RTH while in canyons

[Ziba]

I'm a photographer and a new Mavric Pro 2 owner.

As I learn the drone I have a question for which I can't seem to find an answer.

I shoot in Oregon and Washington, and a few other western locations. I want to be able to send the drone into canyons (of varying depths and widths) to capture what I can't get from the rim. If I use the RTH feature how would I set the ceiling so that drone rises above the canyon rim. As an example, if I set the return to home at 100 feet above the home point will the drone be able to calculate that it may need to rise 200 feet as it rises from the canyon to achieve the desired height? If not, how would I set it in order for it to return home - especially if it loses the signal.

 

[sar104]

The RTH height is defined relative to the takeoff point, not the ground that it is flying over.

 

[Thomas B]

I'm a photographer and a new Mavric Pro 2 owner.

As I learn the drone I have a question for which I can't seem to find an answer.

I shoot in Oregon and Washington, and a few other western locations. I want to be able to send the drone into canyons (of varying depths and widths) to capture what I can't get from the rim. If I use the RTH feature how would I set the ceiling so that drone rises above the canyon rim. As an example, if I set the return to home at 100 feet above the home point will the drone be able to calculate that it may need to rise 200 feet as it rises from the canyon to achieve the desired height? If not, how would I set it in order for it to return home - especially if it loses the signal.

RTH will be relative to TO/home point. In AZ I use this a lot as loss of signal is common in canyons... just set your drone to RTH on loss of signal.

 

[BigAl07]

First off WELCOME to the forum!!

The Altitude of the aircraft is set at ZERO during the initialization process at launch. So as long as the RTH is higher than your launch point when the aircraft ASCENDS from the canyon it should be ok. The RTH is not affected by descending below the Home Point.

 

[Flycaster]

Yes, it is relative to take off point as above.
If you set the RTH height to 200 feet, you take off, and you here the nice Lady say "The homepoint has been updated, please check it on the map", hover, and check all flight controls as functioning as expected, then you can head out to you target.
If you fly down 200 feet into a canyon (being mindful of possible GPS issues), and you need to hit the RTH, the AC will climb up 400 feet (absolute) and should be approx 200 feet (your setting) above (relative) take off point.

 

[old man mavic]

I'm a photographer and a new Mavric Pro 2 owner.

As I learn the drone I have a question for which I can't seem to find an answer.

I shoot in Oregon and Washington, and a few other western locations. I want to be able to send the drone into canyons (of varying depths and widths) to capture what I can't get from the rim. If I use the RTH feature how would I set the ceiling so that drone rises above the canyon rim. As an example, if I set the return to home at 100 feet above the home point will the drone be able to calculate that it may need to rise 200 feet as it rises from the canyon to achieve the desired height? If not, how would I set it in order for it to return home - especially if it loses the signal.

the height that you set for RTH is from the home point at the top where you took off from
and once the drone has descended below the rim as you call it ,it has no idea how high it is from the canyons ground level
you could just set the RTH height to 20ft and it would rise to that height above the canyon before returning
a couple of things to be aware of you need to keep the drone in line of sight between the controller and the drone
if you wanted to take off in the canyon,then you would have to take the height of trees and any structures that you may be flying over for your RTH height and also be aware that if you go too low in a canyon you run the risk of losing enough sats to keep a GPS lock

 

[bumper]

I fly the Idaho canyons and camp in the back country, River of No Return, Frank Church Wilderness area etc. in my Husky. When down low following the river, one does not expect to see a drone around a blind corner. Though I guess the corner doesn't make much difference if one is heading toward a drone doing 70 - 100 knots, we're not likely to see it against the walls of the canyon, too much visual clutter. There are several fly-ins each year, with associated denser air traffic, a good size one is at Johnson Creek. I go to the Root Ranch in the Spring/Early summer Please use caution, you'll probably hear aircraft coming towards you before seeing them. Best to keep VLOS or you'll have no way to see and avoid.

Be conservative and fly to the top of the canyon to determine height to rim, then set RTH with a margin above.

 

[Thomas B]

I fly the Idaho canyons and camp in the back country, River of No Return, Frank Church Wilderness area etc. in my Husky. When down low following the river, one does not expect to see a drone around a blind corner. Though I guess the corner doesn't make much difference if one is heading toward a drone doing 70 - 100 knots, we're not likely to see it against the walls of the canyon, too much visual clutter. There are several fly-ins each year, with associated denser air traffic, a good size one is at Johnson Creek. I go to the Root Ranch in the Spring/Early summer Please use caution, you'll probably hear aircraft coming towards you before seeing them. Best to keep VLOS or you'll have no way to see and avoid.

Be conservative and fly to the top of the canyon to determine height to rim, then set RTH with a margin above.

I thought the question started with the premise of taking off from the edge and flying down into a canyon... did I miss something?

 

[Ziba]

First off WELCOME to the forum!!

The Altitude of the aircraft is set at ZERO during the initialization process at launch. So as long as the RTH is higher than your launch point when the aircraft ASCENDS from the canyon it should be ok. The RTH is not affected by descending below the Home Point.

Thanks. Also, one other question. Some canyons are narrow and you can lose the GPS signal in the canyon. Is the Mavic Pro 2 capable of returning home when set to

 

[AMann]

Thanks. Also, one other question. Some canyons are narrow and you can lose the GPS signal in the canyon. Is the Mavic Pro 2 capable of returning home when set to

Assuming you mean when loss of GPS signal occurs?

 

[Ziba]

Thanks, everyone.

Yes. The premise is that I will start at the rim and go down - and RTH back up above the rim.

Most images would be shot within line of site.

However, one thing that is still confusing to me. A lot of canyons in the northwest (whether in the mountains or in the high desert) are narrow and you can lose a GPS lock with many different GPS devices. You can lose a GPS lock by moving a few yards away from home even in canyons that don't seem to be narrow. So.., if I were to lose GPS lock is there anyway of getting the drone to return?

 

[AMann]

Thanks, everyone.

Yes. The premise is that I will start at the rim and go down - and RTH back up above the rim.

Most images would be shot within line of site.

However, one thing that is still confusing to me. A lot of canyons in the northwest (whether in the mountains or in the high desert) are narrow and you can lose a GPS lock with many different GPS devices. You can lose a GPS lock by moving a few yards away from home even in canyons that don't seem to be narrow. So.., if I were to lose GPS lock is there anyway of getting the drone to return?

If your GPS signal drops,your drone will go into a ATTI mode, which means it drifts if there’s a wind. Also, it will not be able to find its way back if it goes into RTH under these circumstances.

Atti mode behavior

If the Mavic loses controller signal while in atti mode (and therefore doesn't have gps lock) what does it do? Is RTH non functional?

mavicpilots.com

Also keep in mind if it goes into RTH mode (with GPS locked in), it will do a straight line back to your location, so if you have any tall hills between you and the drone make sure your RTH height setting clears everything between you and your drone including trees, rocks, etc.

 

[Thomas B]

I'm a photographer and a new Mavric Pro 2 owner.

As I learn the drone I have a question for which I can't seem to find an answer.

I shoot in Oregon and Washington, and a few other western locations. I want to be able to send the drone into canyons (of varying depths and widths) to capture what I can't get from the rim. If I use the RTH feature how would I set the ceiling so that drone rises above the canyon rim. As an example, if I set the return to home at 100 feet above the home point will the drone be able to calculate that it may need to rise 200 feet as it rises from the canyon to achieve the desired height? If not, how would I set it in order for it to return home - especially if it loses the signal.

Much good advice above, be cautious in areas like narrow canyons, but it can work fine. The pic below show one I did in the Superstitions. The first pic is looking down into the canyon called Siphon Draw, from the trail... you can see the people as tiny dots
The pic below is me standing in the bottom of this narrow box canyon. My M2P performed flawlessly.

Flew all the way up the canyon to eventually see the top of the peak in the center called Flat Iron about 1500 get above me. Just keep an eye on the signal and number of satellites and don’t get brave over/in places you can’t walk to.

 

[Dave Maine]

To be crystal clear if the drone looses GPS signal it will never be able to enter RTH either with the loss of control signal, or with control signal by initiating RTH manually.

It will just drift around in ATTI mode until it regains GPS lock, or if you have control signal, you fly it back and regain GPS lock.

 

[sar104]

To be crystal clear if the drone looses GPS signal it will never be able to enter RTH either with the loss of control signal, or with control signal by initiating RTH manually.

It will just drift around in ATTI mode until it regains GPS lock, or if you have control signal, you fly it back and regain GPS lock.

And if you have lose the control link when the aircraft is in ATTI mode it will immediately autoland.

 

[Prismatic]

If you lose GPS while down in a canyon, you can generally reacquire it by simply ascending. As soon as it reaches an altitude where the GPS satellites are visible, it'll normally restore the lock pretty quickly. If you want to fly where loss of GPS is likely, pick a windless day so that it won't drift far or fast during an emergency ascent.