Normal Orientation versus IOC Course Lock?

It's actually been renamed "Orientation Lock" in the Pilot app.
When the switch is flipped to F, this is the screen that pops up.
By "current nose direction", they really mean the current side of the aircraft which is facing away from you. A bit confusing, as the current nose direction is actually where the real nose of the aircraft is currently pointing, which is normal flight mode, so activating Orientation Lock wouldn't change anything! Must be a Chinese translation! :rolleyes:
View attachment 25386



There's two things going on here, the setting or resetting of the OL, and the activation/use of OL.

Initially the OL is whichever direction you're facing at warm-up/take-off.
You are facing North so this is now the Locked Orientation. i.e. Right Stick forward/Up = move North.

You begin flying and have stopped with the quad facing East.

You activate or enable (not reset) the OL.
Now when you push the Right Stick forward, or up again, the quad will move sideways or to the LEFT (North) not to the East because the Orientation Lock 'assigns' North to Right Stick forward.

IF you reset the OL in flight and REMAIN in OL flight mode then your last sentence is true but once you exit OL and the nose direction changes ACTIVATING OL reverts to the previously assigned orientation.
 
Another explanation maybe when you are in CL (course Lock) pushing UP on the right stick, will take the craft farther away, Pulling DOWN on the right stick, will bring it backwards, Left will move it to the left and right, move the craft to the right. No matter which way the nose is pointing.
This is not the same as HL (Home-Lock) - where this action will use the home location as the center point. So when you pull down on the right stick, it will always come back to the home position, which could be a diagonal line between home location and the craft.
Thanks, this is very useful and was my understanding too. I can't quite fathom why Home Lock wasn't included in the P3 firmware, unlike P2, as I feel that it is a "safety" option to recover the bird without having to initiate the RTM.
 
Another explanation maybe when you are in CL (course Lock) pushing UP on the right stick, will take the craft farther away, Pulling DOWN on the right stick, will bring it backwards, Left will move it to the left and right, move the craft to the right. No matter which way the nose is pointing.
This is not the same as HL (Home-Lock) - where this action will use the home location as the center point. So when you pull down on the right stick, it will always come back to the home position, which could be a diagonal line between home location and the craft.


That is not a good 'rule of thumb' as it is not always true. Only Home Lock can guarantee that.
 
Can't see the point personally doesn't do anything you can't do by flying the aircraft. bit faster maybe
I think the usefulness here is when you cannot see in which direction the craft is pointing to - too far away. Then the idea was when it was in home-lock, "bring it back" will come back to home....anyway, my interpretation on this.
 
Sorry to ask this again, but has anyone got a good reason why DJI didn't include Home Lock when the P3 was launched, given it has been available to P 2 owners for some time?
 
Not a priority??? It's only code afterall.
 
Well I tested F mode, CL/OL set on ground before takeoff today and all worked as normal RTH.
I think it my have been affected before because I was right next to metal railroad bridge. Just a wild guess no real data.
CL/OL did save original setting when I switched in and out of F mode to P mode several times. Flew as expected for both modes.
 
So in flight you activate with the switch and the app. North facing takeoff will move the bird north irrespective of real facing (with stick forward). Now, reset in flight, the new direction forward will be the way it's currently facing? But if you turn it off and reactivate it goes back to the takeoff orientation? Sorry for the confusion here. I guess some flight testing would help.
 
I think you've got it.

Take-off is default orientation until/unless it's reset in flight.

Power-down then up (again), take-off again, new default orientation.
 
In my case aircraft was over a 100 yards away. That's what surprised me.
I tried it again later and got same result, straight down slowly like landing.
I pressed RTH button to turn off and flew it back.
I am aware of the difference when close to transmitter with RTH.
Will play with it tomorrow to see if same happens.
Any you feel like testing also would be great.
Mode switch F, CL set on ground before takeoff, go 50 yards or more and press RTH on transmitter. Of course be high enough to turn off RTH and take control. Would like to know result.
That is weird. Truthfully, I have never voluntarily used RTH. I always manage to find another way to bring the craft back to me, relying upon the compass view for the aircraft orientation, and point the nose at the center, and give full forward right stick, making sure the elevation is sufficient to avoid all obstacles enroute. Relying upon automation can have unintended consequences.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dysan911
That is weird. Truthfully, I have never voluntarily used RTH. I always manage to find another way to bring the craft back to me, relying upon the compass view for the aircraft orientation, and point the nose at the center, and give full forward right stick, making sure the elevation is sufficient to avoid all obstacles enroute. Relying upon automation can have unintended consequences.

Agreed, but a couple times I lost the signal and RTH was my friend.
 
Just like in photography where you need to know what each button, switch and setting of speed or f stop does. No one setting fits every situation.
Thats how I look at CL/OL, RTH, gimbal speed etc etc.
Just tools to use in different situations to get the results you want and to fly home safe.
 
Agreed, but a couple times I lost the signal and RTH was my friend.
Me, too, if it was the transmitter signal that you lost for more than 3 seconds. That's an "involuntary" RTH. I didn't initiate it. As soon as the transmitter signal was restored, however, a few seconds later, I immeditely cancelled the RTH, increased my altitude to 400 feet, and kept flying in my intended direction away from me, since it wasn't a range issue, but ground interference issue. Took me 20 seconds, though, to figure out how to cancel the return to home, as the screens were confusing. Couldn't figure out if it was asking me if I wanted to cancel RTH or cancel my canceling of RTH! :rolleyes:
 
Just like in photography where you need to know what each button, switch and setting of speed or f stop does. No one setting fits every situation.
Thats how I look at CL/OL, RTH, gimbal speed etc etc.
Just tools to use in different situations to get the results you want and to fly home safe.
Indeed. As long as you first know how to shoot completely in manual mode, you will be able to then use the various automatic modes when the situation calls for it, and know how to override them when they need tweaking!
 
By "current nose direction", they really mean the current side of the aircraft which is facing away from you.

I think the app's description is correct. What you suggest would be the equivalent of Home Lock, not Course Lock. In Course Lock, forward is set to the nose direction (and stays locked in that direction even if you change the nose direction).

If you locked in the Course Lock direction when the nose of the 'copter was facing you - as is likely when you take off and the initial Course Lock direction is automatically set - then the Course Lock "forward" will be away from you. But, you can point the 'copter in any direction then reset the Course Lock (Orientation Lock) and the new forward direction will be set in the direction that the nose is pointing. It will remain the forward direction even if you point the nose a different way unless you switch out of CL or reset the CL direction.

-- Roger
 
Last edited:
Everyone should know how rth works as it's been around for the v2 as well. I have only seen reports of oops the bird took off to the last location. It's critical to make sure home point is correctly set. I test rth every once and a while. I will also use it for video work. The IOC mode I was uncomfortable with at first but use it when in large open area, rth is my goto for orientation loss as it works great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snowghost

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers