Is there no way to disable the lower sensors?

[BoyJeenyus]

Flying low over whitewater is causing the my MA2 to constantly drift downstream--sometimes quickly and dangerously. This is my primary use for my drone, so I need to find a solution. I never experienced this with my original Mavic Pro. I'm guessing that the lower sensors are locking on to the moving water and trying to hold the drone still (by moving the drone downstream). From everything I can find online, there's no way to disable these sensors (they still work in sports mode). I didn't know if anyone here had a ninja secret to achieve this in software before I just tape them over. Question: would I need to tape over the lower infrared sensor as well as the others to get it to stop scanning the water to hover assist? Thanks!
Stephen

 

[Deleted member 103366]

In the absence of any other response, is the answer not simply to test it and see.

 

[BSauce955]

Flying low over whitewater is causing the my MA2 to constantly drift downstream--sometimes quickly and dangerously. This is my primary use for my drone, so I need to find a solution. I never experienced this with my original Mavic Pro. I'm guessing that the lower sensors are locking on to the moving water and trying to hold the drone still (by moving the drone downstream). From everything I can find online, there's no way to disable these sensors (they still work in sports mode). I didn't know if anyone here had a ninja secret to achieve this in software before I just tape them over. Question: would I need to tape over the lower infrared sensor as well as the others to get it to stop scanning the water to hover assist? Thanks!
Stephen

If you taped up the sensors, wouldn't the drone think that it's on the ground and either land or drop out of the air?

 

[Deleted member 103366]

With the Mavic Mini and Mini 2, no. So, at a guess, no with the MA2 too.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Yes you can tape the sensors , just like flying at night with the ambient warnings however , your landing our going to be much harder and if flying over the water , I would keep the VPS landing sensor uncovered if your flying close to the water.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[BoyJeenyus]

Yes you can tape the sensors , just like flying at night with the ambient warnings however , your landing our going to be much harder and if flying over the water , I would keep the VPS landing sensor uncovered if your flying close to the water.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

Thanks! is the VPS landing sensor the IR aft-most side-by-side dark one? or is it another part. I really miss just being able to turn them off in the DJI GO app on my last OG Mavic.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

is the VPS landing sensor the IR aft-most side-by-side dark one? or is it another part.

Does the diagram on page 8 of the manual answer your question?

 

[BoyJeenyus]

Does the diagram on page 8 of the manual answer your question?

not really, as nothing is labeled VPS landing sensor. Are you referring to #8 infrared sensing system? or the #6 downward vision system. I'd assume that the Downward vision system is what I'll need to cover for sure, just not sure about #8. I'll just try the 2 #6 sensors for now and report back

 

[BoyJeenyus]

Update: I covered just the 2 #6 (downward vision sensors) in the diagram and it was stable and better at 10' above the water or higher, which is an improvement. Once I went much lower than that, it tried to quickly drift downstream again. I'll try to get back out today or tomorrow to test with the Infrared sensor covered as well to see if it full does what I want. FWIW with only the IR sensor active, it still does the slow/precision landing thing.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I had or have the impression that it is the downward vision system that was or is responsible for the precision landing and that the infra red is responsible for the landing protection (slow down).
Are you certain precision landing still worked with those lenses covered?

 

[BoyJeenyus]

I had or have the impression that it is the downward vision system that was or is responsible for the precision landing and that the infra red is responsible for the landing protection (slow down).
Are you certain precision landing still worked with those lenses covered?

My mistake. I'm only certain that it did the slow down. I'm not sure about precision. I mis-spoke on that one.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

What tape did you use to cover the lenses?
I assume they are also responsible for position holding and (due to the auxiliary light) that they use visible light. That the drone 'followed the water when below 10ft' makes me wonder if the tape was not thick enough.
I haven't tried this with a M2P (distinctly separated IR and VPS components akin to the Air 2) but with a Mini 2 I used gaffa tape and I have a vague recollection of using a black insulation tape with the Mavic Mini but with the those drones that would also cover the IR emitter?/sensor? as this lies between the two VPS lenses.

 

[BoyJeenyus]

What tape did you use to cover the lenses?
I assume they are also responsible for position holding and (due to the auxiliary light) that they use visible light. That the drone 'followed the water when below 10ft' makes me wonder if the tape was not thick enough.
I haven't tried this with a M2P (distinctly separated IR and VPS components akin to the Air 2) but with a Mini 2 I used gaffa tape and I have a vague recollection of using a black insulation tape with the Mavic Mini but with the those drones that would also cover the IR emitter?/sensor? as this lies between the two VPS lenses.

I used black gaffer's tape, which is pretty thick. I'll try to get out again soon and cover the back IR downward sensor to see if that get's me what I want. If not, I'll double thick cover them all and see if anything changes. I'm new to the Air 2. With my original mavic, I could just turn these sensors off in-app and easily deal with it that way, so this is a new challenge for me.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

The Fly App is missing many features :-(

 

[BoyJeenyus]

final update: I covered the back IR sensor as well and it fully fixed the issue. So covering all 3 lower sensors will make it fly normally low over whitewater. I do have to intentionally land slowly now, because the drone won't slow itself down. Thanks for the thoughts, everyone!
Stephen