DroneLink for MM changes everything

[ff22]

Does the $20 hobbyist version purchase include both the Android and I/os versions and the Smart Controller version? Or? I've got the Smart Controller for my Zoom and I am currently trying out the ipad mini with the Mavic Mini.

 

[RogerDH]

I forgot to test this, but does anyone know if you can manually control yaw and gimbal during a mission, like you can with RTH?

 

[catsup]

I cant believe I paid $20 for it....I can't believe it freaking works!!!!!!!

It didn't just work....it worked perfectly.

Thanks to everyone who made this awesome software.

 

[KiloMeater]

Does the $20 hobbyist version purchase include both the Android and I/os versions and the Smart Controller version? Or? I've got the Smart Controller for my Zoom and I am currently trying out the ipad mini with the Mavic Mini.

It is not linked to a specific operating system, I bought the hobbyist license and I have used it on both an android and an iPad.

 

[KiloMeater]

I forgot to test this, but does anyone know if you can manually control yaw and gimbal during a mission, like you can with RTH?

During mission time I could not control anything with the physical controller, I had to cancel the mission to retake control .
If there is an option to mix inputs, I haven’t found it.

 

[KiloMeater]

I should mentioned the use of on the fly plan templates., for example you want to do an orbit on the field.
How this works:
You load the plan, execute and then follow on screen instructions
you will be asked to fly to the center of the circle and mark it, fly to the edge of the to-be orbit, adjust height and mark it, then you can optionally adjust speed orientation etc and fly it.... you get an immediate execution .

I founder works well
Actually I was forced to use this method because when I had lunched the DroneLink web app in parallel in my iPad Pro using chrome on iOS on the field (or even at home) to create a new plan, despite the plan looking like being saved every time it would not be saved instead it would be lost and a new plan was created with only the take off Pont retained .

Plans created by the Web app using again chrome on my laptop will get saved every time with no problem

 

[flatline42]

So I have spend a couple of hours this afternoon trying again, this time using my work ipad pro, one of the latest, which is a monster with respect to processing power.

I can see significant improvement on the smoothness of the orbit ... if I would be extra picky i would say its not 100% smooth like the DJI orbit but at this point its good enough . Moreover whenever you do some easier curves you dont even notice .
I would say my orbit this afternoon (big radius and slow) was even better than the one seen in the promo video linked above, around 7:10) which by the way is indicative of the jerkiness we have reported.

all in all I am very happy with this product, it adds to my MM functionality that I did not expect to have.
There are things than can be improved , either bugs (AirData integration is not good, besides the time when the flight took place there is practically no information passed on, or some times the plans not being saved ) or enhancements (frequency channel selector)
I would definitely recommend it, looking forward to explore further its potential .

Verified that the phone/tablet is making the calculations from the Dronelink FAQ

Dronelink uses a different approach called virtual stick, which means Dronelink is actually a custom flight controller sending stick commands in real-time as a human pilot would using a remote control. Many of the features available in the Dronelink mission planner, such as the Facade component type, or even chaining multiple component types together in one mission, can only be achieved by using this approach. It is worth noting that virtual stick does require a constant connection to the drone (learn more) and it benefits from having a faster mobile device (learn more).

Kind of wish you had the ability to pre-bake the calculations but I understand why that'd be difficult. I guess my trust old Pixel 2xl might get upgraded in the future.

 

[flatline42]

I am using a Samsung S8+

Good point , the mobile processing power should also be factored in . I had not considered my phone as not powerful enough for this function but I would be interested to see results from any newer top line mobile devices.

I have an iPhone 11 available but unfortunately I have purchased the app once for android platform already and I can not transfer it.

Maybe we can start a little database of benchmarks vs performance to give people an idea of how jerky the flight would be? This will be relevant for any program that uses virtual sticks.

If we standardize on something like geekbench 5 that should do it. I can start. There's a few other pixel averages I'll add here for relevance.I gotta wait to payday to get DroneLink so I don't have sample video.

Geekbench 5
Browser for average benchmarks: Home - Geekbench Browser

Pixel 2xl
Single core: 362
Multi Core Score: 1503

Pixel 3
Single Core: 474
Multi Core:1863

Pixel 4
Single Core: 644
Multi Core: 2396

Ipad Pro 2020 model
Single Core: 1116
Multi Core: 4608

Samsung Galaxy S8+
Single Core: 356
Multi-Core: 1390

 

[tanner707]

I have extensively tested DroneLink with my MM since yesterday
As of today I am not that excited as yesterday as I now see clearly Limitations of this model

The app is sending constantly commands to the drone, you can tell that by the sound it does when it moves as it is a high frequency pinging even when flying straight line steadily instead of a steady humming .
In straight Lines you will not notice anything besides maybe the sound
But when curved paths are followed things get tricky
It can not really follow a perfect circle but given a slow angular speed and a big enough radius it is close enough.
Having said that I tried a very slow big orbit (5 km/sec for a 30-40 m radius orbit). The results are ok, but not the silky smooth quality you get from the DJI quickshot .
Same in any curved path , when the curvature increases you can expect jerkiness .

I would very much like to be proven wrong and Someone to indicate some better settings but I now believe this is the limitation of DroneLink and it can not be done better when the commands are constantly being send .
I do not regret getting the app it still has a lot of use. Especially when it comes to photos the aforementioned limitation is irrelevant and you can get all the benefits

Extensively Tested? Since yesterday? lol

 

[BokiFly]

Maybe we can start a little database of benchmarks vs performance to give people an idea of how jerky the flight would be? This will be relevant for any program that uses virtual sticks.

Good idea. I have a Huawei Mate 10 Pro and I don't know what to expect from Dronelink.

 

[cadbob]

So to do a Mission I would imagine the AC has to be linked to the RC at all times? It is not like Litchi with the other DJI Drones where you can send it off and it disconnects but continues mission. Has anyone sent it on mission and go a disconnect? Does it return home I would hope?

 

[Kyle76]

Yes, it returns home (or lands or hovers) if disconnected. Supposedly it can sustain momentary disconnections without aborting the mission, just like GoFly can.

 

[maelstrom]

Maybe we can start a little database of benchmarks vs performance to give people an idea of how jerky the flight would be?

The average benchmark results are already available on the Geekbench site:

iOS: iOS Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser

Android: Android Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser

 

[dronelink]

Kind of wish you had the ability to pre-bake the calculations but I understand why that'd be difficult. I guess my trust old Pixel 2xl might get upgraded in the future.

Dronelink does actually calculate some things at the start (which is why you may stay at "preparing to execute" for a while), but you can only go so far. When the real world hits you constantly have to perform error correction.

 

[KiloMeater]

@dronelink

Since we are all into IT product management , here goes:

I think you have a major opportunity here to push forward your product.
I was not even aware of your product or the concept based on which it is based and I have been scanning all fora and communities for months to understand what is out there.
Being aware of this competitive advantage you have , you could either launch a campaign in advance of the SDK or if you would be unsure about the virtual joystick support (which seems to be basic and highly unlikely not to be supported) to have it ready for launch upon confirmation.
Having some professionally made youtube clips demonstrating basic uses cases (timelapse of a constructions lunching a photo mission once per week for example) you could tap into the MM community thirst for some flight intelligence . At this point you can compete with the established names and make your brand name go viral. I understand the MM segment may not be your major target group but this market must have been so easy for you to capture that would be a same to bypass. Besides the revenue boost , having your name discussed increases your brand capital and this is only good for whatever other goals you may have .
Moreover if you see the MM stream picking up, why not make it a major product line , provide follow me and other advanced things.

You have reacted very fast and adjusted for the SDK release - well done.
You still have time to up your game and take full advantage of the opportunity here.
You have a unique proposal and you should make the most out of it, everyone wins from that, you as a company and we as consumers.

 

[RogerDH]

Dronelink does actually calculate some things at the start (which is why you may stay at "preparing to execute" for a while), but you can only go so far. When the real world hits you constantly have to perform error correction.

Is there any chance that you will be able to smooth out the POI function on the Mini?

 

[dronelink]

you can compete with the established names

I have put it out there many times - my name is actually pretty established in this space already. Thanks for the feedback though!

Is there any chance that you will be able to smooth out the POI function on the Mini?

Not for lower-end devices, if that is what is causing your issue (as stated here).

 

[lee82gx]

I have put it out there many times - my name is actually pretty established in this space already. Thanks for the feedback though!


Not for lower-end devices, if that is what is causing your issue (as stated here).

Hi, in your example an iPad Pro would be good, is there some more on what would work and doesn’t? Perhaps a Samsung S8 is already not, what about S9, S10 and S20 class of hardware?

personally I own an iPad 2017 and an Exynos S10e. Might upgrade to Snapdragon 865 class device in the future but that is still some ways off.

 

[tanner707]

@dronelink

Since we are all into IT product management , here goes:

I think you have a major opportunity here to push forward your product.
I was not even aware of your product or the concept based on which it is based and I have been scanning all fora and communities for months to understand what is out there.
Being aware of this competitive advantage you have , you could either launch a campaign in advance of the SDK or if you would be unsure about the virtual joystick support (which seems to be basic and highly unlikely not to be supported) to have it ready for launch upon confirmation.
Having some professionally made youtube clips demonstrating basic uses cases (timelapse of a constructions lunching a photo mission once per week for example) you could tap into the MM community thirst for some flight intelligence . At this point you can compete with the established names and make your brand name go viral. I understand the MM segment may not be your major target group but this market must have been so easy for you to capture that would be a same to bypass. Besides the revenue boost , having your name discussed increases your brand capital and this is only good for whatever other goals you may have .
Moreover if you see the MM stream picking up, why not make it a major product line , provide follow me and other advanced things.

You have reacted very fast and adjusted for the SDK release - well done.
You still have time to up your game and take full advantage of the opportunity here.
You have a unique proposal and you should make the most out of it, everyone wins from that, you as a company and we as consumers.

Are you serious? You do not think Dronelink knows what they are doing? They have been around for a while now. You have to work out the bugs before launching a big marketing and promotions campaign. Too many new users all at once that complain about the product after using it one day (like you did) is what will happen. Dronelink was developed before the MM. Why would you be posting negative things about Dronelink when you have only used it less than a day? "Extensively tested" ???? lol

 

[KiloMeater]

Yes, I am the one being serious