Disable GPS for Dji Mavic Air 1?

[nguyenmihung]

I have a Mavic Air 1 drone, it's cool and has lots of fancy functions. But there is one problem I'm a bit worried about is that I can't turn off the GPS.

Is there any solution to disable GPS of DJI Mavic Air 1 drone using DJI Assistant software or just hardware intervention?

Because in the forest where I live, the GPS signal is very weak, every time the GPS signal is caught, it automatically steers to another direction, without any control. It made me very uncomfortable. I think I can only fly better when the sensor activity is lower at 5-10m altitude.

Can anyone share the solution for me?

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

I stand to be corrected but my understanding of GPS signal reach is that there is even coverage the world over, with the possible exception of the North and South Poles. The jungles of Viet Nam are close to the Equator, where the GPS satellite coverage is arguably better than it is in other geographic regions of our planet.

I may be wrong but if your Mavic Air is not picking up GPS signals as it should, a calibration of the IMU and compass MIGHT resolve that issue assuming of course that the drone does not have any damage to the GPS antenna perhaps due to a past crash. I know all this guesswork is of little help but these are my initial thoughts as to why GPS signal reception is below expectations.

 

[Meta4]

Is there any solution to disable GPS of DJI Mavic Air 1 drone using DJI Assistant software or just hardware intervention?

There is no option to turn off GPS.

Because in the forest where I live, the GPS signal is very weak.

The water in the trees above you blocks the GPS signal.
The solution is to fly out in the open where you can get good GPS signal.

 

[Meta4]

The jungles of Viet Nam are close to the Equator, where the GPS satellite coverage is arguably better than it is in other geographic regions of our planet.

GPS is not better on the equator, but it is just as good as most other places.

I may be wrong but if your Mavic Air is not picking up GPS signals as it should, a calibration of the IMU and compass MIGHT resolve that issue

No ... that's not correct at all.
Calibrating the compass and IMU won't have any effect on GPS signal.
The problem is that GPS signal has difficulty penetrating thick tree canopy.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

Ah, I see. I was under the impression that like me, Mr. Nguyen was flying above the tree canopy at all times. That presumption may have been wrong, in which case the tree canopy would definitely block the view of the sky and degrade GPS connectivity

Many of my Litchi flight plans take the drone out skimming the treetops at 150 feet AGL over a tropical swamp forest not far from the Equator, and with the seasonal rains finally sweeping through at long last, humidity is very high, yet, I've never had any issues at all with any of my drones acquiring GPS signal connectivity within less than a minute of powering everything up.

 

[Anthony Ivory]

If you disable GPS you will loose so many other functions that depend on it.
If you fly that low you may need an FPV drone.

 

[slup]

...Is there any solution to disable GPS of DJI Mavic Air 1 drone using DJI Assistant software

Yes it is, at least making the flight controller disregard all possible GPS data... but it will depend on that you find an older version of Assistant 2 (v1.1.2 I believe) & there change certain parameters so you swap out Sport mode towards ATTI mode. Just Google away & see if you can find how to do it...

...every time the GPS signal is caught, it automatically steers to another direction, without any control.

As you seems to be unfamiliar with how DJI keeps it's horizontal stability, ATTI mode isn't something you just jump right into without some practice. A DJI drone achieve horizontal stability by means of GPS and/or the downward Visual Positional Sensors you find on the belly of the drone. If the GPS reception disappears the VPS can step in & keep the drone stabile horizontally. But for this to work you need to be no more than 8m above ground, have good enough lightening & the ground pattern needs to be suitable. If also the VPS fails... the drone goes to ATTI mode. In ATTI you have lost all possible horizontal hold (altitude hold remains though), your craft will drift with whatever affecting it, the obstacle detection will not work & auto braking after releasing the sticks will not happen.

So what you probably already have experienced is just this... ATTI mode. You lost the GPS reception & the lightening under those trees was to weak making the VPS not working... & your drone started to drift around & no braking was applied when you released the sticks.

Really doubt that having the possibility to manually switch to ATTI mode & flying the drone close to trees is a good mix... pretty much a perfect set up for a crash for an inexperienced pilot . You should find a more open spot instead, where the GPS reception is working & can assist.

 

[nguyenmihung]

Yes it is, at least making the flight controller disregard all possible GPS data... but it will depend on that you find an older version of Assistant 2 (v1.1.2 I believe) & there change certain parameters so you swap out Sport mode towards ATTI mode. Just Google away & see if you can find how to do it...


As you seems to be unfamiliar with how DJI keeps it's horizontal stability, ATTI mode isn't something you just jump right into without some practice. A DJI drone achieve horizontal stability by means of GPS and/or the downward Visual Positional Sensors you find on the belly of the drone. If the GPS reception disappears the VPS can step in & keep the drone stabile horizontally. But for this to work you need to be no more than 8m above ground, have good enough lightening & the ground pattern needs to be suitable. If also the VPS fails... the drone goes to ATTI mode. In ATTI you have lost all possible horizontal hold (altitude hold remains though), your craft will drift with whatever affecting it, the obstacle detection will not work & auto braking after releasing the sticks will not happen.

So what you probably already have experienced is just this... ATTI mode. You lost the GPS reception & the lightening under those trees was to weak making the VPS not working... & your drone started to drift around & no braking was applied when you released the sticks.

Really doubt that having the possibility to manually switch to ATTI mode & flying the drone close to trees is a good mix... pretty much a perfect set up for a crash for an inexperienced pilot . You should find a more open spot instead, where the GPS reception is working & can assist.

This information is very helpful, but I think it is possible to disable the built-in gps in the mavic air. Maybe the manufacturer has hidden it. The Mavic Air is quite perfect for flying in a full GPS environment. As for the flickering GPS, it seems a bit annoying to me. Location "Home Point" is updated continuously. So it needs to be turned off, I think.

 

[nguyenmihung]

If you disable GPS you will loose so many other functions that depend on it.
If you fly that low you may need an FPV drone.

Thanks for your answer. I'm thinking about this, a low flying FPV drone, but an FPV drone can be a lot more expensive than the one my mavic air is using, takes quite a bit of time. time. time. time. practice time. much to get used to aiming and controlling. I would like to ask if it is possible to disable GPS. One stupid question of mine may help many people in need. Because "Home Point" is always updated in the notification bar. I find it annoying, want to turn off GPS for mavic air immediately.

 

[slup]

... I think it is possible to disable the built-in gps in the mavic air. Maybe the manufacturer has hidden it.

You will not find a way to deactivate the GPS module, not through any consumer software anyway. Of course you can "hack away" into the internals & rip out the module... but only God knows what more you destroy in that process.

Your best bet is still to put ATTI mode instead of Sport mode through Assistant 2 v1.1.2.

... Location "Home Point" is updated continuously. So it needs to be turned off, I think.

The HP isn't updated continuously... the MA1 doesn't have Dynamic home point functionality. The HP is set once when the flight controller see that the GPS position is good enough (when the parameter NavHealth reaches 4 out of max 5).

 

[Slawaw]

If you are not satisfied with the software transfer to atti mode, then you can try to block the gps module with foil in three layers. This does not require high qualifications.

 

[nguyenmihung]

Your best bet is still to put ATTI mode instead of Sport mode through Assistant 2 v1.1.2.

Can you guide me to turn it off? I don't know where to enable that ATTI mode in DJI Assistant.

 

[slup]

Can you guide me...

As said earlier... you must find v1.1.2 of DJI Assistant 2 yourself, below will only work in that version.

Here 3 YT clips showing how to activate the dev.tools section & how ATTI is activated instead of another already existing RC button activated flight mode. Imagine the clip for the Spark is most similar to the Mavic Air.

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[nguyenmihung]

As said earlier... you must find v1.1.2 of DJI Assistant 2 yourself, below will only work in that version.

Here 3 YT clips showing how to activate the dev.tools section & how ATTI is activated instead of another already existing RC button activated flight mode. Imagine the clip for the Spark is most similar to the Mavic Air.

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Thanks for your answer. I am looking for a faster solution. If possible, I will try.

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[nguyenmihung]

As said earlier... you must find v1.1.2 of DJI Assistant 2 yourself, below will only work in that version.

Here 3 YT clips showing how to activate the dev.tools section & how ATTI is activated instead of another already existing RC button activated flight mode. Imagine the clip for the Spark is most similar to the Mavic Air.

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I think it would not be good to turn off the sensor completely in ATTI mode, because I only want to disable the GPS signal. ATTI mode is like FPV quad (no acrobatics), it drifts and there is no sensor to hold position limited to 30ft. OPTI mode is very suitable, I think wrapping the GPS antenna with 3 layers of foil is faster and simpler.

 

[slup]

I think it would not be good to turn off the sensor completely in ATTI mode, because I only want to disable the GPS signal. ATTI mode is like FPV quad (no acrobatics), it drifts and there is no sensor to hold position limited to 30ft. OPTI mode is very suitable, I think wrapping the GPS antenna with 3 layers of foil is faster and simpler.

Don't think you really get what happened during your previous flights & how the DJI horizontal stability functionality works.

In your first post you said this...

... in the forest where I live, the GPS signal is very weak, every time the GPS signal is caught, it automatically steers to another direction, without any control.

A GPS lock will not cause the drone to steer off in another direction uncommanded... I see only 2 reasons for a behaviour like this...

1 You have the obstacle detection activated in the app menu, & when you loose GPS lock the OD stops working & you fly there closer to obstacles. Then the GPS lock re-establishes, & by that the OD sensors start to work again... & due to that your drone there is within the OD sensor brake distance it will suddenly prevent further flight in the obstacle direction.

2 When you felt that your drone became unpredictable & hard to manoeuvre... you instead of re-establishing the GPS lock, you lost it & due to bad lightning the VPS sensor was going in & out of holding the drone stabile horizontally... Your drone went unpredictably between ATTI & OPTI mode.

If you shield off the GPS module with tin foil your drone will still switch between ATTI & OPTI in an unpredictable way.

Predictability is key when flying, especially close up to obstacles, a switched ATTI mode will give you that predictability. Flying in ATTI will require practice of course, but once learnt, nothing besides you will affect how the drone flies, no more OD sensors that suddenly can block you when having GPS lock & then stop working when GPS is lost. And no more OPTI mode that change to ATTI or GPS mode back and forth.