To Sensor or Not to Sensor, that is the question.

[J-Dub]

Seems to be a lot of posts on sensor-related issues. Forward sensor problems when flying into the sun. Ground sensor problems when landing. Where would it be advisable to disable the sensors? (ie: When coming in to land from high up, can we hover, and then disable ground sensors so we can manually land it? Or in a large field with no obstacles, would you disable all sensors to take out the unknown?)

 

[arciere]

Seems to be a lot of posts on sensor-related issues. Forward sensor problems when flying into the sun. Ground sensor problems when landing. Where would it be advisable to disable the sensors? (ie: When coming in to land from high up, can we hover, and then disable ground sensors so we can manually land it? Or in a large field with no obstacles, would you disable all sensors to take out the unknown?)

After a relevant number of flights with the MP it's clear for me that there is an hardware/design issue with the sensors. Sometimes the front ones are detecting obsacles when flying towards direct sunlight, and the MP just hover midair until yawed elsewhere, and sometimes the vps shows a false reading and the MP starts landing when you are full left stick down to reduce your altitude. So unless I am flying the MP in a mission where all the sensors can be definitely useful, I am now used to decide before each takeoff if it's safer to disable them. What happens if the MP detects an obstacle (which is not there) while flying back to you in an emergency RTH with no RC control, and stucks above a lake watching a mirable sunset? I don't wanna be the first one to give an answer to this question.


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[lknman]

I leave front sensors disabled all the time.


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[rocdok]

im thinkin of doing that due to mulriple false alarms....the only main concern i guess is a rth crash if i misjudge the tree heights?

 

[gregw]

im thinkin of doing that due to mulriple false alarms....the only main concern i guess is a rth crash if i misjudge the tree heights?

Just make sure to set RTH height with a good margin above anything around you. Note that there have been reported errors in altitude for the Mavic where it goes up or down, so I've been setting my RTH to the max legal height for Hong Kong of 92M...

 

[geigy]

Is it possible for the Mavic to return home, with the sun giving a false proximity reading? If not, it seems to me that this is a reason to disable the collision sensors during RTH.

 

[Heavysledz]

Is it possible for the Mavic to return home, with the sun giving a false proximity reading? If not, it seems to me that this is a reason to disable the collision sensors during RTH.

Yes, either turn off the OA sensors or flip it into sport mode as it will disable the sensors for you...

 

[geigy]

Yes, either turn off the OA sensors or flip it into sport mode as it will disable the sensors for you...

What about the case where RTH is really necessary, for example after I've lost signal. Can the Mavic figure it out, or will it just sit there staring at the sun until its battery goes down? Seems to me it's the second one, which means that early or late in the day, OA should be disabled for RTH.

 

[Heavysledz]

What about the case where RTH is really necessary, for example after I've lost signal. Can the Mavic figure it out, or will it just sit there staring at the sun until its battery goes down? Seems to me it's the second one, which means that early or late in the day, OA should be disabled for RTH.

in this situation, yes, turning of OA would allow you to perform an RTH without the sun causing any issues....just ensure you have a good RTH altitude set to clear any possible obstacle in the flight path.

 

[stratos]

I leave front sensors disabled all the time.


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Mate so if they are all disabled. How do you land?
I mean landing is semi automatic is it not?

Can you please clarify buddy?

 

[Droneymcdrone]

My mavic give multiple false obstacle avoidance alarms when in active track mode, it starts tracking then within 10m it pulls up saying obstacle avoidance then continues for another 10m or so and does the same thing, this will continue until the subject it is tracking is out of range.

Soo annoying as I want to get some video of my daughter riding her bike around the motorcross track.

I have not tried it with the sensors off yet

 

[JLane]

Just remember that with the recent software versions, turning off Forward OA does not automatically turn it off for RTH. There's now a separate setting for OA during RTH.

 

[scooot]

Hi,
So can the experts clarify the best setting for rth OA.
Taking into account the potential problem caused by the sun is it best to have rth OA turned off.

Thanks

 

[MavicCF]

Maybe I just got lucky with my Mavic, but I haven't had a single sensor related problem with sunlight etc. The bottom sensors saved me once in a low battery auto landing from ending up in a ditch. Sounds like most people aren't that lucky though and have the sensor errors. I'd try it close to home flying into sunlight etc and see what happens. -CF

 

[rocdok]

Mate so if they are all disabled. How do you land?
I mean landing is semi automatic is it not?

Can you please clarify buddy?

if the vps is off, it's like fully manual landing - it drops like a rock with very little touch...but not a big deal- you just need to try it on a safe surface.....

 

[newnan3]

I had the odd sensor issue of false obstacles in the middle of the day with the sun high in the sky on the previous firmware. Seems like i had one false obstacle incident on the current fw.

I leave all my sensors on even when I hand catch. Seems like i might need them one day...

 

[stratos]

if the vps is off, it's like fully manual landing - it drops like a rock with very little touch...but not a big deal- you just need to try it on a safe surface.....

good to know mate, will practice my landing later.

 

[sylvezter]

I had false obstacle detection with OA at high noon. Calibrating the vision sensors through the DJI Assistant app solved the issue. I know longer get false positives even when the sun is lower in the sky. I would recommend all who have issues to try this.