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DJI Claims Mavic Air 2 will no longer ascend on RTH

WernerGarage

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So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
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So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
First, welcome to the forum ? :D

Then ... really doubt that DJI person knew what he was talking about. The last version of the downloadable user manual is dated 2020-12-30 & in that below is stated ...

You have 3 different scenarios depending on how far you are from the recorded HP ...

1612388794759.png

You can download the manual here --> https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_Air_2/Mavic_Air_2_User_Manual_v1.4_en.pdf
 
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So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
Welcome to the forum and enjoy.

Best thing to do is not allow the drone use RTH.
 
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So I just got off the phone with DJI, ... So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it.
Unfortunately DJI's "help" people are a great source of confusion and misinformation and cannot be relied on for accurate information.
Perhaps there was some confusion about the Power Saving RTH feature that is new with the Air 2.

See p14 of your manual for the correct information and do some testing to see how it works in practice.
 
Can anyone confirm whether or not the forward facing obstacle avoidance does work during this 5 to 50m RTH?
I am not certain how to interpret the manual and whether it suggests obstacle avoidance is only active in failsafe.

With regards to the power saving RTH if it is available does it really 'leave' the drone at 200m above the home point? i.e. well above most legal ceilings etc.etc.
 
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Why wouldn't it?
I can't think of a reason why it would NOT be functioning in every RTH, in fact I think it is daft if it is NOT functioning during every RTH but, since the manual describes it after the BOLD Falisafe heading, I am uncertain as to whether it is applicable to Failsafe ONLY.
It's not an area where misinterpretation is safe, hence my seeking clarification.
To my mind, if it is applicable to all RTH, its description should have been placed before the various features of the different types of RTH were described.
 
I can't think of a reason why it would NOT be functioning in every RTH, in fact I think it is daft if it is NOT functioning during every RTH but, since the manual describes it after the BOLD Falisafe heading, I am uncertain as to whether it is applicable to Failsafe ONLY.

The item in the manual is titled:
Obstacle Avoidance During RTH
Not .. Obstacle Avoidance Only During a Specific Part of the RTH Procedure

Relax .. DJI's design engineers are a lot smarter than the phone help people.
 
Thank you.

So what about the arrival height over the home point during power saving RTH?
 
Thank you.

So what about the arrival height over the home point during power saving RTH?

I'm not sure if anyone has really tested this, as you have to be more at a height more than 290m above the home point, which, as noted, unless flying up a hill or mountain, isn't legal in most places. That said, there is no reason to think it won't work exactly as the manual explains. DJI's documentation is sometimes lacking, but is not usually entirely incorrect (unlike the support agents). So, you get a little bit of descent instead of none in non-power-save RTH.
 
So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
I don't know if this helps, the January 26, 2021 firmware update release notes that the December 28, 2020 firmware update made this change... "If the aircraft is at a distance of 5 m to 50 m from the Home Point when RTH is initiated, the aircraft adjusts its orientation and flies to the Home Point at the current altitude."


From the DJI download page
 
So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
If you go on YouTube you can see the update demonstrated. Aldryn Estasio on Flytpath follows all the updates and does demos and explainations of all the Mavic changes.
 
I saw a YouTube video about that. I think oi its close to you it won't ascend. I can't remember how many ft away it has to be before it will ascend before RTH
 
Anyone with an MA2 just take it out in an open area and test it. Move out a certain distance and if it doesn't ascend go farther out do it again, and the question will be answered.
 
So I just got off the phone with DJI, I purchased a new Mavic Air 2 yesterday and was out testing this morning. This is my first advanced drone but I have been flying advanced RC for years. I noticed my Mavic will not ascend to the RTH set Altitude before heading to the home point. I set it for 100' and the drone was only about 20' off the ground and when I went to use RTH it did not climb it just started flying straight to the home point at the 20' height. So DJI is claiming that the new firmware will no longer let the drone ascend it will only fly straight to the Home Point, they claimed that if you are above that preset RTH height that it will now descend if your about it. This is the total opposite of all the videos and demos I have watched. They said that this went in to effect about 2 months ago. Has anyone else experienced this?
I believe it depends entirely how far the drone if from with you when you initiate the RTH command. I have seen some more detail on this RTH command.
 
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