Flying Above Dense Fog

[sirkkelley]

Try using adobe premiere rush and make sure your using SD card footage.

Just downloaded it. I will let you know how it works for me. I use a SD card transfer adapter to get the footage on my phone fast and it shows that the video quality is at 1080 when transferred but its the uploading at that resolution that isn't working for some reason. I will keep trying though. Thanks.

 

[Rocco Germani]

Just downloaded it. I will let you know how it works for me. I use a SD card transfer adapter to get the footage on my phone fast and it shows that the video quality is at 1080 when transferred but its the uploading at that resolution that isn't working for some reason. I will keep trying though. Thanks.

No problem. Adobe rush does work better on a tablet just FYI.

 

[davidkisley]

I think we all have different budgets and risk tolerances. My question was not an opinion of recommendation of your risk or budget. But more about the technical reasons. For example. Does the new mavic 2 have different sensor types that make this a non issue. An example I can think of is, when flying backward, does obstacle avoidance work? The answer would be, yes on a mavic 2 and no on a spark. Not trying to be a jerk about it. Just looking for two things. 1. Not a guess. 2. Not a recommendation if you think I should. The reason I’m asking is I love the spark and would like to upgrade. The mavic air and mavic 2 both feel like good contenders. I’d say mavic 2 has no fog issue, and mavic air does, that pushes the value of mavic 2 higher.

 

[Rocco Germani]

I think we all have different budgets and risk tolerances. My question was not an opinion of recommendation of your risk or budget. But more about the technical reasons. For example. Does the new mavic 2 have different sensor types that make this a non issue. An example I can think of is, when flying backward, does obstacle avoidance work? The answer would be, yes on a mavic 2 and no on a spark. Not trying to be a jerk about it. Just looking for two things. 1. Not a guess. 2. Not a recommendation if you think I should. The reason I’m asking is I love the spark and would like to upgrade. The mavic air and mavic 2 both feel like good contenders. I’d say mavic 2 has no fog issue, and mavic air does, that pushes the value of mavic 2 higher.

I'm not sure about the other drones tolerance, I've used a mavic 2 and air, but I don't own either. I only own a spark and have never had a chance to fly in the fog.

 

[Fred Abaroa]

I have so wanted to do this but keep chickening out. You’ve inspired me to take a risk

 

[sirkkelley]

I didn’t feel that it was a risk when I did it. I was mostly concerned about the condensation from the fog getting on the Spark. I have had my Spark try to land before when getting to close to an object underneath it (a platform on top of a tower) but when doing such things it will still allow you to increase altitude to avoid the landing. When I am flying in uncertain areas I always keep my pause button within easy reach. I guess the concern that was talked about earlier in this thread is that the density of the fog may make the Spark think that it is close to something solid and try to go into landing mode 400’ in the air. That’s not something that had crossed my mind prior to takeoff but I will take that into consideration next time.

 

[Rocco Germani]

I didn’t feel that it was a risk when I did it. I was mostly concerned about the condensation from the fog getting on the Spark. I have had my Spark try to land before when getting to close to an object underneath it (a platform on top of a tower) but when doing such things it will still allow you to increase altitude to avoid the landing. When I am flying in uncertain areas I always keep my pause button within easy reach. I guess the concern that was talked about earlier in this thread is that the density of the fog may make the Spark think that it is close to something solid and try to go into landing mode 400’ in the air. That’s not something that had crossed my mind prior to takeoff but I will take that into consideration next time.

The problem other people face is the drone thinking that the cloud is the ground, so it does the landing procedure and depends very slowly, thinking the whole way down that there's only one foot below it. My thought at a solution would be a decent in sports mode. Do you think that would work?

 

[sirkkelley]

The problem other people face is the drone thinking that the cloud is the ground, so it does the landing procedure and depends very slowly, thinking the whole way down that there's only one foot below it. My thought at a solution would be a decent in sports mode. Do you think that would work?

Possibly. I haven’t tried that. I would just pull up or cancel the landing.

 

[dudez]

Thx for the inspirational flight. All Hail Daft Punk:

 

[Rocco Germani]

Possibly. I haven’t tried that. I would just pull up or cancel the landing.

But then how did you land it?

 

[sirkkelley]

But then how did you land it?

Land it as normal. That is what I would do if it was attempting to land “on” the fog then continue the flight as normal.

 

[Rocco Germani]

Land it as normal. That is what I would do if it was attempting to land “on” the fog then continue the flight as normal.

So just push the stick down?

 

[sirkkelley]

So just push the stick down?

Or auto land when you are close to the ground.

 

[Rocco Germani]

But if I push the stick down, in theory, it will think the cloud is a place to land on, then will do the slow decent, thinking that it is landing all the way to the ground right?

 

[davidkisley]

I fail to see how a slow decent is dangerous. Is the fear that the battery will be zero before it lands?

 

[Kenneth Jackson]

But if I push the stick down, in theory, it will think the cloud is a place to land on, then will do the slow decent, thinking that it is landing all the way to the ground right?

I thought the Spark has a barometer to sense altitude?

 

[davidkisley]

I thought the Spark has a barometer to sense altitude?

Even so, let’s say I launched from the ground, then put a table over the spot and returned from home. As it decends, the sensor that is being tricked by the fog would see this and slow the decent to land on the table.

Another example, I launched from a bridge and a foot away decended and the sofware showed negative altitude. If it used your method that would have been impossible. But because the sensor could not see the ground, it was possible.

Also consider launching near a building. And gps drifting a foot. Coming down fast on the roof would not be pleasant.

I hope these examples make sense how the fog can place it into a slow decent mode. And that is desirable for any number of cases.

 

[wsalopek]

NEVER FLY IN FOG. In fog your spark looses reference to ground and altitude. You cannot go down as the A/C goes immediatly in landing mode

It's not a good idea to fly in fog...but...the fog will NOT keep the Spark from knowing where it is or it's altitude...nor will it go immediately into landing mode.

The one problem is the Spark won't descend into the fog from above, as the bottom sensors think the fog is solid, and will stop the Spark's descent.

 

[wsalopek]

Then you could technically disable your sensors, in theory that should work?

Correct.

 

[Rocco Germani]

Correct.

And you could disable them by going into sports mode? Because I have made the drone decend very fast in sports mode.