Would disconnect of smartphone/tablet doom the Mavic to a flyaway?

[Stringfellow-Hawke]

I was thinking about this... Since it is the mobile device and NOT the Mavic controller, that stores homepoint & utilizes the GPS... What if i was flying & the connector from my Android phone to the Mavic controller moved & disconnected for a second or two.. Would the Mavic then be doomed to a flyaway & a deleted homepoint??

Anyone know exactly what might happen?

 

[msinger]

The home point is stored inside the Mavic. The Mavic uses its internal GPS receiver when returning to the last marked home point. That said, the scenario you described is impossible.

 

[Stringfellow-Hawke]

Ahh, so even if there was a disconnection, phone going dead.. that kind of thing, the Mavic would acknowledge the disconnect & return... Good to know!

 

[Qoncussion]

Actually, no...

Ahh, so even if there was a disconnection, phone going dead.. that kind of thing, the Mavic would acknowledge the disconnect & return... Good to know!

Actually, no... Just having the phone or tablet disconnect does not interrupt the remote controller's communications with the Mavic. I have had my phone lock-up mid-flight, and while it was rebooting, I had complete flight control over the Mavic using the RC. The RC's signal must be lost in order for the Mavic to initiate RTH.

 

[msinger]

Ahh, so even if there was a disconnection, phone going dead.. that kind of thing, the Mavic would acknowledge the disconnect & return... Good to know!

You got it. RTH is automatically initiated 3 seconds after the remote controller signal is lost. It doesn't matter whether or not the DJI GO app is still running at that point.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I like to think of your device and go4 as peripherals, only providing additional input into your controller but the controller and ultimately the Mavic still having the final say.
Chain of command sort of thing.

 

[Top Hat]

It's like if set correctly,

 

[Rick]

If you think of your phone or tablet as a device that allows you to see a live video feed and rolling map, and the DJI app acting as an interface to fine tune flying characteristics and carry out maintenance. The GPS within your phone allows the map to show a real time location of you and your drone, the GPS within the Mavic feeds data to its many smart processors to aid flight and autonomy. At least, that's how I understand the basics of how it works. Pre-flight missions generated by other third party apps are uploaded to the drone, which can then run those missions without the need of communication with the App, phone or controller, apart from the fail safe issues that are linked between the drone and controller eg: loss of signal RTH.

 

[Keth Unwin]

I think Rick may be on to something here. I've helped him out in the past when he was a mere beginner and he certainly seems to have grasped the basics.

 

[Lone Droner 10]

I have been seeking an answer - what does, if anything, wifi have to do with connecting a mobile device to the controller? Also, isn't flying the Mavic using just the controller dramatically limit the height and distance away from the Mavic? Actually, let me ask it this way if I may - does the mobile device depend 100% on a cell signal. In other words, no cell signal, no connection from mobile device to controller? Thoughts?

 

[msinger]

what does, if anything, wifi have to do with connecting a mobile device to the controller?

Nothing. A mobile device cannot be connected to the Mavic remote controller via Wi-Fi. You must connect a cable between the mobile device and remote controller.

isn't flying the Mavic using just the controller dramatically limit the height and distance away from the Mavic?

The range will be limited if you try to use just the remote controller without first connecting your Mavic to DJI GO. While it wouldn't be convenient to do so, you could then disconnect the remote controller from the mobile device and fly with just the remote controller.

does the mobile device depend 100% on a cell signal. In other words, no cell signal, no connection from mobile device to controller?

No. You do not need a cell signal to fly.

 

[Lone Droner 10]

I guess I need to learn more about the technology. When I connect my iPhone 6s to the controller and power on everything and open the DJI Go 4 app, most of the time I have no problem using the app to fly. However, there have been several times recently when the status line on the app says "not connected" and it seems like there is nothing I can do to get it to connect so that I can see the map and the extra information along the top of the map. And, hopefully most will agree, without being able to see the map, it is not a good idea to fly out of line of sight. But, the real question is why won't the app connect to the controller from time to time and is there a fix to this?

 

[msinger]

the real question is why won't the app connect to the controller from time to time and is there a fix to this?

Maybe a bad cable? Try a different cable.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I guess I need to learn more about the technology. When I connect my iPhone 6s to the controller and power on everything and open the DJI Go 4 app, most of the time I have no problem using the app to fly. However, there have been several times recently when the status line on the app says "not connected" and it seems like there is nothing I can do to get it to connect so that I can see the map and the extra information along the top of the map. And, hopefully most will agree, without being able to see the map, it is not a good idea to fly out of line of sight. But, the real question is why won't the app connect to the controller from time to time and is there a fix to this?

All you have to do then is pull out the cable whilst everything is still powered on and push it back in. Should then reconnect.

 

[Lone Droner 10]

So then regardless of cell service available where I am flying, if all components - mobile device, controller, Mavic and the DJI Go 4 app are working properly, then the problem when I see disconnected is due solely to a bad connection with my mobile device? Did I say that right?

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

More than likely it's a bad cable connection from phone to RC
You can usually fix it by pulling out the cable and putting it back on. Other fix is to use the larger USB connector on the RC.

 

[BossBob]

I've flown my Mavic, taken video and pictures without incident or crashes when I forgot to pick up the cable to connect the remote to my iPad. I just used the information on the rc and flew with the drone in sight. No, you can't fly any fancy flight plans or see what the camera can see but you can have fun flying. So a disconnect or crash of whatever mobile device you are using for the enhanced visuals given by the Go4 app will only affect your flight if you are dependant on it, the information on the repose should be enough to get you home even if the Mavic is out of sight.

 

[Lone Droner 10]

But, isn't the flight distance dramatically reduced just using the controller?

 

[Kilrah]

If you're on the latest firmware yes, but many of us stay on an older one before that was introduced.

 

[Lone Droner 10]

would you share that firmware # with me please as I have no clue and really, thanks for your time and help. I have already lost one Mavic due to failure to return home and that was a very expensive lesson so -----. I have a Phantom 3 Advanced and have had it for almost 3 years and had zero problems. The Mavic - not so much, sorry to say. However, when it is working right it is great. Just like an air conditioner here in Arizona!