Always climb on RTL?

Hi.

Is is possible to set arducopter to always climb a set amount once RTL is initiated?

The scenario I have in mind is one where the copter drops down behind a hill that is allready higher than the set RTL altitude. And then looses signal as LOS is blocked. In this case, my copter would go into RTL, and fly straight into the hillside.

I have looked thorugh settings but was unable to find such an option. The best alternative I have found, is to set RTL altitude very high, with a large margin for error. But this is far from optimal in the case of mountains. Maybe it would be possible somehow using auto mode(?) Then set the “script”(?) to end with RTL. Then I simply program the failsafe on my receiver to switch to AUTO. I will admit to not beeing all that familiar with auto. Infact i never used it. But I have looked through briefly, and done a few google searches that all turned up empty for my purpouses.

Help appreciated :slight_smile:

@akujiwar
Please provide either tlogs and/or dataflash logs to help troubleshoot your issue.
Regards,
TCIII GM

[quote=“TCIII”]@akujiwar
Please provide either tlogs and/or dataflash logs to help troubleshoot your issue.
Regards,
TCIII GM[/quote]

Nothing has happened. There is no “issue”. I’m simply inquiring about whether it would be possible for me to set up arducopter to behave in this manner. Maybe I was beeing unclear. Or is this perhaps not the right forum? If so, I apologize :slight_smile:

1 Like

As I understand it, RTL will ascend to the preset height, or if already above that height maintain the current height and return to home. The scenario you describe is correct, and it will simply plow straight into the hill.

An alternative mode would be to ascend to the maximum height attained since arming, before returning to home. This would at least guarantee you would never fly too low, if however you have been flying under or around obstacles, you will probably still have a crash.

Better still, a “track-back” function (which is included in some handheld GPSs), where the course out is recorded and a reverse course can be plotted automatically would provide the least chance of colliding with fixed obstacles.

Each of these modes would not be appropriate in some circumstances, so even if they were available, it should be a configurable option.

[quote=“akujiwar”]Hi.

Is is possible to set arducopter to always climb a set amount once RTL is initiated?[/quote]

To answer your question, yes you can. I am not in front of mission planner at the moment so I cant tell you what the setting names are until I get home tonight. You can set the height it will climb to as well as the ascend/descend rate/speed and time it loiters before descending. I’ll look these up tonight and post the settings for you.

[quote=“akujiwar”]Hi.

Is is possible to set arducopter to always climb a set amount once RTL is initiated?[/quote]

Perhaps I misunderstood your question but to answer what I see:
Set RTL_ALT (in centimeters) found under Full Parameter List, to something higher than anything around your intended flight path. Once you switch to RTL, up it goes until it reaches that height. Only then will it begin to return home. Hope this helps.

I dont see whats so hard to understand… was pretty clear about the question. I even mentioned the rtl preset altitude. This does not do what i want. I do not want to always climb to 2000m(for example) but i always want to climb some, say 50m, once rtl is activated. In order to avoid always climbing to “2000m” when not needed, in case i need to make use of rtl till the bitter end… 2000m would drain batteries probably. Dont say set it lower. it was an example. GUess its not possible so nevermind. Thanks for replies.

Yeah, you want it to climb a preset additional amount of height from the point RTL is triggered.

When I first got into APMs, I thought this was how it worked. I found out the hard way it’s not. What you want can’t be done with the current programming, although I’d sure like for it to be an RTL option. I don’t like the idea of using a preset RTL height based upon the launch point altitude when flying in terrain with a lot of vertical relief. I much prefer the idea of when an RTL is triggered, the multi then climbs an additional preset 100 or 200 meters above where it is before heading home.