Obstacle avoidance is not Idiot proof

[pscott]

How many people have crashed demonstrating obstacle avoidance?



Sent from my Nexus 6P using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[JLane]

Not me... But your post made me laugh because I can only guess where this thread is going...

 

[Impact9]

Testing no. Failing perhaps.

 

[pscott]

I ask because that exact thing happened to me about 10 minutes ago in front of a number of people. I wasn't going fast and it did stop about 3 feet away but I push the sticks again and sure enough wham.

 

[armoredsaint]

FAKE NEWS!!!

 

[Heavysledz]

what was the obstacle you were trying to avoid? being winter in the northern hemisphere (not sure where you are located) tree branches become much more difficult to pick up on the forward looking cameras when there are no leaves on them.

 

[pscott]

I was trying to avoid a cement wall! It was a demonstration so I choose an obvious obstacle. I went directly at it at 90 degrees and it did stop and hover . I then centered the stick.... Then reapplied forward stick forcing into the wall and sure enough it hit the wall. Not idiot proof. I was not in sports mode.

 

[GlenT]

Sometimes the system has difficulty seeing large homogeneous objects up close. If there's no contrasting features it will struggle. Just like staring at a large piece of white paper, you would have a hard time focusing.

 

[WBH]

It happened to me yesterday. My friend wanted to fly the Mavic but had some concerns about flying into obstacles. I flew the drone up the my garage gable got the warning tone it stopped as advertised. I pressed the right stick forward to demonstrate that forward flight was disabled until the object was no longer a factor as was the case in previous demonstrations but this time it flew into the gable wall. The Mavic fell 18ft onto the concrete drive it will require major repairs. O/A is not fool proof.

 

[Someone Else]

Sometimes the system has difficulty seeing large homogeneous objects up close. If there's no contrasting features it will struggle. Just like staring at a large piece of white paper, you would have a hard time focusing.

^^^^^ This.

The camera based collision avoidance systems in new cars face the same issue. In the Subaru owners manual it states that if you are following a large box van or semi trailer it may not "see" it as there is no contrast. There were several stories of people crashing their cars into their garage doors or chain link fences trying to demonstrate the system.

I would guess there are similar statements made in the Mavic manual as well.

 

[Kestrel]

I had my first minor crash with my mavic the other day only fell like 2 feet unto soft grass but the obstacle avoidance didn't pick up a sapling and it crashed, no damage of any kind.