Obstacle avoidance > sitting duck when attacked by birds

[swb_mct]

My "home" air space is over a lake. When flying around 15'-20' above the lake, my Obstacle warnings frequently sound an alarm, the Mavic stops and then it won't go for several seconds. I often see starlings on my ipad screen when this happens. Is the avoidance system really sensitive to small birds traveling nearby at high speed, or is it a false alarm from waves on lake surface at 15'' ?

More on Obstacle Avoidance . . After a few months of frequent flying, I have learned not to run into things, and obstacle avoidance becomes an annoyance when navigating in close quarters - I have to land where there are lots of trees. DO EXPERIENCED pilots end up turning it OFF and leaving it OFF ?

 

[Bunny Too]

My "home" air space is over a lake. When flying around 15'-20' above the lake, my Obstacle warnings frequently sound an alarm, the Mavic stops and then it won't go for several seconds. I often see starlings on my ipad screen when this happens. Is the avoidance system really sensitive to small birds traveling nearby at high speed, or is it a false alarm from waves on lake surface at 15'' ?

More on Obstacle Avoidance . . After a few months of frequent flying, I have learned not to run into things, and obstacle avoidance becomes an annoyance when navigating in close quarters - I have to land where there are lots of trees. DO EXPERIENCED pilots end up turning it OFF and leaving it OFF ?

Never thought about the bird aspect, it may be sunlight or sunlight reflected off the lake.

 

[Former Member]

OP, if you are going to disable OA, you might consider props guards as an option when flying in close quarters. They are smarter than 1 direction obstacle avoidance. If flying slowly in close quarters, guards will not interfere with your shot.

 

[jason38]

Hi,
I already experienced some obstacle avoidance bugs...
From my point of vue, and from what I've seen with my mavic pro, it happens only over water, snow or clouds....
DJI said that you shouldn't fly over water and snow, as the reflexion can disturb sensors...
For exemple, I was idling over a river the other day, and saw my mavic go up about 40cm and then down , very close to the water, as I needed to push thottle up to save my mavic ... I guess that ultrasonic sensors can't give correct infos as the sonic waves goes through the water, and cameras can't "watch" water due to reflexion...
This winter I was flying through some fog clouds, and when the mavic "seen" them, it breacks hard and told me there was some obstacle...but the cloud was far away from the drone...
Front cams dont do the difference , because a cloud is not very contrasted and is very shiny compared to a "normal" obstacle...

So I disable obstacle avoidance when I'm flying in these conditions, or when I fly in forests, under trees to prevent hard breacks while shooting.. but I prefer to enable it again in other conditions... Safety first with these expensive little flying cams...

 

[jason38]

BTW, I flew with some birds around, and I never had any avoidance system warnings...

 

[Jack Daw]

I doubt very much that it's the birds.

 

[terradriller]

You can switch to sport mode and disable the sensors. I fly mostly in the evening when the sun is low and the sun really sets off the sensors and stops the aircraft. Sport mode stops all of tgat

 

[Mossiback]

...above the lake, my Obstacle warnings frequently sound an alarm, the Mavic stops and then it won't go for several seconds. I often see starlings on my ipad screen when this happens. Is the avoidance system really sensitive to small birds traveling nearby at high speed, or is it a false alarm from waves on lake surface at 15'' ?... DO EXPERIENCED pilots end up turning it OFF and leaving it OFF ?

The forward sensors are detecting a false positive over the water, most likely caused by a low sun and the reflection of it. I have been flying over a year and have my forward sensors off. It gets me more speed without the overly-sensitive stick response I get in Sport mode.

Like @Thunderdrones stated, get a set of prop guards for close-quarter flying (especially indoors). They add a lot of protection but be careful around tree branches. They can get hung up on them.