Low visibility- Fly with caution! Why?

[pinzmann]

Ever since getting my mini 3 a few weeks ago, I constantly get this warning. I get it early in the morning (sun is up), middle of the day, whenever. All my flights are in the high desert. Today I was flying again in the desert, partially cloudy, sun out, had to shade the controller and I would get the warning every minute. Is there some setting that is triggering this? I do have a UV filter on it mainly for protection. Doesn’t really seem to affect anything that I can tell. So far just doing test type videos to see the capability. Also have the Air2s, no problems with that.

 

[MS Coast]

You might check the OA sensors and the VPS sensor to see if the lenses are clean. An obstructed sensor might be triggering that warning.

 

[FLDave]

How close are you to the surface below the mini 3? What is the surface?
Do you get any warnings before takeoff?
Is it related to the forward vision sensors?

 

[pinzmann]

I was 25-50meters high. No warnings before. So I’m wondering is this related to the camera or the sensors?
I just took it up for a 10 min flight. Sun had just set behind the hills. No warning.

 

[BobWillis]

Ever since getting my mini 3 a few weeks ago, I constantly get this warning. I get it early in the morning (sun is up), middle of the day, whenever. All my flights are in the high desert. Today I was flying again in the desert, partially cloudy, sun out, had to shade the controller and I would get the warning every minute. Is there some setting that is triggering this? I do have a UV filter on it mainly for protection. Doesn’t really seem to affect anything that I can tell. So far just doing test type videos to see the capability. Also have the Air2s, no problems with that.

I have experienced this twice now. It was when I was videoing the harvesting up wind and not down wind. I assumed it was the dust on sensors. I have only seen it in this situation BobW

 

[FLDave]

First thing to do is the review all vision system information in your user manual.
When you take away the sun the vision system won't work like full daylight The environmental factors are extremely important to the vison system. Downward sensors are limited also by altitude and terrain (check your manual).

 

[MarkO]

I can tell you this much. I was flying home in low light and the forward vision sensor did not work and crashed into the house. Fortunately minimal damage.

 

[pinzmann]

So this has nothing to do with the camera, only the sensors. Right?

 

[YVRGUY]

I can tell you this much. I was flying home in low light and the forward vision sensor did not work and crashed into the house. Fortunately minimal damage.

MarkO, I guess you can’t recall if the OAS was disabled eh? It would be good to test out the OAS and note just what level of light the OAS disables. I can see where pre dawn or apre dusk are times when you have to be more conscious of this low light situation. I don’t know how much more we can squeeze out of the Mini3P, but, wouldn’t a voice warning be nice? Glad you survived with minimal damage.

 

[MarkO]

MarkO, I guess you can’t recall if the OAS was disabled eh? It would be good to test out the OAS and note just what level of light the OAS disables. I can see where pre dawn or apre dusk are times when you have to be more conscious of this low light situation. I don’t know how much more we can squeeze out of the Mini3P, but, wouldn’t a voice warning be nice? Glad you survived with minimal damage.

It might be user error. I flew it out for about 20 minutes. While on the return, it would not come close enough to me to hand catch it (like I usually do). It was dusk, but I thought still plenty of ambient light. I figured I'd test the sensors and bring it in closer to the house. It just kept moving forward. Wasn't in sport mode, so not sure why it didn't detect the house. Maybe my hand controls overrode the sensors?

 

[FLDave]

Check you user manual about camera or multiple cameras and how the vision system works. The gimbal camera is generally not pat of the vision system but there may be other cameras. I'm not familiar with the mini camera system.

 

[Jdrone]

I have noticed that OA is hit or miss as you approach low light, I don't believe there is any actual defined brightness point where it's disabled, I've tested a bit (slow and careful), though not extensive, and have seen OA work, and then moving ~ 25 feet away under foliage coverage at dusk and it's does not work, I test it coming straight at me, and you will most definitely know as you get to 2-3 feet if it's going to avoid / brake or not - got to remember it's a safety feature only...

 

[nk14366]

My "Low Visibility" in broad daylight problem solved:

I know this is an old thread, but I got the same "Low visibility- Fly with caution" warning when flying my Mini 3 Pro in the middle of the day and my online search led me here.

To set the stage, the Mini3P was flying perfectly without problems for a while until a recent RTH mishap that landed it on the roof and fell about 10 feet to the ground. The propellers, propeller guard, and the landing gear were damaged but no other damage was visible. So I replaced all the damaged parts and recalibrated everything via the controller and it then flew perfectly as usual, except that's when I started to get the occasional "Low Visibility" during mid flight. There are no other warning , alerts, or anything. Photos and videos are all perfect and the take-off, landing and RTH all continue to function as always.

Cleaning the lenses and calibrating the vision system with DJI Assistant 2 did not make a difference. I was just about to pack it up and send it in to DJI for repair, a Eureka moment hit me that I remembered the new landing gear is different than my old one, the new one has LEDs and a small battery holder in the middle, it is small and unassuming, so I did not think of it at first, but as soon as I removed the landing gear and flew it again, lo and behold, that was it.

I did further testing with this and found a consistent pattern that whenever the aircraft tilted forward from any quick change in motion or big change of direction, the vision system or the OA is somehow partially blocked by the landing gear's battery box, thus triggered the occasional "Low Visibility" warning.

Since my Google search led me to this thread 3 years later, I thought I leave my finding here for someone else who encounters this issue in the future.