JUDGING DISTANCE

[360 Guy]

How is the best way to judge distance from drone to object to prevent a crash?

Case in point: Because of high winds, I was asked to check a neighbors roof for missing shingles and the vent pipe boots.
Although I could see the vent pipe from my stand point getting rather close by eyesight, but what if I couldn't see it visually, how do I judge the distance?
The mini 2 has no forward sensor of course for warning.
Any suggestions?

360

 

[Cafguy]

If your eyes are like mine you where probably to close already! Go somewhere with some room and something soft like some pool noodles stuck in the ground as trees- and practice flying close to them while looking at the camera and looking up at the drone. Doing this for practice should help give you an idea of where the drone is as opposed to your camera view.

 

[Meta4]

how do I judge the distance?
Any suggestions?

As above, from practice.
But also be aware that the wideangle lens of your camera makes things look further away than they actually are.

 

[mavic3usa]

The best solution is to get a Skydio drone (to practice with).

 

[VetteGuy]

How is the best way to judge distance from drone to object to prevent a crash?

Case in point: Because of high winds, I was asked to check a neighbors roof for missing shingles and the vent pipe boots.
Although I could see the vent pipe from my stand point getting rather close by eyesight, but what if I couldn't see it visually, how do I judge the distance?
The mini 2 has no forward sensor of course for warning.
Any suggestions?

360

 

[VetteGuy]

I’ve checked my roof, vent pipes and gutters many times. My suggestion, slow and easy while keeping your eye on the drone. Always position yourself on the side of your drone’s position. Hope this helps.

 

[Robert Prior]

I'm paranoid. I set the camera to horizontal and rise up until I'm above all obstacles before I move over the roof.

 

[Felix le Chat]

I'm paranoid. I set the camera to horizontal and rise up until I'm above all obstacles before I move over the roof.

That's not paranoid - that's 100% common sense.

 

[Mynah]

Like Meta4 said, the super wide angle lens can be misleading. To train your eye and brain to compensate you could link drone and controller then take a stroll through your house with drone in hand, pointing it at objects of known scale and observe the image on the screen and distance of drone. Optical perspective wise any focal length below 55mm is considered wide angle and above telephoto, with 55mm being closest to what the human eye sees.

I sometimes do digital zoom when flying tricky places, function button held in while using the gimbal control wheel, zoom to 2x, this brings you closer to 55mm perspective while you maneuver.