RTH vs hover vs descend w/signal loss

[Matriculated01]

Can somebody explain why this option was added with the latest Fly app update? It seems logical to me that you would want the craft to RTH with signal loss. In what instances would it be useful for it to hover? Boating? And for the life of me I cannot figure out why you would want it to descend if it loses signal - this one makes no sense. Has anyone tested these out? By “descend” does it mean all the way, as in land wherever it is? And if you choose the hover option, will it just hover at signal loss point until it loses power then land? Any explanation and insight into these would be appreciated.

 

[old man mavic]

Can somebody explain why this option was added with the latest Fly app update? It seems logical to me that you would want the craft to RTH with signal loss. In what instances would it be useful for it to hover? Boating? And for the life of me I cannot figure out why you would want it to descend if it loses signal - this one makes no sense. Has anyone tested these out? By “descend” does it mean all the way, as in land wherever it is? And if you choose the hover option, will it just hover at signal loss point until it loses power then land? Any explanation and insight into these would be appreciated.

well with regards to hover as apposed to RTH then that would be good idea if you were under a canopy of trees in a forest or inside a building ,with the descend one that could be because of the many flyaways that plague the MM, when it is being blown away in the wind because it is to high ,once RTH has been activated then if it descended it could get it out of the wind ,and dont forget you can cancel RTH at any time and fly home yourself, admittedly for that option to be any good then the MM would need to be in VLOS ,to know how low to let it get before stopping RTH

 

[Matriculated01]

well with regards to hover as apposed to RTH then that would be good idea if you were under a canopy of trees in a forest or inside a building ,with the descend one that could be because of the many flyaways that plague the MM, when it is being blown away in the wind because it is to high ,once RTH has been activated then if it descended it could get it out of the wind ,and dont forget you can cancel RTH at any time and fly home yourself, admittedly for that option to be any good then the MM would need to be in VLOS ,to know how low to let it get before stopping RTH

Thanks OMM, that makes sense. Didn’t think about tree canopy or flying into a building through a window scenario. Hover would seem to be useful in avoiding an RTH crash in those scenarios. Also makes sense why descending might be useful with the mass blow aways happening. Would you happen to know how exactly the descend function works? What altitude or by how much does it descend? Then what, does it just sit there or does it ever head home if no connection re-established?

 

[Meta4]

Would you happen to know how exactly the descend function works? What altitude or by how much does it descend?
Then what, does it just sit there or does it ever head home if no connection re-established?

It will descend until it can descend no more.
In other words, it just autolands.

 

[old man mavic]

Thanks OMM, that makes sense. Didn’t think about tree canopy or flying into a building through a window scenario. Hover would seem to be useful in avoiding an RTH crash in those scenarios. Also makes sense why descending might be useful with the mass blow aways happening. Would you happen to know how exactly the descend function works? What altitude or by how much does it descend? Then what, does it just sit there or does it ever head home if no connection re-established?

i have not been able to get out to fly for some time due to lockdown i am afraid ,so i cant really give you an answer to that question, dont forget it just descends and lands if it is any closer that 60 ft anyway ,the only way to check it out i guess would be to select the descend function take off go 120 ft out at say 50 ft altitude then press the RTH and see what it does ,i would like to know the answer myself ,it does say that the default setting for RTH is come back home, so it appears that it resets to default after the drone has been turned off so if the alternative actions were required then they would have to be set before each take off

 

[Meta4]

i guess would be to select the descend function take off go 120 ft out at say 50 ft altitude then press the RTH and see what it does

It's not what happens when you initiate RTH, it's what happens when signal is lost.
If you press RTH on the controller, the drone returns to home.

To test for loss of signal, you would have to switch the controller off or otherwise block the signal.

it does say that the default setting for RTH is come back home, so it appears that it resets to default after the drone has been turned off so if the alternative actions were required then they would have to be set before each take off

Just to clear up the confusion, this is not about a setting for RTH
It is about selecting a Loss of Signal Action and RTH is one of three options.

Default = the setting as the drone comes from the factory.
But if you chacge it, it stays changed until you change it again.
It does not revert to the default when the drone is powered off.

 

[KiloMeater]

Well here is a scenario that could be useful
I want to use it filming a car, where I am co passenger
In case of disconnect I don’t want it to go back to starting point as we may have driven some distance
So it’s between landing (we go back to pick it up ) or hovering
The last would seem more appropriate but what if I can’t reconnect to it, I’ll just have to wait until battery is drained out for it to fall...?

 

[old man mavic]

It's not what happens when you initiate RTH, it's what happens when signal is lost.
If you press RTH on the controller, the drone returns to home.

To test for loss of signal, you would have to switch the controller off or otherwise block the signal.

Just to clear up the confusion, this is not about a setting for RTH
It is about selecting a Loss of Signal Action and RTH is one of three options.

Default = the setting as the drone comes from the factory.
But if you chacge it, it stays changed until you change it again.
It does not revert to the default when the drone is powered off.

@Meta4 thanks for explaining what exactly it does i thought it also worked if RTH was selected as well my mistake

 

[Zbip57]

I posted a series of Youtube videos back in December demonstrating the need for these extra options. Originally the only failsafe response available to the Mavic Mini, upon loss-of-signal, was Return-to-Home. This proved catastrophic to many Minis while carried away by the wind.

If the wind is too strong to fight even in Sport-mode, drifting too far downwind eventually causes a loss of signal, whereupon RTH kicks in. Then the Mini climbs to the set RTH height, where the wind is probably even stronger, and the Mini switches to fly Home at only P-mode speed. That practically guarantees the total loss of the Mini as it will continue to drift downwind until eventually the battery dies and it autolands somewhere far away. Your flight log data abruptly stops recording at the moment control signal is lost, so you'll have no way to trace where it ended up.

If you ever find yourself in this desperate situation, the best thing to do is set the Mini down in a safe emergency ditching site while you still have control. But that got me thinking, what happens if you lose control signal as the Mini is descending to land at your chosen ditching site? Well, RTH kicks in! There's was no way to guarantee the Mini could be successfully forced to land in a remote location if control signal is lost on the way down.

I tried all sorts of different things, as demonstrated in this YouTube playlist. The 4th video shows how changing the Failsafe response to "Descend" fixes the issue.

NOTE: Only set it to "Descend" when you are absolutely certain you want it to descend upon loss-of-signal. Make sure you don't leave it on this setting if you normally fly over water or built-up areas, etc.

Mavic Mini - Forced Landing Tests

To force an emergency landing at a remote location...

www.youtube.com