Does Mavic Pro have a ground speed governor ?

swb_mct · May 1, 2018

In place where I had a lot of room to maneuver, I flew in a 15 - 25 mph variable wind. I was careful to keep the Mavic upwind from the take off location. In sport mode I was expecting to see a 65 mph ground speed going down wind but it never exceeded 41 . . the same as on a quiet day.

So is that the effect of a governor, or is the mph display in the App air speed ? I can't imagine its an airspeed reading because how would it measure air speed ?

Mavflyer · May 1, 2018

Yep, they limit it to about that. It will never go faster unless you modify the parameters. It will definitely go slower in a headwind, but will not go any faster in a tailwind. Not for sure if they limit the pitch, slow the motors, or both.

swb_mct · May 1, 2018

At least the governor incrementally reduces the chance of people losing their drones down wind when the forget to monitor battery level with respect to getting back home up wind. We have all seen the videos of guys who fly them out to sea and then only make it half way back on 65% remaining battery. They don't realize sport mode might have gotten them home even though it burns more power per minute.

Just_nick · May 1, 2018

Yes, it's limited electronically, which is why swapping propellers is a pointless endeavor, thus it is pretty much entirely done for looks.

Mavflyer · May 1, 2018

swb_mct said:
At least the governor incrementally reduces the chance of people losing their drones down wind when the forget to monitor battery level with respect to getting back home up wind. We have all seen the videos of guys who fly them out to sea and then only make it half way back on 65% remaining battery. They don't realize sport mode might have gotten them home even though it burns more power per minute.

I have done several tests on the battery drain using P-mode, P-mode with OA off, and sports mode. P-mode with OA off was about 15% more efficient than sports mode, while P-mode with OA on was about 8% more efficient than sport mode. Not a huge difference, but there is one. It's smaller than I thought it was going to be.