Dronelink waypoint questions

[Oakley75]

So i was just about to purchase dronelink, but realized it may be a major disappointment. Two questions for those that use it...

1. Can the app be used with multiple drones? (individually, not as a swarm)

2. And the big question is concerning waypoints. Is it true that, unlike Litchi, if the drone leaves on its waypoint mission and loses contact, is it really gonna just rth and not complete it's mission? Is so, what in the world is the advantage of dronelinks?

Now I understand how the missions are loaded versus using the sdk, but i just can't understand the point if it'll constantly bail on its mission.

 

[egoldy]

So i was just about to purchase dronelink, but realized it may be a major disappointment. Two questions for those that use it...

1. Can the app be used with multiple drones? (individually, not as a swarm)

2. And the big question is concerning waypoints. Is it true that, unlike Litchi, if the drone leaves on its waypoint mission and loses contact, is it really gonna just rth and not complete it's mission? Is so, what in the world is the advantage of dronelinks?

Now I understand how the missions are loaded versus using the sdk, but i just can't understand the point if it'll constantly bail on its mission.

Thanks for your interest - let me answer your questions.

1. Yes. Can be used with multiple drones. You're not charged based upon the number of drones you have. Start the mission with your Mavic 2, flip to your P4P, and re-run it again with your Mini..

2. The Dronelink team was involved with Autopilot and we heard this same feedback years ago. As a result, we created a separate version that used the DJI flight controller (with its limited functionality) and allowed for missions to be run with lost connection. We were able to see the number of people that ran missions that way - and it was VERY small. Today's drones are getting better and better - a long as you're not flying around heavy eletronics, being blocked by gigantic building or far out of site (which you really shouldn't be doing anyway), the product will maintain connection and complete its mission. Even the Mavic Mini claims to be able to maintain connection at 2.5 miles (crazy!). If you're flying a Mavic Mini so far away that you're losing connection, I think you're flying it too far away.

So, it's not going to constantly bail your mission.

You WANT it to head back when it loses connection -it's the right thing to do..

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

@Oakley75 you got your response above but I attempted to use dronelink and it was an unpleasant experience if you fly in rural areas with limited cell connectivity. Forget about making changes in the field, they expect their end users to have internet connectivity at all times. Good app if you're near cell towers, lots you can do with it.

Reading the dl response above tells me they havent flown many missions in remote areas with a lot of trees/mountains/etc in the way. If the RTH feature when theres a loss of RC connectivity is an important issue for you stick with litchi or dronelink.

 

[maelstrom]

Reading the dl response above tells me they havent flown many missions in remote areas with a lot of trees/mountains/etc in the way.

Without wanting to sound like the drone police, if there are trees or mountains in the way, how are you maintaining VLOS?

I have a Mavic Mini and, currently, the only way to be able to fly missions is with Dronelink, so it’s a no-brainier for me. Unlike you, I’m not interested in my drone continuing to fly out-of-contact - I actually want it to come home if it loses signal.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Without wanting to sound like the drone police, if there are trees or mountains in the way, how are you maintaining VLOS?

I have a Mavic Mini and, currently, the only way to be able to fly missions is with Dronelink, so it’s a no-brainier for me. Unlike you, I’m not interested in my drone continuing to fly out-of-contact - I actually want it to come home if it loses signal.

If you don't want to be the DP, then don't ask the question.

The UAS auto returns home when battery is only enough for a return flight or the operator cancels the Waypoint mission, that by definition is how DRONES work. Your last sentence implies you'll lose your bird if signal is lost which is completely inaccurate.

 

[Oakley75]

Without wanting to sound like the drone police, if there are trees or mountains in the way, how are you maintaining VLOS?

I have a Mavic Mini and, currently, the only way to be able to fly missions is with Dronelink, so it’s a no-brainier for me. Unlike you, I’m not interested in my drone continuing to fly out-of-contact - I actually want it to come home if it loses signal.

Then you've never used Litchi. That's the entire point of automation flight, the entire point. I appreciate dronelink's sales reply, and i understand with the mini it's the only possibility of waypoints in general, but the truth remains, it won't complete any mission unless it's really closeby which means you could just fly it yourself.

 

[egoldy]

Then you've never used Litchi. That's the entire point of automation flight, the entire point. I appreciate dronelink's sales reply, and i understand with the mini it's the only possibility of waypoints in general, but the truth remains, it won't complete any mission unless it's really closeby which means you could just fly it yourself.

I appreciate your point, just disagree 100%..

The entire point of autonomous flight is NOT to fly outside of range.. At least for me and most of the people I know that use Litchi, Autopilot, or Dronelink.

For ME, the point is to get incredible shots, incredible video - often shots that are difficult to get or replicate manually..

Let me give you a quick example. Look at this video I did:

I created a few waypoint missions (this was done a while back with a P3P I believe). I was then able to pull up, run the autonomous software, and fly the mission time after time. Beyond the fact that it's giving me smooth footage of a turn (hard for many pilots), it gave me the SAME footage day after day.

If you've flown for Dronebase or done any other type of replicable shot, you can use Dronelink and their components or functions to automate perfect shots. Even if the software can automate part of the flying motion, it can allow you to control the camera more effectively.

Finally, while I have done missions where I had connectivity issues, the drones do VERY well - even at moderate distances (1000-2500 feet). Going beyond that for me (beyond the drone police issue) is just not what I fly for.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I appreciate your point, just disagree 100%..

The entire point of autonomous flight is NOT to fly outside of range.. At least for me and most of the people I know that use Litchi, Autopilot, or Dronelink.

It's entirely dependent on the application. Some of us use autonomous flying in isolated areas of vast size or unique landscape which is DL's weakness. Litchi/dronedeploy works in all scenarios but doesn't afford the precision of DL.

 

[egoldy]

It's entirely dependent on the application. Some of us use autonomous flying in isolated areas of vast size or unique landscape which is DL's weakness. Litchi/dronedeploy works in all scenarios but doesn't afford the precision of DL.

Agreed -

I have used Litchi, DD, and others for certain cases..

However, realize that DL is the only waypoint solution right now for the Mini - so less choices there!

 

[maelstrom]

Your last sentence implies you'll lose your bird if signal is lost which is completely inaccurate

You’ve misinterpreted what I said. The OP asked “if the drone leaves on its waypoint mission and loses contact, is it really gonna just rth and not complete it's mission?”. I said that that’s what I would want it to do - return and not complete it’s mission if it lost contact. If it continued with its mission out of contact, how could you continue monitoring the flight (a legal requirement in many countries)?

but the truth remains, it won't complete any mission unless it's really closeby which means you could just fly it yourself.

Not necessarily. If you’re carrying out a mapping mission, where it’s important to follow a specific pattern over the ground, it would be much easier and more accurate to automate the process even if the mapped area was close by.

 

[Hodge]

You’ve misinterpreted what I said. The OP asked “if the drone leaves on its waypoint mission and loses contact, is it really gonna just rth and not complete it's mission?”. I said that that’s what I would want it to do - return and not complete it’s mission if it lost contact. If it continued with its mission out of contact, how could you continue monitoring the flight (a legal requirement in many countries)?



Not necessarily. If you’re carrying out a mapping mission, where it’s important to follow a specific pattern over the ground, it would be much easier and more accurate to automate the process even if the mapped area was close by.

And not to mention that if you want to do something artistic and you want to have a closely followed repeatable mission, having a plan that can be re-run any number of times would be imortant.

 

[Emanáku]

I use Dronelink with a Mavic Mini.
For creating a flight plan you need an internet connection.
Then you can download the plan to your device for "offline use".
During flight Dronelink does not need an internet connection (actually my device always is in Airplane mode whlle flying).
The Mavic Mini (and I expect the same for Mavic Air 2 and Mini 2) needs a permanent connection to the device with Dronelink, because with these drones you cannot upload a flight plan. So Dronelink uses the "Virtual stick" to control the drone every second from your device. (from that it follows, that you device does all the computations - like correction of position with respect to the position where it should be. And that means your phone should be powerful enough to handle this ).

 

[Hodge]

I use Dronelink with a Mavic Mini.
For creating a flight plan you need an internet connection.
Then you can download the plan to your device for "offline use".
During flight Dronelink does not need an internet connection (actually my device always is in Airplane mode whlle flying).
The Mavic Mini (and I expect the same for Mavic Air 2 and Mini 2) needs a permanent connection to the device with Dronelink, because with these drones you cannot upload a flight plan. So Dronelink uses the "Virtual stick" to control the drone every second from your device. (from that it follows, that you device does all the computations - like correction of position with respect to the position where it should be. And that means your phone should be powerful enough to handle this ).

Actually if you maintain an internet connection you'll see that as the plan is executed there is a small drone marker that traces where the drone is along the flying of the plan. I use noticed that when flying my MM on it's plans vs when I fly my Phantom 3. With the Phantom3 the tablet/phone has to use a wifi connection to the drone so you lose the internet and when you fly the plan there is no marker moving along the plan to indicate where you are in the flight path.
I thought the live update of where the drone was in the plan was a really cool feature particularly since I had a glitch in my plan and the drone would go into hover/pause mode when it broke from the plan. Since I could see where it was in the flight path when it broke frrom the plan I could use that to study my plan in the planner later.

 

[Emanáku]

Hi, @Hodge,
I do not know how it looks with other Mavic Drones.
But I noticed the same as you: that the small drone symbol is visible and moves on my phone, when the Mavic Mini flies a mission and the phone is in airplane mode (it gets the information from the controller, which receives the telemetry from the drone all the time).

 

[Hodge]

That makes sense I apparently drew the wrong conclusion since I have to disconnect from the internet when I fly my Phantom 3 and then the icon is not available as the drone is being flow

 

[DanMan32]

The P3A and P3P uses USB to connect the phone to the remote. No WiFi needed for actual flight.

 

[Hodge]

The P3A and P3P uses USB to connect the phone to the remote. No WiFi needed for actual flight.

WIFI is most definitely needed by the Phantom3 not to the internet but between the controller/phone and the drone.
In order to have the Phantom 3 to become available to the DJI Go app you need to go to the available networks and select the Phantom3 in the list.

 

[DanMan32]

Thats only for the Standard and I think the newer 4K. Advanced and Pro connected by USB. That's one of the reasons I went with Advanced instead of Standard. The phone mount looked hoky on the S too.