Anyone using Hanger Autopilot?

[kenny d]

Morning everyone. I’ve been watching this thread for quite awhile now and haven’t seen anyone post anything about Autopilot and I’m wondering why no one uses it. It seems to be a robust and powerful app for all DJI drones except the Spark. It’s got a very user-friendly interface and probably the best tutorials of any of the fight control apps I’ve seen. Additionally, it has integration with 2 companion modules, Airframe and Airspace, that would cover any and all possible scenarios that I could think of and for only $30 appears to be a steal.

So all of that said, what’s wrong with it?

Thanks for any input.

Kenny

 

[Irish-apple]

Morning everyone. I’ve been watching this thread for quite awhile now and haven’t seen anyone post anything about Autopilot and I’m wondering why no one uses it. It seems to be a robust and powerful app for all DJI drones except the Spark. It’s got a very user-friendly interface and probably the best tutorials of any of the fight control apps I’ve seen. Additionally, it has integration with 2 companion modules, Airframe and Airspace, that would cover any and all possible scenarios that I could think of and for only $30 appears to be a steal.

So all of that said, what’s wrong with it?

Thanks for any input.

Kenny

its $30 thats whats wrong why pay for something when dji go app in my opinion a a great little program

 

[Mike_Flys]

Morning everyone. I’ve been watching this thread for quite awhile now and haven’t seen anyone post anything about Autopilot and I’m wondering why no one uses it. It seems to be a robust and powerful app for all DJI drones except the Spark. …. I could think of and for only $30 appears to be a steal.

So all of that said, what’s wrong with it?
Thanks for any input.
Kenny

Kenny I use Autopilot, and all of the Hangar apps including hangar 360. It is a great app even for the price.
It is very robust app allowing you to create flying assisted flights such as keeping the camera pointed on target while you fly, or fully automated flights where the drone self flies, and records video, photos, panos,.... according to the pre-programed flight.

I have flown some pre-programmed missions on a couple commercial jobs. It lets me do a lot of the work from home the night or days before. Then when I get to the job site I do a safety flight to make sure all my altitudes and flight paths are safe, adjust if I have to then send it on it's way while I watch closely for safety.

When you combine it with Airspace it will follow anyone's I-device that joins your airspace and any DJI drones that are connected to their devices.
I would love to use airspace more than I have.

Biggest downside for me is it only works on IOS so it does not on Android. While I generally fly with an iPad Mini 4, I do own and have flown with an Android tablet before. I actually bought my I-Pad mini to fly Autopilot. I much preferer flying a tablet to a phone
​

its $30 thats whats wrong why pay for something when dji go app in my opinion a a great little program

DJI G04 doesn't allow you to fly pre programed way points from a map, and shoot video at one take pictures at another, 360 at another...
DJI's GS Pro (also known as Ground Station Pro) does let you fly preprogramed flights from waypoints on a map, but doesn't have half the features of AutoPilot.

DJI go4 is a good app, and I do fly with it more than Autopilot.
Autopilot is another tool in my tool box, for missions that would be harder or near impossible to hand fly.

Just my $0.02

Mike

 

[kenny d]

Mike,

Thanks for you input. I’ve been studying Autopilot Flight School for a month to familiarize myself thoroughly with it before taking my first flight using it. I have yet to try autonomous flight using any app and have kept my hands on the controller for every flight I’ve ever taken with my MPP. I plan on making my first autonomous flight next weekend, weather permitting, which will be a short waypoint mission with 2 or 3 waypoints along the Naugatuck River in Connecticut. It’s a fly fishing only area and the area I want to scout isn’t easily accessible, highway on one side and small mountains on the other. I can launch in an area downstream and fly upriver to get my shots and then gain altitude and come straight back to the home point.

Any pointers you can give me, other than the obvious, make sure RTH is set high enough, etc.

Thanks for your time and expertise.

Kenny

 

[Mike_Flys]

Mike,

Thanks for you input. I’ve been studying Autopilot Flight School for a month to familiarize myself thoroughly with it before taking my first flight using it. I have yet to try autonomous flight using any app and have kept my hands on the controller for every flight I’ve ever taken with my MPP. I plan on making my first autonomous flight next weekend, weather permitting, which will be a short waypoint mission with 2 or 3 waypoints along the Naugatuck River in Connecticut. It’s a fly fishing only area and the area I want to scout isn’t easily accessible, highway on one side and small mountains on the other. I can launch in an area downstream and fly upriver to get my shots and then gain altitude and come straight back to the home point.

Any pointers you can give me, other than the obvious, make sure RTH is set high enough, etc.

Thanks for your time and expertise.

Kenny

First off I will say that I always fly line of site, even on autonomous flights. Beside being the law (unless you have a waiver of course) I'm just not that trusting. I always manually land as well. The couple of times I had RTH going I still take over when it gets close to me.

Make sure your autopilot is up to date.
You might want to try a small/quick test in your yard or an open field close to your home first.

Best advise I can give you is don't take off until you have a strong GPS signal so the height above your take off point will be accurate. It's worth an extra minute on the ground.
Double check you altitude over trees and obstacles by manually flying over the high ones and seeing what the drone height is on your screen. Then adjust your way points if needed.
Watch it the whole time if you can so you can take over if it goes wonky.

I live in Lake County FL. lots of time over trees and water. 80% of the time I fly with my float kit if I'm going over water.

Let me know how it goes for you?

Mike

 

[kenny d]

Hey Mike,

I, like you, always fly line of sight, for the same reasons you do, so no questions there. As for RTH, to be honest, I’ve never tried it because of the location of my home, on an interior lot, surrounded by very tall trees. You mentioned that you’ve used it a couple of times but always take over and land it yourself. I’d be willing to give that a shot. So just to clarify, I set my RTH to 75 meters, which is actually 75 meters above my Home Point, and when I hit RTH, the drone will fly back at 75 meters to a spot directly above my HP and then descend straight down to it? If that’s the case then as soon as it hovers over the HP I’d cancel RTH and land it myself. The reason for this question is that I have overhanging branches approximately 50’ above my HP so that when I do take off I maneuver the drone out away from the branches and then ascend vertically to an altitude above them. The only spot on my property with an opening in the tree canopy is on the side of a steep bank which would be difficult at best, to take off and land from. As long as the MPP comes back to the point directly over the HP then hitting RTH would be a non-issue.

Do I understand this correctly?

KD

 

[kenny d]

its $30 thats whats wrong why pay for something when dji go app in my opinion a a great little program

Well, the DJI Go 4 app is limited for what my intentions are with my MPP. I’ll be using it for project assessment for commercial roof projects as well as surveying condominium complexes to determine where best to locate materials, dumpsters, and other necessities, so in my case $30 instead of $23 isn’t an issue.

Thanks for your input though.

KD

 

[Mike_Flys]

Hey Mike,

I, like you, always fly line of sight, for the same reasons you do, so no questions there. As for RTH, to be honest, I’ve never tried it because of the location of my home, on an interior lot, surrounded by very tall trees. You mentioned that you’ve used it a couple of times but always take over and land it yourself. I’d be willing to give that a shot. So just to clarify, I set my RTH to 75 meters, which is actually 75 meters above my Home Point, and when I hit RTH, the drone will fly back at 75 meters to a spot directly above my HP and then descend straight down to it? If that’s the case then as soon as it hovers over the HP I’d cancel RTH and land it myself. The reason for this question is that I have overhanging branches approximately 50’ above my HP so that when I do take off I maneuver the drone out away from the branches and then ascend vertically to an altitude above them. The only spot on my property with an opening in the tree canopy is on the side of a steep bank which would be difficult at best, to take off and land from. As long as the MPP comes back to the point directly over the HP then hitting RTH would be a non-issue.

Do I understand this correctly?

KD

You understand RTH correctly. I often have to fly around trees as well not having a straight vertical path. Just to be clear though I rarely rarely use RTH so I'm not recommending it. I have had it kick in a couple times pushing the battery to low.

Mike

 

[kenny d]

Got it. I’m the same way, if I can see it I’m going to fly it.

Last question; from your experience, which is the he more stable platform, Litchi or Autopilot?

 

[Mike_Flys]

Got it. I’m the same way, if I can see it I’m going to fly it.

Last question; from your experience, which is the he more stable platform, Litchi or Autopilot?

I have never used Litchi. It doesn't have Airspace.

 

[kenny d]

Ok, one more question; how do YOU use Airspace with Autopilot?

 

[Mike_Flys]

Ok, one more question; how do YOU use Airspace with Autopilot?

Tutorial - Hangar

 

[kenny d]

Mike, I’ve read that tutorial a few times. My question was “how do you personally use Airspace?”

 

[Mike_Flys]

Mike, I’ve read that tutorial a few times. My question was “how do you personally use Airspace?”

Sorry I misunderstood.
It works good for keeping a focus or tracking someone, especially in an area with shadows, or lots of background and for ground noise like trees and shrubs. Where active track can loose them if if have a good gps signal and drop an iPhone in their pocket they will stay in frame.

Also better at drone on drone tracking than active track... well as long as your tracking a DJI drone connected to an i device.

I was bummed when the OSMO software "AutoFrame" quit working with Airspace. I'm starting to think they will never fix it.
I haven't used airspace as much as I do the flight planning of autopilot. I will have to make it a goal to use it more.


Mike

 

[kenny d]

Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of using Airspace for the same purpose. Having the target carry an iPhone in their pocket and use Airspace to track them.

Very cool stuff.

In the scenario above, we’d use peer to peer, correct?

Thanks again.

KD

 

[Mike_Flys]

Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of using Airspace for the same purpose. Having the target carry an iPhone in their pocket and use Airspace to track them.

Very cool stuff.

In the scenario above, we’d use peer to peer, correct?

Thanks again.

KD

As long as they don't get to far from i-device controlling the drone, or have a structure between them. Peer to peer is better. However if you have great cell signal and the drone pilot a few hundred feet away from the focus target then network maybe a better choice.

Here is a quote from the tutorial:

1.3 Choosing the Right Airspace Type
Since each type of Airspace has both advantages and limitations, it is necessary to select the appropriate type for your situation.

• Conditions appropriate for Peer-to-Peer Airspaces:
  • Eight or less devices required
  • Maximum distance between devices will not exceed 250-400 ft
  • Tracking objects capable of making abrupt course corrections, such as other aircraft or action sports
  • Network connection unavailable on one or more of the devices
• Conditions appropriate for Network Airspaces:
  • More than eight devices required
  • Maximum distance between devices expected to exceed 250-400 ft
  • Tracking objects that are expected to make relatively smooth course corrections, such as cars
  • Network connection available

 

[Seth P]

It's 30$ that's the probiblem, why pay money when you can use dji go, or the ever useful AIRMAP

 

[Keule]

It's 30$ that's the probiblem, why pay money when you can use dji go, or the ever useful AIRMAP

Are you aware of the differences between GO4, Airmap and Autopilot?

 

[Mike_Flys]

It's 30$ that's the probiblem, why pay money when you can use dji go, or the ever useful AIRMAP

I get it. $30 is $30. and if you can get something for free that does what you need then why pay.
If your flying for fun and not for profit then it surely isn't worth the investment.
If you find something free that will cause my drone to stay focused on a small object I drop in someones pocket let me know.

The other side of that is it was the cheapest software I purchased for my business last year.
I also signed up to be a contract flyer for Hangar (Maker of Autopilot) and they paid me back the money when i completed there training mission.
They don't pay a ton but their missions are the easiest. They send an autopilot flight plan. Go to site, load the flight plan, do a quick safety check and push go... sit back and watch it work.

Mike

 

[kenny d]

Mike,

What kind of $$ does Hanger pay for flying their missions? I’ve been studying for the 107 certificate just to have it, but actually using it professionally would be even better.

I know there’s another company with an app that pays people to fly but I believe the pay is crap. They, like Hanger, own the rights to everything you capture while flying their missions, which I understand, but if it costs more money than you make you’re getting screwed.

Your thoughts?