3 Fatal DRONE MISTAKES…when flying over water🔸DJI Mini 3, DJI Mini 2, DJI Air 2s, Mavic 3,
Summary
TLDRIn this episode, the filmmaker shares crucial tips for flying drones over water, highlighting the risks posed by downward sensors. He recounts personal experiences of drones crashing into water due to sensor confusion and explains the technical reasons behind it. He emphasizes maintaining a minimum altitude of 10 meters over water and the importance of rebooting the drone if it acts strangely. He also advises returning with at least 50% battery when flying far over water. The episode ends with an announcement of an upcoming year-long drone adventure across India.
Takeaways
- ✈️ Flying low over water can be risky because downward sensors on drones often get confused by the reflections and movements of the water surface.
- 🚁 The drone's downward sensors use visual and infrared systems to estimate altitude, but water's unpredictable nature can mislead these sensors.
- 🌊 Water surfaces appear more predictable to drones at higher altitudes, suggesting that flying above 10 meters might be safer.
- 🧐 The drone's altitude reading may not be accurate when flying low over water, so it's important to be cautious.
- 🔄 If a drone behaves unusually while hovering, it might need a restart, just like other electronic devices.
- 💡 Trust your intuition; if the drone seems off before a flight, consider rebooting it to ensure proper operation.
- 🌬️ Strong winds can drain drone batteries quickly during flights over water, so it's crucial to monitor battery levels closely.
- 🔋 Older drone batteries can deplete rapidly, leading to potential emergency landings.
- 🏠 When flying over water, aim to return home with at least 50% battery to ensure a safe return.
- 🎥 Upcoming drone adventures in India will focus on optimism and volunteering, with exciting new backdrops for videos.
Q & A
Why did the author decide to make this episode about flying drones over water?
-The author decided to make this episode about flying drones over water because of a significant crash prevention tip they discovered after years of experience and a few hard lessons.
What was the first drone the author owned and what happened to it?
-The author's first drone crashed into a lake near their house when the downward sensors got confused, mistaking the water surface for a landing area.
What are the two types of sensor systems in drones that help estimate the drone's altitude?
-The two types of sensor systems are the visual sensor system, which uses a downward camera and software to analyze images of the ground, and the infrared sensor system, which uses light beams to measure the distance to the surface.
Why do the downward sensors on drones get confused over water?
-The downward sensors get confused over water because the water surface is constantly changing with undulations, reflections, and shifts in color tones and textures, which makes it difficult for the drone's algorithm to process accurately.
What height does the author suggest as a safe minimum when flying over water?
-The author suggests a minimum height of 10 meters over water as a personal safety measure, based on their intuition and experience, although this is not an official recommendation from DJI.
What is the author's new flight protocol when flying low over water with their expensive drone?
-The author's new flight protocol is to maintain a minimum height of 10 meters over water with their expensive drone to avoid the risk of sensor confusion.
Why does the author suggest skepticism about the drone's altitude readings over water?
-The author suggests skepticism about the drone's altitude readings over water because the sensors can misinterpret the height due to the complex nature of water surfaces, which can lead to inaccurate altitude data.
What is the author's upcoming project involving a one-year drone adventure across India?
-The author is planning a one-year drone adventure across India, filming a full-length documentary about the power of optimism while hitchhiking and volunteering at leading charities.
What is the author's hypothesis about drone performance and how does it relate to electronic devices?
-The author's hypothesis is that drones, like other electronic devices, may occasionally experience operating system issues that require a reboot, especially when they exhibit unusual behavior before flying over water.
What is the author's new standard protocol regarding battery levels when flying drones over water?
-The author's new standard protocol is to ensure there is at least 50% battery left when returning from flying over water to avoid unexpected issues like sudden battery drain.
What advice does the author give for handling unexpected situations when flying drones over water?
-The author advises to always be prepared for unexpected situations like strong winds or sudden battery drain by returning to land with sufficient battery life and to trust one's intuition if something seems off with the drone before flying.
Outlines
📡 Downward Sensor Challenges Over Water
The script discusses the difficulties drones face when using downward sensors to measure altitude over water. The author recounts personal experiences where drones mistakenly initiated landing procedures while flying over water due to sensor confusion. The explanation delves into how visual and infrared sensor systems work together to estimate drone altitude, and how the dynamic nature of water surfaces can lead to miscalculations. The author hypothesizes that flying above 10 meters might be safer as water appears more predictable to the drone's algorithm at higher altitudes, but acknowledges this is not an official recommendation but a personal heuristic.
🌊 Adjusting Flight Protocols for Water Safety
After explaining the technical challenges, the author shares a personal flight protocol adjustment to mitigate the risks of flying drones over water. They now maintain a minimum altitude of 10 meters for valuable drones and 3 meters for less valuable ones. The script also addresses the trust built with drone technology and the need to remain skeptical about altitude readings, especially near water. Additionally, the author hints at an upcoming year-long drone adventure in India, documenting optimism through volunteer work and travel.
🔄 Addressing Sensor and System Anomalies
The final paragraph addresses the author's hypothesis that drones, like other electronic devices, may occasionally require a reboot to correct sensor or system anomalies. The author relates an incident where a drone showed signs of confusion during hover before a flight over water, which could have been a precursor to a crash. From this, the author concludes that if a drone behaves unusually during pre-flight checks, it should be rebooted as a precaution. The script ends with a tip for flying over large bodies of water, recommending to return with at least 50% battery remaining to avoid emergencies due to unexpected conditions like strong winds or sudden battery drain.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Crash prevention
💡Downward sensors
💡Drone altitude
💡Data fusion
💡Visual sensor system
💡Infrared sensor system
💡Operating system
💡Battery management
💡Drone flight protocol
💡Optimism
💡Drone adventure
Highlights
The importance of understanding drone downward sensors' confusion over water surfaces.
Personal experience with drone crashes due to sensor issues over water.
Explanation of how downward sensor systems in drones work using visual and infrared sensors.
The complexity drones face when estimating height over undulating water surfaces.
The hypothesis that drones may misinterpret their height over water, especially at low altitudes.
A personal protocol of maintaining a minimum height of 10 meters over water with expensive drones.
The suggestion to use older or less valuable drones for low altitude shots over water.
The challenge of visually estimating drone height over water and relying on controller readings.
The idea that the drone's algorithm might start to get confused at lower heights over water.
The anecdote of a drone wanting to land unexpectedly while flying over water.
The notion that drones, like other electronics, might need a reboot when they act funny before a flight.
The importance of skepticism towards the drone's height readings, especially over water.
Upcoming one-year drone adventure across India with a focus on optimism and volunteering.
The strategy to return from water flights with at least 50% battery to avoid emergencies.
The experience of a battery draining unexpectedly during a water flight, emphasizing safety protocols.
The final thoughts on flying safely over water and the value of the community's shared experiences.
Transcripts
and welcome back my flying filmmaker
friends so after years of flying over
water and a few hard lessons I'm finally
making this episode because of what I
discovered I have the most important
thing you need to hear for flying over
water then two more tips for you let's
start the damn show
this first crash prevention tip is the
reason I made this episode for us you'll
find this really interesting to
understand exactly why these downward
sensors on our drones frequently get
confused over water
the first time the downward sensors
failed and crashed into the water was my
very first drone I was at this little
lake near my house and my entire family
was there I proudly put my drone up and
of course everybody's watching I'm
flying about four meters over the water
then suddenly the fem bot inside my
controller says Landing in progress the
downward sensors over the water
got more confused than a hooker on
Sunday my very first drone was suddenly
a submarine
that was a few years ago but then last
week I'm flying my mini three about four
meters over the water and it suddenly
decides it wants to land Landing what no
are you high no now there's always guys
that are gonna say they've been flying
low over water for years and never had a
problem
yet they've never had a problem yet
listen you already know that flying low
over water is risky
but here's exactly why it's riskier than
you might know oh I'm gonna nerd out
here for two minutes on exactly how
these downward sensor systems work
and I think you'll get a better
understanding of the magnitude of the
risk we're all taking now the majority
of drones have two types of sensor
systems in them that work together to
guesstimate the height of the Drone and
some of the bigger drones have
additional sensor systems but the two
we're going to talk about now are pretty
standard across all drones the first is
the visual sensor system and it's a
combination of a downward camera and
very specialized software that captures
the images of the ground below and by
analyzing the images the drones onboard
algorithm detects patterns and textures
and features to guesstimate the altitude
of the Drone from the ground below it
now in addition to that there's an
infrared sensor system so One sensor
sends a light beam straight down and the
other sensor receives that reflected
light that's bounced back up and based
on the data of that reflected light it
tries to make an estimate of what's
below it so every fraction of a second
the onboard software is collecting an
insane amount of data from all these
different sensor systems then it
interpolates all of this data to try and
look for patterns to try and understand
what's below it then it makes
adjustments to the propeller Motors so
it's running thousands of calculations
every second to make a best estimate of
what's going on below it then you add
the huge amount of complexity of the
other sensor systems that are trying to
measure wind and velocity and obstacle
detection and GPS so when we're flying
low over water the water surface is
constantly undulating and reflecting and
splashing and shifting color tones and
shifting textures that adds complexity
that is orders of magnitude more for the
algorithm to try and understand so the
other actually pretty high that the
little onboard computer estimates a data
Fusion calculation wrong about its
current height over water now here's an
important point the higher the Drone is
over water the more the water appears
like a constant predictable surface that
it can understand okay so then what low
height does the water surface start to
appear unpredictable to the drone's
algorithm and then confuse it at what
low height I don't know but from now on
I'm personally going to operate under
the supposition that around 10 meters is
the height where the drone's algorithm
can start to detect some of these
changing characteristics of the water
surface and get confused that is not an
official DJI height I didn't read it
anywhere 10 meters just a height that my
intuition says is a height where above
10 meters the water surface seems pretty
predictable and remember even a calm
lake where the water surface is like
smooth as glass that surface is still
tricky for the drone's processor to
understand because it kicks off light in
unpredictable ways and even the color
tones are shifting all that's very
tricky for an algorithm to try and
process yep water surface is pretty
awkward for an algorithm to understand
kind of like love
we're gonna edit that out
so like I mentioned my new flight
protocol is a minimum height of 10
meters over water with my expensive
drone and if there's a killer shot and I
really want to get low over the water
I'll use my old Mini 2. oh sorry little
bastard I really don't want to lose it
I'm not going to be Reckless like I was
um from now on I'm going to keep a
minimum of three meters over water with
my mini tube oh man but here's the whole
point supposedly drone is 600 meters
away you can still barely see it at that
distance you can't visually tell if the
Drone is actually 10 meters over the
water or just one meter over the water
we have to rely on what the controller
is telling us but we just talked about
the possibility the probability of it
misinterpreting its height not being
accurate so the controller can tell us
oh we're fine we're 10 meters up but
it's actually only one meter high so my
takeaway here is when I'm flying low
over water roughly 10 meters or less
I'm gonna assume that that height number
on my controller is inaccurate yeah
these DJI drones they really are good
and reliable overall so over time we
just grow comfortable with them we build
trust with them so today's healthy
reminder is that height is the one data
point we really should maintain a very
generous skepticism of its height over
water now ha I got two more quick tips
for you
so this next tip is called she's acting
kind of funny Oh but before we get to
that in several months I'm leaving for a
one year drone Adventure across India
I'm filming a full-length documentary
about the power of optimism
as I hitchhike across the country
I'll be volunteering at five leading
Charities along the way I'll still be
posting drone videos every week here on
the channel it's just that the backdrop
of each episode oh it's gonna be pretty
wild so you're coming with me on all my
wacky Misadventures so be so kind as to
click that subscribe button and also
that little notification Bell so you
don't miss any updates the next thing I
want to mention about flying safely over
water it's a hypothesis I have and I
want to share it with you guys now I
sent my hypothesis to my contact DJI to
get their thoughts on it I haven't heard
back yet but as soon as I do I'll share
it down in the comments my phones my
iPads my computers all of them
occasionally the operating system just
acts kind of funny kind of like it's uh
been drinking some of Grandpa's special
mouthwash so I turned the device off I
reboot it started Parts back up Works
totally fine it just seems like
operating systems in general
occasionally need a restart so all the
drones I've had over the years on rare
occasion I'll turn them on I'll launch
them up and before I send them off on
their Adventure they're hovering here
and I just noticed something's off it
definitely wants to kind of drift down
and move around it's having trouble
hovering and that's not good when you're
about to go fly over water
it feels like an issue Beyond just a
temporary GPS reception issue it feels
more like the operating system is having
a data Fusion error it's miscalculating
so the Drone is confused kind of like
the operating systems on my phone and my
computers get a little screwy once in a
while and then need a restart now this
is an interesting point earlier I
mentioned that my Mini 3 Pro last week
was about four meters out over the water
and it suddenly wanted to land well
here's what's interesting it's either a
correlation or causation but
on that flight when I put the Drone up I
was hovering it here before I sent it
out over the water it was doing that it
was drifting down and it it just looked
confused it looked like it needed a
reboot I Shrugged it off and I went on
my flight and that's when 10 minutes
later it was out over the water and
wanted to suddenly land luckily I caught
it in time now was it related
all I know is I will not ignore that
little intuition anymore I'm gonna
reboot the Drone if any little funny
thing just doesn't feel right just like
all my other electronics the operating
system needs a reboot when they ain't
right it's just so easy for us to ignore
that faint little Whisper of a red flag
when the Drone is up it's hovering and
it's ready to go out on an adventure
[Music]
this last tip applies when we're flying
way out over the water
unexpected things happen on the way back
home I know not long ago I was flying
very far out filming this fishing boat
at Sunrise when I decided to return back
home oh boy suddenly I had a strong wind
I had to fight all the way back home and
that drains the batteries right quick I
just barely made it back to land by just
a few meters I do emergency land on this
little private land right here another
emergency happened when I was way out of
the water it was kind of a slightly
older drone battery and it suddenly went
from like 30 battery left down to almost
zero in 20 seconds
obviously I properly discarded that
battery but it almost cost me my drone
down into the water my new standard
protocol is when I'm flying way out over
water to return pretty close to back
home with at least 50 battery left from
now on so I share my experiences and
some thoughts about flying safely over
water that was fun today so I got so
much love for everyone in the community
here thank you for watching and I'll see
you in the next one
foreign
[Music]
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