Add Return to Home command
I understand that you can set the end action of a completed mission to 'return to home' and that this action also triggers automatically for loss of communication with the drone and when the battery charge reaches a specific level (Air2s and Mini 2), but is it possible to add a return to home command manually?
What I was attempting to do, is to plan a longer mission with multiple components (waypoints, orbits, map etc.) and, rather than wait for the low battery level to trigger the return to home (and resume the mission after a battery charge), I would like to plan the battery changes at specific points (e.g. to coincide with the completion of a particular component). I realise that I could just simply create several smaller missions, but thought this might be a more convenient and efficient way - plus, my preference is to return home with more than a 25% battery level.
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I don't think this would be possible, as, as things are when an auto RTH kicks in, the drone performs the RTH, then after changing the battery and relaunching the mission the drone flies back to the point in the mission it had got to prior to the RTH, and then continues the mission, so if that RTH had been triggered by an RTH command at that point in the mission, when it got back there it would turn round and RTH rather than completing the mission.
What I would suggest, and I do this myself is keep an eye on the battery meter, and when its around the 25% point is hit the RTH button on the controller and instigate an RTH manually, this way when you send the drone back out it will continue from where it left off
Thanks, Martin - so, If I understand correctly, I could plan my orbits/waypoints and timings etc., and as you're suggesting just instigate the RTH from the controller button (say at the end of a component). After then landing and changing the battery, the mission would automatically resume as normal without cancelling the remaining components?
Sounds like a good work around - thanks again!
Yes that's correct Mark, it's how I fly my mapping missions that require more than one battery, with those I keep an eye on the battery meter and where the drone is and hit rth button when the battery is getting down towards 20-25 percent and the drone is fairly close so it doesn't have far to fly back.
When you preview a mission, if you scroll the graphs down you can see approximately where battery changes will be, based on 20 minute battery life (you can change that duration by tapping on the battery graph label)
That's a good tip about using the mission preview to plan the battery change points! With my original question still in mind, it now makes far better sense to do things this way, rather than rely too much on automation - and it will keep me focused on battery levels.
Many thanks again Martin for your help!
You can add a disengage command with a custom message reminding yourself to RTH (or decide to keep going if you have enough battery).
Oh wow that's excellent - I saw the disengage command and wasn't sure how you'd implement it (still learning). So basically you'd add this command, say, on the completion of a component, then you'd program in a customised message to say 'check battery' or 'come back home to change battery' etc.?
I could then move that up or down to reorder it in list, so that it occurred in a convenient place between components, based on timings from the preview window.
Thanks, Jim for the info!
Will have to have a play with that
Just to check - I add the custom message, by adding a title and info to the 'disengage' component itself - then when the mission reaches that point the message displays?
The other option (which is what I do) is to press the RTH button when you want it to RTH. That is super useful on large mapping missions where you don't want to wait forever for it to return to you and then return to the start point. If you press the button it will stop the mission, return, and then you can just restart from where you left off.
FYI - Battery swaps are a future Five Minute Friday
Thanks Barry - I recently subscribed to your YouTube channel. Looking forward to the Five Minute Friday on battery swaps!
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