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Can you set a new Home Point midflight
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jmatsuur
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Is it possible to set a new Home Point during your flight?

Thanks
2016-7-15
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DJI-Ken
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Yes, you can set it to the aircraft or if you have a GPS enabled device you can reset it to your position.
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DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-7-15 08:58
Yes, you can set it to the aircraft or if you have a GPS enabled device you can reset it to your pos ...

Where is that located in the DJI Go App because I have not been able to locate that function?

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Jesse M Posted at 2016-7-16 04:24
Where is that located in the DJI Go App because I have not been able to locate that function?

Power up the aircraft and it's under the Main Controller Settings.
Home point screenshot.png
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mochorm
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Have a look at this thread http://forum.dji.com/thread-54317-1-1.html.

Second post first picture, hope this helps.
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mochorm Posted at 2016-7-15 10:47
Have a look at this thread http://forum.dji.com/thread-54317-1-1.html.

Second post first picture,  ...

Does the picture with the person next to the Home Point icon select a new Home Point to the current location of the controller?  I am wondering if I can reset the Home Point from a boat that has moved locations from the original take off spot.
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Jesse M Posted at 2016-7-16 05:41
Does the picture with the person next to the Home Point icon select a new Home Point to the curren ...

Yes, the person means set to controller.
So in a boat, just keep resetting every 30 seconds of so depending on your speed.
Or whatever time interval you want, just don't let the home point distance get too far otherwise it will land in the water.
You can also set the RTH to hover.
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MD_Icarus
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Please consider an option of a dynamic Home point, which the Home Point gets updated automatically to the RC location every so many seconds.
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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-16 06:09
Please consider an option of a dynamic Home point, which the Home Point gets updated automatically t ...

It's been discussed before.
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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-16 08:09
Please consider an option of a dynamic Home point, which the Home Point gets updated automatically t ...

It won't work very well because the RC unit does not have a GPS receiver, and many people do not have reliable GPS reception in their phones. Many phones are equipped with poor GPS receivers that rely on the cell sites to obtain a fix.
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MD_Icarus
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I also wonder for any feedback from actual users switching the home point in flight.
Is this a proven option?


It scares me a bit, because of possible compass GPS related issues. I can think of a possible scenario where it's in the process of switching the Home Point and at the millisecond before it tries to write to memory, it loses GPS. etc.  Is it fail safe that it will restore the last home point in memory, or what will it do?  I hope it stores the last home point and if there are issues, it defaults to the last one?

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Geebax Posted at 2016-7-15 18:39
It won't work very well because the RC unit does not have a GPS receiver, and many people do not h ...

I wonder what was the reasoning that the RC should not have it's own GPS receiver? I don't think they cost too much.  Maybe it was the headache to get the interface between the RC's GPS and the different devices out there working properly then.
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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-16 08:50
I wonder what was the reasoning that the RC should not have it's own GPS receiver? I don't think th ...

For the majority of operations having a GPS receiver in the RC unit is not necessary, so I guess DJI were not going to waste money on it and increase the power consumption. Also, with a large tablet over the top of the box, it would not receive GPS very well anyway.

You should carefully consider your idea of flying with a boat. It is one of the riskiest things you can do, and there is a very good chance of losing your aircraft.
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mochorm
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Personally if I were on a boat I would set the home point to a safe location on shore, before I got into the boat.
That way if you loose connection or battery issues it will fly home to shore, safe and sound.

Heck of a lot easier that trying to land on a tiny spot on a lake.
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labroides
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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-16 08:44
I also wonder for any feedback from actual users switching the home point in flight.
Is this a prove ...

Resetting your home point works well.
If you lost GPS at the microsecond of recording (really ... what are the chances of that?) your app would simply inform you that it could not reset, just the same as it does if you try to reset to the controller's location and your device has weak or no GPS signal.
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Mabou2
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DJI KEN... maybe a future software update to the controller could add the option to program one of the custom buttons as an easy way to quickly update the controller position.  Seems like that wouldn't be too hard to include in the menu of options for the custom buttons.  (Or maybe this request is a programming equivalent of "its no big deal, I just want you to move that house two inches... cmon, its only two inches!")
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A related question which confuses me a bit:

If the P4 loses signal connection with the RC it goes into RTH after a few seconds.

If it's below the RTH altitude it will go up to the set value, or if above it will remain there.

If the Home point was changed in flight, will it maintain the RTH altitude relative to the initial home point, or the latest home point?

Example: Assuming the RTH is set to 150 feet. If my initial home point was sea level 0 feet and my last home point is 80 feet, will the RTH altitude be 150' from sea level, or 230 feet from sea level?
Let's take up a notch:
If the RC is let's say 50 feet away and 50 feet higher than the P4 (I am on a tree house!) at the initial start up, which home point/altitude is recorded: the P4 or the Rc?


Another RTH question:

I understand that once the critical battery level of 10% is reached, the P4 will initiate RTH and land at the current location. We can adjust the landing position manually, but it will land there. We can not cancel it?

If it reaches the low battery level of 30%, will it initiate RTH if the distance to home point can be achieved by the remaining battery level? or will it only initiate RTH if the batery is at critical level?

If the P4 is approaching a distance which will be greater than what the remaining battery capacity needed to travel back to home point, will it initiate RTH, even if the battery level is greater than 30%? I do not see such setting, so I assume its firmware?
For example: If I am xxxxx feet away, and the battery needed to get back to home point is 45%, will it initiate RTH at 56%?  (just above reaching the 10% critical level).

Finally,

if RTH is active, and I switch to the S mode, will it abort RTH? or can I increase the speed manually in S mode? or should I do nothing and it will manage the optimal speed?  
   





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mochorm Posted at 2016-7-15 13:09
Personally if I were on a boat I would set the home point to a safe location on shore, before I got  ...

Aloha mochorm,

     This is very good reasoning.  But it also means that the Phantom battery has to stay powered on from the land based Home Point.  Once you shut off the battery, when you turn it on a new Home Point is declared.  Now, this may not be too much of a problem if you have a quick flight and it is well planned.  But in other cases you might need a different option.

     When operating over water with a dynamic Remote Controller, it is probably best to set your Phantom to hover for RTH and then go back and take control of the Phantom.  In this case, it may be useful to set a high RTH altitude to allow more time to keep it from swimming.

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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-15 13:55
A related question which confuses me a bit:

If the P4 loses signal connection with the RC it goes i ...

Aloha Icarus,

     This is not one question!  You have just destroyed the party!  You also forgot to mention that if you touch the stick while it ascends it will stop ascending after 20 meters (65 feet) and follow through to RTH.  

     Now chasing you down.  If the RTH changes, the logic says that the RTH changes to.  This means if you change the altitude of the first Home Point to the altitude variation of the second Home Point, the altitude changes.  RTH is a concept, a united concept consistent within itself.  (If this is not the case, DJI has a very serious problem.)  

     The default Home Point is set by the Remote Controller.  So your position in the "tree house" (with the controller) is the home point, but you have the option of setting your home point to the location of the Phantom.  So, either one, your choice.

     Now your Critical Battery Level (10%) question is one I have personally experienced.  Dude, if your drone is out of juice, it needs to seriously land, like worse than needing to take a piss!  It can die if you keep it airborne.  But within the limits of battery juice and geographical space, with the thrust stick at max upward position, you can determine how your drone dies or maybe save it.

     Your 30% battery level question is basic to all Phantoms.  No difference.  The 30% battery level is a warning.  Above and below 30% is a power programming issue and you need to pay attention to it.  If your phantom (3 or 4) is close to too far away from the declared Home Point, RTH will be initiated.  (I have had this occur at 34% during a "Follow Me" expedition.)  It is indeed a function of the firmware and I am confidant that it includes the 10% critical battery buffer.  

     The P4 Sport mode has the same effect on RTH that ATTi has.  If you are pushing it so far that you need to speed home, you can expect a crash as a reasonable outcome for the technology.  You really need to give yourself a time cushion so you can land softly.

     Please Geebax and labroides, if you can offer any corrections or illumination of these principles, please do.  At this point for me it seems pretty straight-forward.

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Cetaman Posted at 2016-7-16 09:32
Aloha Icarus,

     This is not one question!  You have just destroyed the party!  You also forgot ...

Thanks for taking the time to answer!

And I am happy you offered actual field data experiences, because many times results may vary between theoretical and empirical!

I will only add 2 relative questions:

1) I read that 30 MPH is the best, most power efficient speed to bring the P4 back home.  Is that accurate? does RTH use that speed?  I used RTH once, and I recall that is was flying at lower speed.  We can only program the RTH altitude, not the speed.


2) Background info:
When I fly Litchi mission and signal is lost, it keeps on it's mission. Litchi must program the mission in the P4 memory, so the RTH is disabled upon signal loss.  Based upon their feedback, they can not give us an option to RTH upon signal loss due to some P4 firmware limitation.  I think the reason of signl loss at max distance is because Litchi uses a single Rx/Tx channel to fly the entire mission (based upon looking all my Litchi logs and having the setting to Auto).

My question is:
If I press RTH during the time I am disconnected then it wont reach the P4; but is the RTH latched in the RC, and it will get there as soon as the communication is back? (and thus any subsequent RTH requests will cancel the prior?)  I had this occur to me once, the P4 went into RTH, just before I had signal again; I had pressed RTH as soon as the signal was lost.  The signal was lost for about 70 seconds.  It then went out of RTH mode and just hovered.  I must have clicked R again, so it stopped. I then must have clicked RTH again.  That was a very exciting moment for me, since I could not see the P4 nor the iphone screen due to sun glare!! (and I do use the sun glare screen).


I am planning another mission using my P4 in the same area later today, but I am now using a higher altitude and staying further away from a lighthouse! (I developed lihthouse phobia after that event).
   
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Cetaman Posted at 2016-7-16 23:32
Aloha Icarus,

     This is not one question!  You have just destroyed the party!  You also forgot ...

That seems pretty good except for:   The default Home Point is set by the Remote Controller.  
Home point is set by the Phantom when it powers up  and first acquires GPS lock.
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MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-7-17 01:15
Thanks for taking the time to answer!

And I am happy you offered actual field data experiences, be ...

"1) I read that 30 MPH is the best, most power efficient speed to bring the P4 back home.  Is that accurate? does RTH use that speed?  "
There has been lots of discussion but it's too hard to calculate a simple on- speed-fits-all answer to this question.
There are too many variables.
However the best speed is probably just a little less than top speed in P-GPS mode with object avoidance turned off. .. that is about 35mph.
RTH is a slow driver at around 22mph and does not use the best speed for range/battery life.
If you allow RTH to do the driving in a low battery situation, you could run out of power as RTH comes home slowly.
This is because the Phantom uses a significant part of its power just staying in the air whether it is going fast or slow.
Going fast only uses a little more power but means that the  Phantom isn't fighting gravity for as long.
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labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-7-16 11:42
That seems pretty good except for:   The default Home Point is set by the Remote Controller.  
Hom ...

Aloha labroides,

     Oops!  You are right, the default is the Phantom.  How did I miss that one.  I mean she tells you every flight, right!.  I still have to try going back and forth with the home point at the Phantom and home point at the controller, oh and also explore Dynamic Home Point.  

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DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-7-16 04:00
Yes, the person means set to controller.
So in a boat, just keep resetting every 30 seconds of so  ...

Hi Ken... how can you set the RTH to hover and not land (say in water)... where is the hover setting?
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shahab.sattar Posted at 2016-7-18 03:04
Hi Ken... how can you set the RTH to hover and not land (say in water)... where is the hover setti ...

Look for RC Signal Lost.
It used to be in MC Settings ... Advanced settings  and probably still is in the latest app version.
It has the options: RTH, Land, Hover
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shahab.sattar Posted at 2016-7-18 01:04
Hi Ken... how can you set the RTH to hover and not land (say in water)... where is the hover setti ...

That's correct, Main Controller Settings, then Advanced Settings and it's under "Other"
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Hovering above the ocean can be a little scary though! I had this experience already.

Just imagine all that sun glare, you can't see the Phantom, seagulls flying around, and you have no signal, and the battery is low.
It's better than landing in the water, but since the boat has it's own GPS, and you can mark the original Home Point, just race back to it.
You should obtain RC connection before you reach it, since the boat and the phantom are heading towards the same location.  You can then cancel the RTH and take over control.

Unless there is some interference from a bridge, or some other radio signal in the area, flying over water tends to maximize RC TX/RX because the water is a good reflector.

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Geebax Posted at 2016-7-15 14:39
It won't work very well because the RC unit does not have a GPS receiver, and many people do not have reliable GPS reception in their phones. Many phones are equipped with poor GPS receivers that rely on the cell sites to obtain a fix.

That's not accurate at all.   Modern smartphones have excellent GPS tracking ability, I've had iPhones since the start and it's accurate enough to be able to see which side of the street I'm on.
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Horrgakx Posted at 2017-3-4 23:06
That's not accurate at all.   Modern smartphones have excellent GPS tracking ability, I've had iPhones since the start and it's accurate enough to be able to see which side of the street I'm on.

And that is not accurate enough for use with a Phantom. Plus, if there is no cell reception, you phone will be even less accurate.
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I recently upgraded to an iPad Air 2 with cellular capability in order to be able to update the home point to the controller location and also to use follow me.  I have yet to be able to make either work.  It's a mystery although those 2 functions do work with my Samsung Galaxy note 4 (android device).  It's a complete mystery.  I give up.
  
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Cetaman Posted at 2016-7-16 03:57
Aloha mochorm,

     This is very good reasoning.  But it also means that the Phantom battery has to stay powered on from the land based Home Point.  Once you shut off the battery, when you turn it on a new Home Point is declared.  Now, this may not be too much of a problem if you have a quick flight and it is well planned.  But in other cases you might need a different option.

I am in the same shoes. Looking to land it on my anchored boat. As I'll be by myself I have two options. Hand catch or landing it safe on the bow deck. RTH to hoover seems to be what I need to do.
Thanks for pointing it out Cetacean!
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Labroides
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Callatis Posted at 2017-3-5 20:10
I am in the same shoes. Looking to land it on my anchored boat. As I'll be by myself I have two options. Hand catch or landing it safe on the bow deck. RTH to hoover seems to be what I need to do.
Thanks for pointing it out Cetacean!

Unless you have a very big boat, landing on the deck is probably not a good thing to try.
Hand catch is the landing method of choice on boats.
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Jim Watkins Posted at 2017-3-5 07:35
I recently upgraded to an iPad Air 2 with cellular capability in order to be able to update the home point to the controller location and also to use follow me.  I have yet to be able to make either work.  It's a mystery although those 2 functions do work with my Samsung Galaxy note 4 (android device).  It's a complete mystery.  I give up.

I note you have an Air 2 cellular, but do you have a cell plan to operate? Because without being able to connect to a local cell tower, the iPad will have difficulty in establishing a fix.
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Callatis Posted at 2017-3-5 20:10
I am in the same shoes. Looking to land it on my anchored boat. As I'll be by myself I have two options. Hand catch or landing it safe on the bow deck. RTH to hoover seems to be what I need to do.
Thanks for pointing it out Cetacean!

Aloha Callatis,

     As Labroides points out, a hand catch on a boat is the safest means of retrieval.  In rougher seas, a tripod connection to the boat is best.  This entails three lines securing your waist to the boat through a belt and secure points on the boat, starboard, bow and port positions.  This allows you to use your upper body flexibility to manage the Phantom (launch and retrieval).  

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!
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Cetacean Posted at 2017-3-5 22:51
Aloha Callatis,

     As Labroides points out, a hand catch on a boat is the safest means of retrieval.  In rougher seas, a tripod connection to the boat is best.  This entails three lines securing your waist to the boat through a belt and secure points on the boat, starboard, bow and port positions.  This allows you to use your upper body flexibility to manage the Phantom (launch and retrieval).  

Thanks everyone for your feedback! It's a 16.5' Legend boat.The lake I go gets pretty choppy at wind over 20km\h so I don't go fishing those days anyway. I am just trying to understand if I can go away with a Mavic with boat landing instead of the P4 with hand catching. It seams that in my case the P4 is the option.
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Callatis Posted at 2017-3-6 04:26
Thanks everyone for your feedback! It's a 16.5' Legend boat.The lake I go gets pretty choppy at wind over 20km\h so I don't go fishing those days anyway. I am just trying to understand if I can go away with a Mavic with boat landing instead of the P4 with hand catching. It seams that in my case the P4 is the option.

With a 16 footer, hand catching will be the way to go.
It's easy but practice on land so you are confident before doing it (or anything else) out on the water.
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Great thread - I"m going to be on a 100 foot schooner in August (https://muenchworkshops.com/schooner-donna-wood/) - the deck is very cluttered so hand grabbing will be essential. I can;t find in the posts above where it says exactly how to reset the home point as the ship moving - do I just toggle between return to the original takeoff point and return to the RC position? And would it make sense  to cancel RTH once I can see the drone, then bring it home manually? Also says to toggle "S1" to cancel RTH from the controller- looking at the manual, not sure which switch that is
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