Ground clearance

[boybehindacamera]

Hi pilots,

My mavic is displaying its flying height but only from its starting point, if I fly up a hill and am meters off the ground it displays the height from its starting point.

May I ask how I can calobarate and set the craft to display the actual height of the mavic in regards to its current position?

Many thanks,

Edward

 

[msinger]

My mavic is displaying its flying height but only from its starting point, if I fly up a hill and am meters off the ground it displays the height from its starting point.

That's working as designed.

May I ask how I can calobarate and set the craft to display the actual height of the mavic in regards to its current position?

That's not possible. The best you can do is use the data from the VPS when your Mavic is close enough to the ground. You can find the VPS altitude at the bottom of DJI GO (see below).

 

[timesnaps]

thats actually a major flaw, not being able to see the distance to the ground at any point in flight, but I guess this needs additonal sensors in the aircraft. Perhaps something for Mavic Pro 2

 

[msinger]

thats actually a major flaw, not being able to see the distance to the ground at any point in flight

I don't think any drone is able to do this. You'd need quite the sensor to be able to see the ground at any altitude.

 

[boybehindacamera]

Thanks for your help guys.

The Mavic only lets me know how heigh the drone is in relation to me!? Theres no running ground clearance?

So if I am flying up a hill, higher than where I am, and I want to avoid some trees on the top - I have the guess how high I am?

This does seem a shame, all cameras flatten distance and therefore this makes things tricky.

 

[msinger]

The Mavic only lets me know how heigh the drone is in relation to me!? Theres no running ground clearance?

That's correct. If you're low enough to the ground and lighting conditions are good, you can use the altitude reported by the VPS at the bottom of the DJI GO app. You could also fly within VLOS and/or watch for obstacles in the live video.

So if I am flying up a hill, higher than where I am, and I want to avoid some trees on the top - I have the guess how high I am?

You got it.

 

[alexcannas]

That is very useful information. Let me ask the opposite though: if you start your drone on a hill and you pilot it down the hill, what altitude will it be showing? Negative?

 

[msinger]

what altitude will it be showing? Negative?

Yes, it'll be negative. The VPS altitude will still be positive though.

 

[boybehindacamera]

is the clearance indicator on the handset? Mine does not display anything, how can I turn this on?

 

[msinger]

On the remote controller, the VPS altitude displays as "Clearance". In order to use VPS, you'll need to enable the "Enable Vision Positioning" setting in DJI GO.

 

[boybehindacamera]

Thank you so much!

 

[Big Fil]

This is interesting and good to know. I'm guessing that for intelligent flight modes that require a minimum height requirement that it is using the altitude from the barometer? I've noticed that height is not all that accurate. My guess is that hand launching it throws it off a little. I'm curious if you were to fly off a hill and try to set a way point lower than where you took off from if it would work, or if it is using VPS height info for minimum height requirement.