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Spark does not fly at level altitude over terrain
1133 1 2019-8-10
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geva
New
Flight distance : 2221 ft
France
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Hello,

I have had issues flying and filming due to drone altitude changes.  I just did some tests on a relatively flat area of a field in the mountains by doing some figure eights in front of me and saw some really strange altitude behavior.

  • To the left of the flat area in front of me, the field slopes downward.
  • To the right of the flat area in front of me, the field slopes upward.
  • I start by positioning the drone far to the right about 50cm from the ground (as far right as I'd fly).
  • This is about 2.5m above my height (and take off position).
  • As I fly out in front and to the left, the drone gains altitude - In front of me it is at about 4m.
  • As it flies left when the terrain goes down it gains much more.
  • It seems to be 20-30m from the ground, but I'd guess it should be at 10m if it had flown flat.
  • I bank it back around to cross in front of me and a bit to my right.
  • It has now done a figure 8 back to the same position without and up/down adjustments on the height stick.
  • Instead of being at the presvious 0.5m height, it is now at 10m.

For the life of me I cannot understand this behaviour as it goes contrary to how it should be able to fly at a level altitude.  It even has a strong GPS fix, which should be feeding the drone with reasonably accurate altitude data.  If it had a baraometer this would be even better - but I don't believe that it does.

Could someone please explain to me what is going on here and how I might be able to avoid it?

I love all of the intelligence that DJI packs into their drones, but I am not going to buy any better drones when such basic things around flight height and stability are unreliable.  (No comment on the height vs. AGL contradiction).

Cheers,
Greg


2019-8-10
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sparkytheclown
New

United States
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Hi, Sorry that this won't help but wanted to chime in that I've noticed the same phenomenon with my Spark. I would also note that the issue seems to be less pronounced when flying at higher altitudes. Maybe just a relativity/perspective thing but would also love to get some answers on this issue. Thanks for speaking up.
2019-8-14
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