I flew under a bridge, lost GPS and became alarmed by how far the drone drifted to the left.  

Luckily I retained control and didn't crash.

Not sure it's even possible but in case it is:  should I disable the Drone's GPS to practice flying without GPS on a 2s?

It seems like a good idea - like practicing skids in the snow so you know how the car behaves.

Thoughts?

Thx
Mike

Over the years I have lost track of how many posts began with "I flew under a bridge..."

How would you propose to disable the GPS?

Hi, Mike90210. Thanks for reaching out! We understand your intention however, there's no option currently to disable the GPS of the DJI Air 2S.

There is no way to turn GPS off, just be very careful under bridges the drone will be using vision sensors to try and maintain its position but over water the vision sensors are not great.  Make sure you have visual line of sight and be prepared to make constant adjustments.

Thanks @CaptainDangerous.

I've flown under bridges before and got some amazing shots.  

Last time, I disabled the vision sensors because I felt they were causing the drone to do some movements I didn't want.   

I will have to re-think my risky behavior.

This last episode was unsettling.

-Mike

Flying under bridges is something you should be doing.

Try taping some aluminium foil over the shell to cover the GPS antenna.
That works for Phantoms, so should work for Mavics.

Otherwise  you could just do a lot of training flights under bridges?

I went back to the bridge and managed to get through it without a problem this time.

I also scoped out an area much close which would give me a much better vantage point to do manual interventions if necessary.

I also enabled the vision sensors and set to bypass.

With all that said, I guess I'll have to agree with @MichaelMuni:  you should fly under bridges :-)

Mike

Labroides Posted at 6-13 16:42
Try taping some aluminium foil over the shell to cover the GPS antenna.
That works for Phantoms, so should work for Mavics.

I can confirm that on my MA2. Sitting in my living room with 6 satellites captured, I just put aluminum (not alumimium;-) foil over the top half of the body and the count immediately went to zero.

Thanks for experimenting Gary!!!

I think I need to find a large indoor space (e.g. gymnasium)  and practice !!!

-Mike

Mike90210 Posted at 6-19 04:36
Thanks for experimenting Gary!!!

I think I need to find a large indoor space (e.g. gymnasium)  and practice !!!

Buy a cheap drone for $50 most of them don’t have gps , they’re good fun but a handful to fly.

Hmmm, $1,300 U.S. dollars for my drone and cannot disable GPS at will, disable any/all sensors at will is terrible. That should be part of the settings of all drones. Make the pilot have the responsibility for whatever happens. I want to fly under and through stuff but now I'm apprehensive about it after this OP'ers issue.

VengefulHemi Posted at 6-20 01:51
Hmmm, $1,300 U.S. dollars for my drone and cannot disable GPS at will, disable any/all sensors at will is terrible. That should be part of the settings of all drones. Make the pilot have the responsibility for whatever happens. I want to fly under and through stuff but now I'm apprehensive about it after this OP'ers issue.

The reason you cannot disable GPS is for geo fencing reasons, its stops idiots flying drones over airports and in controlled airspace.  It’s not to stop you flying under bridges.

Ahh, that makes total sense Mr. Dangerous.  If you could easily disable the gps settings, it would render all that geo fence stuff irrelevant.   But wait:  how then does it let you fly inside?  I've seen videos of people doing that?

Mike90210 Posted at 6-20 05:37
Ahh, that makes total sense Mr. Dangerous.  If you could easily disable the gps settings, it would render all that geo fence stuff irrelevant.   But wait:  how then does it let you fly inside?  I've seen videos of people doing that?

It will fly without gps but it won’t let you turn it off

Mike90210 Posted at 6-20 05:37
Ahh, that makes total sense Mr. Dangerous.  If you could easily disable the gps settings, it would render all that geo fence stuff irrelevant.   But wait:  how then does it let you fly inside?  I've seen videos of people doing that?

I assume that flying inside does not infringe on any Geo fences unless you are flying inside an airline terminal ;-)

VengefulHemi Posted at 6-20 01:51
Hmmm, $1,300 U.S. dollars for my drone and cannot disable GPS at will, disable any/all sensors at will is terrible. That should be part of the settings of all drones. Make the pilot have the responsibility for whatever happens. I want to fly under and through stuff but now I'm apprehensive about it after this OP'ers issue.

You could get an old Phantom and practice with that. One thing you will find is that most crashes without GPS were directly caused by turning off GPS. So really it might be more worrying if you had a switch knowing that once you switch it you’re more likely to crash it than losing GPS and crashing.

GaryDoug, a totally interesting assumption?  I still have yet to fly without sensors.  I have been searching for just the right place where there is no one around and lots of clear space, where I can put the little-fella up and try all the things there are to try with it.  The day will come.