Can I make a non hyperlapse waypoint route on my Air 2S?

[R777]

Hi. Is there a way of making and storing a route in the comfort of your home, saving it, then flying the route at a later date?
I can only see a facility in hyperlapse where you have to fly the drone and make waypoints.
I’m thinking more along the lines of a normal video (non-hyperlapse) with a pre-designed route.
Or is Litchi the only way?
Thanks.

 

[maelstrom]

Or is Litchi the only way?

As far as I'm aware, Litchi doesn't currently support the Air 2s.

 

[AZDave]

As far as I'm aware, Litchi doesn't currently support the Air 2s.

I believe that is true, but as far as I know that's because DJI has not yet released the SDK for the Air 2S. Since Litchi now has a beta that supposedly works with the Air 2, I suspect that once DJi releases the Air 2S SDK Litchi will be able to make the app work with the Air 2S. Just a supposition on my part ...

 

[maelstrom]

Since Litchi now has a beta that supposedly works with the Air 2, I suspect that once DJi releases the Air 2S SDK Litchi will be able to make the app work with the Air 2S. Just a supposition on my part ...

That will almost certainly be the case (same for the Mini 2).

 

[phlatland]

Hi. Is there a way of making and storing a route in the comfort of your home, saving it, then flying the route at a later date?
I can only see a facility in hyperlapse where you have to fly the drone and make waypoints.
I’m thinking more along the lines of a normal video (non-hyperlapse) with a pre-designed route.
Or is Litchi the only way?
Thanks.

While I’m somewhat new to this I’m going to say not until DJI releases an SDK for the Air 2s. I’m regretting returning my Air 2 and getting the 2s because at this point DJI says they’re not going to be releasing an SDK for the 2s. I bought the Maven app for my Air 2 and it worked great but no luck with the 2s. I’m not sure how much work it would be for DJI to add the 2s to the SDK but I’m really disappointed in their lack of support.

 

[AZDave]

While I’m somewhat new to this I’m going to say not until DJI releases an SDK for the Air 2s. I’m regretting returning my Air 2 and getting the 2s because at this point DJI says they’re not going to be releasing an SDK for the 2s. I bought the Maven app for my Air 2 and it worked great but no luck with the 2s. I’m not sure how much work it would be for DJI to add the 2s to the SDK but I’m really disappointed in their lack of support.

I wouldn't give up hope, but it might take a while. DJI is notoriously slow in putting out the SDK for new drones. I believe it took several months for them to do so for the Mavic Air 2. Besides, it makes little sense for them NOT to provide an SDK for the Air 2S ... third party apps create demand for their drones and the Air 2S will certainly be no exception.

Where did you hear that DJI wasn't going to release an SDK for the Air 2S? They may have said that it isn't available yet, but I've not seen anything that says they didn't plan to release an SDK at all.

 

[phlatland]

I wouldn't give up hope, but it might take a while. DJI is notoriously slow in putting out the SDK for new drones. I believe it took several months for them to do so for the Mavic Air 2. Besides, it makes little sense for them NOT to provide an SDK for the Air 2S ... third party apps create demand for their drones and the Air 2S will certainly be no exception.

Where did you hear that DJI wasn't going to release an SDK for the Air 2S? They may have said that it isn't available yet, but I've not seen anything that says they didn't plan to release an SDK at all.

I agree that it seems like it would make sense for them to support the 2s but here is DJI's response to me asking when they plan to release the SDK:
"Normally the SDK module is used in DJI Enterprise line, for consumer products it is not supported and there's no plan for it currently. If necessary, please pay attention to the Newsroom from our official website."

 

[AZDave]

I agree that it seems like it would make sense for them to support the 2s but here is DJI's response to me asking when they plan to release the SDK:
"Normally the SDK module is used in DJI Enterprise line, for consumer products it is not supported and there's no plan for it currently. If necessary, please pay attention to the Newsroom from our official website."

I'm surprised you got that response, and to be honest I'm not sure I believe it. I strongly suspect that reply didn't come from the DJI engineering folks back in China, and I've seen reports of other users getting conflicting answers from various parts of the DJI enterprise. And that reply isn't even accurate, since the MA2 is a consumer drone and it definitely has an SDK.

Like I said, the SDK for the MA2 was a long time coming (something like 8 months after launch, I think) ... but it did eventually show up. It just doesn't make sense to me, for either technical or marketing reasons, for DJI to shut the Air 2S out of every third party app.

 

[phlatland]

I'm surprised you got that response, and to be honest I'm not sure I believe it. I strongly suspect that reply didn't come from the DJI engineering folks back in China, and I've seen reports of other users getting conflicting answers from various parts of the DJI enterprise. And that reply isn't even accurate, since the MA2 is a consumer drone and it definitely has an SDK.

Like I said, the SDK for the MA2 was a long time coming (something like 8 months after launch, I think) ... but it did eventually show up. It just doesn't make sense to me, for either technical or marketing reasons, for DJI to shut the Air 2S out of every third party app.

You're right about it not comming from engineering, it came from Technical Support ([email protected]) which is the only outlet I have to communicate with DJI. I hope that they release one but until they do the MA2 seems to be the most affordable DJI drone that can use waypoints.

 

[maelstrom]

I agree that it seems like it would make sense for them to support the 2s but here is DJI's response to me asking when they plan to release the SDK:
"Normally the SDK module is used in DJI Enterprise line, for consumer products it is not supported and there's no plan for it currently. If necessary, please pay attention to the Newsroom from our official website."

The fact that they released the SDK for the Mini and the MA2 seems to make a nonsense of that statement. They are hardly "Enterprise line" products. I think that it would be foolish of DJI not to release the SDK for the Mini 2 and the Air 2S - sales would almost certainly be affected.

 

[phlatland]

The fact that they released the SDK for the Mini and the MA2 seems to make a nonsense of that statement. They are hardly "Enterprise line" products. I think that it would be foolish of DJI not to release the SDK for the Mini 2 and the Air 2S - sales would almost certainly be affected.

I totally agree, that's one reason I poked the bear. Everyone interested in making them keep the "pro" in "prosumer" drones needs to keep the heat on by asking for the SDK.