Isn't the drone supposed to detect an obstacle on RTH and ascend over it?
RTH obstacle avoidance as has already been said is not foolproof,
yes it can ascend to avoid but may crash into something above,
yes it can go sideways but it can not sense anything to the side so it may crash.
Many factors can confuse the OA it should not be seen as a complete failsafe, it is a last resort and an attempt by DJI to help those who do not read manuals and those who are inexperienced from losing their nice Mavics or dropping one on someone head or nice new Ferrari who has enough money to sue you for more than the 1000 dollars it took to buy a drone and not read a manual.
For me RTH has worked flawlessly on the three occasions i used it. On each occasion i fully expected not to see the drone again.
Fly in any major city and 250 feet will not get you home and in some nor will 250 meters.
In any city never lose sight of the drone. If you have to really fly in a city of course.
Even the very experienced Casey someone or other poor chap lost his drone (funny thing is he never read the manual either i believe, let alone a drone code).
If you have to take the drone up and try to gauge the height of the highest thing you can see land and set your RTH with a fair bit on top.
all fail safes are a last resort and are not reliable themselves, it is still very early days in drone technology, we have a long way to go before drones can truly fly safely with no pilot. (and on occasions even with a pilot ).
Maybe the OP will learn a lot from this and buy a new drone, as he stated he can certainly afford them no problem, Maybe he will now take flying it more seriously than he has.
I hope he does as for filming which is what he wants it is a very valuable tool, if he is going to make money from that filming then he will be losing more than just a few drones, like all the money he could have made had he read the manual.
Go buy another one, read the manual, i am sure you know better now, and if you don't then please give up drone videoing etc, it is not for you. You will not get any footage unless you know how things work, and with the Mavic there is a lot of stuff to actually work.
The video will not set itself and take the video for you, unless a new firmware update has been released i don't know about.
Just for that side alone i think you would need to read the manual.
i really hope your next drone gets you some very cool stuff and if it is any good post it up.
I am sure no one here hates you, but everyone does want you to read the manual <)
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