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Precision landing (lack of).

OldGuy

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Precision landing is important to me as I often fly from a small patch of grass in my garden which is surrounded by trees. When I first bought my M2Z precision landing was not available but following an update it did eventually work and my M2Z would land directly on the pad. My Mavic Mini and now my Mini 2 don’t have precision landing and yesterday my Mini 2 on RTH almost hit the trees. I cancelled RTH as I often do at the last minute and adjusted the Mini 2 so it did land on the pad. My question is does anyone know why the Mini 2 doesn’t have precision landing? I imagine it is to do with the size/weight of the drone and that you can only cram so much into such a small package!?
 
I'm in a rural area. My Mini 2 lands within 3 feet of where it takes off, on a concrete driveway.
Usually mine does the same but yesterday it was over 6 feet off and would have hit the trees. I still don't know why it doesn't have precision landing like the M2Z and come down right on the pad?
 
The usual, either too much to do on such a small platform or marketing decision to reserve that feature to higher end models.
 
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...yesterday it was over 6 feet off and would have hit the trees. I still don't know why it doesn't have precision landing...
Agree with the previous poster, either lack of processing power or a marketing strategy.

Furthermore, a civil GPS receiver usually is accurate to within a 10-30ft radius, so your stated 6ft is actually really good ... but what the GPS will achieve in real life applications is highly dependent on the environment. Factors like satellite geometry, signal blockage (trees, buildings shielding the sky), atmospheric conditions, and receiver design features/quality will affect how close a drone will return to the recorded HP.
 
I would venture to guess that, if DJI was able to leverage the main camera to take an exact image of the landing area at 20 feet and then at 50ft, software could be made to match the main camera images to the previously taken images. In this scenario, the drone could return home, go to 50 feet, match the image, then go to 20 feet match the image again, then land. If they could do this they could possibly get a landing with a precsion withing a couple inches.
 
Precision landing is important to me as I often fly from a small patch of grass in my garden which is surrounded by trees. When I first bought my M2Z precision landing was not available but following an update it did eventually work and my M2Z would land directly on the pad. My Mavic Mini and now my Mini 2 don’t have precision landing and yesterday my Mini 2 on RTH almost hit the trees. I cancelled RTH as I often do at the last minute and adjusted the Mini 2 so it did land on the pad. My question is does anyone know why the Mini 2 doesn’t have precision landing? I imagine it is to do with the size/weight of the drone and that you can only cram so much into such a small package!?
Hi OldGuy! If you fly in such narrow space why don't you always land manually, at least the 20-30sec of the flight?
 
Hi OldGuy! If you fly in such narrow space why don't you always land manually, at least the 20-30sec of the flight?
I land in similar conditions. Once my drone gets close enough, I turn off RTH and go manual from that point on. I also need to turn off the obstaclle avoidance to get the drone to land in such a narrow space.
There was a time, I didn't pay attention. I set RTH and thought I had time to get a cup of coffee. I go outside and my drone has landed. I look at the monitor and only see grass. I thought, "Oh, great, my drone crashed". But, It actually made it's way over to my front lawn and landed. That was weird.
 
In Mini 1 or 2, the lack of a downside camera probably is the reason why this is not possible.
 
Hi OldGuy! If you fly in such narrow space why don't you always land manually, at least the 20-30sec of the flight?
Second that! I land manually last 20 secs or so because of wind changes. Plus I feel comfortable to launch and land on the helipad on my truck bed. Perishable skill so it helps to practice.
 
I would venture to guess that, if DJI was able to leverage the main camera to take an exact image of the landing area at 20 feet and then at 50ft, software could be made to match the main camera images to the previously taken images. In this scenario, the drone could return home, go to 50 feet, match the image, then go to 20 feet match the image again, then land. If they could do this they could possibly get a landing with a precsion withing a couple inches.
The Mini has a second camera on the bottom that's used for "optical flow" positioning when it's less than about 10 meters high, which could be used for precision landing. But the Mini series doesn't have precision landing for the same reason it doesn't have waypoints, ActiveTrack, TapFly or course lock -- and it's not for lack of hardware.
 
The Mini has a second camera on the bottom that's used for "optical flow" positioning when it's less than about 10 meters high, which could be used for precision landing. But the Mini series doesn't have precision landing for the same reason it doesn't have waypoints, ActiveTrack, TapFly or course lock -- and it's not for lack of hardware.
So, it's really a marketing decision? Grrrr.
 
I usually cancel RTH as soon as the drone has descended on top of me and I land on the hand and pad manually with the Mini 2
 
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So, it's really a marketing decision? Grrrr.
... or as said earlier, lack of processing power or cheaper HW components.

Nearly all previous & present DJI models, have very similar kind of hardware, but perhaps with different sophistication & of lower quality, hence a lower price tag especially when DJI sets out to design crafts going under 250 grams... so that can also be a reason. I mean, just because the Mini2 have a VPS sensor doesn't mean that it's equal suitable for recording the launch zone as the ones in the more expensive models.

Besides all this, it's just software ... it have been very obvious several times that DJI position their models with the means of adding or deducting software features ... it been very clear when for instance Litchi is released for a model & there it's suddenly possible to use features like waypoints, course lock & home lock, features not existing in DJI's own app.
 
Usually mine does the same but yesterday it was over 6 feet off and would have hit the trees. I still don't know why it doesn't have precision landing like the M2Z and come down right on the pad?
Gosh, you ARE in a very tight spot.
 
Hi OldGuy! If you fly in such narrow space why don't you always land manually, at least the 20-30sec of the flight?
I usually do but sometimes as I am surrounded by trees in order to get a better line of sight I climb the stairs to the upper balcony of my house. This is about 50 m away from where the drone will take off. I can't see the drone but I know that going straight up I will clear the trees. As soon as I see the drone above the trees I fly off and carry out my mission. As I can't see the landing area I hit RTH when I've finished flying. However it takes time to get back to the take off area to land the drone manually so unless I am really quick which I am not these days I have to rely on precision landing to miss the trees. I hope this explains why I would like precision landing on my Mini 2 like I have on my M2Z.
 
The very obvious correct solution is to not do this and take off / land from a clear and big enough location where you can be and have direct view of the aircraft at all times.
 
The very obvious correct solution is to not do this and take off / land from a clear and big enough location where you can be and have direct view of the aircraft at all times.
The thing is that it is very nice to fly from your own home. You don't have to pack your gear into your car and drive for one hour to a suitable place. The mornings are very nice here so I grab my Mini 2 and have a quick flight but I would like to have precision landing to clear the trees. If my big drone has it why not my Mini 2 and that is what this thread is about!
 
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