Taking off Landing and Fly over water questions

[john2k]

They will remain turned off. However, quite a few intelligent flight modes prompt you to enable it if you want to use them, so I rarely have to manually turn them on. If you don't fly in close quarters or in areas with a lot of bottom obstacles, then they aren't essential. I fly mostly in wide open fields so I prefer to have them switched off most of the time.

It's not a biggie though if you need to toggle them last minute. While in flight, just go to the menu>sensors>advanced, and there you'll find the switch. More often than not I find myself having to turn them off right before grabbing it.

Isn't the downwards sensors required for landing on ground so that it can slow down when it gets closer to the ground?

 

[john2k]

Granted that you are using gesture control mode, otherwise you just use the buttons on your controller to start or stop a recording.

So if you are not in gesture mode then the Mavic Air doesn't record by default, you have to tell it when to record using the app right? What happens if you want to take a pic while you are recording? does it stop the recording completely and take the pic and then you have to manually start recording again?

 

[Kevjones777]

So if you are not in gesture mode then the Mavic Air doesn't record by default, you have to tell it when to record using the app right? What happens if you want to take a pic while you are recording? does it stop the recording completely and take the pic and then you have to manually start recording again?

No go and try in where you have some space. It's just a fun mode. It will also follow you around. Just try out the different gestures. The manual says you can fly it without any controller of phone using just gestures, so I tried it out and it works just fine. Dont ask me if it is setting compassesn or RTH or anything else, my guess is that it is not. You just press the button twice on the back of the Aircraft, stand in front of it with your hand out and it starts up. Pretty cool party trick. It is very weird to turn your back on it and walk away the it just follows you. It does exactly what the manual says.

 

[MrRobville]

So if you are not in gesture mode then the Mavic Air doesn't record by default, you have to tell it when to record using the app right? What happens if you want to take a pic while you are recording? does it stop the recording completely and take the pic and then you have to manually start recording again?

(anyone correct me if I'm wrong) I believe it will simply ignore your request to take a photo until you finish recording your video first.
The Mavic never records automatically with exception of some automated intelligent modes like the asteroid. If you are doing the flying yourself, you'll have to either press the record button on your controller (or within the app, also possible), and if you are using gesture mode, it'll recognize a particular gesture to initiate or stop a recording as well. You'll have to lookup a video to see how that works.

Isn't the downwards sensors required for landing on ground so that it can slow down when it gets closer to the ground?

Though advisable to have them on while landing on the ground, I don't think they are required as the Mavic will sense that it is close to the ground by other methods. My Phantom 3 standard does not have any bottom sensors at all, yet also manages to land softly by itself.

 

[MavicNoob79]

The gestures work great! My 6 year old daughter was mastering it after only a couple minutes. There are gestures for picture, video star and stop and of course it'll follow you and you can raise, lower bring it closer and make it go further away. Amazing tech

 

[john2k]

Thanks. if you launch gesture mode without the controller or a smart phone just by double clicking the button at the back, how do you know when the Mavic Air has got a GPS lock?

 

[Kevjones777]

Thanks. if you launch gesture mode without the controller or a smart phone just by double clicking the button at the back, how do you know when the Mavic Air has got a GPS lock?

As I understand it, it does not need GPS lock in this mode because it cannot fly further than 16 feet from you or 16 meters (check the book) and it always follows you so it cant fly away. It does not need to know where it is because it cannot start a RTH sequence so GPS is not necessary.

 

[john2k]

As I understand it, it does not need GPS lock in this mode because it cannot fly further than 16 feet from you or 16 meters (check the book) and it always follows you so it cant fly away. It does not need to know where it is because it cannot start a RTH sequence so GPS is not necessary.

That makes more sense, lot's of confusing videos on youtube.

 

[john2k]

When you take off manually by letting the props idle and then lifting off, am I correct in understanding that this does not record a home position? So if I was to then fly out of range etc and the home position wasn't registered, what will happen?

 

[MrRobville]

When you take off manually by letting the props idle and then lifting off, am I correct in understanding that this does not record a home position? So if I was to then fly out of range etc and the home position wasn't registered, what will happen?

The homepoint will always automatically be set as soon as the drone connects to a sufficient number of satellites. It is advisable to only start flying once it has been properly connected to GPS to ensure a stable position. Because the GPS also holds the drone in place. If you fly off without having it connected to GPS first, it will set its homepoint to whatever location the drone is at when it does connect.

 

[john2k]

The homepoint will always automatically be set as soon as the drone connects to a sufficient number of satellites. It is advisable to only start flying once it has been properly connected to GPS to ensure a stable position. Because the GPS also holds the drone in place. If you fly off without having it connected to GPS first, it will set its homepoint to whatever location the drone is at when it does connect.

Awesome thanks. I thought I read somewhere that if you don't use auto-take off then you have to manually register the home point. Other than waiting for a good GPS lock to be established, is there a indication of where the home point is registered on the map?

 

[MrRobville]

Awesome thanks. I thought I read somewhere that if you don't use auto-take off then you have to manually register the home point. Other than waiting for a good GPS lock to be established, is there a indication of where the home point is registered on the map?

Once the homepoint is set, a green marker with a "H" will appear on the map. A voice will also confirm this. I recall that you can reset the homepoint, but you may need to look that up online on how that works.

Tip: when the drone loses connection, there are three settings you can choose from to tell the drone what to do; 1. Return to home, 2. Hover in place & 3. Land on site. (this must of course be set in advance before flying).
If you are flying from a moving boat, it is most advisable to set it to hover in place since Return to Home will most likely land the drone somewhere you were minutes ago which may very well be water. That same thing goes for land on site. If you keep it hovering, you have the chance to pull up underneath it, should you not regain connection resulting in the drone eventually landing on site when the battery depletes.

 

[john2k]

Once the homepoint is set, a green marker with a "H" will appear on the map. A voice will also confirm this. I recall that you can reset the homepoint, but you may need to look that up online on how that works.

Tip: when the drone loses connection, there are three settings you can choose from to tell the drone what to do; 1. Return to home, 2. Hover in place & 3. Land on site. (this must of course be set in advance before flying).
If you are flying from a moving boat, it is most advisable to set it to hover in place since Return to Home will most likely land the drone somewhere you were minutes ago which may very well be water. That same thing goes for land on site. If you keep it hovering, you have the chance to pull up underneath it, should you not regain connection resulting in the drone eventually landing on site when the battery depletes.

Awesome, thanks. When it returns to home I take it it climbs to the set RTH altitude if it's below that and then returns to the registered home point and lands? During this time while it's returning to home, if you reestablish connection you can override and cancel the RTH right? Also, I guess if you going to use RTH it's best to make sure the take-off area is quite open because my previous Parrot Bebop never landed exactly where it took off, it was almost 2meters off at one point. Is this the case with the Mavic Air?

 

[MavicNoob79]

Each time I've used RTH it's landed within an inch or two from it's takeoff spot. If you use the button for precise takeoff then it seriously will land nearly exactly where it took off from. It's actually pretty impressive

 

[Lake_Flyer]

If you want to hand catch you only have to switch off 'landing protection' in the app. That way the bottom sensors remain active in positioning during landing, but it won't try to fly up when you reach for it with your hand. After grabbing it, hold it for two seconds in place while keeping down the left (throttle) stick, this will shut down the motors.

 

[MrRobville]

Awesome, thanks. When it returns to home I take it it climbs to the set RTH altitude if it's below that and then returns to the registered home point and lands? During this time while it's returning to home, if you reestablish connection you can override and cancel the RTH right? Also, I guess if you going to use RTH it's best to make sure the take-off area is quite open because my previous Parrot Bebop never landed exactly where it took off, it was almost 2meters off at one point. Is this the case with the Mavic Air?

That's correct, the drone will either climb or descent to the set RTH height, and will approach the RTH point from there.
As soon as you regain connection you can cancel the RTH at any time. If you remain within the same vicinity as where you took off, it may be a possibility as well to make the drone RTH so you can pick up the signal again when it comes closer.

Like MavicNoob79 said, the RTH autolanding is quite precise. I believe the combination of GPS and bottom vision positioning (different from collision sensors) makes for a pretty accurate landing.

 

[john2k]

That's correct, the drone will either climb or descent to the set RTH height, and will approach the RTH point from there.

If APAS is turned on, I assume it will try and avoid obstacles along the way right? Does it head back to the Home point in a straight line?

 

[MrRobville]

If APAS is turned on, I assume it will try and avoid obstacles along the way right? Does it head back to the Home point in a straight line?

It does yes, and it tries to go round any obstacle that it detects along the way. However, do not rely on these sensors to detect everything as they can easily miss cables or branches. They are more of a last resort so it's always best to keep the drone well above any obstacles at any time to avoid them in the first place.

 

[thebigbaddan]

How many times have you guys clicked "Land" instead of "Return to home" when the drone is super far? I've done that a few times and have canceled the confirm dialog, but dang I wish those weren't right next to each other in the app.

 

[thebigbaddan]

It does yes, and it tries to go round any obstacle that it detects along the way. However, do not rely on these sensors to detect everything as they can easily miss cables or branches. They are more of a last resort so it's always best to keep the drone well above any obstacles at any time to avoid them in the first place.

FWIW, I usually return to home at 200 feet... better to just fly high on autopilot where you can't hit things.