Obstacle Avoidance and Thin Branches

[projectarjun]

 

[Dale D]

I totally cannot believe what this drone can do! Excellent job on this video. Well filmed and you probably just convinced me to buy this drone.

Dale

 

[DougMcC]

I’m with Dale. That was a wonderful test and demonstration ride. Thank you for your production.

 

[Hands Down]

So you're the guy driving up the cost of DJI Care Refresh eh?

Really impressive result. Better than I would have expected, for sure. The way it handled the crashes was equally impressive to the crash avoidance.

 

[lenabanana]

Spent delivery day trying to crash it into trees, fences and goal posts with no success. Never been so confident in a drone!

 

[Felix le Chat]

Like all obstacle avoidance: works brilliantly.... until it doesn't. I'd hate to lull myself into a false sense of security. Like all iterations of DJI O/A: better than anything before but.... the 'fool' in 'foolproof' is always the one pushing the sticks.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I am constantly surprised at how binary people are in opinions about things.

OA is a very useful feature. It has it's limitations. DJI doesn't hide the circumstances where there's risk.

Does this mean OA is a useless gimmick, because it can't guarantee no collision and catastrophe? Apparently to some.

Yet, advanced features like Active Track are very useful, and for some of us justify the risk of a crash because of the value of the mission.

The drone is a tool. Like any tool, it has limits that can be pushed. Depending on an individuals needs, pushing the limits may well be justified, you break your tool you just get it fixed. No big deal.

OA was useful like this way back when there was only forward detection. It was WAY more limited and risky, but even then there were missions that justified the risk.

I find it far more helpful to follow discussion of the shortcomings and risk in the context of use and mitigation, rather than constant carping about how it's useless because it's not perfect.

It never will be.

 

[Felix le Chat]

I am constantly surprised at how binary people are in opinions about things.

OA is a very useful feature. It has it's limitations. DJI doesn't hide the circumstances where there's risk.

Does this mean OA is a useless gimmick, because it can't guarantee no collision and catastrophe? Apparently to some.

Yet, advanced features like Active Track are very useful, and for some of us justify the risk of a crash because of the value of the mission.

The drone is a tool. Like any tool, it has limits that can be pushed. Depending on an individuals needs, pushing the limits may well be justified, you break your tool you just get it fixed. No big deal.

OA was useful like this way back when there was only forward detection. It was WAY more limited and risky, but even then there were missions that justified the risk.

I find it far more helpful to follow discussion of the shortcomings and risk in the context of use and mitigation, rather than constant carping about how it's useless because it's not perfect.

It never will be.

'binary' is a matter of opinion. So far, no- one has managed to wrap a '4' round fine branches or wires. I'm sure that the next month or so will throw up at least one report of a wonderbox tumble. Reminding people to fly an £800+ drone carefully and not to believe the hype isn't 'carping' on about anything, it is repeating what the users of the previous four generations of O/A magic have already discovered after they believed the uncrashable marketing blurb relevant to the latest 'New And Improved' flavour.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I am specifically criticizing the oft-posted opinion that it's "useless" and a "gimmick". These are neither thoughtful, or helpful comments, as they aren't true.

OA has important uses within it's limitations. I'm not defending DJI marketing hype, that would be a fool's errand, as it's full of misleading information verging on falsehood.

By the same reasoning, I also won't support disseminating falsehoods like "OA is useless". I'm a very experienced pilot, and ignore OA most of the time. However it has saved my drone many times in tight quarters, enabling footage that I otherwise would not have successfully captured.

So again, within it's well-known limitations, it can be a very useful feature, and I'm excited to have 360/180 coverage now on the Air and Mini product lines.

 

[mobilehomer]

I am specifically criticizing the oft-posted opinion that it's "useless" and a "gimmick". These are neither thoughtful, or helpful comments, as they aren't true.

OA has important uses within it's limitations. I'm not defending DJI marketing hype, that would be a fool's errand, as it's full of misleading information verging on falsehood.

By the same reasoning, I also won't support disseminating falsehoods like "OA is useless". I'm a very experienced pilot, and ignore OA most of the time. However it has saved my drone many times in tight quarters, enabling footage that I otherwise would not have successfully captured.

So again, within it's well-known limitations, it can be a very useful feature, and I'm excited to have 360/180 coverage now on the Air and Mini product lines.

Absolutely right. Here is an example of a properly conducted OA test.

 

[Droning on and on...]

@mobilehomer it is certainly is getting better. That was Skydio OA performance.

It should be pointed out that thin branches are not entirely undetectable, but they definitely are not reliably so. In the video, however, there were plenty of thin branches it appeared to detect and go around.

Also, the path logic and decision-making has improved immensely since the Mavic Pro. There were many places that the MP would have just given up and stopped, while you can see the path engine hunting around and not giving up easily.

 

[SlavaVisuals]

Had many issues with tracking and with so called 360 degree obstacle avoidance sensors. I posted 2 video reviews on YouTube:

to show that these sensors aren't that great especially for forest flying. Broke mine already after few crashes and sent it for repair. So I wouldn't trust their fancy obstacle avoidance promos.
Any thoughts or more people experiences the same?

 

[Mynah]

Had many issues with tracking and with so called 360 degree obstacle avoidance sensors.
Any thoughts or more people experiences the same?

Yeah, my humble opinion; I fly drones NOT to crash them, if destroying them and producing videos of said past time was my sole purpose I'd just simply stay home and use a hammer.
I thus do not experience the same, I have done some nice video and landscape stills using the Mini 4 Pro since I got it, and lots more with the Mini, Mini 2 and Mini 3 without OA in the most exquisite locations besides on the ground between pine trees and the only crash I have experienced flying 500+ kms in total was due to an IMU issue on a Mini 2, the drone was repaired by DJI under warranty free of charge.
To me the obstacle avoidance on the Mini 4 Pro is a luxury, not a necessity and at long last afford me to use features on a Mini drone with 360 obstacle avoidance previously only possible with Litchi Fly app on Mini drones lacking OA. And I stick to Mini drones since I do extensive backpacking hikes where carrying water is more important than carrying extra drone weight.
If I feel the need to crash my Mini 4 Pro by finding a loophole in its OA I'll need only 2 mins to do so, the nearest overhead telephone wire is only 10m from my back door.
After duly studying the Mini 4 Pro user manual, DJI has made it clear to me that they expect me to also use some degree of common sense when engaging OA on the Mini 4 Pro.

 

[SlavaVisuals]

Yeah, my humble opinion; I fly drones NOT to crash them, if destroying them and producing videos of said past time was my sole purpose I'd just simply stay home and use a hammer.
I thus do not experience the same, I have done some nice video and landscape stills using the Mini 4 Pro since I got it, and lots more with the Mini, Mini 2 and Mini 3 without OA in the most exquisite locations besides on the ground between pine trees and the only crash I have experienced flying 500+ kms in total was due to an IMU issue on a Mini 2, the drone was repaired by DJI under warranty free of charge.
To me the obstacle avoidance on the Mini 4 Pro is a luxury, not a necessity and at long last afford me to use features on a Mini drone with 360 obstacle avoidance previously only possible with Litchi Fly app on Mini drones lacking OA. And I stick to Mini drones since I do extensive backpacking hikes where carrying water is more important than carrying extra drone weight.
If I feel the need to crash my Mini 4 Pro by finding a loophole in its OA I'll need only 2 mins to do so, the nearest overhead telephone wire is only 10m from my back door.
After duly studying the Mini 4 Pro user manual, DJI has made it clear to me that they expect me to also use some degree of common sense when engaging OA on the Mini 4 Pro.

I appreciate your perspective on flying drones, and I fully agree that the primary goal should be not to crash them. However, my point was to emphasize the importance of accurate advertising and the trust we place in the claims made by manufacturers. When a product is marketed as having advanced obstacle avoidance capabilities, it's reasonable for consumers to expect it to perform as advertised.

Your positive experiences with the Mini drones are great to hear, and it's fantastic that you've been able to capture stunning videos and landscape stills. In my case, the issue was with the Mini 4 Pro's obstacle avoidance feature not living up to expectations, particularly in challenging environments like densely wooded areas. It's a reminder that these features can be a significant factor in decision-making for some users like me and others.

I'm not advocating for intentionally crashing drones to test their limits, but rather to highlight the importance of accurate marketing and setting realistic expectations for what a product can deliver. It's reassuring that you've found the Mini 4 Pro's obstacle avoidance to be a luxury and not a necessity for your style of flying. Thank you for sharing your experiences, and I hope this clarifies my earlier comment.

 

[Telthecelt]

Very, very nice! I'll stick to my Mini 3 Pro for now until I either become competent with all the control items or break it and don't get it under DJI warranty! It'll be less of a quantum leap /learing curve when I do move on.

 

[jonnyweb]

very cool video. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ExEvo]

Nothing to see here: owners get fair warning that OA can't see cables or thin branches so you only go there if you want to crash. The M4P did very well to survive multiple crashes and stay in working order. Looks to me as though OA delivers what it says on the tin.

 

[bdooley]

Very well done video! Thanks for putting it through the paces so that I don’t have to try it myself. Is the OA perfect? No, but it is **** good. Thanks for helping me to understand what the real life limitations are!