Inspire 2 Interior Hover Advice

[Transpire]

Hey guys,
I have a need to hover my Inspire 2 in my photography studio for a presentation in a couple of days. I watched a friend of mine hover his Mavic in the same spot in my studio and was very impressed by its rock-solid position. It did not sway, raise, lower or drift.
I want to do the same thing for the Inspire 2.
So, here's the thing, the area is the cyclorama. In case you don't know a cyclorama is a large white (usually) area that has curves at the floor and wall to create a shadowless box of sorts. Mine is about 35' across x about 20' deep. The ceiling is 12'.
Here is a photo of the space...

So, with the white floor, ceiling and walls lacking patterns, and it being inside a steel building, how should I do this? P mode with GPS? Atti mode? Another means?
The goal is for it to hover without my manual input.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Advexure]

Is the floor beneath the Inspire going to be in the shot? You would need to be in GPS (P-Mode) which uses GPS to position (although indoors you won't have GPS) so then it will rely on the forward and downward vision sensors. The key is the vision sensors need well-lit detail in order to position the aircraft relative to objects or patterns on the ground.

In my opinion you'd be better off having an operator hover with it in ATTI mode and position with find adjustments as needed. In close proximity to people and also indoors without GPS I don't think you should rely on P-mode and the vision sensors.

I hope this information can help you to make a safe and smart decision. Be careful and I hope things can turn out for you as envisioned.

 

[deltalimatango]

It might be tight but doable. You might want to play with it outside a bit and see how things go first.

 

[Mark Taylor]

This feels like the worst possible location to demonstrate an I2...

Remove all possible visual ground references or GPS signals, add in a lot of metal to confuse the compass and reduce ceiling height and throw in a few obstructions for good measure.

Whoever is flying the I2 is going to have to be very comfortable in all orientations and able to respond quickly to the effect of airflows being reflected off the surfaces all around the I2, this is certainly not something I'd be talking about as a 'hands-off' demo.

I'm not sure this one passes a rational risk assessment, especially if you have guests attending the presentation...

A Mavic with prop-guards would make sense, an I2 feels like the wrong choice...

... try a test and see, but do it with as few people around as possible and a pilot very comfortable in ATTI mode.

 

[Transpire]

Thanks for the input guys.
Let me clarify.
The "presentation" is really just a meeting. This is not a demonstration flight in any way and it does not involve a lot of people. More like 2-3 max. It is more of an effort to ramp up excitement for the use of a sUAS in the meeting attendee's field. That's it.
For those in the northeast U.S., it is akin to the hover demonstrations that are routinely conducted on B&H's sales floor (similar steel building, interior, and in their case a 8'x8'x8' tall netted space). I have watched their salesmen take off and hover, maybe done a yaw rotation and land. Easy peasy.
I just want to do my due diligence to reduce the risks (avoid) mishaps.
So, that said, do the existing comments/suggestions stand? Or are there other suggestions?

I could place the 3' Hoodman landing pad and/or a grid pattern of tape on the floor as a visual floor reference rather than just the white. Additional thoughts?

 

[tibook]

Thanks for the input guys.
Let me clarify.
The "presentation" is really just a meeting. This is not a demonstration flight in any way and it does not involve a lot of people. More like 2-3 max. It is more of an effort to ramp up excitement for the use of a sUAS in the meeting attendee's field. That's it.
For those in the northeast U.S., it is akin to the hover demonstrations that are routinely conducted on B&H's sales floor (similar steel building, interior, and in their case a 8'x8'x8' tall netted space). I have watched their salesmen take off and hover, maybe done a yaw rotation and land. Easy peasy.
I just want to do my due diligence to reduce the risks (avoid) mishaps.
So, that said, do the existing comments/suggestions stand? Or are there other suggestions?

I could place the 3' Hoodman landing pad and/or a grid pattern of tape on the floor as a visual floor reference rather than just the white. Additional thoughts?

Landing pad should help a lot

 

[Retired2Fly]

I agree a heavy landing pad or a repeating grid pattern on the floor will work. You also may be able to fly in P-GPS mode indoors. You just need to verify you have a good strong GPS signal across the intended hover area. (I would recommend 10+ Satellites showing in the DJI GO 4 app to fly indoors in GPS mode) . If no yo uare going to have to fly in ATTI and manually control positioning. I also don't think from the photo above that the metal in the building will interfere with hovering since it is more than 10ft away (At least that is my personal experience).

I routinely hover my I2 indoors in far less.space than shown above in your photo with no problems. Just be sure you have the downward visual positioning system sensors enabled in the DJI GO 4 app in the advanced menu under the visual positioning menu option. . Oddly enough they are not enabled by default? Also keep the I2 controller in your hand should you need to take control in an emergency and remember the prop wash from the I2 is much greater than the little Mavic Pro so be sure to keep any lightweight items well out of the prop wash area and don't let your guests approach the I2 when hovering I use a heavy duty rubber landing pad made for the Inspire by Bestem Aerial and it works very well for indoor positioning.

 

[Fly Gary]

Also turn the AC off in the building or at least the flight area to remove stray air currents.

 

[enprod]

Practice this without anyone in the room is my suggestion - these things are unprotected lawn mowers whipping around fast if you don't have control. I'm glad I didn't have anyone near mine when this happened.

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[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

I'm curious what the need is to hover in that environment. Are you just trying to get shots of it with the blank background to add a background later? Or is this a demo of someone? Like the others have said, for an experienced RC Pilot, it wouldn't be a problem at all (I've done that kind of thing a lot), but it requires A LOT of unaided control experience. So if it's for a demo, I would suggest a different location or outside if possible.

 

[enprod]

My crash in the video was in atti mode - and the I2 just spun out of control then beat it self till dead. I could not stop the spin or turn the aircraft off - no control at all... Just sayin, small room to have a lawnmower trashing about.

 

[Casey53]

I'd wonder about the metal in that building and how the compass will react.

Fwiw, there is a drone training video on Creative Labs website where they were flying a drone inside a very large metal warehouse-type building on Terminal Island in the San Francisco Bay. Something happened with the air currents when near the ceiling and the thing suddenly flew up and into the ceiling and crashed. Surprised the audience too. These were experienced pilots too - or so they said.

 

[Mad_angler1]

If your going to do this use tripod mode and dumb the controls rite back, a bird the size of the Inspire gets twitchy indoors from its own wash, I have hovered my I1 in my living room more times than I ever should have, it’s something you have to be on your game that day to do.

It’s one of those things I can only say you should only do if you have no other choice.

 

[NickU]

The guys doing CL should've known the danger, not exactly rocket science

Air current + ceiling is simple, the drone basically sucks itself up... air above the props is blown downwards, effectively creating a lower pressure/'vacuum' above. If the air can't be replaced quick enough 'cause there's a roof in the way, then up the drone'll Go up & stick/crash. Take any small toy drone, stick some prop guards on to help the props not get hit, and try it ... dead easy to get it to stick the ceiling (or door, or wall) . It's why Dji added an upward IR sensor to the I2 to stop it getting too close and being sucked up.

 

[GtoJon]

Make sure it says Vision is Ready before lifting off & that landing pad will help a lot! I would turn off OA. If it gets confused, they like to move backwards. Hover close to the ground first & get a feel for it. I also would leave it in P mode! Not many people can react near as fast as P mode ..... it does work really well. Good Luck Looks like a fun place!

Cheers, Jon

 

[rmb]

Practice this without anyone in the room is my suggestion - these things are unprotected lawn mowers whipping around fast if you don't have control. I'm glad I didn't have anyone near mine when this happened.

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OMG! As an I2 owner that was terrifying. Did you ever determine what caused that?

 

[GtoJon]

After 200+ flights with my Inspire 2, I did an indoor about a month ago & was going take off & one prop I forgot to lock spun off perfectly & almost hit the 10' ceiling & flew down perfectly. Luckily, I did not take off. Now if it had been one of the white ones, I might have taken off & it would have probably done the same thing as his

Cheers, Jon

 

[rmb]

Yikes! I don't think any of us are as disiplinded as we should be with prefight checks.
Glad that wasn't worse for you.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Thanks for the input guys.
Let me clarify.
The "presentation" is really just a meeting. This is not a demonstration flight in any way and it does not involve a lot of people. More like 2-3 max. It is more of an effort to ramp up excitement for the use of a sUAS in the meeting attendee's field. That's it.
For those in the northeast U.S., it is akin to the hover demonstrations that are routinely conducted on B&H's sales floor (similar steel building, interior, and in their case a 8'x8'x8' tall netted space). I have watched their salesmen take off and hover, maybe done a yaw rotation and land. Easy peasy.
I just want to do my due diligence to reduce the risks (avoid) mishaps.
So, that said, do the existing comments/suggestions stand? Or are there other suggestions?

I could place the 3' Hoodman landing pad and/or a grid pattern of tape on the floor as a visual floor reference rather than just the white. Additional thoughts?

Any updates on your experiences with this?