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Active Track RTH protocol

Davpmars

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Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
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Age
38
Location
Indonesia
I’m headed out on a dirt biking trip tomorrow and I plan to use active track.

What will happen if return to home protocol is activated due to loss of signal or low battery but the home point is now far away because the Drone has been tracking me for a while?

Is there a way to stop the drone from returning to the start point? What are my options?
 
Depending on your drone & software I think you could launch the flight then set a new home point using the map then activate active track focused on you & the bike and start riding. If you used a satellite view layer of the map you could possibly identify an intersection or other open area along your projected route to use as the new home point. If all other settings were compatible the drone might progress to that point when RTH was activated. I’d practice this all beforehand to confirm.

A couple of other points that might come into play:
1. What happens when the drone loses the active track target and pauses? You’re riding a long with the drone behind you and it loses the target because of a shift in position or aspect. My drone (Mavic Air 2) pauses when it loses the target. Unless you’re watching the monitor or the drone you won’t know the target is lost and the drone stationary. Seems hard to do while riding unless you stop and check the drone or monitor frequently.

2. Obstacle avoidance while tracking could be similar - if the drone encounters something it takes a few seconds to decide upon evasive action while you’re continuing your ride - leading to a loss of the target (#1).

3. Depending upon your outlook regarding regulations the visual line of sight (VLOS) requirement could be hard to meet.

I’ve tried tracking my Tacoma on rough dirt tracks with Active Track and found it works best for short specific sections at slow speeds with the pilot of the drone as a passenger in the truck who can focus on the drone while the driver focuses on the truck.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Howard
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

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