Adjusting flight controller parameters

[Kevieboy]

Hi guys, just curious - has anybody managed to edit the parameters in the Mavic flight controller script?

I'm not overly experienced with it, I have changed parameters in my 3DR Solo before but only to enable/disable RTH.

Apart from changing the max height, which I read you can do (would be a bit of fun in an isolated and safe area), what I really need to access/change is the waypoint limit that DJI has set. I don't know if it's a limit of from one waypoint to the next, or a total distance limit, but I've tried nearly every mapping app I can find and not one of them will let me fly my map.

DroneDeploy - just sits there constantly saying "waypoints still uploading" (for like half an hour)

DJI UltimateFlight - "maximum number of waypoints limit reached"

Litchi - "Error: too many waypoints"

Maps Made Easy - #@$! Rubbish. Waste of money, worst one ofthe lot.

It's not like I have a huge map, it's only 98Ha. Like 3 or 4 batteries worth.

Not getting any help from the developers after numerous support emails. Starting to tear my hear out.

PLEASE, if anybody has just ONE app that just works - your be a saviour!

Regards,
Kev.

 

[mark_t]

How many waypoints are you trying to use?

 

[Kevieboy]

How many waypoints are you trying to use?

It's a grid mission, and from memory there were roughly 147.

 

[Kevieboy]

How many waypoints are you trying to use?

 

[mark_t]

The limit is 99 and that is within the DJI SDK so none of the apps created using it are going to be able to exceed that limit.

Just split it into smaller chunks and it should be fine.

 

[Cut.Aussie]

Please try the genuine DJI mapping software called DJI GS Pro, works great for me, you will also find online tutorials

 

[mark_t]

Please try the genuine DJI mapping software called DJI GS Pro, works great for me, you will also find online tutorials

GS Pro still has a 99 waypoint limit ...

 

[Kevieboy]

Please try the genuine DJI mapping software called DJI GS Pro, works great for me, you will also find online tutorials

The limit is 99 and that is within the DJI SDK so none of the apps created using it are going to be able to exceed that limit.

Just split it into smaller chunks and it should be fine.

That's what I was trying to figure out with my post - can you edit the DJI SDK so that you can change the parameters from 99 waypoint limit to 0 for unlimited etc. You can do this with 3DR, and I read a forum on Phantom pilots where you can edit anything..

 

[Kevieboy]

Please try the genuine DJI mapping software called DJI GS Pro, works great for me, you will also find online tutorials

Hi. Yeah I had a look at that software - it seemed very cumbersome and expensive for my liking. Have you managed to map more than 100 waypoints in a single mission? Sounding like it's limited to 99 as well?

 

[Kilrah]

Not that we know.

But it makes no sense in the first place, If you have to fly 3-4 batteries to cover the area why don't you split your mission per battery?? You actually have to with most of the apps...

 

[Kevieboy]

Not that we know.

But it makes no sense in the first place, If you have to fly 3-4 batteries to cover the area why don't you split your mission per battery?? You actually have to with most of the apps...

The point of trying to have a single map, is to have as little mis-matches when trying to stitch numerous chunks together. What's the point of using Agisoft or Pix4D that can handle like 5000 images in a single map, if the capture app can't even do a small mission with around 1200 images?

 

[Kevieboy]

The point of trying to have a single map, is to have as little mis-matches when trying to stitch numerous chunks together. What's the point of using Agisoft or Pix4D that can handle like 5000 images in a single map, if the capture app can't even do a small mission with around 1200 images?

Dronedeploy markets their product and boasts that you are able to map large areas using multiple batteries, pause/resume etc. But why aren't they informing customers that this won't work due to DJIs native restrictions? Cos DJI sure as hell don't make it known to us..

 

[mark_t]

That's what I was trying to figure out with my post - can you edit the DJI SDK so that you can change the parameters from 99 waypoint limit to 0 for unlimited etc. You can do this with 3DR, and I read a forum on Phantom pilots where you can edit anything..

You are comparing two different things, I also fly Solo so I know exactly what you are trying to do, but no, it is not possible.

With Solo you are directly editing the same parameter file that the other Solo apps interface with, with DJI there is no direct equivalent.

The SDK only provides calls to the aircraft firmware which let you perform similar functions, but there is no editable configuration file in the middle.

 

[mark_t]

Dronedeploy markets their product and boasts that you are able to map large areas using multiple batteries, pause/resume etc. But why aren't they informing customers that this won't work due to DJIs native restrictions? Cos DJI sure as **** don't make it known to us..

DJI does provide (via the SDK) the ability to queue multiple missions to the aircraft, but each mission still has to be less than 99 waypoints.

 

[Kevieboy]

You are comparing two different things, I also fly Solo so I know exactly what you are trying to do, but no, it is not possible.

With Solo you are directly editing the same parameter file that the other Solo apps interface with, with DJI there is no direct equivalent.

The SDK only provides calls to the aircraft firmware which let you perform similar functions, but there is no editable configuration file in the middle.

Ah, I see.. I was just confused cos I was reading this and it sounded like you can edit the params with the Phantom so I thought you might have been able to with the Mavic..

Phantom 3 flight controller parameters

 

[mark_t]

Ah, I see.. I was just confused cos I was reading this and it sounded like you can edit the params with the Phantom so I thought you might have been able to with the Mavic..

Phantom 3 flight controller parameters

That is a hack, unlike 3DR/Ardupilot, DJI do not intentionally expose that level of access due to the immense chaos that can result from a wrong edit. 3DR may also have regretted the ease of access to the parameters on more than one occasion

The 99 waypoint limit on DJI also reflects a memory limit memory within the flight controller so even if you could hack the file for the Mavic, extending it may not have the desired outcome.

What you should find is that any of the apps that allow you to create a mission great than 99 waypoints should split that down into multiple missions and then queue them to the aircraft as a Custom Mission, but it sounds like that is not working as it should.

 

[Kilrah]

The point of trying to have a single map, is to have as little mis-matches when trying to stitch numerous chunks together.

Again you have one single map and mission, but split it in chunks... you come and land after say 50 of the waypoints when the battery is empty, you swap, and the app then uploads 51 to whatever, aircraft flies straight to where it left off and continues. That of course still merges seamlessly.
It just has to be that way, even if you could upload 250 waypoints that need an hour of flight when you land at the end of a battery and reuploaded that mission it'd start from the same initial point again, not continue.

So whatever app you use that supports multiple flights just has to be able to split in chunks.

 

[Kevieboy]

That is a hack, unlike 3DR/Ardupilot, DJI do not intentionally expose that level of access due to the immense chaos that can result from a wrong edit. 3DR may also have regretted the ease of access to the parameters on more than one occasion

The 99 waypoint limit on DJI also reflects a memory limit memory within the flight controller so even if you could hack the file for the Mavic, extending it may not have the desired outcome.

What you should find is that any of the apps that allow you to create a mission great than 99 waypoints should split that down into multiple missions and then queue them to the aircraft as a Custom Mission, but it sounds like that is not working as it should.

Yeah fair point. Well I think the one and only time I've managed to get up in the air with DD - it did just as you mention - 2/3 of my map had disappeared and I only saw the first 3rd or so of the map. And DD successfully flew that. I still had to come in and change battery halfway through. And because you have to shut the bird down, you then have to switch to DJI Go, fly up to map altitude, focus camera again then land, switch back to DD and resume mission. What a pain in the ***! Why on earth haven't DD come up with the ability to control the camera settings and focus within its own app??

 

[Kevieboy]

Again you have one single map and mission, but split it in chunks... you come and land after say 50 of the waypoints when the battery is empty, you swap, and the app then uploads 51 to whatever, aircraft flies straight to where it left off and continues. That of course still merges seamlessly.
It just has to be that way, even if you could upload 250 waypoints that need an hour of flight when you land at the end of a battery and reuploaded that mission it'd start from the same initial point again, not continue.

So whatever app you use that supports multiple flights just has to be able to split in chunks.

Have you done this? Would you care to tell me how to split a map into chunks? The way I read what your saying, the app should split the waypoints into sections within the one complete map. But it doesn't. I'd happily go n do 50 waypoints then land and change battery etc. But the only way I can get the mission uploaded is if the total amount of waypoints for the entire map is <99. I can't leave the ground otherwise. So that would mean doing multiple SEPARATE sub-99 waypoint maps then stitch the maps together.

 

[Kilrah]

Then the app is stupid/buggy You should probably send a message to DD and explain the situation.

It seems it can already pause/resume and knows to upload from the next point after what's already been done after battery changes, but my guess is that instead of taking into account that there's a 99 point limit and just upload "start point to start point + 99" they try to upload "everything from start point on" which can lead to >99 and it fails.

It's a piece of cake for them to handle that correctly, and DJI's 99 waypoint limit really isn't a limitation if the app developer does it right.