Emergency landing power off ? Mavic Air 2

[Bransty]

Hi guys and gals,

Lost my drone a few days ago. Strong winds increased and blew it over a mountain. I lost connection and had no idea where it went. I searched for it the next morning in ferns up to my waist. It could have been anywhere within 5 square miles, but found it very quickly. Thank you God!
Lesson learned, I decided to teach myself what to do better if I can't make it home. So I've been practicing landing in different areas, but would like to know how to power off the drone from the controller. Mainly so the battery doesn't run out completely, and I can use the 'find my drone' feature. I often film from remote mountains in late evening, and won't be able to look for it until the next day.
I've tried holding down the left joystick for 3 seconds or more, but all the lights stay on the drone.

Is there a way of doing this? I'm sure there's an obvious answer somewhere, but I cannot find it.

Thanks in advance!

John

 

[Meta4]

Lesson learned, I decided to teach myself what to do better if I can't make it home.

A much more useful thing to learn would be how to prevent getting into that situation.
First step is to make sure that you don't fly off downwind in a strong wind situation.
If you do end up downwind with strong winds, you have gone halfway to losing the battle before you even know it.
Second step is to maintain situational awareness to know where your drone is at all times and where it is relative to you and any obstacles.
Learn to use the orientation indicator so you know what direction to look to find the drone.

 

[Bransty]

A much more useful thing to learn would be how to prevent getting into that situation.
First step is to make sure that you don't fly off downwind in a strong wind situation.
If you do end up downwind with strong winds, you have gone halfway to losing the battle before you even know it.
Second step is to maintain situational awareness to know where your drone is at all times and where it is relative to you and any obstacles.
Learn to use the orientation indicator so you know what direction to look to find the drone.

You're absolutely right. I'm new to drones, but the wind doubled in strength as a squall came in. Half way back to home, the drone couldn't fight against the wind. It then started flying backwards, no matter what I tried. I had no control over it at all. Even though there was 15% battery left. Lesson well and truly learned.
At this point I was only trying to land it, but I didn't stand a chance. Once it went behind the mountain ridge, all connection was lost. The find my drone feature did not work the next day. Possibly because the tablet I use has no wifi or sim?
I stumbled across the drone purely by luck.
I would never let myself get into that situation again. But just in case, would like to know how to turn it off remotely if I ever have to land it somewhere peculiar again.

 

[Meta4]

The find my drone feature did not work the next day. Possibly because the tablet I use has no wifi or sim?

Neither wifi nor a sim card would make any difference.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I would suspect that the drone can NOT be switched off or on remotely and that only button pushes on the drone's battery will switch it on or off.

Whilst I agree that prevention is better than a cure, you might look into an independant GPS tracker that can be attached to and removed from, the drone. I have seen them mentioned in connection with Phantoms and some have a longish battery life

 

[Bransty]

I would suspect that the drone can NOT be switched off or on remotely and that only button pushes on the drone's battery will sitch it on or off.

Whilst I agree that prevention is better than a cure you might look into an independant GPS tracker that can be attached to and removed from the drone. I have seen them mentioned in connection with Phantoms and some have a longish battery life

Thank you for this answer. I think this may well be the way to go.
I did stumble upon a video earlier, that showed a MA2 getting down to about 3% battery life. Once it landed, it switched it's own power off. I found that reassuring to know.
But perhaps a third party GPS tracker would give double the protection.
Thanks again!
John

 

[old man mavic]

it is not possible to turn off the battery remotely it goes off after it is drained past a certain point
in the event of a sudden wind shift try to descend and if you cant make headway point the camera down and try to get a fix as to where you are then land and if you are lucky there will be enough battery left to use the find my drone feature ,of course as has been mentioned you need to be aware of the weather conditions and keeping the drone in VLOS and try not to fly down wind if possible on the outwards trip

 

[Deleted member 103366]

They will power down switch off when the battery is 'empty' but there would be no way to switch it on again without physical contact and they will not take off if the battery is below a preset threshold.
For clarity do not confuse stopping the motors with switching the drone off, they are entirely separate things.
You should also look in the manual and into the various options, if any, that are available for when the drone loses connection, obviously if a choice is available the selection needs needs to be made BEFORE connection is lost.
If hover and or land are available you should read up on what happens if the Air 2 rejects a landing and then hovers long enough to enter low battery RTH

 

[Bransty]

They will power down when the battery is 'empty' but there would be no way to switch it on again without physical contact and they will not take off if the battery is below a preset threshold.
For clarity do not confuse stopping the motors with switching the drone off, they are entirely separate things.
You should also look into the manual and the various options, if any, that are available for when the drone loses connection, obviously if a choice is available the selection needs needs to be made BEFORE connection is lost.
If hover and or land are available you should read up on what happens if the Air 2 rejects a landing and then hovers long enough to enter low battery RTH

When powered down, do you know if you can still ask the drone to beep when using 'find my drone'?

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Precisely what do you mean by "powered down"?
I have edited my preceeding post to make it clear what I meant by" power down", I was a pot calling a kettle black, my bad!

 

[Bransty]

Precisely what do you mean by "powered down"?

the battery still has some life, but no motors active, or lights. The same as it would be when in it's case.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

In the case it is switched off, surely? And electrically speaking that is equivalent to the battery being removed from the drone. It will respond to nothing until switched on again by pressing the button on the battery etc..

 

[Bransty]

In the case it is switched off, surely? And electrically speaking that is equivalent to the battery being removed from the drone. It will respond to nothing until switched on again by pressing the button on the battery etc..

Thanks for the response. I was hoping that the find my drone app would somehow spark it into life if close enough. Maybe something for DJI to think about for future releases...

 

[old man mavic]

unfortunately its not the drone that shuts down the battery its the battery that eventually cuts the power to the drone in an attempt to prevent the voltage from dropping below a certain level its similar to the way that it will just land once the voltage level drops it all depends how much charge is left in the battery once the motors have stopped and its on the ground

 

[Bransty]

unfortunately its not the drone that shuts down the battery its the battery that eventually cuts the power to the drone in an attempt to prevent the voltage from dropping below a certain level its similar to the way that it will just land once the voltage level drops it all depends how much charge is left in the battery once the motors have stopped and its on the ground

Thank you!

 

[Wilbur]

15% battery? Should be on the ground at 25%. IMHO

You're absolutely right. I'm new to drones, but the wind doubled in strength as a squall came in. Half way back to home, the drone couldn't fight against the wind. It then started flying backwards, no matter what I tried. I had no control over it at all. Even though there was 15% battery left. Lesson well and truly learned.
At this point I was only trying to land it, but I didn't stand a chance. Once it went behind the mountain ridge, all connection was lost. The find my drone feature did not work the next day. Possibly because the tablet I use has no wifi or sim?
I stumbled across the drone purely by luck.
I would never let myself get into that situation again. But just in case, would like to know how to turn it off remotely if I ever have to land it somewhere peculiar again.

 

[lee82gx]

Turn your camera downwards and take pictures, or screenshots or however you can. Another one, is to find a good spot like a small clearing etc that will look different or is easily distinguishable.

 

[jmsessa]

I would suspect that the drone can NOT be switched off or on remotely and that only button pushes on the drone's battery will switch it on or off.

Whilst I agree that prevention is better than a cure, you might look into an independant GPS tracker that can be attached to and removed from, the drone. I have seen them mentioned in connection with Phantoms and some have a longish battery life

Indeed...when I lost my Phantom last year ( fly away ) I bought a Marco Polo for my MA 2. Device is small and battery last a long time. I've tested it and seems to work well. Check You Tube for videos.

 

[volition]

ARC XL led strobe by Firehouse Technology has a L.A.N.D system. Basically if your drone goes down after 4 minutes of being still it will sound a 90db alarm (uses it’s own battery). Not advocating it but Would be very helpful if you want to push the boundaries again.

Link

aerial pixel make mounts but dual lock or supplied velcro is fine too. Your situation just made me Think it would have been useful both to aid VLOS & also locating a downed Drone

 

[Dave Maine]

The basic problem with remote power up, is that it requires drone power to continuously monitor for a remote power up request. It is akin to attempting to lift yourself off the floor by pulling on your boot laces.