3 Fatal DRONE MISTAKES…when flying over water🔸DJI Mini 3, DJI Mini 2, DJI Air 2s, Mavic 3,

Summary

In 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

00:00

📡 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.

05:00

🌊 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.

10:01

🔄 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.

Keywords

💡Crash prevention

Crash prevention refers to the measures taken to avoid accidents, particularly in the context of drone operation. In the video, the term is central to the theme as the speaker discusses the importance of understanding drone sensor limitations to prevent crashes over water. An example from the script is the speaker's first drone crashing into the water due to sensor confusion.

💡Downward sensors

Downward sensors are components of a drone that help determine its altitude relative to the ground. They are crucial for safe flight, especially over water, as they can sometimes misinterpret the surface, leading to crashes. The script mentions how these sensors failed during the speaker's first drone flight, causing it to land unexpectedly in water.

💡Drone altitude

Drone altitude is the height at which a drone is flying above the ground. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining an appropriate altitude over water to prevent sensor errors. The speaker suggests a personal rule of thumb to fly at a minimum of 10 meters above water to reduce the risk of sensor misinterpretation.

💡Data fusion

Data fusion is the process of combining data from multiple sensors to produce a single, coherent understanding of the environment. In the context of the video, it's the method by which drones estimate their height and surroundings. The script describes how the drone's data fusion can become confused over water, leading to incorrect altitude readings.

💡Visual sensor system

The visual sensor system in drones typically includes a downward-facing camera and software that analyzes images to estimate altitude. It is one of the key sensor systems discussed in the video that can be tricked by the reflective and shifting nature of water surfaces, impacting the drone's ability to gauge its height accurately.

💡Infrared sensor system

The infrared sensor system uses light beams to measure the distance to the ground by sending a beam down and receiving the reflected light. This system, as mentioned in the script, works alongside the visual sensor system to help drones estimate their height, but it too can be misled by the reflective properties of water.

💡Operating system

The operating system of a drone is the software that manages the drone's functions and sensor data. The video script suggests that, similar to other electronics, a drone's operating system can occasionally malfunction, requiring a reboot. The speaker's hypothesis is that a drone acting 'funny' before a flight could indicate an operating system issue.

💡Battery management

Battery management involves monitoring and conserving a drone's battery life to ensure a safe return from flights, especially over water. The script recounts an incident where a sudden battery drop nearly caused a crash, leading the speaker to adopt a protocol of returning with at least 50% battery remaining when flying over water.

💡Drone flight protocol

A drone flight protocol refers to a set of rules or procedures followed during drone operation to ensure safety and success. In the video, the speaker discusses adopting new protocols based on personal experiences, such as maintaining a higher altitude over water and monitoring battery levels more closely.

💡Optimism

While not directly related to drone operation, optimism is mentioned in the script as the theme of a documentary the speaker is planning to film across India. It represents a broader message about maintaining a positive outlook, which can be applied to overcoming challenges in drone flying and other aspects of life.

💡Drone adventure

A drone adventure in the script refers to the speaker's upcoming journey across India, where they will be filming with drones. It illustrates the application of drone technology in creative and adventurous contexts, showing how drones can be used to capture unique perspectives and stories.

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]