Mavic Mini Find My Drone Explained

sar104 · Jul 17, 2020

I think that you may have misunderstood how the "Find my drone" function works. All it does is tell you the last valid GPS coordinates provided by the drone when it was connected to the app. That could be the last recorded location during a flight when a crash occurred (if the crash caused the aircraft to shut down or lose GPS lock), it could be continued to be updated (if the aircraft is still powered up, still connected to the app, and still has a valid position solution), or it could be updated later (if connection was lost but then re-established).

It doesn't depend on or require the mobile device to have an internet connection except in terms of how that may affect the ability of the app to pull map data to display.

Paleomanjim · Jul 17, 2020

sar104 said:
It doesn't depend on or require the mobile device to have an internet connection except in terms of how that may affect the ability of the app to pull map data to display.

Yes, thanks for that, it does seem to be the case. I guess the point I was trying to make is that without cellular or an internet connection the "Find My Drone" tracking may not be able to guide a pilot to his/her lost drone. The tracking certainly stopped working on the Find My Drone after the original crash and the GPS coordinates were of no value to me without the ability to track. Many folks fly in remote areas not covered by cellular service so they may need to consider alternatives for finding their drone in the event of a crash. The old GPS trackers that relied on satellites only for tracking would be valuable in such cases. Or at the very least recorded video of the flight on the cell phone, not ideal but it can work.

sar104 · Jul 17, 2020

Paleomanjim said:
Yes, thanks for that, it does seem to be the case. I guess the point I was trying to make is that without cellular or an internet connection the "Find My Drone" tracking may not be able to guide a pilot to his/her lost drone. The tracking certainly stopped working on the Find My Drone after the original crash and the GPS coordinates were of no value to me without the ability to track. Many folks fly in remote areas not covered by cellular service so they may need to consider alternatives for finding their drone in the event of a crash. The old GPS trackers that relied on satellites only for tracking would be valuable in such cases. Or at the very least recorded video of the flight on the cell phone, not ideal but it can work.

I'm still don't think you have understood how this works. The app having appropriate coordinates simply depends on the conditions that I described above. I don't know what you mean by "tracking". If the aircraft has supplied valid coordinates and if the mobile device also has a GPS lock then the app will show the aircraft coordinates and the relative position of the aircraft and the mobile device. There may be no detail on the map if the device has no cell service and you didn't cache the maps, but you can still move towards the aircraft and it will show you getting closer. Cellular service is not required - it plays no part in this function.

In your example you stated that the app was initially indicating that the drone was at your location, rather than its actual location. It is simply indicating the last location that the aircraft supplied while connected to the app.

Paleomanjim · Jul 17, 2020

sar104 said:
If the aircraft has supplied valid coordinates and if the mobile device also has a GPS lock then the app will show the aircraft coordinates and the relative position of the aircraft and the mobile device. There may be no detail on the map if the device has no cell service and you didn't cache the maps, but you can still move towards the aircraft and it will show you getting closer. Cellular service is not required - it plays no part in this function.

I get your point. This is a learning experience for me. What I mean by tracking is the ability to see my location on the map (Blue dot) and the drones location on the map (green triangle). In other words being able to see where I am in relation to the drones location. At 4:05 in the video both dots are shown together, indicating I believe that I am at the drone location. In reality I was 1587' away. I tried expanding the screen in case it was just a matter of scale, but in fact it was not showing my location on the screen. I may be wrong, but I believe it was not showing my location on the map because of poor cell service. I had practiced finding the drone numerous times near my home and always had the blue dot (My location) show up on the map. There is some value in seeing the drones location on the satellite map, but if I cannot see where I am in relation to the drones location then tracking is difficult at best. On the actual crash day all was working well until my location (Blue dot) started drifting around. I assumed it was because the drone shut down. What I believe now is that the cellular service was too poor to pinpoint my location. I deliberately walked 1/4 mile away to see if the distance between the blue dot and the triangle increased, it did not but instead drifted around aimlessly. I could see no way that screen was gong to lead me to the drone under those conditions. No way I wanted to backtrack and use the video to locate the drone in 100F heat, but there seemed to be no option. You stated "but you can still move towards the aircraft and it will show you getting closer". If I cannot see my location on the map I cannot see myself getting closer.

sar104 · Jul 17, 2020

Paleomanjim said:
I get your point. This is a learning experience for me. What I mean by tracking is the ability to see my location on the map (Blue dot) and the drones location on the map (green triangle). In other words being able to see where I am in relation to the drones location. At 4:05 in the video both dots are shown together, indicating I believe that I am at the drone location. In reality I was 1587' away. I tried expanding the screen in case it was just a matter of scale, but in fact it was not showing my location on the screen. I may be wrong, but I believe it was not showing my location on the map because of poor cell service.

Yes - you are wrong about that. The phone doesn't need cell service to draw the map - it only needs cell service to show map details. And it doesn't need cell service to get its own position - that just requires GPS reception. And so when it showed you and the drone at the same location it was displaying old drone location data that placed the drone at your location, not you at the drone's location.

I had practiced finding the drone numerous times near my home and always had the blue dot (My location) show u on the map. There is some value in seeing the drones location on the satellite map, but if I cannot see where I am in relation to the drones location tracking then tracking is difficult at best. On the actual crash day all was working well until my location (Blue dot) started drifting around. I assumed it was because the drone shut down.

No - your location drifting around has nothing to do with the drone, its location, or your cell service. It's a reflection of varying accuracy on the phone's GPS position solution.

What I believe now is that the cellular service was too poor to pinpoint my location.

No - cell service is not used to get your location. You really have completely misunderstood all of this.

I deliberately walked 1/4 mile away to see if the distance between the blue dot and the triangle increased, it did not but instead drifted around aimlessly.

Did it drift around aimlessly if you stood still?

I could see no way that screen was gong to lead me to the drone under those conditions. No way I wanted to backtrack and use the video to locate the drone in 100F heat, but there seemed to be no option. You stated "but you can still move towards the aircraft and it will show you getting closer". If I cannot see my location on the map I cannot see myself getting closer.

Again - you could see your location. What you could not see was the drone's location, because the app was displaying old data.

Paleomanjim · Jul 17, 2020

sar104 said:
Yes - you are wrong about that. The phone doesn't need cell service to draw the map - it only needs cell service to show map details. And it doesn't need cell service to get its own position - that just requires GPS reception. And so when it showed you and the drone at the same location it was displaying old drone location data that placed the drone at your location, not you at the drone's location.

No - your location drifting around has nothing to do with the drone, its location, or your cell service. It's a reflection of varying accuracy on the phone's GPS position solution.

No - cell service is not used to get your location. You really have completely misunderstood all of this.

Did it drift around aimlessly if you stood still?

Again - you could see your location. What you could not see was the drone's location, because the app was displaying old data.

I believe you are wrong. I could NOT see my location on the screen when I first tried to use it at 4:05 in the video. What I assumed was my location as well as the drones location at the same point was actually just the drone. My location was not shown. I was actually off the shown map at that point based on the satellites map. I did try repeatedly to expand the maps borders, both with and without the satellite background, and I mentioned that in the video at 3:52. I also shut the recording down and tried numerous times to expand the map to show both drone and my location. No go. It would not change. If the Find My drone function is to be useful it should show both the drone and the pilots location at the same time. It does this in the city. I tried this at home while walking 1 mile away and it shows both locations when turned on and activated. It did not show my location on the screen as can be seen at 4:05 in the video (I would have been shown as a blue dot). In addition, when walking back from the drone to my initial flying location I used the hiking path and noticed that the map was showing me off to the west by at least 50'. When I stopped to video a Joshua tree landmark I noticed that my location was drifting around aimlessly by an estimated 30'. That is enough of a discrepancy even with my location shown to limit the value of finding the drone is brushy conditions. Again, seems good in the city, not so much in the desert. My phone uses the GPS chip in conjunction with Wi-Fi networks and nearby cellphone towers to calculate the phone's location. With no cellphone reception the location may not be accurate, or shown at all.
I think the Find My Drone function as a valuable tool, but I do not believe it can be counted on in all conditions. Also, I believe it would be useful if the screen could show the distance between the drone and the pilot. Maybe that is possible, not sure. Knowing the distance would be a great benefit. On my initial tracking I could see I was getting closer but had no idea how far away the drone was.
The purpose of my video was to show my experience and observations. I believe others may experience similar conditions if they are in remote locations. Knowing what happened in my case may be of value to others.

sar104 · Jul 17, 2020

Paleomanjim said:
I believe you are wrong. I could NOT see my location on the screen when I first tried to use it at 4:05 in the video. What I assumed was my location as well as the drones location at the same point was actually just the drone. My location was not shown. I was actually off the shown map at that point based on the satellites map. I did try repeatedly to expand the maps borders, both with and without the satellite background, and I mentioned that in the video at 3:52. I also shut the recording down and tried numerous times to expand the map to show both drone and my location. No go. It would not change. If the Find My drone function is to be useful it should show both the drone and the pilots location at the same time. It does this in the city. I tried this at home while walking 1 mile away and it shows both locations when turned on and activated. It did not show my location on the screen as can be seen at 4:05 in the video (I would have been shown as a blue dot). In addition, when walking back from the drone to my initial flying location I used the hiking path and noticed that the map was showing me off to the west by at least 50'. When I stopped to video a Joshua tree landmark I noticed that my location was drifting around aimlessly by an estimated 30'. That is enough of a discrepancy even with my location shown to limit the value of finding the drone is brushy conditions. Again, seems good in the city, not so much in the desert. My phone uses the GPS chip in conjunction with Wi-Fi networks and nearby cellphone towers to calculate the phone's location. With no cellphone reception the location may not be accurate, or shown at all.
I think the Find My Drone function as a valuable tool, but I do not believe it can be counted on in all conditions. Also, I believe it would be useful if the screen could show the distance between the drone and the pilot. Maybe that is possible, not sure. Knowing the distance would be a great benefit. On my initial tracking I could see I was getting closer but had no idea how far away the drone was.
The purpose of my video was to show my experience and observations. I believe others may experience similar conditions if they are in remote locations. Knowing what happened in my case may be of value to others.

Okay - I can't help you any further. Your understanding of how the phone gets its location and how the "Find my drone" function works is completely incorrect but it's certainly your prerogative to believe whatever you want and not my job to convince you otherwise. But hopefully no one else following this thread will end up equally confused.

Paleomanjim · Jul 17, 2020

We can agree to disagree. My Video and posts are based on actual experience. I did research the GPS tracking of the phone and found My phone uses the GPS chip in conjunction with Wi-Fi networks and nearby cellphone towers to calculate the phone's location. No cellular means inaccurate GPS location, or no location at all. That if just a fact. The confusion you mention is on the other side.