Question about obstacle alerts

[rawman001]

I was practicing with my fairly new Mavic 4 Pro. It was afternoon and I was close to around 300' above myself.. I got an alert that something was near the drone (lefthand side). I thought maybe a bird had flown by and I missed it so I brought it down and inspected everything and did not see anything wrong. I launched again and was hovering and saw the alert again. It wasn't a constant alert, just popped up every once in a while I was looking right at the drone and didn't see anything anywhere near it. I checked the left view and could see the props and the side of the aircraft but couldn't see anything else. I checked my Airdata logs and apparently it doesn't show proximity alerts. The alerts were always on the left side of the aircraft and the sun was to the West. When I rotated the aircraft I didn't see any alerts but since they were inconsistent I'm not sure if that was conclusive. Only thought I had was that the position of the sun was causing a shadow of a portion of the aircraft to hit the vision sensor. Is that a possibility? Any other suggestions?

 

[Dan'sUavTech]

I was practicing with my fairly new Mavic 4 Pro. It was afternoon and I was close to around 300' above myself.. I got an alert that something was near the drone (lefthand side). I thought maybe a bird had flown by and I missed it so I brought it down and inspected everything and did not see anything wrong. I launched again and was hovering and saw the alert again. It wasn't a constant alert, just popped up every once in a while I was looking right at the drone and didn't see anything anywhere near it. I checked the left view and could see the props and the side of the aircraft but couldn't see anything else. I checked my Airdata logs and apparently it doesn't show proximity alerts. The alerts were always on the left side of the aircraft and the sun was to the West. When I rotated the aircraft I didn't see any alerts but since they were inconsistent I'm not sure if that was conclusive. Only thought I had was that the position of the sun was causing a shadow of a portion of the aircraft to hit the vision sensor. Is that a possibility? Any other suggestions?

Maybe it is a possibility. Also, having dirt on the sensors could cause this.

 

[rawman001]

Maybe it is a possibility. Also, having dirt on the sensors could cause this.

Thanks! I did check and didn't see anything on the sensors.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks! I did check and didn't see anything on the sensors.

The sun is often perceived as an obstacle by the front facing OA system. Flying into the sun does not result in interesting video anyway. If you need to fly in the direction of the sun to get to where you want to go, fly at an angle or sideways or backwards to avoid flying into the sun, using the side and rear camera views to avoid obstacles.

 

[MS Coast]

Several people have had similar issues with new Mavic 4 Pros. A simple procedure seems to calibrate the OA sensors. Five minutes of flight in a large + pattern about 10 feet AGL in a flat open area did the trick for me. There's a long discussion here on the forum.

F

Mavic 4 Pro - Obstacle Avoidance Issues

Jun 17, 2025

So I received my Mavic 4 Pro yesterday. Upon flying for the first time, though, every time I hovered, the obstacle avoidance warnings would turn yellow and/or red in the back of the drone. As soon as I moved, it went away but would come back on after about 5 seconds of hovering. Since it was my first flight with the new drone, I didn’t fly far and I could see there were no obstacles (trees, birds, power poles, etc.) that should have been causing this. Never had this happen with previous drones, so not sure if there is a way to try to recalibrate the sensors, or if I should return it as...

• fgphoto
• Replies: 84
• Forum: Mavic 4 Pro

• 

 

[rawman001]

The sun is often perceived as an obstacle by the front facing OA system. Flying into the sun does not result in interesting video anyway. If you need to fly in the direction of the sun to get to where you want to go, fly at an angle or sideways or backwards to avoid flying into the sun, using the side and rear camera views to avoid obstacles.

Thanks. The front of the drone was facing sort of North and the Sun was to West-SouthWest. The alerts were on the left side of the drone.

 

[rawman001]

Several people have had similar issues with new Mavic 4 Pros. A simple procedure seems to calibrate the OA sensors. Five minutes of flight in a large + pattern about 10 feet AGL in a flat open area did the trick for me. There's a long discussion here on the forum.

F

Mavic 4 Pro - Obstacle Avoidance Issues

Jun 17, 2025

So I received my Mavic 4 Pro yesterday. Upon flying for the first time, though, every time I hovered, the obstacle avoidance warnings would turn yellow and/or red in the back of the drone. As soon as I moved, it went away but would come back on after about 5 seconds of hovering. Since it was my first flight with the new drone, I didn’t fly far and I could see there were no obstacles (trees, birds, power poles, etc.) that should have been causing this. Never had this happen with previous drones, so not sure if there is a way to try to recalibrate the sensors, or if I should return it as...

• fgphoto
• Replies: 84
• Forum: Mavic 4 Pro

• 

Thank you! I see a several posts now. I should have looked more before posting. I'll check into that!!

 

[MS Coast]

Thank you! I see a several posts now. I should have looked more before posting. I'll check into that!!

Don't over-complicate it. There's no need to fly precise patterns or switch off the OA system. Let us know how it works out.

 

[rawman001]

Don't over-complicate it. There's no need to fly precise patterns or switch off the OA system. Let us know how it works out.

Thanks. I have to find a big enough area. I live in the city so I'll need to look for somewhere open.

 

[Riptide]

Mine had really weird flight where it would hesitate and buck backwards until I did the previously mentioned procedure.

 

[rawman001]

Don't over-complicate it. There's no need to fly precise patterns or switch off the OA system. Let us know how it works out.

I was able to find a big parking lot a few weeks ago and flew in the + pattern you mentioned. Since then I have not had any more of the false alarms. I've tried to replicate what I was doing when the issue first popped up (hovering facing North in a position where the Sun would cast shadows) and so far haven't seen the problem again.

Thanks for the help!