Precision landings

[WDKZoom]

mmm interesting i will try this when i get out again .

.....cool, following.....also, I always hover at 7 meters for7 to 10 seconds before heading off into the wild blue yonder.

WDK

 

[Chris Mitchell]

Good job. Would it be the same for the Mavic Mini?

CommanderKJDF, the MA2 and Mavic Mini (and Mavic 2 Pro) have downward infrared and vision sensors but only the MA2 has the "Precision Landing" feature. I own all three and have tested them all quite a bit in terms of RTH and Precision Landings. Most of the time the Mini is less accurate than the other 2 - many times missing the landing pad by 5-6 feet. The Mini is a fantastic drone though. I love mine and cant imagine life without it!

 

[old man mavic]

the MM does not have the precision landing feature ,so it does not make much difference if you just lift off to 3ft or so and then fly off, or go up to 20ft then hover before flying off
the MPP on the other hand does have a precision landing tick box and if it is used, it auto climbs to 21ft or so records its position ,and will then pretty much hit the center of the landing pad if left to its own devices on a RTH , if you dont tick the box then it just goes up about 4 ft and hovers till you give it stick input ,it will still get pretty close to the mat, but its not as accurate as if the precision landing feature is used. On the M2P you will need to rise to about 21ft yourself to activate the precision landing feature as with the new MA2

 

[M38a11963]

When I use precision landing on the Air2 it seems to always work as long as I use tripod or N mode. I understand Sport turns off bottom sensors an rarely hits the mark. Tom

 

[CommanderKJDF]

CommanderKJDF, the MA2 and Mavic Mini (and Mavic 2 Pro) have downward infrared and vision sensors but only the MA2 has the "Precision Landing" feature. I own all three and have tested them all quite a bit in terms of RTH and Precision Landings. Most of the time the Mini is less accurate than the other 2 - many times missing the landing pad by 5-6 feet. The Mini is a fantastic drone though. I love mine and cant imagine life without it!

Thanks
I just was out flying this morning and you are correct it, my mini doesn’t have that feature. However, she comes right back to me within a few feet and I catch her by hand. I love my mini ?

 

[Bob1956]

I like the RTH feature and show it off a lot. At first I noticed the first RTH landing was always closest to the bullseye. And each landing would get further away.

To fix that : Before the first take off, put the drone dead center, wait for the Home Point message. Then the 10 second hold at 30 feet.

Fly some distance, hit RTH. If the drone lands off a bit, put it back on bullseye. Motors off, then restart, Home Point message, Keep doing that and it should stay within the landing pad.

It seems to me the drone accumulates errors. If it lands off and the drone isn't returned to bullseye, the next landing will be even further out.

 

[Wozza]

Unless I've got a large flat and clean area to land in, I always land manually. And I might wander about a bit when I'm flying and where I am when I want to land might not be suitable. So rather than head back to the take off point I will catch by hand.

And it's magpie season in these parts and the buggers will attack anything in their territory. On a couple of ocassions I have had to land very quickly to avoid them. In which case a hand catch might be the best option. And if you have a dog or two taking an interest in the drone then you don't want them trying to sniff the thing when it lands.

It's a good idea to learn how to do it when you're relaxed and in control for the times when you're stressed and have to do it.

 

[trevsdad]

as an instructor, my advice??? (...like many others here) learn to land manually. It’s really not very hard, especially with a Mavic and will add to your skill and pride as a pilot. That’s right...you’re a pilot now and that’s what pilots do. Also, don’t hand catch unless you have to (...on a moving platform, boat, etc) it’s dangerous. ???

 

[cab124]

I have noticed that precision landing on the MA2 is very hit or miss as well (and it seems more miss than hit). Over the last couple of days, I played around with it several times and began to notice a pattern.

If I take off, climb to about 25ft and hover for about 10 seconds, then fly off a couple of hundred feet and then trigger an RTH, the drone comes back and usually lands within 6 inches of the take-off spot. In that case, it is very accurate.

However, If I take off, climb to about 25ft and hover for about 10 seconds, then fly a random route and figure-8s, etc. until I am down to about 30% battery, then trigger an RTH, the drone usually misses the pad by 3-5 feet.

It seems to me that in the course of flying for longer periods of time, the software accumulates error that somehow affects the precision landing accuracy.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar to this? I am using a round, orange "H" pad on a green, grassy field.

 

[Meta4]

However, If I take off, climb to about 25ft and hover for about 10 seconds, then fly a random route and figure-8s, etc. until I am down to about 30% battery, then trigger an RTH, the drone usually misses the pad by 3-5 feet.
It seems to me that in the course of flying for longer periods of time, the software accumulates error that somehow affects the precision landing accuracy.

What you do during your flight has no influence on the RTH landing and it's accuracy.
If the drone is landing more than a couple of inches away, it's not using the Precision Landing feature at all and the landing is guided by GPS alone.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar to this? I am using a round, orange "H" pad on a green, grassy field.

The most likely explanation is that the grassy background doesn't provide any recognisable features for Precision Landing to use for guidance.

 

[cab124]

What you do during your flight has no influence on the RTH landing and it's accuracy.
If the drone is landing more than a couple of inches away, it's not using the Precision Landing feature at all and the landing is guided by GPS alone.

The most likely explanation is that the grassy background doesn't provide any recognisable features for Precision Landing to use for guidance.

But I am holding everything constant except the amount of time/distance that I fly. I never move my landing pad and I do the climb to 25 feet and hover consistently at each take off.

if I take off, fly 200 feet away and then immediately trigger an RTH, it lands exactly where it took off.

If I take off, fly a random route for 15 minutes and then trigger an RTH, it misses the pad by 5 feet.

In both cases, a precision landing is triggered, and in both cases, the landing pad provides equal color contrast with the surrounding grass. Yet it one case it lands within 6 inches of the takeoff spot and in the other case it misses by 5 feet. I repeated this about 5 times.

 

[Meta4]

In both cases, a precision landing is triggered, and in both cases, the landing pad provides equal color contrast with the surrounding grass. Yet it one case it lands within 6 inches of the takeoff spot and in the other case it misses by 5 feet. I repeated this about 5 times.

Which only shows the Precision Landing is having trouble with either the scene or lighting.
If the conditions aren't good enough for Precision Landing to work, the drone has to use GPS which usually will put you within a few feet but can be up to 10 ft out occasionally.

A grassy area is going to look featureless from 20 feet up and Precision Landing needs something with recognisable features (not just one feature - your landing pad).
Try somewhere with more pattern or texture and see what difference that makes.

 

[cab124]

What you are saying just does not make sense to me. The scene and lighting is being held constant. Precision landing works perfectly, 100% of the time when I trigger the landing after 30 seconds of flight. However, after 15 minutes of flight, but with the same target, lighting and scene, it fails.

 

[Meta4]

What you are saying just does not make sense to me. The scene and lighting is being held constant. Precision landing works perfectly, 100% of the time when I trigger the landing after 30 seconds of flight. However, after 15 minutes of flight, but with the same target, lighting and scene, it fails.

What I've tried to explain is that if your drone isn't landing within a couple of inches, it's not using, or not able to use Precision Landing.
Where you fly or what you do while away from the launch point is completely irrelevant to the landing and how it goes.

My guess is that the area surrounding the launch pad is marginal for PL, and that if you got off the plain, featureless grass to somewhere more recognisable, you might get PL to work all the time.

 

[ninja_geezer]

I have noticed that precision landing on the MA2 is very hit or miss as well (and it seems more miss than hit). Over the last couple of days, I played around with it several times and began to notice a pattern.

If I take off, climb to about 25ft and hover for about 10 seconds, then fly off a couple of hundred feet and then trigger an RTH, the drone comes back and usually lands within 6 inches of the take-off spot. In that case, it is very accurate.

However, If I take off, climb to about 25ft and hover for about 10 seconds, then fly a random route and figure-8s, etc. until I am down to about 30% battery, then trigger an RTH, the drone usually misses the pad by 3-5 feet.

It seems to me that in the course of flying for longer periods of time, the software accumulates error that somehow affects the precision landing accuracy.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar to this? I am using a round, orange "H" pad on a green, grassy field.

I agree totally ive tested this numerous times with 2 different MA2.aircraft.