Heard something that gives pause

[Brojon]

I was told that on teh Phantoms if you press RTH when the bird is within 20 meters it will initiate a land in place - not RTH! I was told the Mavic has the same thing except withing 5 meters.
I can think of many scenarios this is n't a good thing and in fact explains once why I almost landed in a tree.
So's this true? Not in a position to test right now...

 

[msinger]

Per the Phantom manual:




Per the Mavic manual:

 

[Bunny Too]

I was told that on teh Phantoms if you press RTH when the bird is within 20 meters it will initiate a land in place - not RTH! I was told the Mavic has the same thing except withing 5 meters.
I can think of many scenarios this is n't a good thing and in fact explains once why I almost landed in a tree.
So's this true? Not in a position to test right now...

Page 16 of the manual, it will land if it is within 5 meters.

 

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Yea I noticed that in the Mavic and the P4P if close it just says landing...

 

[Brojon]

Weird the stuff your mind skips over. I saw and remembered all the other stuff about behavior when RTH is triggered but not the part within 5 meters.

 

[tcope]

I can think of many scenarios this is n't a good thing and in fact explains once why I almost landed in a tree.

You pressed RTH when the Mavic was within 5 meters of the home point... and above a tree?

 

[DodgeP]

Personally I never allow the Mavic to land on it's own. I aways take control once I feel like it's safe.

 

[Glenn Goodlett]

It's true with both craft.

 

[Brojon]

You pressed RTH when the Mavic was within 5 meters of the home point... and above a tree?

If you prefer a tallish shrub - we have a lot of these junipers Texans call "cedar". Real PITA stuff it puts out branches that go horizontal. So yeah - in a tree within 15 feet.

 

[tcope]

If you prefer a tallish shrub - we have a lot of these junipers Texans call "cedar". Real PITA stuff it puts out branches that go horizontal. So yeah - in a tree within 15 feet.

Understood. When you said "tree", I'm thinking forest. When you say Juniper, I know exactly what you mean. Love Juniper when camping. Makes easy firewood.

I had started to post why DJI made it that way, to avoid liability, but the more I thought about it, the less sense that made.

 

[Brojon]

Understood. When you said "tree", I'm thinking forest. When you say Juniper, I know exactly what you mean. Love Juniper when camping. Makes easy firewood.

I had started to post why DJI made it that way, to avoid liability, but the more I thought about it, the less sense that made.

Yep
1 - the hairy bark makes excellent starter.
2 - nobody gives a dang if you cut it down (invasive)
3 - Smells dang good too!

 

[tcope]

I'll also mention (and it's not exactly to your post) but I always recommend to people that they don't use Smart RTH (pressing the button) unless there is no other choice. Someone usually comes back and says how safe and reliable it is. I reply that, IMHO, it's never the best choice to give up manual control to an automated system when you can't know for sure what will happen.

Hope they are reading this thread.

Note: I never cut down Juniper (I'm one of those people). I like it because you can find a ton of the dead branches all over. It's so dry you can stare at it and it burst into flames. Yup, love the smell. It means I'm 100 miles away from anything.

 

[geigy]

I agree its important to be confident about landing and flying by the sticks. I also think it's good to familiarize yourself with how RTH works, as with any other thing the Mavic can do, and I use it about once a week. Usually this is when I'm with people who are curious about hot it works. That way I can be reasonably confident that it will work when I really need it.

 

[tcope]

I agree its important to be confident about landing and flying by the sticks. I also think it's good to familiarize yourself with how RTH works, as with any other thing the Mavic can do, and I use it about once a week. Usually this is when I'm with people who are curious about hot it works. That way I can be reasonably confident that it will work when I really need it.

Make sense to me. I like to test things as well (I kind of have no life anyway).

Anyone wan t to venture why it does not return home when close to that location? I see no difference from this then when flying from 1000' away. It still comes to the home point and lands.

 

[Brojon]

I'll also mention (and it's not exactly to your post) but I always recommend to people that they don't use Smart RTH (pressing the button) unless there is no other choice. Someone usually comes back and says how safe and reliable it is. I reply that, IMHO, it's never the best choice to give up manual control to an automated system when you can't know for sure what will happen.
Hope they are reading this thread.
Note: I never cut down Juniper (I'm one of those people). I like it because you can find a ton of the dead branches all over. It's so dry you can stare at it and it burst into flames. Yup, love the smell. It means I'm 100 miles away from anything.

Yeah - that can really bite you if you don't think about it since it goes to a preset altitude and then returns. I'm still hesitant to say I grok it fully as to whether the RTH height is referenced to take off point or where it's at.
If from TOP then what happens if you set RTH height at 100 ft then fly up a 500 ft hill and press RTH - does it drill down into the hill? I seem to recall I read it will not do anything if already above the preset RTH height.

 

[tcope]

If from TOP then what happens if you set RTH height at 100 ft then fly up a 500 ft hill and press RTH - does it drill down into the hill? I seem to recall I read it will not do anything if already above the preset RTH height.

The drone will only rise to RTH altitude, it will never descend. If its already above RTH height, it will stay at that height.

 

[Glenn Goodlett]

I completely disagree with the idea of never using RTH. It's like telling an airline pilot to never use autopilot.

 

[tcope]

I completely disagree with the idea of never using RTH. It's like telling an airline pilot to never use autopilot.

How many times has a plane gone off on it's own or crashed while on autopilot?

There are post after posts about people who have used smart RTH and something goes wrong.

I'm not saying Smart RTH does not work nor that it does not work well. It does. I'm just saying it makes sense to avoid it if possible.

 

[geigy]

How many times has a plane gone off on it's own or crashed while on autopilot?

There are post after posts about people who have used smart RTH and something goes wrong.

I'm not saying Smart RTH does not work nor that it does not work well. It does. I'm just saying it makes sense to avoid it if possible.

Yeah, but it's insurance. If you used it fairly often, and understand its limitations, it's more likely to work when you need it.

For example, if your transmitter were to fail, RTH is your fallback.

 

[tcope]

For example, if your transmitter were to fail, RTH is your fallback.

I'm not talking about RTH, in that case you have no choice (which is when I actually advocate for RTH). This thread is talking about Smart RTH, when you press the button to have the Mavic fly back to home point. I recommend that people don't give up manual control unless there is no other choice. Good example of what can go wrong under manual control that would not have gone wrong otherwise.... read this thread.