Flying inside parking garage (lots of steel around.

[luis martinez]

I was asked to take a few pics inside a parking garage. I warned the customer P4P would have compass issues (too much steel on walls and floor); he said try it anyway. Turned to ATTI Mode.
Of course, the compass wouldn't calibrate, motors wouldn't turn on.

Anything else I could have done different? Is there a drone out there that can fly in this in this environment?

 

[MapMaker53]

Funny you should ask. Just today I asked Ken Heron, a well-known drone operator, how he can take off from the hood of his car as he does in many of his videos without compass errors. He said the compasses on drones newer than Phantom 4 are more precise and he has never had any issues launching from metal heavy areas with them. He often flies the DJI Avata.

 

[luis martinez]

Thanks for the reply.....strange though. Oh well, I 'll keep researching.

Should have tried my Evo II...

 

[Meta4]

Turned to ATTI Mode.

Probably not necessary since you won't get GPS under all that concrete.

Of course, the compass wouldn't calibrate, motors wouldn't turn on.

There's no need to calibrate the compass, because the drone never loses its calibration.
DJI's warning is badly worded and confuses users.
It's telling you that the compass sensor is detecting a magnetic field greater than the earth's normal field.
Look closely and it probably says Move Aircraft or Calibrate Compass (at least that what some versions said).
Recalibrating the compass won't ever solve the issue which is a magnetic field close to the compass when you power on.

You might be able to start up if you can either handhold or place the drone on something like a plastic crate to get the compass sensor further away from the steel that's in the concrete floor.
Try powering up like that and if it doesn't bring up the compass warning, you'll be able to fly.

Of course you need to be very careful and gentle on the sticks with obstacles around.
Flying without GPS, your drone won't have any brakes.

 

[luis martinez]

Probably not necessary since you won't get GPS under all that concrete.

There's no need to calibrate the compass, because the drone never loses its calibration.
DJI's warning is badly worded and confuses users.
It's telling you that the compass sensor is detecting a magnetic field greater than the earth's normal field.
Look closely and it probably says Move Aircraft or Calibrate Compass (at least that what some versions said).
Recalibrating the compass won't ever solve the issue which is a magnetic field close to the compass when you power on.

You might be able to start up if you can either handhold or place the drone on something like a plastic crate to get the compass sensor further away from the steel that's in the concrete floor.
Try powering up like that and if it doesn't bring up the compass warning, you'll be able to fly.

Of course you need to be very careful and gentle on the sticks with obstacles around.
Flying without GPS, your drone won't have any brakes.

"You might be able to start up if you can either handhold or place the drone on something like a plastic crate to get the compass sensor further away from the steel that's in the concrete floor."

Good trick, Will try it next time. Thanks.

 

[Starz]

he has never had any issues launching from metal heavy areas

That could possibly change at some point and may be one of several eye openers for him to experience. Time will tell.

 

[RodPad]

Hum?
"Turned to ATTI Mode."

If you fly in your house or garage your going to loose GPS?
The bottom IR sensors, etc, view the floor?
Which I thought would keeping it from going in to ATTI?
Adding a compass problem?

@luis martinez
You turned to ATTI mode?

Rod ..

 

[DoomMeister]

To my knowledge the Skydio/Skydio2 do not use a compass as well as using 360° vision obstacle avoidance.

The Yuneec Typhoon H/H+ with RealSense can operate using Indoor Positioning System (IPS) that uses a Flow Sensor (camera) and down facing Sonar to maintain position without GPS.

 

[Nightstalker1]

Hey drivers!! A person asked you to fly your expensive money making drone inside a concrete tube with the chance of wrecking. It doesn’t sound like a really solid decision. The last time I was in a parking garage there’s really not much room. You would be better off taping a 3 foot ladder to the hood of your car and putting a video camera on it and just driving through it. Or standing on a ladder with a handheld camera to take pictures. Come on guys it’s really not rocket science. Remember Murphy’s Law.