Over water issues

[Blair Monfette]

Hello all. I have a mavic pro and recently ran into a problem flying over water. I was trying to take an aerial shot at our family reunion. The drone was flying fine till I got over the lake. At that point the drone became unstable and the movements were no longer smooth. In fear of losing full control I was able to get it back over land were it started working properly again. Can the reflections of the sun on the water affect the sensors of the drone and cause this issue? Thank you.

 

[msinger]

Can the reflections of the sun on the water affect the sensors of the drone and cause this issue?

Reflections from the water or the sunlight itself could hit the sensors and cause them to detect an obstacle ahead. If that happens, the drone could auto brake.

Did you check out your flight log? It might explain what happened.

 

[BossBob]

When I’ve flown over waves breaking on the shore my Mavic Pro has followed the breakers up and down the beach, also when following a swimmer in a swell the drone has maintained height above the swimmer bouncing up and down to match the wave heights.
Maybe you need to turn off bottom sensors if the movement is not acceptable?

 

[msinger]

@Blair Monfette, how close to the surface of the water were you flying?

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I routinely fly in the Atlantic at all altitudes and never experienced any issues that I wouldn't experience on land. If anything the UAS performs better over water due to the lack of obstacles.

 

[JohnChap]

If sensors are the problem, you might put it in Sports Mode which I believe deactivates the sensors. I fly most of the time over water at hieghts varying from a few feet to a few hundred feet and I have never had a problem and I am always in sport mode.

 

[DanMan32]

Consider that stability is governed by GPS and VPS. If the "ground" is moving, the AC has no way of knowing that and will follow the "ground" movement as if it was a fixed position. When the ground deviation is large enough in comparison to GPS, it will correct for the error.

I experienced a toilet bowl effect with my P3 while over water, which had me freaked a bit. I later chalked it up to VPS tracking water currents vs GPS. I didn't think I was in VPS range of the P3, but could have been. RTH was perfectly normal.

 

[Texas Mavic]

The bottom sensors fight to figure the surface of the water, and the bottom of the lake/pond/ocean.

 

[RonBower]

I live on a lake, so most of my flights are over it, at least for some of the flight. I actually think it is easier, because I don't have to worry about trees or power lines. Having said that, I never fly below 35'. I am a still photographer and flying below 35 doesn't give me the perspectives I am usually after. The only issue I have ever had is with the gulls and other birds that are often over the water. I have never turned off sensors.

 

[MavicDelight]

I have hovered about 3 to 4 feet from the water on a Billabong and the MP1 is a little unstable in holding height - I think from the ripples from the down draft caused by prop wash - upsetting the downward facing sensors.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I have hovered about 3 to 4 feet from the water on a Billabong and the MP1 is a little unstable in holding height - I think from the ripples from the down draft caused by prop wash - upsetting the downward facing sensors.

Same experience here. I'll hover at low altitudes to ID fish offshore (luckily none have attempted to eat it yet) and vision sensors freak out. Best is to turn them off and use the ripples in the water from the prop wash as a guide to keep the altitude. I was hoping the superpatcher mod that unlocks Galileo satellites would enable a tighter hover, which it did, but not enough to relax when you're hovering at <5'.