Today, I had the dubious honour of having to find my brand new one day old Mavic.

I was distracted by a friends Mavic which was also in the same vicinity, and mistaken it being mine, while mine was supposed to be doing RTH.  When I saw it going the wrong direction seawards, I must have paniced and tweedled the sticks to try to stop it from doing so, not watching the screen, mine was actually near home and landed away from home in the mean time. So to my horror, when I looked at the screen, I saw it was showing a green surrounding, first, I was relieved that it has landed on land somewhere near me, but it could not take off because it got caught up with the bushes around it.  So, I set out to Find My Drone !

Find My Drone ("FMD") only shows a red arrow, which I now know, is where the drone is, and a blue dot, I now presume it means its take off position.  But that does not help me much, all I knew was, it is near by, in a genearl sort of driection.  I would have hoped that it it shows my actual position and update it as I searched, so that I know, so that I know, my movement relative to the drone is correct or not....

Also I tried to expand the map a little, but it kept on returning to the same scale.

Unless I am doing something wrong, if so, please help me to use it properly, next time.

Or please improve that funtion.

I have v.4.1.18 DJI Go 4. app.

To cut a long story short, I found the drone wrapped up by surrounding bushes, undamaged.

cheers

Fred, glad that you retrieved the drone finally. For the find my drone function, the red arrow means the current position of the drone if the drone is still connecting to the app or it will be the last position of the drone signal; the blue dot means the current position of the mobile device.
Note that you need to switch off the map coordinate, it is only for Mainland China.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-11-28 00:32
Fred, glad that you retrieved the drone finally. For the find my drone function, the red arrow means the current position of the drone if the drone is still connecting to the app or it will be the last position of the drone signal; the blue dot means the current position of the mobile device.
Note that you need to switch off the map coordinate, it is only for Mainland China.

I don't understand switching off the map co-ordinate ?  how to do that?

How come when I move around, the blue dot does not move with me?

Also it is impossible to expand ( or zoom in ) the map, so I can see the distance between the two dots, the App needs to improve in this area.

Fred F Posted at 2017-11-28 04:33
I don't understand switching off the map co-ordinate ?  how to do that?

How come when I move around, the blue dot does not move with me?

For the map coordinate, you can refer to the pic below. The second one is under Find My Drone.
If the blue dot doesn't move, it might be the GPS accuracy of your mobile device is insufficient, please make sure the location function is available for it, and you can try to enable internet for this app.
For the zooming issue, it should be able to zoom, so, also make sure the internet connection. Or try to reinstall the app. Let me know if it doesn't help, please name the mobile device you are using, and provide me with a short video of it. Thank you so much.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-12-1 05:40
For the map coordinate, you can refer to the pic below. The second one is under Find My Drone.
If the blue dot doesn't move, it might be the GPS accuracy of your mobile device is insufficient, please make sure the location function is available for it, and you can try to enable internet for this app.
For the zooming issue, it should be able to zoom, so, also make sure the internet connection. Or try to reinstall the app. Let me know if it doesn't help, please name the mobile device you are using, and provide me with a short video of it. Thank you so much.

I use an ASUS Zenfone 3, and I use it as a navigator at  any cities during my travels, so it is not a question of its sensitivities, but perhaps "Location" was not switched on.  But then again, Go app could have alerted me to switch it on, like many other mapping apps.

The location in question was in open space, without network signal, but that shouldn't stop the function to work, albeit without  the map, but at least a blank map, to show the relative positions of the finder and the Mavic, and allows scaling.  This is a simple feature.

Fred F Posted at 2017-12-6 16:14
I use an ASUS Zenfone 3, and I use it as a navigator at  any cities during my travels, so it is not a question of its sensitivities, but perhaps "Location" was not switched on.  But then again, Go app could have alerted me to switch it on, like many other mapping apps.

The location in question was in open space, without network signal, but that shouldn't stop the function to work, albeit without  the map, but at least a blank map, to show the relative positions of the finder and the Mavic, and allows scaling.  This is a simple feature.

The minimum unit is 5m in each centimeter. Then it will not be able to zoom. If you are in Flight record please check if you had changed the map view to Satellite/Hybrid, or provide me with a short video so I can check the details. Thank you.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-12-8 00:18
The minimum unit is 5m in each centimeter. Then it will not be able to zoom. If you are in Flight record please check if you had changed the map view to Satellite/Hybrid, or provide me with a short video so I can check the details. Thank you.

Max zoom of 1 cm:5 m is very good, if I can zoom to that scale when finding the unit.

I shall simulate a find my drone, and see what happens.

If you look at the upper right hand side of the app, where there are 3 little horizontal lines - tap on those lines then you'll see 'Find my Drone'. Once you tap that you'll see the location of the drone. I've used it before and it worked.

You're lucky you found the MP.

M.C. Pilot Posted at 2017-12-8 06:07
If you look at the upper right hand side of the app, where there are 3 little horizontal lines - tap on those lines then you'll see 'Find my Drone'. Once you tap that you'll see the location of the drone. I've used it before and it worked.

You're lucky you found the MP.

Thanks for your useless information !!!!!!

The major issues are

1) when there is no loadable map, available, e.g. when one is at a remote location without a network or local map in the cache, or the map tile is too gross to zoom in, then at the very least, allow a zoom-able blank map to show the relative positions of the finder and the drone.  Often for short distance find, this is often enough.

2) even when there is a map, it is not possible to freeze the zoom.  Once the finger leaves the screen, the map retracts to its original scale, making it very hard to read.  In fact, as I play with it, the drone is outside the map window, I finger shifted the map, again, after lift the finger, it shifts back.  Annoying.

Hope DJI fix this feature.

Fred no need to be a d#$# m.c. pilot was just trying to help

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-12-10 14:22
Fred no need to be a d#$# m.c. pilot was just trying to help

'it is not helpful when everyone is already talking about something way beyond basic.  I just thought a little bit of careful reading would have avoided adding noise to a serious discussion of a function that could potentially help everyone, especially when in need.

I want to play with this function some more to see how well it works. The red arrow on the map is the last position that the DJI GO4 app sees or saw the drone. The blue spot is your phone's location, with a green line to the drone location. Presumably if the phone has a compass you can orient the green line and march off to the drone.

The map scale as noted cannot be changed. If you try to zoom in or out the map just snaps back to its original scale. This is a software bug: DJI GO4 version 4.1.15, Android. That may or not be a fatal flaw in the program but it would be nice to be able to zoom in the map.

Need to test this more outside with the drone still turned on. If the RC and app can be reconnected to the MP it will help greatly in finding the drone with updated locations. You must do this quickly before the drone battery dies. If the battery is still alive the lights may be on and you may be able to try starting the motors which will make some noise. If the app has crashed try to get it reconnected to the RC and drone as that should give you a more updated location.

I want to ask, if my drone dragged by the wind until 6000ft (2000 metres) with altitude 163 metres, and after that, connection is lost from my remote and smartphone (disconnected) while drone batt still 54% at that time, would it be accurate if I use Find My Drone features?
I assume it will be dragged further to the wind direction, especially I flew it in the Edinburgh city...

I feared that, since your drone was disconnected, after a few minutes, it would try to return home by itself.  So it could ended up anywhere, depending on the wind directions and battery charge.  It might tried to land safely somewhere, but without any connection, no GPS position would have been reported back.  The prognosis is not too good.

There is a difference between FMD and the protocol from the last flight. That shows the position much better. I was missing the capabilty of playing a sound!

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-12-10 14:22
Fred no need to be a d#$# m.c. pilot was just trying to help

there was no need for that, as you stated you just wanted to help a fellow droner.

If the drone is still connected tothe app, you can click on the red arrow (aircraft) and switch on a beeping sound and/or blinking lights. If the bushes are thick, that may help you to home in on your drone.

I lost my spark at 124m over trees, lost connection, what would it do? Hover until out of batteries? What are the chances it is where last coordinates are?

all right, happiness is when you restart and shows no signs of damage, been there done that!

Maybe if we knew how to properly use the Find My Drone segment, it could be something we could actually practice with.  Set the bird down in an area, then walk away from it.  Might learn how to use a good app.  I am willing and thinking of the locations I sometime fly, might be real good to become proficient with it.

Fred F, glad you found your bird!!

Lonesome Crow Posted at 2018-7-22 13:57
Maybe if we knew how to properly use the Find My Drone segment, it could be something we could actually practice with.  Set the bird down in an area, then walk away from it.  Might learn how to use a good app.  I am willing and thinking of the locations I sometime fly, might be real good to become proficient with it.

Fred F, glad you found your bird!!

You know that isn't a bad idea. Add it to your preflight checklist would be a good place for it. At least add it to a monthly checklist for a refresher

Try:

Thanks Brad Bilger!!

I lost my first dji drone a month and a half ago, it got disconnected from the remote, so find my drone was USELESS!!! Almost always when ppl lose their drones it gets disconnected from rc, so find my drone is worth nothing. People please dont rely on it. I bought a little car gps for the drone (tk102), you insert a sim in it and IT ALWAYS NO MATTER WHAT, TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHERE IT IS LOCATED!!!
Safe Flying;)

Problem is the battery won’t last long to keep the drone power on. The position shows on DJI Go just last position before disconnected and not where the drone actually landed. It can be hard to find the drone if it’s far away from the last know position. Pilot also may not be able to arrive crash site fast before the battery too low to power off.

If DJI can provide crash mode for drone and keep it stay power on for longer time. That will allow pilot go close to crash site and reconnect with aircraft to get updated position. Also can activate light and sound to spot the dron.

GDL Posted at 2018-7-23 17:28
Problem is the battery won’t last long to keep the drone power on. The position shows on DJI Go just last position before disconnected and not where the drone actually landed. It can be hard to find the drone if it’s far away from the last know position. Pilot also may not be able to arrive crash site fast before the battery too low to power off.

If DJI can provide crash mode for drone and keep it stay power on for longer time. That will allow pilot go close to crash site and reconnect with aircraft to get updated position. Also can activate light and sound to spot the dron.

Or include a seperate GPS located that you can buy like PingGPS or trackimo but something where you can charge separately and attaches to the drone.  I would pay for a yearly service if DJI included the option for a GPS tracker.  

Or they can implement this feature as only require software development.

https://forum.dji.com/thread-150762-1-1.html

GDL Posted at 2018-7-23 17:28
Problem is the battery won’t last long to keep the drone power on. The position shows on DJI Go just last position before disconnected and not where the drone actually landed. It can be hard to find the drone if it’s far away from the last know position. Pilot also may not be able to arrive crash site fast before the battery too low to power off.

If DJI can provide crash mode for drone and keep it stay power on for longer time. That will allow pilot go close to crash site and reconnect with aircraft to get updated position. Also can activate light and sound to spot the dron.

I agree!  

DJI should offer a "Standby" battery mode that could be selected in the event of a lost or crashed drone!

Sometimes, the pilot can not commence the search until the following day, at which time the battery is long depleted.

geoffz Posted at 2018-8-19 18:02
I agree!  

DJI should offer a "Standby" battery mode that could be selected in the event of a lost or crashed drone!

Mavic III or IV?  Is it in DJI's interest to do so, lost drone, means new sale.

SparksBird Posted at 7-23 17:34
Or include a seperate GPS located that you can buy like PingGPS or trackimo but something where you can charge separately and attaches to the drone.  I would pay for a yearly service if DJI included the option for a GPS tracker.

I've got a Marco Polo which runs on it's own frequency.  You don't need a cell phone or anything like that to find the "tag", or tracking device I Velcro to the top of my Mavic Pro.  It could go 2 miles away on flat ground, but in hilly or mountainous, congested area maybe a quarter to half a mile.  The good part is the tag stays charged for up to 15 days.  It's only activated when you activate it with the receiver unit which you hold in your hand.  I'm hoping to practice with this and the Find my Drone feature, in order to kind of "piggyback" them together.  Maybe, find the general area with Find my Drone, then use the Marco Polo to fine tune the search, or maybe, visa versa.  At any rate, it would be nice if you could shut off the Mavic for a while until you get close, then turn it on again to get another signal.  Marc.

fans6458769b Posted at 2018-2-22 01:50
I want to ask, if my drone dragged by the wind until 6000ft (2000 metres) with altitude 163 metres, and after that, connection is lost from my remote and smartphone (disconnected) while drone batt still 54% at that time, would it be accurate if I use Find My Drone features?
I assume it will be dragged further to the wind direction, especially I flew it in the Edinburgh city...

Same for me. Sadly the FMD function was not useful at all

Hell of a discussion, lot of interesting comments, thanks.

Mozete da azurirate nadji moj dron za preciznije nalazenje drona.Za prati me opciju i precinije sletanje drona.