Accurate repeated waypoint routes

[Myersfilm]

I have been capturing the process of construction sites and have had trouble with the waypoint paths staying true. My Mavic 3 pro will drift from the original routes logged making it hard to align in post editing.
Any suggestions to creating a accurate repeatable waypoint routes with minimal inconsistencies?
The advice that I have gotten is to create many waypoints within the route, or to set the mph low, or to calibrate the compass and update the home point in the same place every flight.
I appreciate any input.

P

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Crossroads of America Myersfilm.

Nice to meet you.

You might try the sites search engine (Magnifying Glass, top / right of browser).

Others will be along and may have better advice than me.

Welcome to the Forum.

.

 

[BossBob]

The compass has nothing to do with gps positioning so I wouldn’t bother calibrating it before each flight unless the app requires it and even then I’d shut the drone down and move it and check again before calibrating. The accuracy of gps positioning and therefore waypoint positioning has more to do with the number and spread of gps satellites. Civilian GPS can be as accurate as 0.5m but can easily be 3 or 4m out.

 

[Meta4]

My Mavic 3 pro will drift from the original routes logged making it hard to align in post editing.

How much drift are you talking about?

 

[LoudThunder]

I have been capturing the process of construction sites and have had trouble with the waypoint paths staying true.

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click on "Members" and then Click on "Member's Map…" Check it out and you might find some new flying friends.

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Weak GPS Signal is the primary cause of drift. The drone's ability to maintain a precise position relies on a strong, clear signal from multiple GPS and GLONASS satellites. You wrote that you are have been capturing the process of construction sites. But you did not mention if these are in large metropolitan areas or urban settings. Obstacles like tall buildings, dense tree cover, mountains, or even heavy cloud cover can block or weaken these signals.

Have you tried it in less "busy" areas, like parks, fields, etc…

Good Luck!

 

[PakNheat380]

Welcome to the forum from NW Montana

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA: welcome to the forum! We look forward to hearing from you!

Currently, I have 4 construction sites that I am doing. I dropped my Air 3 and replaced it with the Air 3s and the waypoints worked perfectly. No variance at all. So, I only have one question. Did you fly the waypoint route to make it or did you make it via the map?

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!

 

[LeeB]

In addition to GPS variances from flight to flight, be sure to launch from the same spot each time. Flight altitude is a function of your home point.
You may want to try a cross dissolve between clips to help cover up imperfect alignment.

 

[RangerEd]

The compass has nothing to do with gps positioning so I wouldn’t bother calibrating it before each flight unless the app requires it and even then I’d shut the drone down and move it and check again before calibrating. The accuracy of gps positioning and therefore waypoint positioning has more to do with the number and spread of gps satellites. Civilian GPS can be as accurate as 0.5m but can easily be 3 or 4m out.

I agree but it can very by as much as 16 ft (4.9m) unless he uses RTK GPS technology which is the same technology used by surveyors.

 

[sarahb]

Welcome

 

[GeorgiaPI]

Try using a mouse to set way points instead of finger tips and see if it improves.

 

[akdrone]

I have been capturing the process of construction sites and have had trouble with the waypoint paths staying true. My Mavic 3 pro will drift from the original routes logged making it hard to align in post editing.
Any suggestions to creating a accurate repeatable waypoint routes with minimal inconsistencies?
The advice that I have gotten is to create many waypoints within the route, or to set the mph low, or to calibrate the compass and update the home point in the same place every flight.
I appreciate any input.

P

There is nothing you can do about it. If you put a GPS equipped device on the ground you can track its' travels as it sits stationary. The vertical accuracy is much worse than the horizontal. Some of the enterprise drones can work with stationary GPS processors to provide highly accurate GPS signals but the common "Pro" drones don't have that ability. I shoot changes of season and each repeated Waypoint flight is significantly different so getting them to overlay is never even close to perfect. It's sadly just how it is with these non-pro Pro drones. (true for Mav3, 3Pro and 4 Pro)

 

[GeorgiaPI]

This is me learning something thanks!

 

[Camerart]

In addition to GPS variances from flight to flight, be sure to launch from the same spot each time. Flight altitude is a function of your home point.
You may want to try a cross dissolve between clips to help cover up imperfect alignment.

Hi,
I was wondering about the satellites and their positioning and number! Are they moving at random, or will they be in the same position at a certain time.

This may mean that to get consistency, launch drone at the same time and the same place.
Who thinks this is correct?
C

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[BossBob]

Hi,
I was wondering about the satellites and their positioning and number! Are they moving at random, or will they be in the same position at a certain time.

This may mean that to get consistency, launch drone at the same time and the same place.
Who thinks this is correct?
C

Some gps devices aquire ephemeris files giving information on positions of satellites. I’m not going to try to explain it, but yes, the orbits and positions of the gps satellites can be predicted.
But, the drone altitude is calculated by the drone’s barometer and is never going to be absolutely accurate or even stable, given that atmospheric pressure changes over time as well as due to altitude change. Hence me having to recalibrate my watch before exercise and it not being able to accurately tell me how many flights of stairs I’ve climbed!

 

[Rana Jehanzeb]

Welcome to Forum and Hello from Lahore, Pakistan

 

[akdrone]

In addition to GPS variances from flight to flight, be sure to launch from the same spot each time. Flight altitude is a function of your home point.
You may want to try a cross dissolve between clips to help cover up imperfect alignment.

I have tried a cross dissolve but you (or at least I) end up with, for instance, a house on my right cross dissolving into the next house that is not even close to the same position. My only solution is to shoot in 4K and create the project in HD so I may enlarge the clips to make them overlap as best as possible. The angles still won't be the same so you have to choose which parts of the image you want to best overlap but that's the best I've been able to do.