Is there any way to disable the auto landing 'feature'? The drone starts an auto landing procedure when the battery is below a certain level dependent on distance from home. I find this absolutely irritating since I'd like control of when I finish my flight and want to land the drone, not the software. There's no way to cancel this sequence as far as I can tell.

Can this be disabled? If not, please offer us the ability to disable it.

Edit: I am talking about auto landing which is a different procedure to smart RTH. The auto landing sequence typically kicks in around a minute or so after you get a smart RTH message and the controller says "landing" and the drone starts descending by itself at its current location. This is dangerous and the fact it can't be disabled or cancelled is ridiculous.
Smart RTH is a handy and welcome feature, auto landing is not - it's dangerous and irresponsible.

You can't be serious ??

That is a procedure of the RC/AC system  software of all DJI flight equipment. You can´t disable it anyway,but you can avoid it when you land the bird before that procedure kicks in until the battery level is low or critical.

For the Phantom 4 Pro, the User Manual says (page 16) :
"Low Battery RTH
The low battery level failsafe is triggered when the DJI Intelligent Flight Battery is depleted to a point that may affect the safe return of the aircraft. Users are advised to return home or land the aircraft immediately when prompted. The DJI GO 4 app will display a notice when a low battery warning is triggered. The aircraft will automatically return to the Home Point if no action is taken after a ten-second countdown. The user can cancel the RTH procedure by pressing the RTH button on the remote controller."

So you can cancel the RTH procedure but I think it's taking a big risk !!!!

Spacetrakker Posted at 12-2 01:33
You can't be serious ??

Why wouldn't I be serious? This 'feature' didn't exist on older firmware and it's bloody annoying. The drone starts an auto landing sequence with tonnes of battery left and I'm quite capable of knowing when I need to return the drone. Today it started the auto landing procedure, I returned home and I had 45% battery left - what a joke.

Peterx Posted at 12-2 01:57
That is a procedure of the RC/AC system  software of all DJI flight equipment. You can´t disable it anyway,but you can avoid it when you land the bird before that procedure kicks in until the battery level is low or critical.

I'd prefer to land the drone when I want, not when the software tells me to land. Auto landing didn't exist on older firmware and it's incredibly conservative and annoying.

epetit91_djiuser Posted at 12-2 01:58
For the Phantom 4 Pro, the User Manual says (page 16) :
"Low Battery RTH
The low battery level failsafe is triggered when the DJI Intelligent Flight Battery is depleted to a point that may affect the safe return of the aircraft. Users are advised to return home or land the aircraft immediately when prompted. The DJI GO 4 app will display a notice when a low battery warning is triggered. The aircraft will automatically return to the Home Point if no action is taken after a ten-second countdown. The user can cancel the RTH procedure by pressing the RTH button on the remote controller."

Thanks but the RTH warning has nothing to do with the newer auto landing feature.

gyrex Posted at 12-2 02:31
Thanks but the RTH warning has nothing to do with the newer auto landing feature.

I totally agree with you gyrex, the auto landing lands where ever the AC is. That could be over trees, over a dwelling or over you head. It is a dangerous feature you should be able to disable. Are you serious Spacetrakker?

gyrex Posted at 12-2 02:31
Thanks but the RTH warning has nothing to do with the newer auto landing feature.

Sorry gyrex, I did not care that you were talking about the automatic landing.

The only way to delay triggering the auto-landing procedure is to set the critical battery level to the lowest value (10%).
This is certainly what you have already done.

If you go into DJI Go 4 the 'low battery' function can be switched off. Remember there is a ten second window where you can cancel it manually if it initiates.

You'll find it in the 'Aircraft Battery' menu, it is shown as 'smart return to home', this name is a bit misleading as that is what DJI refer to in their manual as initiating an RTH using the button on remote or RTH on screen.

Test this for yourself in a field, go out a bit and just let aircraft hover and see what happens with this on, and then another battery with it switched off.

For some flying from a boat this can be worthwhile disabling, where the boat is moving and the home point is getting further away all the time, yes you can manually update home point (or in Mavic Pro it will auto update if in active track mode, and 'Dynamic Home Point' activated) . But if you forget, or lose track as some have done. Then aircraft ends up heading in opposite direction thinking it needs to fly a mile to home point before battery runs out. In reality you will likely have it in sight close by.

But if the aircraft is genuinely a long way away then it's good to keep it enabled.

epetit91_djiuser Posted at 12-2 04:30
The only way to delay triggering the auto-landing procedure is to set the critical battery level to the lowest value (10%).
This is certainly what you have already done.

The setting you're referring to only displays a message in DJI GO when the battery reaches that level. The actually critically low battery level is auto calculated and can change throughout the flight depending on how high the drone is flying.

@gyrex, there is no way to disable the auto landing when the battery reaches the critically low level. The only thing you can do is make sure your drone is back home before the battery is deemed critically low.

msinger Posted at 12-2 07:15
The setting you're referring to only displays a message in DJI GO when the battery reaches that level. The actually critically low battery level is auto calculated and can change throughout the flight depending on how high the drone is flying.

@gyrex, there is no way to disable the auto landing when the battery reaches the critically low level. The only thing you can do is make sure your drone is back home before the battery is deemed critically low.

Thank you for that clarification msinger

Aardvark Posted at 12-2 05:16
If you go into DJI Go 4 the 'low battery' function can be switched off. Remember there is a ten second window where you can cancel it manually if it initiates.

You'll find it in the 'Aircraft Battery' menu, it is shown as 'smart return to home', this name is a bit misleading as that is what DJI refer to in their manual as initiating an RTH using the button on remote or RTH on screen.

Thanks for your response, but I'm not talking about smart RTH. I'm talking about auto landing where the controller says "landing" and the drone starts a landing sequence (ie. Starts descending rapidly anywhere). You can counter the descend by pushing throttle up but it's super irritating because I'm at the mercy of the software and there's no way to shut it off. This 'feature' may not exist on the MA.

msinger Posted at 12-2 07:15
The setting you're referring to only displays a message in DJI GO when the battery reaches that level. The actually critically low battery level is auto calculated and can change throughout the flight depending on how high the drone is flying.

@gyrex, there is no way to disable the auto landing when the battery reaches the critically low level. The only thing you can do is make sure your drone is back home before the battery is deemed critically low.

My auto landing can activate at any time and runs independently to battery percentage. It's tied more to the smart RTH calculations than it is to battery percentage. For instance, today it started auto landing at 45% which is absolutely ridiculous.

I do not want to be at the mercy of DJI's conservative software calculations and I'd like to disable auto landing completely.

ATJ Posted at 12-2 03:28
I totally agree with you gyrex, the auto landing lands where ever the AC is. That could be over trees, over a dwelling or over you head. It is a dangerous feature you should be able to disable. Are you serious Spacetrakker?

I think you're the only person who knows what I'm talking about so far. Auto landing isn't smart RTH which I find handy. Auto landing usually starts a minute or so after the smart RTH warning and the drone just starts descending on its own - no thanks! Take me back to a firmware which doesn't have this potentially dangerous and stupid feature.

Can a DJI mod please respond and tell us if there's some way to circumvent this dangerous and idiotic feature please. Summary: smart RTH good, auto landing bad - very bad.

gyrex Posted at 12-2 10:58
Thanks for your response, but I'm not talking about smart RTH. I'm talking about auto landing where the controller says "landing" and the drone starts a landing sequence (ie. Starts descending rapidly anywhere). You can counter the descend by pushing throttle up but it's super irritating because I'm at the mercy of the software and there's no way to shut it off. This 'feature' may not exist on the MA.

I see now, I'd read the 'distance from home' bit as if it were a low battery RTH (as opposed to critical battery landing), as others have said the critical battery landing cannot be disable in DJI Go 4.


Edit:- Under low battery RTH it will land if it calculates only sufficient battery left to allow a safe landing.

Aardvark Posted at 12-2 11:11
I see now, I'd read the 'distance from home' bit as if it were a low battery RTH (as opposed to critical battery landing), as others have said the critical battery landing cannot be disable in DJI Go 4.

I don't think it's related to critical battery either. Today my drone started auto landing with 45% battery left and it forced me to finish my flight where I landed with 35-40% battery. That's ridiculous. I've also been in situations where it started auto landing over trees. I don't want the drone's software to tell me when I have to land.

gyrex Posted at 12-2 11:22
I don't think it's related to critical battery either. Today my drone started auto landing with 45% battery left and it forced me to finish my flight where I landed with 35-40% battery. That's ridiculous. I've also been in situations where it started auto landing over trees. I don't want the drone's software to tell me when I have to land.

Does this happen with all your batteries gyrex?

gyrex Posted at 12-2 11:02
My auto landing can activate at any time and runs independently to battery percentage. It's tied more to the smart RTH calculations than it is to battery percentage. For instance, today it started auto landing at 45% which is absolutely ridiculous.

I do not want to be at the mercy of DJI's conservative software calculations and I'd like to disable auto landing completely.

Can you share your flight log? If so, upload it here and post the link back here.

msinger Posted at 12-2 12:30
Can you share your flight log? If so, upload it here and post the link back here.

Flight log may be a good idea. The mobile device may be showing the wrong battery percentage or the battery may be sending the wrong signal back to the RC.

Mine had 29%battery and auto landed in a canyon.

ATJ Posted at 12-2 12:24
Does this happen with all your batteries gyrex?

Yep, all 4 batteries. This feature was developed in a later firmware - it didn't exist on earlier releases. I'll upload a log later.

gyrex Posted at 12-2 14:12
Yep, all 4 batteries. This feature was developed in a later firmware - it didn't exist on earlier releases. I'll upload a log later.

So you're saying you have experienced this autolanding at least 4 times each one with a different battery?

If that is the case I suggest maybe either your drone or controller has a problem.

If random autolanding with 45% battery remaining was a programmed function, then I suggest there would be hundreds/thousands of very irate users complaining on these forums.


I understand that you want to be able to override this feature, and that is your business, but I  suggest that there is some other non battery issue at play as it does not appear to be a widely reported experience.

Flight data analysis would be a good start ASAP.

Cheers

gyrex Posted at 12-2 11:22
I don't think it's related to critical battery either. Today my drone started auto landing with 45% battery left and it forced me to finish my flight where I landed with 35-40% battery. That's ridiculous. I've also been in situations where it started auto landing over trees. I don't want the drone's software to tell me when I have to land.

How far from the home point was it when it went into auto-land?

gyrex Posted at 12-2 11:22
I don't think it's related to critical battery either. Today my drone started auto landing with 45% battery left and it forced me to finish my flight where I landed with 35-40% battery. That's ridiculous. I've also been in situations where it started auto landing over trees. I don't want the drone's software to tell me when I have to land.

The first thing to do is find out why it is auto-landing. There are 3 situations that will cause it to do so, the first being if you invoke RTH within 20 Metres of the home point. Instead of rising to the RTH altitude then flying home, it will simply land where it is. So the question would be, did you select RTH with the aircraft closer than 20 Metres from the Home Point?

The second is if it enters an NFZ zone, so you need to look if you are close to such a zone where you are flying.

The third situation is if the battery is getting critically low, but that does not seem to be the case in your circumstances.

Spacetrakker Posted at 12-2 14:42
So you're saying you have experienced this autolanding at least 4 times each one with a different battery?

If that is the case I suggest maybe either your drone or controller has a problem.

It's a software 'feature' and has nothing to do with hardware (controller or drone) since it's happened on 3 separate P4Ps and my Mavic air.

fansb1fe1104 Posted at 12-2 15:52
How far from the home point was it when it went into auto-land?

Maybe 1km. Auto landing was initiated around 1 minute after a smart RTH warning. You can counter the auto landing by providing thrust but it's still bloody annoying and in my opinion it's dangerous and unnecessary. Sure, maybe keep it on for beginners but let more seasoned pilots turn the damned thing off.

Geebax Posted at 12-2 20:10
The first thing to do is find out why it is auto-landing. There are 3 situations that will cause it to do so, the first being if you invoke RTH within 20 Metres of the home point. Instead of rising to the RTH altitude then flying home, it will simply land where it is. So the question would be, did you select RTH with the aircraft closer than 20 Metres from the Home Point?

The second is if it enters an NFZ zone, so you need to look if you are close to such a zone where you are flying.

1. I never use RTH
2. Nowhere near an NFZ, I'm on a remote island in Vanuatu.
3. Battery was fine but the software has probably determined 'critical' based on smart RTH calculations. The smart RTH is very conservative, especially if you're flying a mission where your outgoing path is into the wind.

I'd just like to be able to turn it off and not have the software think for me. This wasn't a feature in earlier firmware revisions. I think it came in maybe 2 or 3 firmware revisions ago? Its an absolutely asinine feature for advanced flyers.

You can thank all the drone operators out there who fly these things in to situations that have caused all kinds of mayhem or damage or just complain loudly how they lost their bird when they ran the battery to zero and the thing fell out of the sky.  Also, thank the lawyers as having one land versus falling on someone or something was better from a liability and safety angle than those who fly with no SA.
I would like to have the ability to adjust the critically low setting to at least 1% (in your case zero) so if operating very close to the HP or you than at that level you'd be landing anyway.
I have to admit, without your flight logs it sounds like you may have a bad bird or controller or some combo of both, hope you can determine which is the case.

Genghis9 Posted at 12-2 20:27
You can thank all the drone operators out there who fly these things in to situations that have caused all kinds of mayhem or damage or just complain loudly how they lost their bird when they ran the battery to zero and the thing fell out of the sky.  Also, thank the lawyers as having one land versus falling on someone or something was better from a liability and safety angle than those who fly with no SA.
I would like to have the ability to adjust the critically low setting to at least 1% (in your case zero) so if operating very close to the HP or you than at that level you'd be landing anyway.
I have to admit, without your flight logs it sounds like you may have a bad bird or controller or some combo of both, hope you can determine which is the case.

I agree with your sentiments but it'd be nice if there was an advanced user set to disable stuff like this. I'll upload the logs tonight - been busy travelling in Vanuatu.

Here's the log: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/PR7IMKF4K208K9ZV6ZON/

You can see it started auto landing at 36% at less than 600m from home and even after fighting against the auto landing and taking a few photos because I knew I had tonnes of battery left, I still brought it home at 25%. In my opinion, this is ridiculous and I don't need DJI's software telling me when to land.

gyrex Posted at 12-3 01:14
Here's the log: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/PR7IMKF4K208K9ZV6ZON/

You can see it started auto landing at 36% at less than 600m from home and even after fighting against the auto landing and taking a few photos because I knew I had tonnes of battery left, I still brought it home at 25%. In my opinion, this is ridiculous and I don't need DJI's software telling me when to land.

Have you tried uninstalling DJi4go, doing a hard reset,  then a reinstall?

ATJ Posted at 12-3 02:35
Have you tried uninstalling DJi4go, doing a hard reset,  then a reinstall?

No, because that will achieve nothing. This is caused by a software algorithm on the drone's flight controller. This algorithm is extremely conservative and intensely irritating if you're an experienced pilot.

gyrex Posted at 12-3 03:29
No, because that will achieve nothing. This is caused by a software algorithm on the drone's flight controller. This algorithm is extremely conservative and intensely irritating if you're an experienced pilot.

Try it anyway to eliminate the possibility.

ATJ Posted at 12-3 04:01
Try it anyway to eliminate the possibility.

Reinstalling DJI GO is not going to do anything since the auto landing is initiated by the aircraft itself.

The only thing that will fix this one is not flying at full stick in sport mode in strong winds (to keep the battery voltage from dipping) and not flying at extremely high altitudes (1,600+ feet in this case) when the battery is low.

msinger Posted at 12-3 05:41
Reinstalling DJI GO is not going to do anything since the auto landing is initiated by the aircraft itself.

The only thing that will fix this one is not flying at full stick in sport mode in strong winds (to keep the battery voltage from dipping) and not flying at extremely high altitudes (1,600+ feet in this case) when the battery is low.

OK-But I disagree Guys

ATJ Posted at 12-3 07:25
OK-But I disagree Guys

How exactly would reinstalling DJI GO fix this problem? Suggestions are great, but it doesn't make sense to do something if you have no idea why you're doing it.

msinger Posted at 12-3 07:34
How exactly would reinstalling DJI GO fix this problem? Suggestions are great, but it doesn't make sense to do something if you have no idea why you're doing it.

The software is where you program the parameters for the AC. When the AC and RC connect the RC sends that information to the AC and the AC stores that information until it is changed, If the RC/Software is sending erroneous information to the AC, the AC may be interpreting this information incorrectly therefore causing the AC to act in this manner. I would also suggest reformatting the SD card, where a copy of this information is held. I don't know about you, but this is how I would approach this problem.

ATJ Posted at 12-3 08:16
The software is where you program the parameters for the AC. When the AC and RC connect the RC sends that information to the AC and the AC stores that information until it is changed, If the RC/Software is sending erroneous information to the AC, the AC may be interpreting this information incorrectly therefore causing the AC to act in this manner. I would also suggest reformatting the SD card, where a copy of this information is held. I don't know about you, but this is how I would approach this problem.

The critical low battery level is not set in DJI GO. It's automatically calculated in real-time by the aircraft. Since it's solely a function of the aircraft, anything you can do in DJI GO won't affect it.