Got this Ultrasonic System Error on a new P3P right out of the box about 9 minutes out. Came back with no problem. On the 1.9 firmware. Any thoughts?

Were you in VPS range (less than 10 ft high)?
If you were high up, it's a false alarm and switching off the VPS will stop you from seeing it again.

Do you have a gimbal protector that goes from skid to skid??

Hello mcgator, I'd suggest you to sync your flight record and download the flight data (DAT files of that day) from the drone. Then send them to support.us@dji.com for data analysis. If the result of the data analysis shows that drone behaved normally, it is possibly a false alarm.

Had this happen to me once flying above 10ft, landed without any problems, was flying over a disused railway line and put it down to the steel rails. Never had this problem since and ive had over 20 flights since, hope it never returns it was not a good feeling at the time  Hawk.

Did it only do it that one time?

Hi Ken yes ive only had it happen once, and ive still got vps enabled, Hawk

wingover2016@ou Posted at 2016-7-19 01:30
Hi Ken yes ive only had it happen once, and ive still got vps enabled, Hawk

Ok, thanks. And you have nothing attached to the aircraft correct?

Nothing attached all as DJI intended.  Hawk

wingover2016@ou Posted at 2016-7-19 03:06
Nothing attached all as DJI intended.  Hawk

Sounds good. You can re-apply the firmware if it still does it and see if it stops.

wingover2016@ou Posted at 2016-7-19 03:07
Had this happen to me once flying above 10ft, landed without any problems, was flying over a disused ...

Steel rails had nothing to do with it.
The VPS is of no use outdoors and above 10 feet so disabling it won't affect your flying.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-7-18 15:50
Steel rails had nothing to do with it.
The VPS is of no use outdoors and above 10 feet so disablin ...

What makes it of no use outdoors ? I didn't realize it wouldn't work outside!

VPS does work outdoors, but only below 10ft... is that not the case?

So I thought, but my P3P doesn't seem to hold its altitude very well below 10ft when flying over grass at the park.
If it is stationary it is usually ok, but trying to fly it at low alt. can be tricky so maybe that is what he is referring to.

mochorm Posted at 2016-7-18 22:39
So I thought, but my P3P doesn't seem to hold its altitude very well below 10ft when flying over gra ...

Well, as stated in the manual, the VPS works best when there's enough light, and when there's distinguishable patterns on the ground. It doesn't work well above things of single color, like over the grass.

mochorm Posted at 2016-7-19 10:08
What makes it of no use outdoors ? I didn't realize it wouldn't work outside!

If you want to do a lot of flying lower than 10 feet on a well lit surface with a defined pattern, VPS is fine.
For all other outdoor flying, VPS is of no use at all.

Ok made my mind up its getting turned off, i never intend to use it inside just one less thing to worry about or go wrong , Hawk

wingover2016@ou Posted at 2016-7-20 01:29
Ok made my mind up its getting turned off, i never intend to use it inside just one less thing to wo ...

correct, if you leave it off while flying low over grass then off may give you better results.

DJI-H.C Posted at 2016-7-18 21:20
Well, as stated in the manual, the VPS works best when there's enough light, and when there's dist ...

Yes I saw that, but most ground areas in these parts don't have a nice fine checkerboard pattern for the camera to focus on, so that aspect seems practically useless.

However what about the Ultrasonic part of VPS why doesn't it work very well when outside? At least good enough to keep the P3P from bouncing off the ground while trying to maintain a stationary 3-5 ft. altitude outside.
Others have used these types of sensors to focus a camera, so I know it can be quite accurate.

Does anyone know if the VPS in the P4 has been upgraded to provide for more accurate low level flying?

Thanks guys, have a great day flying

mochorm Posted at 2016-7-19 15:05
Yes I saw that, but most ground areas in these parts don't have a nice fine checkerboard pattern f ...

No, the accuracy of P4 and P3 has no major difference. Just P4 can have a higher working altitude, at 10 meters, instead of P3's 3 meters.

DJI-H.C Posted at 2016-7-19 20:36
No, the accuracy of P4 and P3 has no major difference. Just P4 can have a higher working altitude, ...

Thank you for the reply.

I'm sure the whole ground mapping technology will improve with time so we can fly closer to the ground without meeting it

Sorry I didn't see the posts. This was about 9 minutes into the flight about 150' AGL. This was the first flight with this bird. I had called DJI and they said to send in for repairs. Now from what I'm reading this is a 1.9 firmware issue.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-7-17 20:39
Were you in VPS range (less than 10 ft high)?
If you were high up, it's a false alarm and switching  ...

No gimbal protector. It was 150' AGL

Took it out a flew it yesterday after another firmware flash and IMU calibration. No issues and no anomalies. I did try something different though. I stuck my earbuds on so I could hear what the error is if it came up. Such a sexy voice she has