Autel Evo Altitude not correct!!

[resq3129]

I was flying to get some information for a company and when i was done i noticed that the altitude ( I was going to input data into a program like Precision Hawk) and noticed the altitude is way off. I am going to try and attach a picture and the details file. Does anyone else have this issue or know how to correct it? Wasted 2 hours and now company wants money returned because I could not supply altitude of the shots with the photos!View attachment 8702
View attachment 8703

 

[NicodemPL]

Did you placed and measured GCPs? Perhaps then it would still be ok to postprocess with adjustments.
How many satellites reception you had?

 

[resq3129]

I did not place any GCPs, The company has all the baseline information and just needed the pictures and data to do an analysis of site and to see how many cubic yards of soil / debris was onsite that had to be removed. They needed the GPS Coordinates that picture was taken at and the Altitude picture was taken from to do this. The GPS coordinates seemed to be correct but Altitude was definitely wrong by a longshot. If you notice one of the pictures says 0 as altitude!

 

[resq3129]

I had 20 satellites minimum as per UAV Forecast and full bars on remote for GPS or maybe 1 down from full for a brief time but always good!

 

[resq3129]

Here is another picture with the details showing I am 9 ft off the ground, as you can see I am well over 9 ft off the ground.

 

[Ansia]

I had this problem with my Evo and had to send it in for warranty. After a year it went back to displaying 0, so other than orthomosaic mapping, it won't fly for these types of missions.

 

[dotster77]

where did you take off from.. in my experience the altitude drones report depend on your height when you start the drone.. it is not based on sea level.. it shows the altitude above the takeoff point..

 

[NicodemPL]

@resq3129 - You should process data. Height is Above Sea Level in EXIF in JPG. Mine all photos from Warsaw area are at 150-170m while flying at 50 and 70-80m. Overall Warsaw is at 100m above sea level. So you have the height info (one was for 9m) and you can process data. Just try!

 

[resq3129]

where did you take off from.. in my experience the altitude drones report depend on your height when you start the drone.. it is not based on sea level.. it shows the altitude above the takeoff point..

The trees have been removed since this google earth image. It still does not make sense with the elevation. The town I was flying in has an average 18 ft elevation in this area. if you put in the Lat/Long you will see there is a river and a bay north of how this image is situated.
My controller said i was between 75 and 200 ft altitude during flight if i remember correctly. When i took off I let the drone hover for about 45 seconds to a minute and when I started drone up it sat on pad for over a minute also. Very confusing!

 

[resq3129]

@resq3129 - You should process data. Height is Above Sea Level in EXIF in JPG. Mine all photos from Warsaw area are at 150-170m while flying at 50 and 70-80m. Overall Warsaw is at 100m above sea level. So you have the height info (one was for 9m) and you can process data. Just try!

Thank you,
The company is saying they can not process the data because the altitude is wrong, I gave them approximates of altitude to try and work with. the actual altitude is off on the data from picture if you look at the picture I posted of elevation to another member. I know I was not flying below or at sea level also, so altitude should never have read 0.

 

[resq3129]

I had this problem with my Evo and had to send it in for warranty. After a year it went back to displaying 0, so other than orthomosaic mapping, it won't fly for these types of missions.

Thank you,
I really don't want to send it back to Autel and wait a month or more to get it back just to have the same issue after a year like you did and then have to start process all over again.

 

[Ansia]

@resq3129 - You should process data. Height is Above Sea Level in EXIF in JPG. Mine all photos from Warsaw area are at 150-170m while flying at 50 and 70-80m. Overall Warsaw is at 100m above sea level. So you have the height info (one was for 9m) and you can process data. Just try!

The drone takes altitude data from take off point. It has no way of knowing MSL.

 

[resq3129]

The drone takes altitude data from take off point. It has no way of knowing MSL.

So then it is still way off. I guess we will be cancelling the orders for the 3 Evo 2 duals, 3 Evo 2 Pros and 3 Evo 8ks. If they cant get the data right they will be useless to my full time job.
I was really looking forward to the EVO 2 line too! Oh well back to the drawing board. Thank you for your help.

 

[Ansia]

So then it is still way off. I guess we will be cancelling the orders for the 3 Evo 2 duals, 3 Evo 2 Pros and 3 Evo 8ks. If they cant get the data right they will be useless to my full time job.
I was really looking forward to the EVO 2 line too! Oh well back to the drawing board. Thank you for your help.

You will encounter the same problem, no matter which brand you go with.

 

[ovrszd]

It's always been my understanding that it displays height above take off point?? Never displays a number above sea level or any other reference than starting point?

 

[Gshots]

Did you take a picture ground level from takeoff so that the unit can have that data as it’s go to point?

 

[NicodemPL]

Well it should measure with AGL as starting point. And yes - in "Z" error with standard GPS can be huge, like 10-20m is normal. But still when I checked my photos after @resq3129 post here - looks like drone gets height from remote control, via phone based on google maps?
When flying at 150m height near my area (info from EXIF JPG) this is actually way more acurate to real above sea level then AGL. And during flight it shows height via AGL.

Just please check yours photos and EXIF info and try to compare these with yours real flight alt and to sea level. Perhaps its coincidence at my side but so far I do not have other explanation.

OR... (just came with this)
is there any chance that height in EXIF is in ft? Then 170ft = 51m which MAKES SENSE then and my previous info here is just a ********...

 

[resq3129]

You will encounter the same problem, no matter which brand you go with.

our Matrice 600 does not seem to have that problem. Oh well we will look into other brands because our industry is not too keen on DJI and has banned us from using them. Maybe go with the Skydio X2 for the bridge inspections and

Well it should measure with AGL as starting point. And yes - in "Z" error with standard GPS can be huge, like 10-20m is normal. But still when I checked my photos after @resq3129 post here - looks like drone gets height from remote control, via phone based on google maps?
When flying at 150m height near my area (info from EXIF JPG) this is actually way more acurate to real above sea level then AGL. And during flight it shows height via AGL.

Just please check yours photos and EXIF info and try to compare these with yours real flight alt and to sea level. Perhaps its coincidence at my side but so far I do not have other explanation.

OR... (just came with this)
is there any chance that height in EXIF is in ft? Then 170ft = 51m which MAKES SENSE then and my previous info here is just a ********...

I have looked back at alot of my photos that were shot at different locations and most read 0 ft of altitude. Some vary but nothing above 9 altitude that i can find so far and I have looked at many different locations I have flown all that would be various Altitudes of MSL so the AGLs would all be different too. Still cant figure it out. I have checked pictures that I used my phone (Samsung Note 8) with Mobile data and GPS activated and my Tablet ( Samsung Tab a 10.1 inch) that does not have mobile data and it seems to be consistent that the information in EXIF is reading 0 altitude or very low #s (Below 10). Still very confused, I have done compass calibrations, etc but it still reads 0 altitude when I was on top of a mountain and was flying at 300 ft according to the remote it still read 0 for altitude!

 

[NicodemPL]

Sorry but yours really seems to be broken

 

[resq3129]

Yes it is an Autel is trying to tell me that it isnt! They will check it out if i ship it to them and pay the costs of shipping it to them and them shipping it back to me, oh and paying them to diagnose it. This particular drone was given to me as a gift and the person who purchased it has passed away and nobody knows where it was purchased from or when. I received it in November of 2019! Not very happy with Autel right now!!