A reminder for me and maybe someone else with a Mavic Mini

[Ron Boger]

I forgot this small kernel until today.

Smart return to home
If Mini is less than 65 feet/19.8 m from home point it will initiate a landing, not a smart RTH.

54 feet / 16.4 m out over water wanting to bring back to beach landing pad thought I would press RTH button. Mini wanted to land them and there over water. Canceled RTH and flew her back manually.

 

[GaryDoug]

I don't think I want to ever push the RTH button. No reason if I still have control unless the phone and app craps out. Then.....maybe.

 

[svenmarbles]

That’s actually pretty good to know... I’m not sure I’d ever engage the RTH only 50 feet away, but if I ever did I’d be surprised to see it just land where it was.

 

[dirkclod]

I don't think I want to ever push the RTH button. No reason if I still have control unless the phone and app craps out. Then.....maybe.

You might not want to ever use it but I promise you if you don’t
practice with it and know just what to expect you will wish
you had. You can read all you want how it works but reading about it and actually having experience with it is very important.

 

[GaryDoug]

Very respectfully, I do not see much point in testing it and I am a retired test engineer. First, this system is only a few months old and is probably full of bugs. Any test results would be transitory at best. Next, there are so many different conditions in which you might have trouble, it would be very impractical to test them all. Next, you put the drone at risk needlessly if it is not a real emergency. Next, what is to be learned about that? If you are in a position to need RTH, there is probably little you can do about it anyway. It is either coming back or not. OK, it may do things I did not expect...so what? This was a last ditch attempt to save it anyway and was mostly beyond my control.
I can only think of one situation where I might be tempted to press the RTH button. The phone fails and I cannot see where the drone is (illegal, I know) or where it is pointed. So I have no feedback as to position or orientation, but I do still have use of the controller. My first reaction would be increase altitude in order to make a visual. But if that fails, I have few options left. Push the RTH button and wait. If it comes back into view, I can then take over manual control.

This post has just reminded me to carry binoculars when droning ;-)

 

[dirkclod]

Well I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
I'm far from being a retired test engineer just someone
that has been flying DJI drones since they came out and
do know what I’m talking about. Is your choice of course
to learn what you choose. Good luck and fly safe.

 

[GaryDoug]

Well, don't give up so easily ;-) This is worth some discussion. Give us some examples please.

 

[dirkclod]

Well, don't give up so easily ;-) This is worth some discussion. Give us some examples please.

Nothing to discuss . You already said what you thought as I did. Learn like I did. The hard way.
You have a nice nite.

 

[old man mavic]

@GaryDoug hi my fellow flier,some words of wisdom there from Dc,i myself hardly ever use the RTH feature preferring to fly back manually,but that said, it is vital that you know about how the system works,in different scenarios and if you try them out you will understand better how each type of RTH works, and you will be prepared ,when the day comes that you have no choice but to rely on the RTH feature

 

[Deleted member 114292]

If nothing else you should be practiced with how to cancel it. in the heat of the moment it helps to have a good level of familiarity.

 

[xterior67]

@GaryDoug hi my fellow flier,some words of wisdom there from Dc,i myself hardly ever use the RTH feature preferring to fly back manually,but that said, it is vital that you know about how the system works,in different scenarios and if you try them out you will understand better how each type of RTH works, and you will be prepared ,when the day comes that you have no choice but to rely on the RTH feature

Flying yesterday. Wind at ground level about 8 - 10 miles per hour. Have used RTH quite a bit with good success. Was up at 120 feet, instituted RTH and saw that was not moving, and Mini was wavering somewhat. Cancelled RTH, came down to 60 feet and brought home with no difficulty. Before cancelling RTH went to Sport mode but little or no improvement. Seldom let Mini out of sight, set disrance no more than 3 - 400 ft. It's always windy here in East Texas, and we have a lot of trees. Easy to lose sight. I am looking forward to Spring when wins are lighter and then will try longer distances. Right now just learninf to fly it, 4 times so far.

 

[Gkinghrn]

I have not yet tried RTH but I always look at where I am flying and adjust the RTH height to something that suits the environment. To me that’s the least you should do as accidents happen and RTH could save your drone ...

I agree it won’t do any harm to practice with it and I , for one , will take all the advice offered on these forums and have a go with it.

I think it does no harm even if you think you will be ok when it does happen (and it will) to play with it and see what happens.

good thread..thank you

 

[Dave Maine]

My take, as a retired systems engineering manager, is that there is no such thing as too much experimentation. At a minimum, you will learn something. This is never bad. If you unearth a problem under controlled circumstances, it is much less likely to have adverse results. In the unlikely event that you discover a real bug, submitting it to DJI will get it fixed for all of us.

 

[smalt0141]

I must have the perfect Mavic Air and Mavic Mini as I have had no problem using RTH. Granted I live in Tucson, with clear sky’s and fly in the desert with virtually no obstructions. I always make sure that before I allow my drone to leave from landing pad hover the RTH location is set. I use 40 meters as the height. I purchased the air 11/19 and the mini 12/19. I have been practicing all the functions of both RC’s to correctly learn all the abilities of these remarkable drones. Use the RTC all the time and never had a problem. Again, no obstructions and yes, occasionally get warnings of signal loss but quickly retrieve same. It seems to me that many pilots out there think that they have properly set the RTH.
yes we get windy windy days in Tucson and I will NOT fly on those days...Tomorrow is another day. I felt the same whenI flew my Cessna 172.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

I use RTH because I'm lazy and don't want to do the work of flying the drone back home when it's designed to do it for me. I was out flying the MP with my son yesterday. He had never flown a DJI drone so I let him handle the controls and we activated RTH. He was very surprised that with the drone starting at over 1,000' away the drone landed within 1' of where it took off. Of course the MP uses Occusync and in my high interference area the transmission was rock solid all the way out and back (I get about 500' max with my wifi drones in the same area).

 

[TDZHDTV]

I spent the first month testing and abusing my Mini, flying in high winds, RTH accuracy and behave. All this has testing has now given me confidence to fly in wilderness areas, although I’m still mindful should it decide to ditch with the current bug/ issue, so no flying over water or places where I could recover it

 

[GaryDoug]

I have asked this question in other forums and have gotten virtually no meaningful responses. All most folks say is to just do it. Let's try here.

What specifically can you state as an example of something USEFUL that you learned from the testing of the RTH function? I mean by that, something that would affect the way you used it in the future. One user says it gives him confidence. Well I don't need that and I think it would actually foster an attitude of complacency. Another references "adverse results" without any explanation. Or even if those results were helpful in the future.

I do not want to rely on a crutch that takes control away from me.

 

[Gkinghrn]

Understand it’s limitations ....

 

[GaryDoug]

Understand it’s limitations ....

Not a useful answer since I will not use it unless there is absolutely no other option. At that point knowing the limits are not helpful. it either comes back or doesn't. There is nothing different I would have done. Next.


OK I will try to make this a bit easier. There is one thing that could be useful. It is a minor thing but important to know if it works. Take my examople of the last resort situation I described above wheh the phone crashes and I have no vision. There is one part of the remote that can be tested to make sure it works, since the feature on the phone would no longer be available. Anyone?

 

[Gkinghrn]

Given your arrogance (it’s how it is coming across even if not intended) being elicited here I suggest you don’t need any input ... unless you know the limitations of it then how do you know how it will react?

very condescending in a thread where people are providing suggestions for you ...