Flying into a Valley

[tommytavor]

I was out in the mountains yesterday using my Mini 4. I didn't want to walk 400 yards each way (almost a half mile) to visualize rifle targets. So I intended to use my Mini 4 to fly back and forth from my shooting position to the targets and back. Unfortunately, my targets were downhill about 20 feet from where I was shooting. I kept getting a beeping sound when I went down to 3 feet on my DJI RC2 controller, even though I was at least 15 feet above ground level. I didn't want to wreck my drone, so I ended up getting a bad angle with my camera and couldn't see my targets correctly. I realize that drones actually fly into lower areas but I didn't want to damage my RC2. What would have happened to my controller if I would have dropped down level with my targets?

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

It ought to be possible to use the Litchi Mission hub to create a precise flight path for the drone to get up close to your targets to film the shot spread. Since the drone will be flying into a valley, the assigned altitudes will be negative numbers indicating that the altitudes en route are below the launch point. Your idea is innovative and should work after adequate preparation.

You could run a short test flight to ascertain that ground clearance is adequate, and then you can incrementally extend the distance traveled on each successive waypoint mission. Once you have the altitudes dialed in, all the guesswork will be eliminated along with all hand flying, allowing the drone to head to the targets along a predictable tested trajectory at the touch of the "play" button on the Litchi app screen.

 

[Meta4]

I didn't want to damage my RC2. What would have happened to my controller if I would have dropped down level with my targets?

Nothing at all.

 

[slup]

...I kept getting a beeping sound when I went down to 3 feet on my DJI RC2 controller, even though I was at least 15 feet above ground level. ...didn't want to damage my RC2. What would have happened to my controller if I would have dropped down level with my targets?

With your controller..? Nothing I presume.

Most likely the beeping was due to that your drone was close to an obstacle... below the sensor reach according to the user manual.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm needing more specifics about the beeping, and whatever warnings might have been displayed.

First, you can't not damage your RC, regardless which model, with anything you do in the act of flying your drone. It is impossible. So set aside any concerns there.

Second, you can fly below your takeoff point without any restriction at all unless you bump up against a restricted zone in the FlySafe database. All that will happen is your height telemetry on the lower left of the display will show negative. I've done this many times, and I don't recall any beeping or warnings as I pass down through zero height, but I'm probably ignoring it so can't comment on that.

The main thing to consider when doing this is losing signal connection and triggering Failsafe RTH. When this happens you neither have control over the drone, nor any video or telemetry, so you have no idea what's happening. It can be a very nerve-wracking few seconds or minutes.

So, when risking loss of signal make sure the area overhead is absolutely clear in case Failsafe RTH kicks in.