Targeting a precise landing spot

[Montana_Flyer]

A nice (and maybe easy?) feature to add would be allowing the pilot to pitch gimbal @ -90 while landing, target the ‘H’ on the landing pad much like a tracking event, and have the drone land precisely on that target. Maybe it would be an option to enable/disable as a general feature prior to takeoff.

Skydio already does this automatically when landing targeting the Skydio logo on the case when using the controller, why can’t DJI?

So many times I do a RTH and it wants to land 2-3 feet off the pad, even though I hear the controller say ‘Precision landing’.

 

[FLDave]

Is your precision landing area precisely as it was at takeoff? Do you hover at about 25 feet to allow the M3 to identify the precision landing area?

 

[slup]

Easily achieved... just abort the RTH when landing is announced, point camera -90, adjust horizontally if necessary, then hold the throttle stick fully negative until it have touched down & turned off the motors.

 

[mavic3usa]

For sure the Skydio will stick a landing on the case logo and it does it so perfectly I'm pretty sure DJI is not interested in obviously copying exactly a feature from the competitor.

 

[umanbean]

Doesn't the Mavic 2 use Go4? And does the controller have a C1 and C2 button?

I configured my C2 button years ago (starting with my old P3P I think) to control gimbal up/down. Coming in for a landing I just tap C2 and I can see exactly where it's coming down at, steer it from there. Same as described in post #1 but manual, not automatic.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

From the few times and perhaps only once that I really tested and or took note of precision landing with a Mavic 2 it was cm perfect, I would almost say mm perfect and I am not exaggerating. That's using the bottom sensors alone.

Besides you can point the camera down during the/any descent, via the control dial or as suggested above via setting one of the "C" buttons to do that.
I have that set. It is actually quite a useful setting to have as it, from memory, automatically centres the gimbal, which is useful if you have panned the gimbal. The drone only levels the camera in the last few inches.

In addition, during an RTH descent/landing horizontal control is available via the joysticks without cancelling the RTH-landing phase.

 

[old man mavic]

as wonderful as all the automated flight programs are ,they are not foolproof,and flying the drone myself ,when it comes to guiding to its destination ,and back to the home point ,is for me the most satisfying part of owning a drone
its really down to the way a drone moves through the air, that enables the many automated flight manoeuvres, to be accomplished
strictly speaking when it comes to a drone ,that relies solely,on fixed pitch props ,and has sophisticated electronics to keep it airborne,then we as pilots ,are not so much flying the drone ,but guiding its direction ,to where we want it to go ,and if an issue arises,then we can just let go of the sticks ,and let the drone take over and fly itself ,there will always be two schools of thought ,regarding Manual ,or Automated ,control ,and they both have a role to play ,in different situations
maybe in the end ,its the very fact that ,with absolutely no knowledge at all of airspace use ,and the fact that drones are so readily available ,and have the ability to fly themselves,that those facts, will in the end be their downfall

 

[Adamisprimal]

I am pretty sure that the drone is not in the ideal situation for precise landing. My mavic 2 enterprise advanced only lands precise when I do flights during the day. At night which is 95% of my flights it will land anywhere from 1 meter to 10 meters off from the take off point. Sufficient light is required.

 

[Kilrah]

For sure the Skydio will stick a landing on the case logo and it does it so perfectly I'm pretty sure DJI is not interested in obviously copying exactly a feature from the competitor.

DJI aircraft have had precision landing from the bottom cameras way before skydio did, and it doesn't rely on a first party accessory. Obviously the conditions must be right.

 

[KenG]

Is your precision landing area precisely as it was at takeoff? Do you hover at about 25 feet to allow the M3 to identify the precision landing area?

Just curious. How long should it hover for best results?

 

[FLDave]

No clue on time, but the most important aspect is that the entire landing circle of maybe 25 feet diameter has clear and distinct marking that DO NOT change from takeoff to landing. That means no people, pets, or changing shadows in that area.

 

[old man mavic]

@KenG with any sort of take off ,whether you just go up to 4 ft ,or the 20 ft to 25 ft height for the precision landing feature, then its good practice to let the drone hover for a short period, where you can guage how the wind is affecting it, and to see if it is holding position
i always do a couple of 360% yaws in both directions ,and watch how the drone responds
it always seems to me that many drone flyers on this forum ,seem to be in such a rush, to get flying up and away ,with out doing those checks ,the very little time it takes at the start of the flight ,is really not going to make any difference to the overall flight duration

 

[Meta4]

Just curious. How long should it hover for best results?

You don't say which model you are asking about.
If it doesn't have the precision landing feature installed, no amount of hovering will make any difference.
If your drone does have the precision landing feature, you don't need to hover for it to work.
The manuals for those models just say:
During takeoff, the aircraft must ascend at least 7 m before flying horizontal.

 

[KenG]

I have an Air 2 and an Air 3 and trying to learn all of the little peculiarities of both. Sometimes they will land within inches of the launch spot and sometimes miss by 6 feet. Not a biggie though as I can and do, as mentioned in an earlier post, stop the auto land, tilt full gimble down, and manually guide to where I want to land.

I live out in the suburbs and when I go into the city and find something I want to shoot but not finding a good place to work from, I've learned to launch from and land on the roof of my parked SUV.

Funny thing about my Air 3. I was very excited to get waypoints on this model. I vacationed in Exuma, Bahamas not too long after I got it. Once I got there I had this "brilliant" idea to fly low through this beautiful landscaped trail to the beach and break out revealing the emerald green and blue waters. I used most of a battery setting waypoints to go around this shrub and over or under this limb and other various obstacles which was about a dozen waypoints. I then loaded a freshly recharged battery and went back to the start point. It took off, hovered, started to move and then stopped and shook a little while holding its position and giving me a message saying something to the effect of waypoint mission cancelled due to obstructions. I tried it a number of times with no success and did not want to turn off collision avoidance feeling that would be really dumb.

That's why I love this forum. I have learned so much from so many of you that I couldn't list them all if I tried.

Guess I got a little off topic there but when I saw the thread about targeting a precise landing spot, I jumped in to see what I could learn.

 

[Meta4]

I have an Air 2 and an Air 3 and trying to learn all of the little peculiarities of both. Sometimes they will land within inches of the launch spot and sometimes miss by 6 feet.

That's just an indication that the drone is not using the Precision Landing feature and using GPS alone.
2-6 feet is withing the variable inaccuracy that's common for GPS.

The reason the drone is using GPS rather than the Precision Landing feature will be because one or more of the conditions for precision landing aren't met.

The Precision Landing performance is subject to the following conditions:​

a. The Home Point must be recorded upon takeoff and must not be changed during flight. ​

Otherwise, the aircraft will have no record of the Home Point terrain features.​

b. During takeoff, the aircraft must ascend vertically 7 m before moving horizontally.​

c. The Home Point terrain features must remain largely unchanged.​

d. The Home Point terrain features must be sufficiently distinctive.​

e. The lighting conditions must not be too light or too dark.​

I used most of a battery setting waypoints to go around this shrub and over or under this limb and other various obstacles which was about a dozen waypoints. I then loaded a freshly recharged battery and went back to the start point. It took off, hovered, started to move and then stopped and shook a little while holding its position and giving me a message saying something to the effect of waypoint mission cancelled due to obstructions.

This is also related to the variable inaccuracy of GPS.
You cannot rely on GPS for waypoint flights around obstacles because you are dealing with (in)accuracy that could be +/- 10 feet or more.