Obstacle Avoidance in ActiveTrack comparsion to Mavic Pro 1

[trickform]

How well does Mavic Air track objects and avoid obstacles in Active Track (or TapToFly) mode, compared to Mavic Pro 1 (I have this one)? I'm currently using my drone for skate- and snowboard tracking with no problems at all, but maybe Air could work better in my scenario? (cause I don't want it to suddenly hit a tree or a house in full automatic mode). Yeah, I know it's got more sensors and APAS, but I'm talking about overall experience and feelings of happy (or not) Mavic Air's users, rather than DJI's beautiful ad videos and stories. Thank you.

 

[Just_nick]

Consider obstacle avoidance to be a gimmick that won't actually do anything except detect very large objects and cause the drone to be stopped by the sun. It doesn't detect branches well, and relying on it to avoid obstacles is going to end up with a dead drone.

 

[trickform]

That's very sad, if there is no real difference between MA and MP1 on this side. Apparently it's better to stick with my MP1 then and wait for Mavic 3 (or 4-5) with Skydio-R1-like obstacle avoidance system.

 

[ovisopa]

Consider obstacle avoidance to be a gimmick that won't actually do anything except detect very large objects and cause the drone to be stopped by the sun. It doesn't detect branches well, and relying on it to avoid obstacles is going to end up with a dead drone.

I have quite a good opinion regarding obstacle avoidance, and the fact that the drone can level itself after hitting something is a very good point, I know this is also luck, but please don't state "obstacle avoidance to be a gimmick that won't actually do anything except.." .. it's really a working feature, that worked every time in my case (I know it will happen to hit something, especially when flying sideways, but I count on the fact that the drone is quite sturdy and "crash proof"). The problem is Active Track, is not good enough to follow a subject if the background is not clean enough. A person walking is ok, but a bicycle is almost always too much for active track to follow (there are excepsions, where it can track very well if the landscape is clean)

You can buy Mavic Pro 2 and Mavic Zoom, those are the real upgrades from your Mavic Pro 1, mavic air is just smaller, and it has more sensors, but also the battery is smaller, I get safely only about 11 minutes of follow me flying with MA, but again, MP is to big to get it with my when riding my dirt bike, the most important for me was it's size. If you also look into having a better image quality you should definitely consider the new Mavics Pro or Zoom.

Here is the video with my experience so far, using automatic follow modes, mostly using Autopilot app by Hangar (iOS only)

 

[trickform]

You can buy Mavic Pro 2 and Mavic Zoom

They are way too big for me (even more bigger than original Mavic Pro) and it's not so easy to operate them with a controller while riding in snowy mountains. I was amazed by gesture controls of MA, it's tiny size and an idea, that I don't need to hold a controller 24/7 anymore, but it seems to me, that it's just not so smart enough and still not ready for everyday use. Thank you.

 

[ovisopa]

It seems you are looking for the same drone I'm looking for, than , Mavic Air might be your ALMOST perfect drone, or wait for Mavic Air 2 .. when that will come out (we all need obstacle sensors on the side too)

I also don't hold the controller in my hand while riding my dirt bike, I made myself a strap and mount it on the backpack while riding, it's perfect so far, bellow is a photo with my dirt bike backpack and the strap mounted on.

In about a few months I will have snow on those mountains and will be able to test the drone while following me on the snowboard, will see how that will go, but so far with Autopilot app I didn't had success on following me while going downhill, maybe because I set the distance to ~18m, from the subject, maybe I will need to set the distance even higher, in the shots I made and the test I made, while going downhill, the drone was to close to me and I wasn't in the frame, almost all the time.

 

[dmac1]

I also don't hold the controller in my hand while riding my dirt bike, I made myself a strap and mount it on the backpack while riding, it's perfect so far, bellow is a photo with my dirt bike backpack and the strap mounted on.

I too ride dirt bikes, but am new to my Mavic. However, I read that a Mavic Pro's controller will fit nicely in a Garmin Rugged Mount for their Montana, which is exactly what I have on the bars of my bike! Apparently, a small soft wedge of some sort is all that is needed for a snug fit. I've not tried it yet, but I'd likely strap mine on no matter how snug cuz where we ride is rocky.

Garmin Montana AMPS Mount with Audio and Power Cable - Item# 1311878

 

[ovisopa]

I don't really wanted to mount the controller on the bike directly, thinking more about the shocks it will get, I prefer to carry it on my backpack, even if to see the screen of my phone I need to stop and get the backpack off my back.

Please be very careful when going trough trees, mavic air is losing signal quite fast when you ride in the forest, even 100m it's to far if the forest has tall trees.

Keep in mind this, as I already experienced it a few times:

- when mavic is losing signal it goes to the last location it seen you, if it can't land it will hover right there.
- when mavic is losing signal AND ALSO THE BATTERY is running low, it will fly all the way back to your starting point and land.


Good luck.

PS. I'm using Autopilot App, not DJI Go. Post some video when you make some, we are very few who use drones while riding