Return to Home missing the spot

[mereflyer]

Before you do anything else, maybe try Litchi. See if, after Go 4 was so accurate, if Litchi is more accurate. Some functions of Litchi are translated from DJI Go 4.

OK Thanks for that Thunder, Will try asap and get back with results - might not be for a day or two though!
Cheers.

 

[Meta4]

The comparison with the Litchi app's inaccuracy had me really starting to think there could be a fault in the Litchi algorithm. Could this be true?

The "Litchi algorithm" is the DJI firmware algorithm.
Litchi doesn't have it's own RTH system.

Are you using the Precision Landing feature and is it working?
You do realise that GPS has variable inaccuracy and if you are using GPS, it won't always land in the same place??

 

[mereflyer]

OK Thanks for that Thunder, Will try asap and get back with results - might not be for a day or two though!
Cheers.

Hi Thunder and All Contributors,
Today I tried litchi again... To my pleasant surprise it (RTH) landed my MP1 perfectly on the spot. Had 5 flights and each the same, very close (within 300mm) on the landing pad.

Er, I must confess.... I checked and was surprised to find the precision landing settings turned off.. Fixed that and all is good again.

Also turned off dynamic home point just in case, not sure if that helped but seemed to be a possible contributor...

Anyway I am very impressed with the Mavic Pro/ Litchi combination and happily recommend the experience to all those who have not yet tried it!

 

[Former Member]

Hi Thunder and All Contributors,
Today I tried litchi again... To my pleasant surprise it (RTH) landed my MP1 perfectly on the spot. Had 5 flights and each the same, very close (within 300mm) on the landing pad.

Er, I must confess.... I checked and was surprised to find the precision landing settings turned off.. Fixed that and all is good again.

Also turned off dynamic home point just in case, not sure if that helped but seemed to be a possible contributor...

Anyway I am very impressed with the Mavic Pro/ Litchi combination and happily recommend the experience to all those who have not yet tried it!

Great to hear!

 

[johnmeyer]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that to get the RTH feature to work, you have to take off straight up and have the aircraft go up to a height of at least 23 feet, before you move it horizontally and before you rotate it. This gives the drone the optical pattern it needs in order to get the aircraft to land within inches/centimeters of its takeoff point, rather than dozens of yards/meters.

Next, when you activate RTH, you have to be far enough away from the landing spot when RTH is activated so that it doesn't just do a normal landing. AFAIK, you do not get precision landing when you simply press the landing button, and RTH, when activated close to the landing point, becomes the same thing as pressing the landing button. I don't know the exact horizontal distance you need to be from the takeoff point, but it is around twenty yards/meters. Something to remember is that, like the landing button, it will try to land wherever it is when you press the button, so pressing the RTH button when the drone is nearby can have some very bad consequences.

Make sure you have at least ten, preferably more, satellites locked in before you take off.

Finally, you must make sure you have really registered the spot on the landing pad as your home position. If I think I might need to use RTH, I always press the second icon in the setup menu. This brings me to the two icons for setting the home point. I press the left icon which sets the home point as the drone's current position on the takeoff/landing pad.

Doing these things, you should get RTH to work every time.

 

[Meta4]

Finally, you must make sure you have really registered the spot on the landing pad as your home position. If I think I might need to use RTH, I always press the second icon in the setup menu. This brings me to the two icons for setting the home point. I press the left icon which sets the home point as the drone's current position on the takeoff/landing pad.

There is no need to reset your home point.
The drone automatically records the home point for you quite effectively.

 

[johnmeyer]

There is no need to reset your home point.
The drone automatically records the home point for you quite effectively.

Actually, the may no always be true. As one example, yesterday I powered up the drone and turned on the controller while inside the house (it's easier to do pre-flight inside while sitting down). I then walked outside with both in hand and, before I reached the takeoff point, the voice on the controller said "updating home point ..."

I kept walking to the launch point, put the drone down, waited for 12+ satellites, but I never heard that voice again. So, I manually set the home location, as I described in my previous post.

Was my drone home point set to the launch point, or was it set to just outside my front door? If outside the door, that would be bad, since it is under a tree.

 

[Meta4]

Was my drone home point set to the launch point, or was it set to just outside my front door? If outside the door, that would be bad, since it is under a tree.

Your drone will record it's home point where it first gets a good GPS location fix.
If you want to walk around with the drone after that, of course you'd need to reset it.
But almost no-one is doing what you just described.
Why you would power up somewhere and later move the drone to a good launch point is puzzling.

 

[johnmeyer]

Your drone will record it's home point where it first gets a good GPS location fix.
If you want to walk around with the drone after that, of course you'd need to reset it.
But almost no-one is doing what you just described.
Why you would power up somewhere and later move the drone to a good launch point is puzzling.

I described why I do it, and it is perfectly logical. What's more, it is a good idea.

If you read stories about missions gone wrong, it is often because something was set incorrectly in the menus, left over from a previous mission, but then forgotten. Most pre-flight checklists recommend going through menus to make sure everything is OK. This is much easier to do indoors where you can see the screen more easily. Outdoors, even with a sunshade, it is more difficult to read all the details on a small display (in my case, an iPhone 6 Plus), especially when one's eyesight isn't what it used to be.

So, I most definitely stand by my recommendation. It absolutely hurts nothing to do it, and it takes less than five seconds to do. I really don't understand the point of objecting, and doing so more than once, especially since you agree that the automatic RTH setting can be fooled.

If you are really serious about making RTH work, you should do it.

 

[Meta4]

So, I most definitely stand by my recommendation. It absolutely hurts nothing to do it, and it takes less than five seconds to do. I really don't understand the point of objecting, and doing so more than once, especially since you agree that the automatic RTH setting can be fooled.

I don't agree that the automatic recording of the home point can be fooled.
I commented because I didn't guess that you power up indoors and then move the drone outside .. because that's a really unusual thing to do.

If you are really serious about making RTH work, you should do it.

Or you could just do what everyone else does and simply power up the drone where you intend to fly from and then you wouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[mereflyer]

OK Thanks everyone for your contributions and timely advice...

All good now and problem solved, guess we can bottle this now and shelve it for future reference eh! ?