The question "can you fly an Air 2 indoors" keeps popping up every few days on here and on other forums for some reason.

DJI moderators keep stating it is "not recommended" for whatever reason, and lots of people jump the gun claiming it was not built for flying indoors, or that without GPS lock or without being 100% sure there are no ferromagnetic objects within 2 km of the drone (or whatever else is the raison du jour for every crash under the sun) it will be horribly unstable and just veer off into the nearest wall.

The truth is - every drone since Parrot.AR 2 with some form of machine vision / optical flow sensors will fly just fine indoors, as long as you're aware of prop backwash and don't do stupid things. This includes the original Air, and Air 2. Heck, given enough space, you can do it just fine with a Phantom.

To demonstrate, and so you don't have to try it and risk it, here's a vid:



See? Rock solid, nothing to worry about, even in bad lighting.
Sorry for the awkward demo, i literally had to do this one handed, because i've misplaced my tripod (so i had to hold the controller with one hand, and film with the other).

PS: The brief altitude drop is due to me trying to juggle the controller one-handed and reach for the right stick.  That falls under the "as long as you don't do anything stupid" provision.
PPS: Found the tripod, after the fact. It was in my car trunk. I swear it's like i'm getting senile as i near my 40s.

Just be aware that those optical sensors need a suitable surface for a reference. Highly reflective or strongly light absorbing materials, or homogeneous surfaces without a distinct pattern will not allow the MA2 to maintain its position. And of course keep in mind that there are no side or top sensors, so it won’t avoid obstacles in those directions.

MisterFrag Posted at 5-31 14:04
Just be aware that those optical sensors need a suitable surface for a reference. Highly reflective or strongly light absorbing materials, or homogeneous surfaces without a distinct pattern will not allow the MA2 to maintain its position. And of course keep in mind that there are no side or top sensors, so it won’t avoid obstacles in those directions.

Good points on both accounts.
I never fly indoors when there are featureless or highly reflective surfaces on most sides (and especially if the floors in particular are featureless and/or reflective).

Also, i tend to turn obstacle avoidance off for tight spaces, but that's just me - don't follow my advice.

Yep. That's just how I tried mine out the first time. Obstacle avoidance was turned off, so I could fly it around a bit. Once you turn it on, you won't be able to move much unless your room is huge ;-)

NIce

Dont do this if you have pets,  you'll discover how much fur is hiding in the room.

Hello there 0rcinus. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing this video with us. Please be careful while flying indoors as the DJI Mavic Air 2 stabilization feature may experience interference and might affect the said drone. in addition, if you really need to fly indoors kindly please use a DJI Mavic Air 2 Propeller Guard. The DJI Mavic Air 2 Propeller Guard protects the propellers and other objects from damage and it could also be use to makes the said DJI drone easier to transport. Please be safe always and have a safe flight always.

thx for sharing!

Looks good.