Hi,

So a bunch of us drone geeks were sitting around having a few beers the other night and an interesting question came up - if the GPS system were unavailable (e.g. coronal mass ejection, enemy nation state took out satellites, etc.) would we still be able to fly our DJI drones (Mini 2 in my case)? I assume that if the drone can't get any GPS signal it won't let you take off, but I can't think of any way to test that.

Anyone know for sure?

Thanks

John

Hi,

Drone will fly in ATTI mode, no GPS ofcourse no RTH.

cheers
JJB

Excellent - thanks for the responses!

I'm no 'doomsday' prophet but cannot help to realize how dependent we are on GPS systems, and not only for flying drone...  And to disable all that is a matter of flicking a switch.  Friend of mine flies helicopters for air force and they do not depend on GPS navigation alone specifically for that reason.

Mynah Posted at 2-18 08:01
I'm no 'doomsday' prophet but cannot help to realize how dependent we are on GPS systems, and not only for flying drone...  And to disable all that is a matter of flicking a switch.  Friend of mine flies helicopters for air force and they do not depend on GPS navigation alone specifically for that reason.

Amen to that. Even scarier in my mind isn't that they turn it off, but intentionally introduce random errors and offsets to prevent an enemy from using it. We'd still be getting (and trusting) a GPS signal that was no longer reliable.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. The DJI Mini 2 supports Attitude Mode (ATTI), the aircraft will automatically change to ATTI mode when the Downward Vision System is unavailable or disabled and when the GPS signal is weak or the compass experience interference. In ATTI mode, the aircraft may be more easily affected by its surroundings. Environmental factors such as wind can result in horizontal shifting which may present hazards, especially when flying in confined spaces. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-19 00:33
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. The DJI Mini 2 supports Attitude Mode (ATTI), the aircraft will automatically change to ATTI mode when the Downward Vision System is unavailable or disabled and when the GPS signal is weak or the compass experience interference. In ATTI mode, the aircraft may be more easily affected by its surroundings. Environmental factors such as wind can result in horizontal shifting which may present hazards, especially when flying in confined spaces. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

Thank you for the info

It's easy to check; stick foil on top of the drone body, this blocks the GPS signal. Be careful, the drone will drift with the wind if raised high.

fanse90429d0 Posted at 2-19 04:23
Thank you for the info

You are very much welcome. Feel free to contact us if you have further concerns. Have a nice day ahead.

If the GPS system goes down, the inability to fly our silly drones will be the least of our problems.
It's right up there with: If a nuke goes off in the atmosphere and causes a catostrophic EMP will I still be able to get my Amazon package tomorrow?