What's up with Mavic3 and trees ?

[VanP]

Since the launch of the Mavic 3 I have seen video after video of new Mavic 3 owners wanting to test the new improved APAS. And video after video I see people trying to fly their shiny new Mavic 3's into tree limbs, actually bare tree limbs with no leaves ! It appears some things just can't be detected, fly safe fly smart everyone.

 

[wco81]

Yeah I don't find photos and videos of taken from the middle of foliage to be too interesting, YMMV.

I guess people are trying to replicate those Skydio demos of someone running through the forest?

Or those GoPro types who want to film themselves going through an obstacle course in the woods, with zip lining thrown in for good measure?

 

[CanadaDrone]

I think the concern is that the advanced RTH uses the same sensors to guide itself home, so people do those tests to get some comfort that the M3 will in fact be able to detect more challenging obstacles such as foliage or skinny branches if the drone is going to fly itself home over or around obstacles.

 

[wco81]

I think the concern is that the advanced RTH uses the same sensors to guide itself home, so people do those tests to get some comfort that the M3 will in fact be able to detect more challenging obstacles such as foliage or skinny branches if the drone is going to fly itself home over or around obstacles.

Can you disable RTH so that it always returns at say 150 feet and then comes straight down?

(this is currently what the M2P can be set at, using DJI Go app. Not sure if the Fly app has similar setting?)

That way it doesn't have to try to navigate obstacles. I was wary of it flying around power lines so I set the altitude high and it just stays high and then drops straight down.

Bonus also that you can film while it's in RTH mode and you can get a decent 1-2 minute of footage as it RTH and you can pan the gimbal.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Can you disable RTH so that it always returns at say 150 feet and then comes straight down?

(this is currently what the M2P can be set at, using DJI Go app. Not sure if the Fly app has similar setting?)

That way it doesn't have to try to navigate obstacles. I was wary of it flying around power lines so I set the altitude high and it just stays high and then drops straight down.

Bonus also that you can film while it's in RTH mode and you can get a decent 1-2 minute of footage as it RTH and you can pan the gimbal.

Yes, to my knowledge you can use the "old" RTH method.

 

[zeusfl]

You can not disable the Advance RTH at least with the current firmware, however, if the lighting conditions are poor for the vision sensors the drone switch to the old RTH way.

I have a video testing APAS 5 against the trees. It does a good job.

 

[wco81]

Presumably the obstacle avoidance won't work against power lines if it won't work against thin tree branches in the winter when there aren't any leaves.

Wonder if the Advanced RTH will cause more problems than the old RTS with required minimal altitude that can be user-configured.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Presumably the obstacle avoidance won't work against power lines if it won't work against thin tree branches in the winter when there aren't any leaves.

Wonder if the Advanced RTH will cause more problems than the old RTS with required minimal altitude that can be user-configured.

I haven't seen any powerline tests, but it appears to work extremely well with thin branches without any leaves:

 

[zeusfl]

Presumably the obstacle avoidance won't work against power lines if it won't work against thin tree branches in the winter when there aren't any leaves.

Wonder if the Advanced RTH will cause more problems than the old RTS with required minimal altitude that can be user-configured.

And that is the exact reason a paid 2 years of Refresh kit with DJI. Otherwise, I never crashed a drone in 7 years. I hope i keep the record. LOL.

 

[maggior]

You can not disable the Advance RTH at least with the current firmware, however, if the lighting conditions are poor for the vision sensors the drone switch to the old RTH way.

I have a video testing APAS 5 against the trees. It does a good job.

The incessant "automatic avoidance" prompt would drive me insane The fact that the telemetry info and information icons are all outside of the camera view, is that because you are using a tablet? I've never seen that before. Android or iPad?

 

[zeusfl]

The incessant "automatic avoidance" prompt would drive me insane The fact that the telemetry info and information icons are all outside of the camera view, is that because you are using a tablet? I've never seen that before. Android or iPad?

That is the screen recording from the iPad mini 5 with the new IOS 15.

 

[Chaosrider]

You can not disable the Advance RTH at least with the current firmware, however, if the lighting conditions are poor for the vision sensors the drone switch to the old RTH way.

I have a video testing APAS 5 against the trees. It does a good job.

Think back to the old science fiction movie, "Lawnmower Man".

"Access denied...access denied...access denied...access denied..."

Fascinating, and very impressive.

One thing I was watching for, and don't know that I saw, was whether or not it will deflect *DOWN*, when faced with an obstacle above.

For example, if it's flying under a canopy of trees trying to get home, and a low-hanging branch appears above it, which it could safely avoid by descending...will it do that?

Thanks for this!



TCS

 

[Kentucky Ranger]

Since the launch of the Mavic 3 I have seen video after video of new Mavic 3 owners wanting to test the new improved APAS. And video after video I see people trying to fly their shiny new Mavic 3's into tree limbs, actually bare tree limbs with no leaves ! It appears some things just can't be detected, fly safe fly smart everyone.

The advanced RTH feature of the M3 is a deal breaker for me. There are just too many risks allowing autonomous control for this maneuver.

 

[Chaosrider]

The advanced RTH feature of the M3 is a deal breaker for me. There are just too many risks allowing autonomous control for this maneuver.

I think it's cool, and it would definitely be a plus if I was in the market for a drone in that price range.

Which I'm not...

TCS

 

[Kentucky Ranger]

I think it's cool, and it would definitely be a plus if I was in the market for a drone in that price range.

Which I'm not...

TCS

It would be cool, until you fly in the woods, getting awesome footage, then watch in horror, as the drone returns to home, right into a grove of leafless trees, or flys into a nest of power lines…
I’d much rather have my drone climb to 250’ return to home, then safely descend. There’s no reason to make a drone RTH as low as possible.
The only way I’d buy an M3 is if they update the firmware, to allow me to permanently disable ARTH.

 

[Mavic3RCPro]

I've flown both Skydio 2 and Mavic 3 and I found the Mavic 3 to be far more nimble at detecting obstacles. One of the biggest problems with Skydio 2 is that it will easily fly into trees with medium foliage, and then, good luck figuring out how to get it out of there without hitting any branches. The Mavic 3 has a much bigger bubble around it and so detects branches with medium foliage much earlier than Skydio 2 does.

Skydio 2 markets itself as an autonomous drone. Sadly, it's anything but. You do have to keep an eye on it. All the time.

The Mavic 3 does not market itself as an autonomous drone. But I would trust it far more as an autonomous drone once the updates come out in January.

 

[Chaosrider]

It would be cool, until you fly in the woods, getting awesome footage, then watch in horror, as the drone returns to home, right into a grove of leafless trees, or flys into a nest of power lines…
I’d much rather have my drone climb to 250’ return to home, then safely descend. There’s no reason to make a drone RTH as low as possible.
The only way I’d buy an M3 is if they update the firmware, to allow me to permanently disable ARTH.

I'd certainly want an option to disable it, but I probably wouldn't use it much.

There are no power lines where I fly. They're underground...

;-)

TCS

 

[Antero52]

Presumably the obstacle avoidance won't work against power lines if it won't work against thin tree branches in the winter when there aren't any leaves.

It's been windy and rainy. Today, because of the wind, I flew low and made a few passes below a "local" power line (about 20kV or so, with the line about 10m (33ft) above ground. Every time my Mavic 3 flew under the power line, I got an indication that there was an obstacle about 3 meters below (ground) and another one about 6 meters above (the power line, or actually three lines).

 

[wco81]

The advanced RTH feature of the M3 is a deal breaker for me. There are just too many risks allowing autonomous control for this maneuver.

In some countries, autonomous flight is prohibited, especially near people or near certain types of property.

Wonder if those countries would ban or restrict the M3 because of the Advanced RTH which can't be turned off.

 

[bheiser1]

You can not disable the Advance RTH at least with the current firmware, however, if the lighting conditions are poor for the vision sensors the drone switch to the old RTH way.

Yup. You can specify the max RTH altitude but it decides when to use it.

BTW I didn't set the "49 ft" settings. There was an app update this week and that must have reset what I had in there.