Lazy drone exploring

[Vidar]

So, my lazy plan of replacing lots of walking and climbing with drone exploration has proven to be a success. It is really a lot easier to spot out of place things from above. Two of these was even hard to find on foot even after spotting them with the drone, so I would likely have missed them without.

It also helped to find an old horse carriage trail which by now had old trees growing in the middle of it. Road building was by hand and expensive back then so chances are they didn't do it without good reason.

This droning should get real interesting in more interesting areas. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

That looks pretty cool to me!

It looks like you had a great time- that looks like a very beautiful area.  I'd love to hear more about it!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Oh yeah, and how is the flying going? 

Def

[Vidar]

It is the at outskirts of an old mining area. The main area a few miles away were discovered in the 1600s, and mined fairly extensively in the 1800s. These were likely just explorative efforts to branch out further. Documentation from then is a bit sketchy, so only one of these is on the official mine map of the area. Mostly various copper and sulphur minerals, graphite and iron. Apparently there should be lithium around there too somewhere, but I wouldn't know what those minerals looks like in nature even if I stepped on them.

Flying has improved a bit. Remembering to take the hood off helps a whole lot! I still haven't hit anything, so I figure the drone must be really clever on its own. It did blow/ fly out of range once over a hilltop which made me rather nervous there for a minute. It then showed up again as automatically returning home.

To my happy amazement the drone carry case with controller and 3 batteries fit perfectly in the lid pocket of the backpack, while the collapsible landing pad squeezes in just right behind the carry straps at the backpack. I couldn't have made it better on purpose!

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's great to hear!

You got the Mini 4k, correct?

I don't have that one but I use my Mini 3 Pro more often than any other, with the possible exception of the Neo.  The Return to Home is a great feature and one that has saved my bacon a few times.

You just have to remember to set the height, and that there are no upward facing sensors, so if you are under the tree cover and the drone goes straight up you will have a problem.

My father crashed his Neo twice because of that last month when I was at home.

Def

[Barry Rowland]

This is great!!

[Vidar]

We got the Mini 4 Pro, mainly for the better camera and raw format. I think it has upwards sensors too? Either way I try to think of the sensors as just failsafe and not rely on them.

The straight downward camera function is weirdly fun at times, so once I stumble upon inspiration and talent I'm sure that can give interesting maps/ pictures/ graphics.

The key issue so far seems to be strong winds at times. I've left it in the car or backpack without flying a few times due to that.

[Barry Rowland]

I would imagine wind could really make things interesting. 

[Vidar]

I imagine so too. I might be too worried, but I imagine strong wind gusts could send it crashing into something. Or not being able to fly back against the wind. I've seen it struggle to hold position with far less wind so until I'm more comfortable with the limits I try to err on the safe side.

[Barry Rowland]

We had a smaller one that didn't fare well against winds.  I don't blame you for being cautious. 

[nate j]

Some nice pics, thanks for sharing them!

I don’t have one of these but the questions about the sensors and wind speed intrigued me enough to look up the specs…

Apparently it has two wide angle sensors that are located on the sides at an angle above the horizontal (in addition to two in front and two on the bottom.  The manufacturer claims that “it detects obstacles from all angles”.

The max wind resistance is listed as 10.7 m/s (about 24 mph).  I’m thinking you would also have to be careful about having enough energy left in the battery for a safe return, especially if you had a tailwind after takeoff and would be fighting a headwind on the return.

[Vidar]

The max wind resistance is listed as 10.7 m/s (about 24 mph).  I’m thinking you would also have to be careful about having enough energy left in the battery for a safe return, especially if you had a tailwind after takeoff and would be fighting a headwind on the return.

I think it might be smart enough to take wind into account when starting the automated return due to low battery? Once it started to return with almost a third of the battery left. That seemed premature, but that return did take its time.

That isn't all the much wind, and certainly not up at some height. And it just being able to hold position isn't all that useful, so even less wind for actually flying around. Good to know. 

Edit: Talking about wind - that area has lots and lots of blown over trees. In some areas half the trees just seem to have fallen over in random directions. Not somewhere to camp in windy weather for sure.

[Grant Lamontagne]

The wind eating is what it can safely handle.  There are many videos on YT of people torture testing the drones and they hold up in greater winds.  I don't recommend trying it, but it is good to know that is a very conservative estimate.

Also, the drone will warn you of the wind is a bit too heavy for it, and it will tell you while you still have the ability to bring it back.  It will usually tell you that the auto return won't work, but you can still fly it back yourself.

As for the "all angles" view, that is only on a horizontal plane.  When you switch to vertical it doesn't really know what is above it.  You are welcome to test that theory as well, but I personally wouldn't!

As for the third of a battery thing, it's a common rule of thumb with aircraft and boats.  1/3 of the fuel to go out, 1/3 of the fuel to get back and 1/3 of the fuel in reserve.

Trust what the drone says- it's smarter than you think it is.  I have pushed it a few times and almost auto landed on a highway.   

Def

[Vidar]

Trust what the drone says- it's smarter than you think it is.

I have lots of faith in Buzz being smarter at droning than me, so everything it suggest goes. At least for now. I'm sure I'll become overconfident and stupid with more experience! 

Yes, we named it.. If we ever get one of those automated vacuums or grasscutters I'm sure they'll get names too. 

[Vidar]

It seems it does detect obstacles 360 in all directions including under and above.

Someone testing tree branches above: