What about fail-safe settings?

What is a fail-safe?

Fail-safe is a safety feature built into a drone's autopilot system that automatically returns the drone to a safe state if an unexpected problem or failure occurs.

Below are the main fail-safe explanations:

1. **Return to Home**: The drone's fail-safe features include an automatic return to home function, which means that if the drone detects a problem such as communication failure or low battery, it will automatically return to the home point and land safely.

2. **Lossless Control**: The fail-safe system ensures that the drone continues to fly within a safe and controllable range even if communication with the remote controller is temporarily lost.
This prevents the drone from getting out of control.

3. **Low Battery Return**: If the drone's battery level reaches a critical point, the fail-safe feature will automatically initiate the return process, preventing the drone from crashing due to a dead battery.

4. **Obstacle Avoidance**: The latest drone models are equipped with obstacle sensors and collision avoidance features that enable the drone to fly around obstacles automatically.
This is used as part of a fail-safe to ensure a safe flying environment.

5. **GPS Utilization**: The fail-safe system uses GPS technology to determine the drone's exact location and ensure a safe return. Even in situations where GPS is unavailable, map data and sensor information are used to assist in safe flight.

Fail-safe features are critical in drone operation and are designed to protect the safety of the pilot and those around them.
These features bring reliability and safety to drone control and operation, and act as important backups in the event of trouble or issues.

How do you set up your failsafe?
Do you change it every time you fly?

I've put together some fail-safe settings for a few scenarios.

I was taking photos of the mountain ridge and the hut on the summit.
We then entered fog and the transmission between the radio and the aircraft was cut off.
What is the fail-safe setting in this case? RTH? Landing? Hovering? As you probably know, "RTH" is the correct answer.
But! What would happen if you left the settings at "Landing" or "Hovering"?
In the case of hovering setting, you have to hold the transmitter in one hand, walk in the direction where the drone is likely to be, and keep getting closer until the transmission is restored! Even if that means going over two mountains!
Won't the battery run out and the drone crash? Also, if you set it to land...
Similarly, walk in the direction where the drone is likely to have landed! Will it respond with the drone search function? When the battery runs out,
I can't find it... Even if I can somehow pinpoint the location where I last lost my drone,
I think it may be stuck up in a tall tree.

The river is 2m wide! There are plants and thin branches all around.
While flying just above the water, the moment we passed through an atmospheric mist...for some reason the aircraft and the radio control were cut off!
What is the fail-safe setting in this case? RTH? Landing? Hovering? As you probably know, the correct answer is "hovering."
If the aircraft is in RTH mode, it may hit a branch or tree in the air and fall or get caught, making it difficult to retrieve the aircraft.
If it was set to land, I think it would fall into the river and become unusable.
Hovering is not necessarily the right solution, but if the river is about 2m wide and has a gentle current, it may be possible to retrieve it.
Walk to where the aircraft should be and go to the position where the aircraft and the transmitter will reconnect.
Once control is regained, you can take measures such as landing the aircraft in a safe location.

The camera is designed to shoot from the forest through the trees and then onto the vast farmland landscape.
The obstacle detection helped the drone to get through between the trees! It rose to capture the horse and started to take a picture, but then the drone and the radio control were cut off!
The failsafe setting at this time is RTH? Landing? Hovering?
As you probably know, the correct answer would be either "hovering or landing."
RTH will return you to the home point.
Since the drone takes off from the forest, there is a risk of it getting caught in trees on the way back.
I think either hovering or landing is fine, but it might be better to change the setting depending on the scene.
For example, if you have a large ranch, the horses may step on you and startle the animals.
I don't think this will happen, but please assume that there may be cases where someone eats it.
If I were to choose here, I would choose hovering! I also thought about the possibility of the propellers getting damaged by vegetation when landing.
If you don't have any spare propellers, it will interfere with your filming.
If you are hovering, hurry there and reconnect the aircraft and the transmitter.
There we will find a safe place to land.

summary

Try changing the "Failsafe Function Settings" depending on the flying scene.
I have had the panicked experience of my drone and radio being disconnected in the past.
We flew over Irozaki Lighthouse early in the morning, but were cut off less than 1 km away, so we quickly reached the aircraft, connected the transmitter to the aircraft, and were able to return it.
Luckily it was within walking distance, but if it had been somewhere other than walking distance I would have had to leave it there until the battery ran out.
I think the battery will run out and it will fall into the ocean and become unusable.
At the time, the drone was set to hover, but the correct answer was RTH! Since then, I always check the setting before flying.
Also, it is a must to update your home point before flying.
We recommend that you do some site research in advance and familiarize yourself with the terrain using Google Maps.
Please make sure to fly safely.