Fly unattended continuously in a circle

[muabg]

I am looking for a simple way to have my Mavic 3 fly unattended continuously in a circle.

I will be in Texas for the Eclipse next year and I want to be able to launch my Mavic 3 about 10 minutes before the eclipse and have it simply fly in circles taking video of the event unattended.

I have tried using the new way point function but after it completes a mission there is apparently no option for it to continuously repeat the mission.

If I use the POI function, the drone will lose the POI in the complete darkness of totality which will last 4minutes.

I would like to stay within the DJI app, and I am trying to find a simple way to do this…any suggestions?

 

[mavic3usa]

I went to Missouri in 2017 and the eclipse was the greatest natural phenomenon I have ever witnessed. I told the family in Texas about so we'll all go together next time, I don't mind traveling; we already have our glasses. You have to get a close as you can to the right place for the longest amount greatest duration of time so I had to travel for several hours but it was well worth it. And, I wasn't the only one, the rest stop along the highway was 100% packed with cars backed up down onto the freeway because we were all inside the shadow; you want totality; don't let anyone convince you otherwise that a partial is ok....it's not.

I didn't think about a drone then, good idea now....I will take mine. I recall, the crowd was like a football game except a lot of people were screaming and crying....it's really a surreal event and it kinda gets to you.

So I'm interested in Mavic 3 as well. The Autel has a mission called circle so you can go for 30+ minutes on the battery. The skydio has a circle feature as well. Fire it up and it runs as long as you have battery. Surely there is something similar on a DJI drone?

Thanks for reminding me.
These are not my videos:

Incredible Solar Eclipse View Shot During Alaska Airlines Flight | Video

Mike Kentrianakis of the American Astronomical Society captured video of the March 2016 solar eclipse during a flight from Alaska to Hawaii. The moment of totality and a growing shadow can be seen...

cdn.jwplayer.com

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/27/546109041/eclipse-2017-one-nation-under-the-sun?jwsource=cl

Again, I know what this looks like to most...but, you just have to be there.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

You most likely have to use a Mapping Program such a Drone deploy or Drone link which will allow you to do that.
I recorded the Totality Event in Tn and caputured a few seconds on video but forgot to allow the Phantom 4 Camera to tilt up and missed the Entire event but captured the land go dark.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[Meta4]

I would like to stay within the DJI app, and I am trying to find a simple way to do this…any suggestions?

You would need an older drone like the Mavic 2 that circles a GPS point for POI, rather than optically tracking a subject.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I am looking for a simple way to have my Mavic 3 fly unattended continuously in a circle.

I will be in Texas for the Eclipse next year and I want to be able to launch my Mavic 3 about 10 minutes before the eclipse and have it simply fly in circles taking video of the event unattended.

I have tried using the new way point function but after it completes a mission there is apparently no option for it to continuously repeat the mission.

If I use the POI function, the drone will lose the POI in the complete darkness of totality which will last 4minutes.

I would like to stay within the DJI app, and I am trying to find a simple way to do this…any suggestions?

Easy! Cruise control!
Set the orbit manually on the sticks and then activate Cruise Control.
It will continue to orbit until the low battery triggers a landing.

 

[michaeldallen1]

Scary word......'unattended' ???

 

[mavic3usa]

Scary word......'unattended' ???

Waypoints is sorta unattended, no? The M3 battery is so long it is really hard to stay focus for more than 30min straight.

 

[Kuiper Denizen]

Scary word......'unattended' ???

Not only scary, but, er, illegal?

As others have noted the (long thin line) area of totality will be packed with people. I remember the crowd in Tennessee where I drove five hours to see the last one. No one was talking much about drones then, but I would have been uneasy about having an unmanned machine flying overhead in the dark.

I expect if the F.A.A. catches wind of this it will have some statement or rule to protect the public. I can only hope!

People who complain about an over-regulating government running our lives should consider it only has to do so when people can’t make sensible decisions on their own.

 

[umanbean]

People who complain about an over-regulating government running our lives should consider it only has to do so when people can’t make sensible decisions on their own.

So then the government has to step in and make sensible decisions for us?

 

[mavic3usa]

Not only scary, but, er, illegal?

As others have noted the (long thin line) area of totality will be packed with people. I remember the crowd in Tennessee where I drove five hours to see the last one. No one was talking much about drones then, but I would have been uneasy about having an unmanned machine flying overhead in the dark.

I expect if the F.A.A. catches wind of this it will have some statement or rule to protect the public. I can only hope!

People who complain about an over-regulating government running our lives should consider it only has to do so when people can’t make sensible decisions on their own.

An "unattended" drone has never hurt anyone. The OP is suggesting flight with minimal intervention from the pilot, a feature that is offered by several drone manufacturers. The FAA hasn't sent them a letter asking them to remove that feature and the FAA is not working extra hard trying to prevent the drone accident and protect the people. They don't get wind of anything because honestly, they don't care. During such an event, some photographers put their cameras on automatic to track the event and you should be able to do same/similar with a drone. There are rules about flying over crowds of uninvolved people as long as he doesn't fly directly over them and keep his drone within VLOS then he should be fine. Please don't call the FAA and ask them to be on the lookout for an dangerous drone flying unattended during an eclipse later this year or next year.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I think that unattended is the wrong word used here, unless he plans to launch it and leave. He is wanting the drone to fly a programmed mission, just like a planned mission with Litchi to record a progressive video. In this case an orbit but in a continuous/repetitive orbit. If he is there still having control of the drone, and has a strobe when the sky goes dark. The it is not an unattended flight.

The only question he had was how to continue the orbit for the duration of the eclipse. And that was answered by GadgetGuy. Start an Orbit then set Cruise Control. Or purchase one of the drone models mentioned above that has the needed feature.

 

[umanbean]

the FAA is not working extra hard trying to prevent the drone accident and protect the people. They don't get wind of anything because honestly, they don't care.

Say what?... are you off your meds?... had too much to drink?

I have no idea where you got the theory 'they don't care', but it is not true.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I think that unattended is the wrong word used here, unless he plans to launch it and leave. He is wanting the drone to fly a programmed mission, just like a planned mission with Litchi to record a progressive video. In this case an orbit but in a continuous/repetitive orbit. If he is there still having control of the drone, and has a strobe when the sky goes dark. The it is not an unattended flight.

This may well be what the OP meant by his post.

Or . . . unattended might be put down the controller, put on eclipse glasses, and watch the event rather than the drone.
(Not that they would be able to maintain VLOS, unless using drone leds or strobes, that would annoy anyone nearby.)
Let RTH do it's thing, keeping in mind darkness / lower light still may affect final precision landing.

The OP also stated he wants to do a POI but worried about losing that in the darkness, so it seems they want to capture the ground changes, rather than possibly an upwards shot . . . combined with circling, which would be more a ground capture aspect.

Only the OP can clarify.

I want to be able to launch my Mavic 3 about 10 minutes before the eclipse and have it simply fly in circles taking video of the event unattended.

A full eclipse passing takes several hours for the Moon to pass totally in front of the Sun, but the moment of total eclipse (called totality) lasts only minutes . . . up to a maximum of seven minutes and 32 seconds.
The period of totality varies because the apparent sizes of the Moon and Sun change depending on their distance from Earth.
I'm assuming the OP meant some 10 mins before the full totality of the sun will occur.

 

[Kuiper Denizen]

To quote Jimmy Kimmel, “It’s funny that the people who complain the most about someone telling them what to do are the same people who need to have someone tells them what to do.”

I don’t agree with all these nuances about what “unattended“ means, especially over a crowd. I don’t need the F.A.A. to tell me “no“ because it’s dangerous.

We should be willing to respect the safety of others all by ourselves.

 

[mavic3usa]

To quote Jimmy Kimmel, “It’s funny that the people who complain the most about someone telling them what to do are the same people who need to have someone tells them what to do.”

I don’t agree with all these nuances about what “unattended“ means, especially over a crowd. I don’t need the F.A.A. to tell me “no“ because it’s dangerous.

We should be willing to respect the safety of others all by ourselves.

If a prop breaks in half and the drone goes flying, it's going to do it's thing whether a person is "attending" to the drone or not. It's an accident. That's why it is important to follow the rules and not fly over groups of uninvolved people but instead fly around them, fly away from them. Ok, glad we got that settled.

 

[MS Coast]

Easy! Cruise control!
Set the orbit manually on the sticks and then activate Cruise Control.
It will continue to orbit until the low battery triggers a landing.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but doesn't cruise control simply maintain a constant heading? Orbiting around a point requires a continuously changing heading. Or does cruise control maintain the sticks positions?

EDIT: See post #20. Cruise control maintains stick positions, not just heading.

 

[mavic3usa]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but doesn't cruise control simply maintain a constant heading? Orbiting around a point requires a continuously changing heading. Or does cruise control maintain the sticks positions?

I remember a constant heading being called Course Lock which I wish all drones would have.

 

[muabg]

First of all, thanks to everyone who provided useful information.

It seems that the Drone Police are everywhere now, what the hell is wrong with you. Take a look at the video, I was flying in a very remote place, and I had my controller around my neck in case there were any issues. It you do not want to provide any useful info just stay out of my thread…. this is exactly what is ruining these sort of message boards.

I was among the first to be 107 certified way back in 2016 and I currently am a professional remote pilot flying in a MOA working on NASA and DARPA funded UAVs and I have thousands of hours and all sorts of very large and exotic aircraft. So, I know all about safety.

At this point I am just going to use my old Mavic 2 Pro as it seems to be the simplest solution

Sorry about my rant

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I remember a constant heading being called Course Lock which I wish all drones would have.

Off tangent, but course lock (and home lock) on the earlier GO4 drones was (is still) excellent, but they are a fully manual operation.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

First of all, thanks to everyone who provided useful information.

It seems that the Drone Police are everywhere now, what the hell is wrong with you. Take a look at the video, I was flying in a very remote place, and I had my controller around my neck in case there were any issues. It you do not want to provide any useful info just stay out of my thread…. this is exactly what is ruining these sort of message boards.

I was among the first to be 107 certified way back in 2016 and I currently am a professional remote pilot flying in a MOA working on NASA and DARPA funded UAVs and I have thousands of hours and all sorts of very large and exotic aircraft. So, I know all about safety.

At this point I am just going to use my old Mavic 2 Pro as it seems to be the simplest solution

Sorry about my rant

Here is the answer you were looking for. This is using the M3. You can use a combination of stick movements then initiate cruise control and it will maintain those stick movements. See at 3:00 minutes. You can put the drone in an Orbit the set cruise control.

Sorry I did not put this up earlier, I was on the road and did not have access to it.