Flying considerations flying under tall bridge without GPS / VPS

[Jeremy Lanfranco]

I'm dying to fly at slow speed under this stone bridge in Mosta, Malta Europe. I have no problem disabling obstacle avoidance. My question is, will my spark go crazy without GPS and VPS guidance? Any previous experiences? The people abseiling and on the top demonstrates the size of the bridge.

Thanks in advance!

.

 

[dat1]

If there is no wind, your Spark should stay stable.
You can use tripod mode to fly smooth & easy.
Just be sure to keep the remote antennas in line of
sight with Spark. Ideally you should place yourself
under the bridge between the structure you intend
to fly by.
Keep us in touch, try to post a video of it.

 

[Jeremy Lanfranco]

Thanks!
I'll just risk it! I'll do high speed FPV first not to give time for GPS to get disorientated. I'll post here once it's done.

 

[DameEdnaBrown]

Thanks!
I'll just risk it! I'll do high speed FPV first not to give time for GPS to get disorientated. I'll post here once it's done.

I suggest you set the RTH height in the app to RTH at its current height. If you leave it set to say 50 mtrs and your spark looses connection, it will rise to this set height which may cause it to hit the underside of the bridge.

 

[Gavieboydgi]

I'm dying to fly at slow speed under this stone bridge in Mosta, Malta Europe. I have no problem disabling obstacle avoidance. My question is, will my spark go crazy without GPS and VPS guidance? Any previous experiences? The people abseiling and on the top demonstrates the size of the bridge.

Thanks in advance!

.View attachment 8511

We had massive dense Fog the other day so I climbed a hillside to get as high as I could and popped the spark above the fog/clouds and when I tried coming back down my spark wouldn't drop past the top of the fog my remote started bleeping like it was landing and very slowly and I mean very slowly it start to come down my battery got to about 10% and I was still 300 foot up. I was really getting ready for my spark to run out of battery and just drop into the field I was stood. I can't believe DJI hasn't just put a setting so we can switch that VPS sensor off.

 

[Andre Levite]

We had massive dense Fog the other day so I climbed a hillside to get as high as I could and popped the spark above the fog/clouds and when I tried coming back down my spark wouldn't drop past the top of the fog my remote started bleeping like it was landing and very slowly and I mean very slowly it start to come down my battery got to about 10% and I was still 300 foot up. I was really getting ready for my spark to run out of battery and just drop into the field I was stood. I can't believe DJI hasn't just put a setting so we can switch that VPS sensor off.

On the surface it seems odd that DJI allows us to turn off Obstacle Avoidance (OA) but not Visual Positioning System (VPS) but...

the engineers rightly assumed that if VPS turned off at take off (or mid-flight) that lots of users would forget to turn it back on and then land too hard without the sensor's guidance.

I have read that Litchi has the option to turn off VPS but can't confirm that's in the most current version.

This is the fifth or sixth story I've heard about fog causing loss of control. I'm going to avoid the temptation to fly in it -- I'm just not that brave.

 

[Jeremy Lanfranco]

I suggest you set the RTH height in the app to RTH at its current height. If you leave it set to say 50 mtrs and your spark looses connection, it will rise to this set height which may cause it to hit the underside of the bridge.

Yes.. that would be an excellent consideration. Thanks!

 

[Jeremy Lanfranco]

We had massive dense Fog the other day so I climbed a hillside to get as high as I could and popped the spark above the fog/clouds and when I tried coming back down my spark wouldn't drop past the top of the fog my remote started bleeping like it was landing and very slowly and I mean very slowly it start to come down my battery got to about 10% and I was still 300 foot up. I was really getting ready for my spark to run out of battery and just drop into the field I was stood. I can't believe DJI hasn't just put a setting so we can switch that VPS sensor off.

Yep.. unfortunately fog is like the ground (when you are above it) It will come down, but it will take it's sweet time In my case I would like VPS to hold the position of the spark if GPS fails under the bridge. I believe I read your fog thread last week.

 

[lmel2005]

Yes.. that would be an excellent consideration. Thanks!

No, it's not, actually.

If drone has no GPS strong signal, it enters ATTI mode.
In ATTI mode, there's no RTH, because drone doesn't know where it is, and where home point was.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

No, it's not, actually.

If drone has no GPS strong signal, it enters ATTI mode.
In ATTI mode, there's no RTH, because drone doesn't know where it is, and where home point was.

If it enters ATTI mode, it doesn't matter what the RTH height is set to since it won't RTH. But It's still probably prudent to have it set lower than the bottom of the bridge span in the event GPS lock is regained.

And it's conceivable that the controller connection could be lost without losing GPS ... making a good case to be sure the RTH height is set appropriately.

 

[Jeremy Lanfranco]

ATTI mode does not bother me. I'm very proficient in GPS free drones in FPV. My concern is that since I cannot enter into ATTI mode manually, would the loss of GPS signal freak out the spark, making it go out of control without VPS? Or does it just behave like the phantom 4 in ATTI mode and lets me take corrective measures to control the aircraft?

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

ATTI mode does not bother me. I'm very proficient in GPS free drones is FPV. My concern is that since I can not enter into ATTI mode manually, would the loss of GPS signal freak out the spark making it go out of control without VPS? Or does it just behave like the phantom 4 in ATTI mode and lets me take corrective measures to control the aircraft?

If your controller connection to the Spark is good, you have full control.

 

[charliespark]

Looking at the bridges I would be amazed if you lost GPS - but don't hold me to it!

 

[Gavieboydgi]

ATTI mode does not bother me. I'm very proficient in GPS free drones in FPV. My concern is that since I cannot enter into ATTI mode manually, would the loss of GPS signal freak out the spark, making it go out of control without VPS? Or does it just behave like the phantom 4 in ATTI mode and lets me take corrective measures to control the aircraft?

Why don't you put the sports switch into Atti mode change it in assistant that's what I'm doing for my Mavic and Spark drones I'd rather have my switch as GPS and Atti mode instead of Sports.

 

[Gavieboydgi]

All modes are pictured in Wayne picture at the bottom