Clouds/Fog = Avoidance Activate | Wind = Drifter

The Guy In The Helmet · Apr 20, 2019

Alight... just got back in after flying for about 15 minutes... And interesting discovery today out of some bravery on my part... as well as signficant curiousity.

For the first time ever, I flew my drone into what appeared to be low level cloud/fog... I knew that the clouds look a lot lower than normal but continued accending. And soon after take off, I could see clouds. At which point, I knew this flight would be different than all others...

It sure was different and turned quickly so (and nail-biting) as soon as I see 'object avoidance' activating front and back alarming of the 1' on both ends... I said to myself... this is not good... because... I also couldn't move any direction but up, down, or just hover... then, as I while I was regaining my bearings about what is going on at that moment, I saw that I had also drifted 400+ft away from the take off point! WIND was the contributor... and took my drone off course while it was just hovering... (The reason I think the drone couldn't move was because of the cloud/fog around it at the time.)

At this point, I was in panic mode and thinking I've very possilby lost my drone... But, that's when I proclaimed "NOT Tuh-Day!" and kicked right into rescue mode...

I honed in to the map, verified I am in Standard mode to conserve battery as I only had about 9 minutes for the flight home, and validated I still have control by moving the camera angle up and down (Thank God!!!). Even at this time, Evo was not moving in any direction and it continued to drift further away... Fighting the anxiety, I did the only thing I knew to do which was to lower the drone out from the cloud/fog... just as I did this, I was able to move in any desired direction again!

Ahhh... a breath of fresh air!!! I hung on and continue to control the drone's path home... I made it home and have my Evo in hand as I composed this thread for future reference...

This was a valuable lesson for those that may have considered flying in clouds or foggy conditions... Couple of things I can say for this is to 1) turn off the avoidance feature to maintain control and 2) maybe choose a different day to fly if wind and fog is present...

Cheers!

*Going to drink and smoke now... hahaha... I am joking... I don't do any of these.... but sure can use some relaxation right now...

xspwhite · Apr 20, 2019

UAV Forcast .Com is a good place to visit before you fly.

Jagerbomb52 · Apr 20, 2019

Could you not have just hit RTH? Or just turned off OA and flown home?

Apollo11capcom · Apr 20, 2019

Im not sure why someone would purposely fly into a cloud or fog bank in high winds, but to each their own, you're a braver man than i.

I'l say this, for it to have drifted 400 feet, those winds had to be hellacious!

Btw- ive experienced fog triggering obstacle avoidance, but only in the rear IR, not the front. Triggering the front O.A. would stop it in its tracks, just like you described.

G_G · Apr 21, 2019

Apollo11capcom said:
Im not sure why someone would purposely fly into a cloud or fog bank in high winds, but to each their own, you're a braver man than i.

Makes for really cool video, if you make it home after!

The Guy In The Helmet · Apr 21, 2019

Apollo11capcom said:
Im not sure why someone would purposely fly into a cloud or fog bank in high winds, but to each their own, you're a braver man than i.

I'l say this, for it to have drifted 400 feet, those winds had to be hellacious!

Btw- ive experienced fog triggering obstacle avoidance, but only in the rear IR, not the front. Triggering the front O.A. would stop it in its tracks, just like you described.

LOL! Thank you for the sentiment!
Described drifting occured over a period of 10 to 15 minutes... I haven't studied the map/travel/stats since... but if I were to guess, the wind was probably blowing say about 30 to 45 mph.

Agustine said:
Could you not have just hit RTH? Or just turned off OA and flown home?

RTH didn't work, suprisingly...

***UPDATE***
There was some fog today, and I wanted to experiment for the science. I turned off OA. I noticed again that I can only go up and down. And, could go faster when panning and accending vs just accending... coming down is the same...

No matter what I tried, the movement was similar/same as I experienced previously... And, I think Autel designed the drone to not fly in clouds/fog conditions... So, I am greatful for this design...

Jagerbomb52 · Apr 21, 2019

You might also want to listen to this pod cast. It might help you out in the future.

Wayne Maine · Apr 21, 2019

Did you have avoidence on? Sounds like thats what keep you in place.

jstacy · Apr 23, 2019

I fly in clouds/fog all the time and have never had any issues. I live on top of a mountain pass so I have low level clouds almost all the time. I have in the past actually had OA activate for a split second on a bright sunny day. I noticed that happens primarily when I was pointed directly at the sun

G_G · Apr 23, 2019

jstacy said:
I fly in clouds/fog all the time and have never had any issues. I live on top of a mountain pass so I have low level clouds almost all the time. I have in the past actually had OA activate for a split second on a bright sunny day. I noticed that happens primarily when I was pointed directly at the sun

Same here. Mostly flying through the clouds/fog briefly to get just above them. No issues.

Apollo11capcom · Apr 25, 2019

Agustine said:
You might also want to listen to this pod cast. It might help you out in the future.

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Holy smokes!!!

The FAA fined a hobbyist $20,000!?!

Have you heard what they fined him for? Doesn't sound like the title of 'Hobbyist' affords anyone any protection, we're all accountable for our actions... to the tune of 20 grand! That's enough to make you want to stay in LOS, 500 feet below the clouds, out of fog, away from airports and emergency personnel, etc.

Ignorantia juris non excusat!

G_G · Apr 25, 2019

Apollo11capcom said:
Holy smokes!!!

The FAA fined a hobbyist $20,000!?!

Have you heard what they fined him for? Doesn't sound like the title of 'Hobbyist' affords anyone any protection, we're all accountable for our actions... to the tune of 20 grand! That's enough to make you want to stay in LOS, 500 feet below the clouds, out of fog, away from airports and emergency personnel, etc.

Ignorantia juris non excusat!

Without more details, it's more fake news, like every UFO sighting by a pilot is now a drone, even though it was really a plastic bag in the air, or a hallucination! Drone attorneys have previously stated that over the last 5 years, only two cases nationwide resulted in any fines, and one was so egregious, over such a long period of time, and so many times, after being previously cited and warned multiple times, that they had to do something! The FAA has very clearly stated that they are more interested in education than fines, and warnings and education are the most likely result of even the worst offenses! Don't fly recklessly, and stay away from airports, fires, prisons, occupied sports stadiums, and crowds of people, and you will be fine!

MTPro · Apr 25, 2019

If you know you are in an open area, disable OA. Avoid it braking and halting for anything it sees as obstacles. Clouds, the sun.. annoying at times, and for me OA has ruined many shoots. No matter which drone I use, I turn that off unless I am flying from within a canyon or something.

mavicn00b · Apr 27, 2019

Actually if you're in high winds also disable OA. I found that with OA ENABLED (which reenables after every flight or disabling ludicrous) it limits the pitch angle so that OA can continue to work. The downside here is the craft won't be able to pitch forward enough to fight a headwind. Engaging ludicrous help however with the downside of losing altitude if the wind is high enough. I found with OA off the drone can fight the wind up until 36kmh/22mph in standard mode, with it on I was only getting maybe 5km/h so very easy to lose in a headwind if you're a newbie.

DJI simply tilts forward the required amount and notifies the user via app that OA is off while it's pitched forward (in other words, automated).

I really wish autel would allow the craft to retain certain settings that seem to reset to default after every flight..

G_G · Apr 27, 2019

mavicn00b said:
I really wish autel would allow the craft to retain certain settings that seem to reset to default after every flight..

Agreed! Autel assumes you are sharing your EVO with 5 year old kids, who need parental controls in place every time the EVO boots up, to restore all default safety settings. I'm surprised we don't have to enter a CC, too, to verify we are over 18! The annoying repeated "Weak video" messages during flight are also apparently for imbeciles, too. If your video is pixelating, you don't need to repeatedly be reminded of it with a text pop up over the already degraded video.