Hello to everybody here!

Is there a simple way to force atti mode?
Considering the number of flyaway stories I think it is wise to get some practice flying the drone in this mode.

Obviously I’d like to practice in an open area, which however is very likely to have a strong gps signal.

Any ideas other than opening up the case, finding the gps antennas and disconnecting them?

OMG! Please, don’t do this!

Yes put aluminum foil up to the shell near nose wich is gps module....

We had a similar conversation in another forum topic.  Answers included the above, or even connecting a magnet to the drone.  Nothing practical and nothing that should be seriously considered (but hey, if one owns a drone and a magnet...).

In some recent experimentation with my P3S (where atti mode can be activated manually) I discovered that the mode really does not disable GPS.  It alters behavior of the drone so that it flies as if GPS info is not available.  But it still tracks on the map, and still has that information available to it.

If you alter your drone in a manner to force ATTI, you are truly taking away it's knowledge of GPS.  It will be unable to know it's location, to fly home, etc.  I advocate pilots practicing atti mode flights if possible, because atti flights can be quite an eye opener for those who haven't had much experience of flying in this mode.  It's not as hard as one thinks (as I make it sound) if one has some practice and experience.  But it can be shocking for the uninitiated.

I don't recommend lobotomizing the drone to achieve this.  I'm fortunate enough to have enough resources to own a spark and p3s.

I don't recommend a magnet because it may cause a permanent damage to the ICU GPS compass board....

So far DJI did not implement this (as you found out).
There are ways to modify your Spark's FW and that will give you ATTI mode, at least so I have heard, but that is not advisable of course.  

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-6 11:33
So far DJI did not implement this (as you found out).
There are ways to modify your Spark's FW and that will give you ATTI mode, at least so I have heard, but that is not advisable of course.

Yes, I remember a forum conversation a month back where I asked a participant four or five times in four or five different ways how he/she was able to achieve a user controlled atti flight on the spark.  He/she finally revealed that a mod was used.

Which I find cool, by the way.  I'm an advocate, and there's a business place and value to users who perform these extreme acts.  There's a business case to be made for a company quietly and unofficially supporting the efforts of these individuals.  But I'm unwilling to mod my spark while I'm under warranty.

It is software within the assistant 2 that is being used. They are finally doing something about it, the development console is no longer accessible after Assistant+2+1.1.2 and we all get it as to why.

It is surely an advantage not to be afraid of ATTI and do some training with it so you feel comfortable, pity Spark doesn't offer this possibility. Over here even getting a smalest license for drone forces you have to pass also some practical tests in ATTI mode only, so one of mine was to take of in the open to 20mH and 190mDistance, still VLOS, then i had to watch instructor and yawing the drone for about 30 sec, so you don't know his orientation and then bring it back in a straight line and land whitout looking at the device (it was with P4), that is a very good ATTI-exercise!.. Sorry getting of topic..

Thanks for your replies!

I'll definitely try with DJI assistant, which looks like the less intrusive way of doing it assuming that DJI did provide a way to enable ATTI mode but simply didn't provide the UI for it so that regular users don't crash their drones. My second option will be the aluminium foil. The magnet seems a terrible idea for many things and probably will not even affect the GPS signal after all.. it will mess up with compass for sure (which is not what i want)

You never know if or when a compass error + flyaway can happen so I just want to get some experience flying the drone in ATTI mode.

To the DJI mods reading this, I suggest forwarding these considerations to the engineering team. It is a matter of being prepared when bad things happen

Probably better to buy yourself a cheap drone and practice with that.

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-10-6 12:20
Probably better to buy yourself a cheap drone and practice with that.

this is true, but how could i be sure that it behaves as the spark in ATTI?

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-10-6 12:20
Probably better to buy yourself a cheap drone and practice with that.

I have a Nano QX that I use for indoor flying.  It is definitely helpful in improving my piloting skills, but it's still not quite the same as practicing control of the craft in light breezes or swirling winds.

I've also bought some indoor/outdoor cheap drones, but I haven't found one that truly satisfies me.  One that I bought (forget the model) is comparable in size to the Phantom, but is super light.  With no heft, even ever-so-slight breezes owns the drone, and I found that it was not an effective drone for outdoor practice.  I can't advice on what the perfect cheap outdoor drone is, but I would advise that buying semi-large-super-light is not the way to go.

Charles Adams Posted at 2017-10-6 12:31
I have a Nano QX that I use for indoor flying.  It is definitely helpful in improving my piloting skills, but it's still not quite the same as practicing control of the craft in light breezes or swirling winds.

I've also bought some indoor/outdoor cheap drones, but I haven't found one that truly satisfies me.  One that I bought (forget the model) is comparable in size to the Phantom, but is super light.  With no heft, even ever-so-slight breezes owns the drone, and I found that it was not an effective drone for outdoor practice.  I can't advice on what the perfect cheap outdoor drone is, but I would advise that buying semi-large-super-light is not the way to go.

Hi, the really cheap drones in the 200 gram range are not comparable to the spark, the one i find really comes close in speed and agility and does OK in wind is the 2016 budget drone X8UW, its fun to fly thru a hula hoop course and takes a lot of practice to do that at full speed, even practiced to a point were i can recover it from bouncing of a tree and the need to descent to gain enough speed in high winds. It took me almost 200 hours to fully master it.

Parme Posted at 2017-10-6 12:30
this is true, but how could i be sure that it behaves as the spark in ATTI?

It is better to learn to fly manually, when your spark goes into ATTI mode you will know how to react to it and not panic and safely fly your drone back to you.  

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-10-6 12:59
It is better to learn to fly manually, when your spark goes into ATTI mode you will know how to react to it and not panic and safely fly your drone back to you.

This is the point of this whole topic

Hi, Parme, I understand your consideration with flying in ATTI mode. But Spark could not enter this mode manually, it only goes into ATTI mode when the environment doesn't acquire much GPS signal. But please do not open the shell or modify it for the safety of flight and warranty maintenance. I had forwarded the need of switching ATTI mode to our engineers, but it seems quite little possible as you can see there is only a switch between P mode and Sport. I personally hope more mode and functions could be available in the future.