Indoor flight in dark environment by Evo II

[Ivan Kaltchev]

Hello guys!

I have Evo II 8k since July 2020 and perform many flights, especially by missions for aerial photogrammetry purposes. I am happy with my Evo II 8k, except the fact that can not set the resolution of the camera on 8000x7000! The real maximum resolution is 33MPx in this mode instead promissed 48MPx, but it is still very good for my purposes.

For my next task I need to flight and take pictures indoor in a very dark environment. I have not any experiance to flight in such kind of environment. I understand that the drone will flight in ATTI mode, without GPS. I am planing to flight in manual mode and taking picture by HYPERLAPS.

Are there somebody with experiance with this game? What will be behaviour of the drone and obstacle avoidance system? What I have to do to flight safely in these conditions?

Thank you in advance!

 

[herein2021]

Hello guys!

I have Evo II 8k since July 2020 and perform many flights, especially by missions for aerial photogrammetry purposes. I am happy with my Evo II 8k, except the fact that can not set the resolution of the camera on 8000x7000! The real maximum resolution is 33MPx in this mode instead promissed 48MPx, but it is still very good for my purposes.

For my next task I need to flight and take pictures indoor in a very dark environment. I have not any experiance to flight in such kind of environment. I understand that the drone will flight in ATTI mode, without GPS. I am planing to flight in manual mode and taking picture by HYPERLAPS.

Are there somebody with experiance with this game? What will be behaviour of the drone and obstacle avoidance system? What I have to do to flight safely in these conditions?

Thank you in advance!

At a minimum I would get the prop guards, personally I wouldn't do it at all. Depending on how dark it is, your images aren't going to be worth taking to begin with. I use the DJI Mini 2 with the prop guards installed for all indoor work. IMO the EVO II is just too big and too dangerous to use indoors. Also, taking a useable hyperlapse while flying manually is nearly impossible; the drone has to maintain a near perfectly consistent speed which is difficult to do manually, and without GPS flying in a perfectly straight line is also nearly impossible.

 

[Andrzej]

Agree with @herein2021, without GPS drone will be drifting all the time, it can be manageable but never stable enough for hyperlapse. Obstacle avoidance will not work if it's too dark. While landing the bottom lights will turn on so that landing itself should be safe.

Photos taken in very dark environment will require high ISO = lot of noise.

Drone seems not appropriate in this case.

 

[gschulzuio]

I regularly fly EVO 2 Pro indoors for progress reporting. This includes shooting video and photos, lighting has not been a big issue even in darker building if you adjust your settings camera settings.

Absolutely fly with the prop guards, there can be drift which you need to stay ahead of and anticipate, stay heads up.

 

[ScottWeaver]

I regularly fly EVO 2 Pro indoors for progress reporting. This includes shooting video and photos, lighting has not been a big issue even in darker building if you adjust your settings camera settings.

Absolutely fly with the prop guards, there can be drift which you need to stay ahead of and anticipate, stay heads up.

Could you please list your indoor flying settings for the Evo 2 Pro? Thanks very much!

 

[gschulzuio]

Could you please list your indoor flying settings for the Evo 2 Pro? Thanks very much!

Camera settings vary depending on the lighting, type of lights (e.g. for WB), customer requested settings etc. I have some clients who want 1K @ 60fps, others who want 6K or 4K @ 30fps log, etc so adjust accordingly.

You may have to experiment a bit before you take off, turn your histogram and zebra stripe indicators on if off. Adjust your WB to where it matches where you are, likewise your aperture/iris to where it needs to be along with ISO etc. Something to try is see what the E2P selects via auto for photo and video vs. what you want or think, then adjust manual accordingly.

As to some other settings, you may need to toggle OA off/on as needed for smooth flight and control, I have one of the backside key/buttons setup for this. I also set the bottom strobe/flasher light to 2 sec flash, plus have extra external Firehouse lights for example green on back for visibility. Also, double check your RTH and low battery warning settings, might seem obvious however something to keep in mind.

 

[ScottWeaver]

Camera settings vary depending on the lighting, type of lights (e.g. for WB), customer requested settings etc. I have some clients who want 1K @ 60fps, others who want 6K or 4K @ 30fps log, etc so adjust accordingly.

You may have to experiment a bit before you take off, turn your histogram and zebra stripe indicators on if off. Adjust your WB to where it matches where you are, likewise your aperture/iris to where it needs to be along with ISO etc. Something to try is see what the E2P selects via auto for photo and video vs. what you want or think, then adjust manual accordingly.

As to some other settings, you may need to toggle OA off/on as needed for smooth flight and control, I have one of the backside key/buttons setup for this. I also set the bottom strobe/flasher light to 2 sec flash, plus have extra external Firehouse lights for example green on back for visibility. Also, double check your RTH and low battery warning settings, might seem obvious however something to keep in mind.

Thanks very much for your response!

 

[gschulzuio]

Thanks very much for your response!

No worries, if you have not flown indoors, be aware that you may have weak or no GPS and thus in atti mode so be prepared for and anticipate drift by keeping eye on aircraft. Something I do is hold the controller with phone/device up about chest height or higher to reduce time having to look down and back up. Can take a bit getting used to, however can keep aircraft in view while making quick adjustments to camera etc, while being able to quickly see aircraft start to drift if it does so. Leverage prop guards, they add to the "footprint" however invaluable for when you bump into something. Also watch for lose items on the floor, or items hanging from ceiling, the downwash and subsequent updraft can cause things to fly up into the air and into the props.

 

[ScottWeaver]

No worries, if you have not flown indoors, be aware that you may have weak or no GPS and thus in atti mode so be prepared for and anticipate drift by keeping eye on aircraft. Something I do is hold the controller with phone/device up about chest height or higher to reduce time having to look down and back up. Can take a bit getting used to, however can keep aircraft in view while making quick adjustments to camera etc, while being able to quickly see aircraft start to drift if it does so. Leverage prop guards, they add to the "footprint" however invaluable for when you bump into something. Also watch for lose items on the floor, or items hanging from ceiling, the downwash and subsequent updraft can cause things to fly up into the air and into the props.

That's great. I've never tried flying the drone in ATTI and not sure if I can set that or it happens automatically if GPS becomes unavailable.

 

[gschulzuio]

That's great. I've never tried flying the drone in ATTI and not sure if I can set that or it happens automatically if GPS becomes unavailable.

If the aircraft does not have good GPS it will go into ATTI mode, after powering up aircraft, give it plenty of time for any warning messages to clear. Something to do is once you takeoff, hover about head or just above head height and see what kind of drift if any you get. Then do a slow rotate / yaw and see if you get any drift, and if drift how much input to counter without over reacting. If the aircraft wants to start drifting more than you like and can control land it asap and regroup.

 

[Curtwestergard]

Hello guys!

I have Evo II 8k since July 2020 and perform many flights, especially by missions for aerial photogrammetry purposes. I am happy with my Evo II 8k, except the fact that can not set the resolution of the camera on 8000x7000! The real maximum resolution is 33MPx in this mode instead promissed 48MPx, but it is still very good for my purposes.

For my next task I need to flight and take pictures indoor in a very dark environment. I have not any experiance to flight in such kind of environment. I understand that the drone will flight in ATTI mode, without GPS. I am planing to flight in manual mode and taking picture by HYPERLAPS.

Are there somebody with experiance with this game? What will be behaviour of the drone and obstacle avoidance system? What I have to do to flight safely in these conditions?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Curtwestergard]

We flew inside then killed most lights. Crashed Aut 2 rightcaway. Obstacle avoidance was on (?)

 

[herein2021]

We flew inside then killed most lights. Crashed Aut 2 rightcaway. Obstacle avoidance was on (?)

Like I mentioned above, IMO it makes no sense to fly a drone like the EVO II indoors even with prop guards unless we are talking massive airplane hangar sized warehouses.

Also, OA is not on in low light, a notification comes up on the screen and it shows another warning while flying that the lighting is too dim and that OA is disabled. I get the warnings all the time when flying at night. This is also why it has a landing light, OA needs light to function.

 

[Curtwestergard]

At a minimum I would get the prop guards, personally I wouldn't do it at all. Depending on how dark it is, your images aren't going to be worth taking to begin with. I use the DJI Mini 2 with the prop guards installed for all indoor work. IMO the EVO II is just too big and too dangerous to use indoors. Also, taking a useable hyperlapse while flying manually is nearly impossible; the drone has to maintain a near perfectly consistent speed which is difficult to do manually, and without GPS flying in a perfectly straight line is also nearly impossible.

I will be using powerful aircraft landing lights for nighttime illumination of my Evo light or Evo two. The concept is to have the drones move in and out of the spotlight beam like a moth near a lightbulb. I Time-lapse photograph this, and it gives me a good indication of a proposed buildings Heights. Have not tried this at night with or without obstacle avoidance. Suggestions are sought

 

[herein2021]

I will be using powerful aircraft landing lights for nighttime illumination of my Evo light or Evo two. The concept is to have the drones move in and out of the spotlight beam like a moth near a lightbulb. I Time-lapse photograph this, and it gives me a good indication of a proposed buildings Heights. Have not tried this at night with or without obstacle avoidance. Suggestions are sought

Maybe its just me, but I don't understand at all what you are trying to do. When I shoot elevation views I simply ensure that I takeoff from a position that is level with where the foundation of the building will go then use the altimeter to take an aerial rectilinear 360 degree image at preset altitudes AGL as agreed to by the client.

That type of project is exterior photography only and can be performed at night or in the daylight without any additional spotlight or lighting from the ground. From there the project is either complete or it gets sent to 3D rendering companies that create elevation views using 3D rendering software to show buyers their potential views depending on what unit they decide to purchase.

From your post I can't tell if you are referring to interior building photography (where you physically fly inside of a building) or a project more similar to the ones I have worked on. I also don't fully understand the purpose of the spotlight, to illuminate the drone? From that illumination you will try to show the proposed height of the building in relation to other buildings? Architects can usually do this pretty easily in their design software simply by drawing to scale since the heights of surrounding reference points are pretty easily known or measured.

Also, why do this at night? If your client simply wants to see how high they think their building will look in relation to other landmarks/buildings why not just do it in the daylight. The only thing I am sure of is that your OA will still be off at night, spotlight or not. OA simply does not work that way, all of the sensors need to receive an adequate amount of reflected light (not directed light) to stay enabled and a spotlight from the ground at night cannot provide that, if anything it will just blind the sensors that it does hit.

 

[gschulzuio]

I Time-lapse photograph this, and it gives me a good indication of a proposed buildings Heights. Have not tried this at night with or without obstacle avoidance. Suggestions are sought

Are you doing building heights from the building (e.g. center or specified locations) looking outwards to capture what the view will be from the building, or, looking inwards? Have done both including doing spherical 360s at center or different locations for example corners, or where penthouses, club rooms etc will be, and at different floor heights. In addition to shooting 360 panoramic, will also shoot some single shots with camera/aircraft pointed in different directions, as well as a video panning from left to right, right to left. When I do this I set the camera to J+R and give the client flexibility to use what images their sw needs. Sometimes I can get coordinates and offsets to setup waypoint missions to fly to a given location and altitude. Then either autonomous, or manually using the mission map as a guide template to position the aircraft. If in an open area with no obstacles and flat land a lot easier than in a condensed area with trees, powerlines, cranes, etc. Regarding OA, even in the dark, at night, or low light with it on, it may or may not be working, however the aircraft will think its on and will stop or stutter which is not fun when doing video. Thus turning OA off then you know and the aircraft knows its off you can get a smoother video or flight movement without stutters or pauses. Also keep in mind when windy outside, turn OA off for a possible performance boost as with OA on your speed can be limited. For indoors use prop guards regardless of if in large warehouse building or flying in a narrow hallway, hint (practice hand flying and with OA off and staying heads up walking behind aircraft). Another tip is when you get coordinates from builder, engineer, architect, developer as well as heights, you may have to convert from dms to decimal or vice versa, double check the coordinates and any conversions. Also have a coordinates written down on a handy check list to double check even if in autonomous mode, as well as enable display gps coordinates on your app. In addition, if you get a relative height or ground base point as a refference, verify if it is MSL or AGL, most likely it will be MSL so adjust accordingly. Also if the topography is not flat, compensate for that and keep in mind the aircraft bases its altitude from where it took off. So if you take off on ground that is 10' higher than the base of your building, you will be 10' higher. Likewise if you take off from the top of a truck bedliner that is probably 4' off the ground so adjust accordingly. If you are doing a lot of indoor work, suggest something like a DJI Avata that can be flown via FPV Goggles or without Goggles. With my Avata I can fly in much smaller spaces as well as carry a gopro camera if needed. Good luck.

 

[uas_gian]

Hello guys!

I have Evo II 8k since July 2020 and perform many flights, especially by missions for aerial photogrammetry purposes. I am happy with my Evo II 8k, except the fact that can not set the resolution of the camera on 8000x7000! The real maximum resolution is 33MPx in this mode instead promissed 48MPx, but it is still very good for my purposes.

For my next task I need to flight and take pictures indoor in a very dark environment. I have not any experiance to flight in such kind of environment. I understand that the drone will flight in ATTI mode, without GPS. I am planing to flight in manual mode and taking picture by HYPERLAPS.

Are there somebody with experiance with this game? What will be behaviour of the drone and obstacle avoidance system? What I have to do to flight safely in these conditions?

Thank you in advance!

interesting fact, your question from 2021 was never answered.

Meanwhile the same question came up on a new thread. So I am linking the topic for other people can find some relevant answers:
https://autelpilots.com/threads/flying-indoors.11639/