My first night flight with my Air 3s went fine except for RTH. I was about 1/4 mile from home at about 200 feet altitude and hit RTH. The drone seemed to be struggling to decide what to do, would fly toward home a short distance then increase altitude multiple times until it was approaching 500 feet. I cancelled RTH, flew to just above home and then hit RTH again and it landed OK. Not sure why it was confused. I had RTH set to "Optimal" and home point was recorded normally at take off. Anybody have a similar experience? I assumed that if visual wouldn't work well due to low light then at least GPS should guide the drone home.
RTH at night
- Thread starter oc1doc
- Start date
First off, your ceiling should have been 400 feet.
Second, the obstacle avoidance should have been turned off for the RTH since the drone can't see obstacles.
The drone OA needs to "see" to be able to detect obstacles. Without the contrast of light, the drone may have been "seeing" lights and darkness as obstacles.
This is just a guess based on what I've read.
Second, the obstacle avoidance should have been turned off for the RTH since the drone can't see obstacles.
The drone OA needs to "see" to be able to detect obstacles. Without the contrast of light, the drone may have been "seeing" lights and darkness as obstacles.
This is just a guess based on what I've read.
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Cafguy
Well-Known Member
Was the height you were at greater than the RTH height in the settings? RTH at night is a crapshoot IMO.
Just curious why 400 feet. My area is flat, nothing above 60 foot telephone poles. I'm about a mille from an airport and helicopters fly over a lot. They are supposed to stay above 500 feet but I think they sometimes dip below that, so I usually try to stay below about 300 to be safe. It is also very windy here and the wind is faster at higher altitudes.
Because it's the law.
A mile from the airport isn't that far. I'm a couple miles from the airport and my ceiling is 300 feet IF I get temporary approval to fly here at all.
AutoPylot
app.autopylot.io
Find out if you're restricted below 400'
DarR-T
Well-Known Member
I've had the similar issue with a night flight:
Air 3S RTH is set at 50m. Yet, aircraft would climbs to 500m if I did not stop it.
All firmware undated.
Here's what DJI responded:
Due to the ambient light being too strong or too weak, the aircraft mistakenly thinks there is an obstacle ahead, triggering the return to avoid the obstacle and increasing the altitude. When you fly at night, the ambient light is very weak, causing the aircraft to mistakenly think there is an obstacle and continue to rise. If you confirm that there are no obstacles on the return path, you can try to turn off the obstacle avoidance function and try again.
Air 3S RTH is set at 50m. Yet, aircraft would climbs to 500m if I did not stop it.
All firmware undated.
Here's what DJI responded:
Due to the ambient light being too strong or too weak, the aircraft mistakenly thinks there is an obstacle ahead, triggering the return to avoid the obstacle and increasing the altitude. When you fly at night, the ambient light is very weak, causing the aircraft to mistakenly think there is an obstacle and continue to rise. If you confirm that there are no obstacles on the return path, you can try to turn off the obstacle avoidance function and try again.
Wow! A known defect! DJI lets the aircraft to elevate to the maximum of 500m which is 1240 feet above the legal 400 foot limit, instead of complying with your customized RTH settings!
You erroneously assume the OP had his RTH setting set to 500 feet. It is apparently bypassing the user setting, and will continue ascension to the 500m max, if left alone.
Apparently, you didn’t also read post #9, indicating a 50m setting still ascended to 500m.
Based upon what?
Why don't you let him speak for himself!
Besides, the post is about the set RTH altitude being exceeded, and continuing to ascend without apparent limit, when no obstacles are present.
If you are offering setting the maximum height to protect against a bug in DJI's OA during RTH, then it is constructive, but has nothing to do with the law, implying the OP did something wrong.
It is also not illegal to set a maximum height based upon mountain climbing.
The FAA rule (it's not a law) of 400 feet is based upon AGL and not based upon the height above your launch point.
RTH should still not exceed the set RTH height, especially when no obstacles are present.
Cafguy
Well-Known Member
If your Drone busted 400' you violated 14 CFR Part 107 and thats not a good thing! Take the above advice and set your RTH for a MAX of 400'
What airport are you a mile from!!?? If its controlled you need to be at least 5 miles away! Did you check before you flew there!
What airport are you a mile from!!?? If its controlled you need to be at least 5 miles away! Did you check before you flew there!
Yes I'm aware of max altitude. The drone did it itself while trying to RTH. I stay below the 400 foot limit. If I never flew closer to the airport than 5 miles I would need to drive at least 4 miles every time I flew. I fly very cautiously at low altitude and DJI Fly reminds me I am in a controlled area but allows me to take off. Haven't had any problems.
I was at about the RTH preset height. I think Good Santa's idea is right on. Next time I'll turn obstacle avoidance off until I'm close to landing.
