Help a newbie out here. Contrary to the precision I've seen in the YouTube videos testing RTH, my M2P returns to a spot 3 to 6 feet away from the take-off point. I've made sure I have good GPS with many birds, set 'home' and got the voice confirmation, and have a distinctive landing pad.

Also, on returning the craft didn't orient itself in the same direction as when it took off, i.e., the drone didn't rotate to point its nose as it was during take off. The Pro and Air in the videos did.

What could I be doing wrong?

I've calibrated the IMU and compass. Should I disable collision detection and/or APAS? (The drone seemed to be fighting me once I paused and tried to land manually, but after checking the manual Pause was probably not right, I should have hit the Cancel button or RTH again.)

Thanks for your help or suggestions.

You're not doing anything wrong.
According to the numerous other threads on it, support claim they removed precision landing from the M2.  If true, it means instead of the 2-3 inches optical assistance from ALL the previous generation drones you're going to be down to GPS only which is 3-5m radius.

One test you CAN do, take off and climb *slowly* to 30ft WITHOUT turning or moving the drone laterally at all, then fly off and try a RTH.  In the older drones this would allow it to record data for a precision landing.  If it returns to the exact spot, they did include it.  If its out by a few feet then yes, they removed a really useful feature.

Precision landing requires good light and contrast at the take-off point as the feature relies on photographs taken of the take-off point. For this reason, you should also take off, go about 30 ft up and pause for a sec or two. Your landing pad should help with the former challenge, so try the latter and see how that works.

gnirtS and Ex Machina, thanks for the replies.

I tried the climb slowly to 30' and pause before flying, twice. No improvement at all, unfortunately .

Bill the Drone Reviewer in reply to my cross post on his Mavic 2 Pro support FB page, posted a couple screen shots of the Visual Navigation Settings/Advanced Settings that shows a Precision Landing switch. When I go to that menu, I'm not presented with that setting at all - I've got the one above it and the one below it, but not it. I replied that I didn't have that setting, but the poor sap has a day job, and hasn't replied. I assumed the menu was from his M2P, but???

[time passes]

Just joined the forums at MavicPilots.com site. Lots of folks there are complaining there is no Precision Landing feature for the M2. One fellow asserts Hunter at DJI confirmed the M2 did not have that feature and maybe it would be added later. Just tweeted to DJI Global and DJI Support asking if that was true and begging for it to be added, if so.

It's one thing for the props to cut the weeds behind my house, but once out in the field there could well be small rocks, sticks, etc. just off my generous sized landing pad.

You wont have the option, support posted here officially - they've removed it.  Its an insane decision but its gone.

gnirtS Posted at 2018-8-31 11:00
You wont have the option, support posted here officially - they've removed it.  Its an insane decision but its gone.

Sigh. I tweeted DJI Suport and they replied: "As of the moment, we do not have any information with regards to this feature. For the latest updates on the DJI Mavic 2 please refer to our official website at dji.com. Thank you." I would have preferred a "we cannot confirm or deny."

Guess I'll have to learn how to snatch it out of the air rather than landing in a perilous spot.

Thanks for the update, gnirtS

I hand catch pretty much all the time.  MY issue is if the RC dies due to batteries, a hardware fault or a software lockup on the drone.  Rather than landing safely it'll now land "near" which could easily mean in a tree, on a wall, in some water etc.

They might add it later due to sooo many complains.
I mean all the necessary sensors are there,
Not sure about if it has a downward camera to take the picture of the terrain,
If yes then it can be added no problem later with an update.

Fly safe.
Alex.

But I don’t understand why they would remove the precision landing in the first place.

Confirmed by DJI: Precision landing removed. Confirmed by me: Not buying an MP2 anytime soon.

5000msl Posted at 2018-8-31 11:16
Sigh. I tweeted DJI Suport and they replied: "As of the moment, we do not have any information with regards to this feature. For the latest updates on the DJI Mavic 2 please refer to our official website at dji.com. Thank you." I would have preferred a "we cannot confirm or deny."

Guess I'll have to learn how to snatch it out of the air rather than landing in a perilous spot.

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. Yes, it's true. Precision landing is no longer available on Mavic 2 Pro. Should you have further question, please let us know. Thank you.

Alex Batalov Posted at 2018-8-31 13:03
But I don’t understand why they would remove the precision landing in the first place.

They removed the ultrasonic sensors.  That MIGHT have something to do with it.

gnirtS Posted at 2018-9-1 13:35
They removed the ultrasonic sensors.  That MIGHT have something to do with it.

That brings the question, WHY WOULD THEY REMOVE THE ULTRASONIC SENSORS?

Fly safe.
Alex.

Very disappointed in this response/design change from DJI.

You should never rely on the machine to land! Any un-expected gust will rake havic. Always do manual landing!

I think they probably removed the US sensors to make room for all the other stuff they added.
I never use auto landing and always manually land, so I'm ok with it.
As long as RTH comes close, that's good too. I test it once in awhile, but never use it to bring it home. Unless signal fails for some reason.

Has anyone tried the precision RTH landing  using the landing lights in the evening or at night ?

dronist Posted at 2018-9-1 17:34
You should never rely on the machine to land! Any un-expected gust will rake havic. Always do manual landing!

Except an unexpected gust will also affect manual landing.

Its got IMUs for a reason.

The computers can detect and account for a gust FAR quicker than human reaction can.

And you might not always be ABLE to do a manual landing.  If your RC software has locked, battery dead, you dropped it, another fault, a software fault on the drone (ALL of which have happened with MP1) you now have to rely on it to do it on its own.  Previously there's a very very high chance it'd nail the landing perfectly and be fine.  Now there's a near zero chance it'll return to the exact point and a much higher chance of it crashing into something in the 3-5m radius of that point.

I never use auto landing and always manually land, so I'm ok with it.

That's assuming your RC can talk to the drone.  Which for several reasons isnt guranteed.

Kingram Posted at 2018-9-1 18:54
Has anyone tried the precision RTH landing  using the landing lights in the evening or at night ?

People have elsewhere.  It doesn't work.
There is no precision landing at all.

I am negatively surprised to read all this and it is hard to unserstand that it was removed.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-9-1 13:32
Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. Yes, it's true. Precision landing is no longer available on Mavic 2 Pro. Should you have further question, please let us know. Thank you.

Yes I have a further question,  Why was it removed and will it return ? please ask your tech personnel.
Thanks

gnirtS Posted at 2018-9-2 02:10
Except an unexpected gust will also affect manual landing.

Its got IMUs for a reason.

Dude, maybe you should not sleep with your sucks on!  

Take a break Dude, do you thing airline pilot depend only on auto pilot or they will train and use manual functions? Same apply here.

I never had any of the issues you are talking. My RC never disconnected, my app never locked, battery never died. I check the battery before during and after flight as well as all the gears.

I have been flying MP since the first day it was released as well as all the P3's and P4's and never used or forced to use precision landing / auto landing or auto take off etc. If I need to or decide to use RTH, I will bring it in and then I always cancel it when it is close to me and land it manually.

Aeromirage Posted at 2018-9-1 18:01
I think they probably removed the US sensors to make room for all the other stuff they added.
I never use auto landing and always manually land, so I'm ok with it.
As long as RTH comes close, that's good too. I test it once in awhile, but never use it to bring it home. Unless signal fails for some reason.

Dude, I second that!  

I recently tested the RTH feature to clarify to myself and others what happens if you lose RC connection. To Recap:

RTH button pressed - Aircraft climbs to RTH height, then flies directly to above the recorded Home Point, it then depends to 1.5M and asks for landing confirmation if it decides that the surface is unsuitable. At this point you can slide to 'Force Landing' or cancel RTH and land manually.

RC Powered off - Aircraft waits 3 seconds, climbs to RTH height, then retraces route for 60 seconds, then flies directly to above the home point. It then depends to 1.5M and waits for further input from the RC/Reconnection. - As I simulated the failure by powering off the RC, upon re-powering the drone was waiting for landing confirmation.

In these tests the aircraft did return to around 2 meters away from the original recorded home point, however when I repeated the tests with different failure modes the aircraft returned to exactly the point that it departed from.

In general I said that the precision landing was a party trick, I used it a couple of times to demonstrate it.

As for my own regular flying, I'm the pilot so I always manual land and manual take off I almost never use RTH unless I'm feeling very lazy and its been a long day! These features are a pilot aid and should never be seen as in anyway absolving the pilot of a need to fly the aircraft.

Buy a landing pad and get into the habit of always going for a manual landing, it's fun and a challenge, it will also improve your airmanship no end & if there is a failure in the system, you will be equipped to deal with it.

You will soon be able to perform sweeping descending turns  rotating into a precision reverse onto the landing pad, far more impressive than some sterile 'beep beep' decent into the weeds!

Still ignores the fact that in the event you cant communicate with the drone it'll now come back and likely hit something rather than land somewhere safe.