Pro4 mini Waypoints and obsatcle avoidance

[Camerart]

Hi,
I have a Pro4 mini, and happily learning to fly, including Waypoints.

I like flying in woods, so under a canopy of foliage, and figuring out the effects of lack of good Satellite vision.
When using waypoints, I think it is drifting because of this?

When steering through holes, the hole needs to be calculated or it senses and stops at the near foliage. Even though there is plenty of room, it won't go through, when running a flight.

I use the 'N' setting, but will it go through if I set it to 'S'. I've been reluctant to try it.

If anyone has both Pro4 and 5, and uses waypoints, could you tell me the difference between the two please, I read that the 5 can use more vision than GPS if necessary, is this true.

C.

 

[BossBob]

Waypoints are normally used in open areas and obstacle sensed will normally stop both 4 and 5. However, if you fly the drone the 5 will sort out a way that will stop the 4 as the lidar sensor is more sensitive than the optical sensors. If you are using the tracking function the 5 is really good as long as you look out for thin dark leafless twigs.
You don’t want to set it to s as that turns off obstacle avoidance and increases speed and sensitivity.
The 5’s GPS is apparently accurate to about 0.5m but you’ll need lots of satellites with a clear view, not under trees.

 

[Conservative Nihilist]

I've seen footage of numerous drone crashes where the drone hit something while skimming just above the ground at the same height a camera might be held by a person walking the same route while holding one of those DJI stabilized cameras. The question I'd then puzzle over was why a drone was even used to capture such ground-hugging footage that could have been filmed just as easily with a hand-held camera.

The margin of error in a drone's trajectory, both laterally and vertically, during waypoint missions, can amount to several feet due to normal GPS data variability, which is of little consequence when the drone is up above 150 feet AGL, as all my drone flights generally are flown. When the drone is flying close to the ground with lots of obstacles that could materialize faster than the aircraft's obstacle avoidance response, the odds of a crash go way up.

As obstacle avoidance technology becomes even more precise and sensitive than the current iteration of LIDAR, flying waypoint missions in obstacle-cluttered environments close to the ground will certainly become less of a gamble than it is currently, but those advancements are unlikely to inspire me to fly my drones lower than 150 feet AGL because the reason I fly drones is to film panoramic birds-eye views from aloft amid the blue yonder.

Camera-art, please don't misconstrue my response here as criticism of your personal drone operating preference, because I do understand that the footage you seek most likely cannot be replicated by walking along with a hand-held camera. I suppose all I succeeded in proving here is that I tend to be more timid than most drone operators when it comes to setting the altitude of waypoint missions, but that cautionary approach has enabled me to launch my older DJI drones to traverse well over 4,000 miles of fully autonomous Litchi waypoint missions, with obstacle avoidance sensors turned OFF to conserve battery power, yet without a single crash that could be attributed to collision with an obstacle along the programmed flight path.

 

[BossBob]

I know where @Camerart is coming from wanting to fly below woodland canopy but not just along paths. Underbrush in woodland can be pretty impenetrable if you are not the size of a small deer and as agile so you can’t walk a camera through it (or retrieve a crashed/hooked up drone). I’m fairly certain that there isn’t really a drone made for that kind of thing. Something like an Avata with lidar sensors. Adding propeller guards to a lightweight folding drone gives you a drone with the handling characteristics of a barge and plenty of extra ways of hooking a branch. It doesn’t work.

 

[Camerart]

Hi,
B and CN,
I've been flying my own home made Tricopters, for years, which I may say were more responsive than I've found with the Pro4 mini, but nowhere near as clever and enjoyable to fly, as the 4.

I'm learning these newer drones, and their capabilities. One accident so far (backed into a tree )
Yesterday, I was using an old cut off country lane, so you can see how wide it is, and the foliage has grown across it, so some weaving.
I was flying above bike head height, and trying to set waypoins, so it is repeatable, then I could fly the same route through the seasons, and make one video. This is the kind of thing I like!

When I was making drones, I used £30-40 GPS modules, that when tested wandered about a bit. As 1x GPS was needed for both transmitter and drone, I had to watch the pennies. There is an update wich uses 2x GPS inside each module RTK, but these were £250 each when I started, although the price was coming donw, and if age hadn't stopped my progress, I would have adopted them.

I am able to walk with the drone while filming, sending the drone to places I can't reach or e,g, across a river or down a valley. You get what I mean.

I had one instance under trees, when the RTH signal came on, and at that time I didn't know what to do, but the 4 flew back under the trees, and around them to back to the launch pad, amazing!

[Camera-art, please don't misconstrue my response here as criticism I don't!
Camerart

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi,
B and CN,
I've been flying my own home made Tricopters, for years, which I may say were more responsive than I've found with the Pro4 mini, but nowhere near as clever and enjoyable to fly, as the 4.

I'm learning these newer drones, and their capabilities. One accident so far (backed into a tree )
Yesterday, I was using an old cut off country lane, so you can see how wide it is, and the foliage has grown across it, so some weaving.
I was flying above bike head height, and trying to set waypoins, so it is repeatable, then I could fly the same route through the seasons, and make one video. This is the kind of thing I like!

When I was making drones, I used £30-40 GPS modules, that when tested wandered about a bit. As 1x GPS was needed for both transmitter and drone, I had to watch the pennies. There is an update wich uses 2x GPS inside each module RTK, but these were £250 each when I started, although the price was coming donw, and if age hadn't stopped my progress, I would have adopted them.

I am able to walk with the drone while filming, sending the drone to places I can't reach or e,g, across a river or down a valley. You get what I mean.

I had one instance under trees, when the RTH signal came on, and at that time I didn't know what to do, but the 4 flew back under the trees, and around them to back to the launch pad, amazing!

[Camera-art, please don't misconstrue my response here as criticism I don't!
Camerart

If walking with the drone under a tree canopy, you should set your signal loss response to Hover instead of RTH. Otherwise, the loss of signal RTH ascension into the tree canopy will not end well

 

[BossBob]

If walking with the drone under a tree canopy, you should set your signal loss response to Hover instead of RTH. Otherwise, the loss of signal RTH ascension into the tree canopy will not end well

But remember, low battery RTH is still RTH.

 

[GadgetGuy]

But remember, low battery RTH is still RTH.

True, but if the home point is continuously manually reset during the walk (dynamic HP on the Mini 5 Pro would be better), it won't trigger a low battery RTH until the battery is quite low (because it only has a very short distance to travel), and if it is still within 15 feet, it will just land anyway. If not, low battery RTH can always be canceled until critical battery is reached.

 

[BossBob]

True, but if the home point is continuously manually reset during the walk (dynamic HP on the Mini 5 Pro would be better), it won't trigger a low battery RTH until the battery is quite low (because it only has a very short distance to travel), and if it is still within 15 feet, it will just land anyway. If not, low battery RTH can always be canceled until critical battery is reached.

Agreed, and what I do with my Mini 5 Pro at takeoff, but @Camerart is flying a Mini 4 Pro, doesn’t have dynamic RTH and might not have got into the routine of constantly updating the home point as he’s cycling, not walking.

 

[Camerart]

If walking with the drone under a tree canopy, you should set your signal loss response to Hover instead of RTH. Otherwise, the loss of signal RTH ascension into the tree canopy will not end well

Hi G,
Yes, this has happened, but I'm always watching, so if it tries that, I take over, but if it flies under the trees, I leave it to it's own devices. I have had it shoot up and out of sight, and so far it has gone up one hole and down another a couple of time, then RTH.
All a bit tricky, but fun, so far!

I'll try hover, then choose.
C.

 

[Camerart]

But remember, low battery RTH is still RTH.

Hi B,
I've had a few panicks, but I am trying to learn battery time, to avoid this.
C

 

[Camerart]

Agreed, and what I do with my Mini 5 Pro at takeoff, but @Camerart is flying a Mini 4 Pro, doesn’t have dynamic RTH and might not have got into the routine of constantly updating the home point as he’s cycling, not walking.

Hi B,
I'm walking actually (this is what get's me out and walking ), and if on an e,g, footpath or cycle way, I fly above bike head height. I'll have to think about horses too!
C

 

[Droning on and on...]

GPS accuracy is a factor signal strength, number of satellites received, and the current configuration of satellites in the sky. You can have 25 locked satellites and still have relatively high error on the order of +/- 30ft if most of them are closer to the horizon than overhead, or clustered together rather than distributed across the sky, etc.

So it's never a good idea to depend on waypoints to navigate tight spaces. It will almost never work, and when it does, it's gonna be a one-off, difficult to impossible to repeat. More likely to just result in a crashed drone.