I updated to the 2/14/2017 firmware version and found that obstacle avoidance was too sensitive.  I was flying in the morning and the sun was low, just above the horizon.   The mavic would not fly towards the sun as it keeps detecting an obstacle.  At one point I initiated RTH and it happened to be flying towards the sun and it just stopped in the air.  I had to manually take control and fly it sideways.   If I lost RC connection, the Mavic would not be able to return to home.

When flying into the sun when its low on the horizon you probably should turn off the forward vision sensors.

Harbourside Posted at 2017-2-19 12:26
When flying into the sun when its low on the horizon you probably should turn off the forward vision sensors.

I have never had to do this before.  In any case, my concern is if I ever lose RC connection.  I would not be able to turn off the vision sensors.

Then I would turn them off at the start of the flight if you are flying into the sunrise or sunset.
Your own eyes are the only obstacle avoidance sensors you need and can rely on.

That is why you need to keep LOS AND It is a known issue from the start... Sun glassess and a cool Marguarita will do the trick.

Harbourside Posted at 2017-2-19 12:34
Then I would turn them off at the start of the flight if you are flying into the sunrise or sunset.
Your own eyes are the only obstacle avoidance sensors you need and can rely on.

What you are suggesting is an obvious workaround and I was not looking for this type of advice.

Please realize that I'm writing this to let other people know about this issue and so DJI can fix it, and so we don't have to contend with a workaround and potentially lose a drone.

The obstacle avoidance was added as a feature to be used, not to be turned off.

Yes I understand that, but it has many limitations as listed in the manual when turning it off is the best option for safe flying.
The only other option would be for someone to invent a pair of Mavic sunglasses for the front sensors

Harbourside Posted at 2017-2-19 13:06
Yes I understand that, but it has many limitations as listed in the manual when turning it off is the best option for safe flying.
The only other option would be for someone to invent a pair of Mavic sunglasses for the front sensors

Good to know, thanks.  DJI engineers are pretty smart, I'm sure they can come up with something.

I was flying over a lake today about 30' over the water and noticed the obstacle avoidance getting false positives whenever the flight angle was headed anywhere near the sun. I reckon it was the sun or the reflection off the water causing it.  I suspect DJI may have tweaked the OA just a bit. I've noticed it's now much better about picking up small tree branches than it was, sadly this seems to have made it more sensitive to bright light.  It's a trade-off I can live with. I rarely have OA active in open areas since I don't need it in that environment and it does appear to work better now in places I do want it to work. Is it perfect? Nope, but it may be a limitation of the sensors.  Perhaps they can offer a way for users to adjust the sensitivity to their personal preferences in a future App update. That would be pretty nice to have.  

I encountered a similar issue today.  I lost line of sight and attempted to use RTH.  The home point was directly into the sun and the Mavic began ascending and alerting to the presence of an obstacle.  I soon realized the Mavic climbed to an uncomfortable altitude in an attempt to avoid whatever it was seeing.  Right around this time, the low battery alert began chirping away as well.  Being new to the Mavic I was sweating bullets and was unsure of the problem;  I thought I was about to lose my new drone on just its third flight.  I cancelled the RTH, regained line of sight, and began to bring the Mavic back down.  As it descended, the Mavic continued to alert the presence of an obstacle and would not respond to commands to move towards my position.   As it approached 200 ft AGL the Mavic regained responsiveness and I was able to bring it home.  It wasn't until later in the day I realized the sun was the "obstacle".  Today I learned how quickly I can lose line of sight when glancing down at the controller and the value of a dedicated visual observer.  I also learned to turn off front facing obstacle avoidance when flying above the tallest obstacles.

Jdwyier Posted at 2017-2-19 17:37
I was flying over a lake today about 30' over the water and noticed the obstacle avoidance getting false positives whenever the flight angle was headed anywhere near the sun. I reckon it was the sun or the reflection off the water causing it.  I suspect DJI may have tweaked the OA just a bit. I've noticed it's now much better about picking up small tree branches than it was, sadly this seems to have made it more sensitive to bright light.  It's a trade-off I can live with. I rarely have OA active in open areas since I don't need it in that environment and it does appear to work better now in places I do want it to work. Is it perfect? Nope, but it may be a limitation of the sensors.  Perhaps they can offer a way for users to adjust the sensitivity to their personal preferences in a future App update. That would be pretty nice to have.

I can avoid the trees, but there's no avoiding the sun

I only encountered this issue after the 2/14 update, the avoidance is too sensitive.

Seamus Posted at 2017-2-19 21:18
I encountered a similar issue today.  I lost line of sight and attempted to use RTH.  The home point was directly into the sun and the Mavic began ascending and alerting to the presence of an obstacle.  I soon realized the Mavic climbed to an uncomfortable altitude in an attempt to avoid whatever it was seeing.  Right around this time, the low battery alert began chirping away as well.  Being new to the Mavic I was sweating bullets and was unsure of the problem;  I thought I was about to lose my new drone on just its third flight.  I cancelled the RTH, regained line of sight, and began to bring the Mavic back down.  As it descended, the Mavic continued to alert the presence of an obstacle and would not respond to commands to move towards my position.   As it approached 200 ft AGL the Mavic regained responsiveness and I was able to bring it home.  It wasn't until later in the day I realized the sun was the "obstacle".  Today I learned how quickly I can lose line of sight when glancing down at the controller and the value of a dedicated visual observer.  I also learned to turn off front facing obstacle avoidance when flying above the tallest obstacles.

I was actually setting for a shot and flying it low, maybe 5 feet AGL, and it would keep stopping because of an unseen obstacle.  I then realized that it was facing the sun.  I never encountered this behavior before.

Have to agree. There is a problem with the latest firmware and OA. I never had any issues on the previous firmware with RTH or flying toward the sun but this latest firmware is super sensitive.

yoengel Posted at 2017-2-19 21:41
I can avoid the trees, but there's no avoiding the sun

I only encountered this issue after the 2/14 update, the avoidance is too sensitive.

If you don't need it then it sounds like your best bet is to turn it off.  ;)

That's what I generally do, but I had just been flying through a narrow trail in the woods a few minutes earlier and had failed to turn it back off. Maybe they could let us program a button to turn OA on and off rather than having to go through the settings menu. Sure would be more convenient
(assuming they can't have good detection and not have issues with bright sun or reflections).
Edit: I reckon just switching to sport mode would solve that issue of unwanted false positives (but not when smart RTH is activated).  I have yet to actually use RTH except as a test. I'm often flying in woods and don't want the AC to climb automatically or attempt to return so I usually have it set to hover in case of loss of signal (except over water... lol)

This has happened to me when the sun was overhead and I was not flying my Mavic into it. So I don't think you can assume the sun is always to blame. And honestly, advising Mavic owners to disable functions that we paid extra for because they don't function properly is NOT a solution.

I also have it happening constantly now, no matter what position the sun is in the sky.    I do live near a lake though.  I wonder if it's getting bounced sunlight?

NomadRT Posted at 2017-2-20 11:18
I also have it happening constantly now, no matter what position the sun is in the sky.    I do live near a lake though.  I wonder if it's getting bounced sunlight?

Very possibly; many of my most recent flights were over water in bright sunlight.

Jdwyier Posted at 2017-2-20 07:20
If you don't need it then it sounds like your best bet is to turn it off.  ;)

That's what I generally do, but I had just been flying through a narrow trail in the woods a few minutes earlier and had failed to turn it back off. Maybe they could let us program a button to turn OA on and off rather than having to go through the settings menu. Sure would be more convenient

Hi jdwyier. when you are flying woods do you need to keep the mavic in line of sight or can you fly behind trees please? I am considering using mine for forestry work but will need to loose sight out to 200 mtrs.

I find it tough to fly through trees or down narrow trails because depth of field is hard to establish and the really small branches are very hard to see until you are almost to them. OA is ok, but it will never out perform not getting into trouble in the first place.  It's a high risk environment and dodging one danger can smack you right into another.  As a practical matter I'd have to say I don't recommend it. I'm working on other ways to get the shots I want by being very selective about the flight environment.  The Mavic is mighty expensive to risk destroying when you're not getting paid. ;)

PimpDawg Posted at 2017-2-20 10:55
This has happened to me when the sun was overhead and I was not flying my Mavic into it. So I don't think you can assume the sun is always to blame. And honestly, advising Mavic owners to disable functions that we paid extra for because they don't function properly is NOT a solution.

Have to totally agree with you. Your comments are spot on.