DJI Waypoints - are a Joke

[DownandLocked]

I am a 107 licensed sUAS pilot having flown an old Mavic Pro for 6 years since they first came out. I flew it into a tall very plush pine tree a month ago with no chance (or wish) to recover or replace it since it did not have remote ID now required for flying. So,,, I purchased a Mavic 3 Pro for its incredible camera technology.

I couldn't have been happier with my old M/P. The resolution was acceptable but I found that the most impressive and rewarding capability of that drone was to plan waypoint flights using Litchi. I used it for ground mapping, scenic cinematic videos, realestate marketing and learned that Litchi was an incredible application to create new waypoint missions intuitively, accurately and quickly without requiring me to power up the drone or the controller. I made the very careless assumption that the DJI Waypoints would be an adequate replacement. I was wrong.

The DJI Waypoint feature compared to Litchi is non-intuative, complex, inept and impractical and requires that both the drone and the controller be powered up to create a mission. Litchi, on the other hand, could create missions online with a PC without connecting to the drone system, allow it to be easily modified and then test flown virtually. Then, when satisified, uploaded to the drone and controller.

DJI is incredibly competent at designing hardware and related firmware to produce feature laden sophisticated UAS systems. They dont seem near as good at designing some of the most valuable stand alone software apps to take advantage of good UAS hardware. Why, why, why won't DJI recognize that third party apps like Litchi make their drones much more valuable to a large segment of the drone owner population and make it available to all their products? Or, why not buy Litchi and make it available for all their drone products?

I now have a drone that can take incredible images and videos but is nowhere near as capable of flying preplanned intricate and impressive missions. FRUSTRATING!!

C'mon DJI. Make your drones even better.

 

[shb]

The DJI Waypoint feature compared to Litchi is non-intuative, complex, inept and impractical and requires that both the drone and the controller be powered up to create a mission

This is not true. I create my missions lying in bed with my tablet only. I can't say the mission editor is great.
As far as why DJI doesn't release a SDK for the mavic 3, that's already been discussed on this forum, and the reason seems to be greed.

 

[mavic3usa]

My quick response is if DJI were to buy Litchi, there would be no "Litchi."

Meaning the program would eventually suck.

 

[russellg]

I am a 107 licensed sUAS pilot having flown an old Mavic Pro for 6 years since they first came out. I flew it into a tall very plush pine tree a month ago with no chance (or wish) to recover or replace it since it did not have remote ID now required for flying. So,,, I purchased a Mavic 3 Pro for its incredible camera technology.

I couldn't have been happier with my old M/P. The resolution was acceptable but I found that the most impressive and rewarding capability of that drone was to plan waypoint flights using Litchi. I used it for ground mapping, scenic cinematic videos, realestate marketing and learned that Litchi was an incredible application to create new waypoint missions intuitively, accurately and quickly without requiring me to power up the drone or the controller. I made the very careless assumption that the DJI Waypoints would be an adequate replacement. I was wrong.

The DJI Waypoint feature compared to Litchi is non-intuative, complex, inept and impractical and requires that both the drone and the controller be powered up to create a mission. Litchi, on the other hand, could create missions online with a PC without connecting to the drone system, allow it to be easily modified and then test flown virtually. Then, when satisified, uploaded to the drone and controller.

DJI is incredibly competent at designing hardware and related firmware to produce feature laden sophisticated UAS systems. They dont seem near as good at designing some of the most valuable stand alone software apps to take advantage of good UAS hardware. Why, why, why won't DJI recognize that third party apps like Litchi make their drones much more valuable to a large segment of the drone owner population and make it available to all their products? Or, why not buy Litchi and make it available for all their drone products?

I now have a drone that can take incredible images and videos but is nowhere near as capable of flying preplanned intricate and impressive missions. FRUSTRATING!!

C'mon DJI. Make your drones even better.

you are incorrect on having to have the drone connected to plan a wpt mission, you should try reading the operator's manual.

 

[JoelP]

The biggest deficit is the inability to fly a virtual mission with Google Earth Pro. That was the key reason for flying a Litchi mission.

 

[PHZ]

I am a Litchi fanboy having used it on the Mavic Pro, Mavic Pro 2 and the Inspire 1 and 2. It is a remarkable piece of flight software especially when utilizing the Virtual Flight feature with Google Earth Pro.
I 100% agree with DownandLocked. DJI, please make your consumer level drones as good as they used to be!

 

[DJ Wes]

The DJI Waypoint feature compared to Litchi is non-intuative, complex, inept and impractical and requires that both the drone and the controller be powered up to create a mission. Litchi, on the other hand, could create missions online with a PC without connecting to the drone system, allow it to be easily modified and then test flown virtually. Then, when satisified, uploaded to the drone and controller.

Yes, the DJI waypoint implementation is a joke. You may be interested in trying out my "Litchi Mission to DJI Fly Waypoint" converter. It will allow you to continue to use Litchi's Mission Hub to design your mission then convert that mission to one that can be flown using DJI Fly and your Mavic 3.

Litchi Mission Utilities

Wes Barris

www.litchiutilities.com

 

[DownandLocked]

Yes, the DJI waypoint implementation is a joke. You may be interested in trying out my "Litchi Mission to DJI Fly Waypoint" converter. It will allow you to continue to use Litchi's Mission Hub to design your mission then convert that mission to one that can be flown using DJI Fly and your Mavic 3.

Litchi Mission Utilities

Wes Barris

www.litchiutilities.com

Thank you! Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I just visited the YouTube tutorial on this and can't wait to test it out. Since DJI is likely to drag their feet in making a good waypoint app available through them, this looks like it could be the saviour. This is exactly what this forum should be about, not snarky comments like some above.

 

[mavic3usa]

This is what makes the world go around; third party everything. You cannot depend on OEM and to be honest, we shouldn't be asking our OEM to be the expert.

 

[jmaganaski]

Yeah this is precisely why is still just fly and own my M2P. I can run 3rd party apps because DJI didn’t catch on to upselling for releasing an SDK until after they released the M2P. It can also take pretty pictures and videos of course. Combine all that with a drone hacks license and it’s still a workhorse! There’s no shortage of work for those drones in my part of the country an no DJI nanny ware to worry about.

 

[Firejay27]

For me using Litchi is a major advantage to flying. I watched 51 Drones video about DJI Waypoints on the Mini 4 Pro and was totally unimpressed. If I can't use Litchi then I'll keep sticking with my A2S. Yes you could use your phone with the RC but I bought the RC Pro specifically to not have to use my phone and have it much easier to setup for a quick flight. With the RC now on the Mini 3 and Mini 4 not having the ability to side load apps that's a big deal breaker.

Litchi's ability to edit on your phone or a laptop is also a major advantage. I can save multiple copies of my missions with various settings then load and fly them all back to back and pick the one I like best. Not to mention I use a hot spot with my RC Pro so I can quickly use my laptop (if it's with me) to adjust a waypoint then immediately load it onto the RC Pro all while it's on the ground charging.

 

[Richie1027]

Great thread. Found while searching for map alternatives and map-tiling on google. DJI replied to a query in early September that they use the map-tiling company to provide the GMS maps for the RC2 controller. Told me the only option for me to have a ”larger screen for waypoints” would be to purchase an RC-N2 controller, which they presently do not sell independentl. They did comment that they WILL sell them by October. Given the fact it’s the 30th, I should have asked them what year! Sold a mini 2 and air 2s to upgrade and it’s not feeling like an upgrade with an 8pixel map on a 4” screen. at 70, I can manage the screen size with flight, but planning a waypoint mission (Litchi speak) is not feasible given the crap-map status.

 

[shb]

Great thread. Found while searching for map alternatives and map-tiling on google. DJI replied to a query in early September that they use the map-tiling company to provide the GMS maps for the RC2 controller. Told me the only option for me to have a ”larger screen for waypoints” would be to purchase an RC-N2 controller, which they presently do not sell independentl. They did comment that they WILL sell them by October. Given the fact it’s the 30th, I should have asked them what year! Sold a mini 2 and air 2s to upgrade and it’s not feeling like an upgrade with an 8pixel map on a 4” screen. at 70, I can manage the screen size with flight, but planning a waypoint mission (Litchi speak) is not feasible given the crap-map status.

Welcome to the forum! Yea, making a waypoint mission on those smart controllers is a joke, and actually dangerous, given the low resolution of the map. If DJI knows this problem, why don't they fix it, rather than telling you to buy a new controller, which will probably be way overpriced.

 

[BirdDrops]

The latest version of the djifcc mod apparently has functionality to load a .kmz waypoint . Not much documentation is available other than the command to type into the namefield :

wp filename.kmz - load DJI waypoints kmz file from sdcard then execute the mission

Anyone got this to work or knows how it should be used to be able to load a waypoint on a Mini 3 PRO ?

 

[honkihonk]

The latest version of the djifcc mod apparently has functionality to load a .kmz waypoint . Not much documentation is available other than the command to type into the namefield :

wp filename.kmz - load DJI waypoints kmz file from sdcard then execute the mission

Anyone got this to work or knows how it should be used to be able to load a waypoint on a Mini 3 PRO ?

Has anybody tried this? I would be very interested in using this.

 

[BirdDrops]

Has anybody tried this? I would be very interested in using this.

I have tried it . But since the mini 3 pro is a Virtual Stick (VS) based waypoint drone , as opposed to a Firmware based waypoint drone , it won't work .
mini 3 pro needs constant commands from the RC about what to do and can not fly waypoints on it's own . Sadly .

It needs a (3rd party) waypoint app to achieve flying VS waypoints mode .

 

[honkihonk]

I have tried it . But since the mini 3 pro is a Virtual Stick (VS) based waypoint drone , as opposed to a Firmware based waypoint drone , it won't work .
mini 3 pro needs constant commands from the RC about what to do and can not fly waypoints on it's own . Sadly .

It needs a (3rd party) waypoint app to achieve flying VS waypoints mode .

So on a drone like the Mavic 3 which supports onboard waypoints this might be possible?

 

[BirdDrops]

So on a drone like the Mavic 3 which supports onboard waypoints this might be possible?

With the latest drone firmware , It could work I guess .
At least it has on-board waypoint support (DJI Drone Waypoint Support)

So to try it :

Put the kmz file in de root of the microsd card .
Let the drone be stationary on the ground .
Then type the command "wp file.kmz" in the namefield (about menu) in the DJI RC .

 

[JGA]

Litchi, on the other hand, could create missions online with a PC without connecting to the drone system, allow it to be easily modified and then test flown virtually. Then, when satisified, uploaded to the drone and controller.

I do most of all of my waypoints with my DJI drone powered off now. When I first started with my 4 pro I didn't realize that either. There are some good youtube videos that show how to do it.

 

[AlexJD]

Yes, the DJI waypoint implementation is a joke. You may be interested in trying out my "Litchi Mission to DJI Fly Waypoint" converter. It will allow you to continue to use Litchi's Mission Hub to design your mission then convert that mission to one that can be flown using DJI Fly and your Mavic 3.

Litchi Mission Utilities

Wes Barris

www.litchiutilities.com

Hi D J Wes. Looking forward to exploring this soon with the Mavic 3 pro cine. Thanks Alex