, but RTH OBSTACLE CHECK will stay on. I turned my obstacle avoidance off, but when it was RTH it was facing the sun and would not come back. I found the second setting and turned it off. Then it came back.
Go to VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS, then ADVANCED SETTINGS, then turn off RTH OBSTACLE CHECK. This setting stays ON even if you turn off ENABLE OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE under VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS.

Great info. Thanks to All.

 

[davmcw]

You can turn off obstacle avoidance on the sensor screen, but RTH OBSTACLE CHECK will stay on. I turned my obstacle avoidance off, but when it was RTH it was facing the sun and would not come back. I found the second setting and turned it off. Then it came back.
Go to VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS, then ADVANCED SETTINGS, then turn off RTH OBSTACLE CHECK. This setting stays ON even if you turn off ENABLE OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE under VISUAL NAVIGATION SETTINGS.

What he said.