RTL Tests

[skydioconvert]

Anyone done any RTL tests (after the latest 6.0.40 upgrade) to see if landing accuracy has been improved?

Many "earlier" reviews had nothing good to say about how close the S2 lands to its launch location.

 

[csperry]

It does seem better. Before it would suddenly go like a house on fire not in what looked like the most direct route back. Seems to be a bit more intelligent. The return to home with Skydio is a bit different anyway. It returns to the home point and hovers about 8 to 10 feet. You can then move it somewhere before telling it to land. It did seem better. Not as accurate as some drones I fly but better then many.

 

[skydioconvert]

It does seem better. Before it would suddenly go like a house on fire not in what looked like the most direct route back. Seems to be a bit more intelligent. The return to home with Skydio is a bit different anyway. It returns to the home point and hovers about 8 to 10 feet. You can then move it somewhere before telling it to land. It did seem better. Not as accurate as some drones I fly but better then many.

Nice to know.... So If you launched from the center of a 1 yard in diameter pad would it repeatedly land on the pad once you told it to land?

 

[Vib.ribbon]

Nice to know.... So If you launched from the center of a 1 yard in diameter pad would it repeatedly land on the pad once you told it to land?

I use the Skydio case to launch from each time I use it and I tried this and it didn't work with that amount of precision - even with the beacon turned on and lying right next to the case!

I have seen a video where the Skydio 2 launched and landed on a small pad a number of times, but that was a video from Skydio themselves so who knows what software they had running on it.

 

[skydioconvert]

When you say "it didn't work with that amount of precision" how far off the case did it land? .... 1 foot? ... a yard? .... several feet?

 

[Vib.ribbon]

It varied - from 30cm to 4 or 5 feet. Not once did it land directly back on the case.

 

[skydioconvert]

It varied - from 30cm to 4 or 5 feet. Not once did it land directly back on the case.

Thanks.... gives me a good idea what to expect... not ideal but I can live with that kind of variation.

 

[csperry]

You need to understand what skydio return to land does. It DOES NOT LAND it just returns close by and hovers about 10 feet. It returns within a few feet of where it took off from provided you do not change the location on the map. Once hovering you can send it back out or press and hold the land button to have it land. You can move the controls to move it around before hitting the land button so you can even hand catch it. Have over 20 flights so far and never had an issue.

 

[Vib.ribbon]

Whoa - no need for shouty caps. I don't think any of us have any 'issues' per say, it's just that everytime I RTL and land it straight down from where it came back to, it didn't get it exactly right from where it left off. No issues at all, I just think it could do better, that's all - especially when I position the beacon directly near the case.

Expectations too high? No, they are not. Check out this video:

Yes, there could be other hardware in the dock but the Skydio itself looks like a stock one without any mods....the point I was trying to raise what that with the beacon I expected the Skydio to hone in on it with more precision than I have ever gotten......and I don't think I'm the only one.

 

[skydioconvert]

You need to understand what skydio return to land does. It DOES NOT LAND it just returns close by and hovers about 10 feet. It returns within a few feet of where it took off from provided you do not change the location on the map. Once hovering you can send it back out or press and hold the land button to have it land. You can move the controls to move it around before hitting the land button so you can even hand catch it. Have over 20 flights so far and never had an issue.

I understood that it didn't actually land without the subsequent land button being pushed... that feature is what I actually like compared to how other MR's automatically land.

Have you confirmed that the S2 always first hovers before landing even if the Height Floor is disabled?

 

[leenanj]

To be able to land on a dock like above there has to be other hardware and software involved for this to happen.
Even as accurate as the Mavic 2 is at landing even that would miss the target most of the time.
Just a few inches aff could be a disaster.

 

[Vib.ribbon]

To be able to land on a dock like above there has to be other hardware and software involved for this to happen.
Even as accurate as the Mavic 2 is at landing even that would miss the target most of the time.
Just a few inches aff could be a disaster.

I wouldn't know about the extra hardware or software, so I wouldn't commit either way, but as every Skydio has such an advanced Autonomy Engine (I assume you saw the shot of overlayed flight path near the end...so it knew exactly where it came from?) and the addition of a beacon I was hoping for better than it currently is. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Skydio Dev team come up with fixes or features to make it even better than it is right now.

Pretty much all landing pads have some sort of pattern on them - what's to stop Skydio building in some sort of pattern recognition for when the Skydio aims it camera down when it knows it wants to land? Once it sees the correct pattern it then knows to aim for it and land on it? Certainly a possibilty!

 

[skydioconvert]

To be able to land on a dock like above there has to be other hardware and software involved for this to happen.
Even as accurate as the Mavic 2 is at landing even that would miss the target most of the time.
Just a few inches aff could be a disaster.

Your last sentence is exactly the reason I hand launch and hand catch. The fact that the S2 stops in a hover when it RTL
makes hand recovery all that much easier.

P.S. I agree with your comments about the Mavic 2 ....

 

[skydioconvert]

I wouldn't know about the extra hardware or software, so I wouldn't commit either way, but as every Skydio has such an advanced Autonomy Engine (I assume you saw the shot of overlayed flight path near the end...so it knew exactly where it came from?) and the addition of a beacon I was hoping for better than it currently is. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Skydio Dev team come up with fixes or features to make it even better than it is right now.

Pretty much all landing pads have some sort of pattern on them - what's to stop Skydio building in some sort of pattern recognition for when the Skydio aims it camera down when it knows it wants to land? Once it sees the correct pattern it then knows to aim for it and land on it? Certainly a possibilty!

If memory serves me right later versions of the DJI Mavic improved landing accuracy by actually taking pictures of its launch point and then used that picture in the final stages of landing to find an accurate final RTH point.