I'm Furious! Mini 3 Pro Can't Fly Waypoint Missions

[Xitor]

Can't you just use Litchi..?

Yes, but its super choppy on the turns and movements, probably the gimbal / stick expo settings don't apply.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

Yes, but its super choppy on the turns and movements, probably the gimbal / stick expo settings don't apply.

It's not if you know how to use it. Try setting your cruise speed to no faster than about 8mph.

 

[Xitor]

It's not if you know how to use it. Try setting your cruise speed to no faster than about 8mph.

Ok this is counter to everything i've read, but if you have some youtube footage with a smooth Litchi mission I'd love to see it. I may give it another try.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

Ok this is counter to everything i've read, but if you have some youtube footage with a smooth Litchi mission I'd love to see it. I may give it another try.

I don't know what you're reading, but see for yourself.

 

[DownandLocked]

Confused by posts above saying that the Mini 3 Pro can by flown by Litchi.

• First of all, I thought Litchi needed and SDK for the M3P to make it work. No SDK for it now.
• Secondly, the Litchi site does not include the M3P on its compatibility list.
• Thirdly, and most confusing and annoying, DJI made the earlier Mini2 and MiniSE compatible with Litchi. Why then didn't they do the same with the M3P?????

 

[Tufargon]

Confused by posts above saying that the Mini 3 Pro can by flown by Litchi.

• First of all, I thought Litchi needed and SDK for the M3P to make it work. No SDK for it now.
• Secondly, the Litchi site does not include the M3P on its compatibility list.View attachment 157816
• Thirdly, and most confusing and annoying, DJI made the earlier Mini2 and MiniSE compatible with Litchi. Why then didn't they do the same with the M3P?????

You are 100% correct on all your points.
They don't plan on and they made the statement that they will not release the SDK for the M3P so even if they did it would be virtual sticks which means commands directed to the drone would be from the tablet/phone/controller to the drone so it would be a bit choppy (it's not uploaded directly to the drone, it's on the controller device and has to be sent to the drone). The time it takes to take the commands from the controller to the drone makes it choppy. The other thing is if you lose connection it will RTH and not complete the mission.
You're last inquiry on "then why didn't they do the same with the M3P"?. Because they are only going to market that stuff to the higher end professional series drones now. They stopped all automated stuff after the M2P and anything that uses the fly app so anything after that was virtual sticks (when they released the SDK to third parties like Litchi etc...) and it seems that they don't want to release the SDK for anything beyond the M3 for recreational users.

 

[pyrolator]

You are 100% correct on all your points.
They don't plan on and they made the statement that they will not release the SDK for the M3P so even if they did it would be virtual sticks which means commands directed to the drone would be from the tablet/phone/controller to the drone so it would be a bit choppy (it's not uploaded directly to the drone, it's on the controller device and has to be sent to the drone). The time it takes to take the commands from the controller to the drone makes it choppy. The other thing is if you lose connection it will RTH and not complete the mission.
You're last inquiry on "then why didn't they do the same with the M3P"?. Because they are only going to market that stuff to the higher end professional series drones now. They stopped all automated stuff after the M2P and anything that uses the fly app so anything after that was virtual sticks (when they released the SDK to third parties like Litchi etc...) and it seems that they don't want to release the SDK for anything beyond the M3 for recreational users.

Didnt stand the "Pro" in the Mini 3 P(ro) for Professional ?
So i feel a bit screwed from DJI.

 

[Elthree]

DJI don't even support waypoint missions in the Mavic 3. Why would anyone expect the Mini 3 to have them?

Sure, DJI's use of "Pro" in the name of the Mini 3 always seemed a bit of marketing whimsy, but I would have thought anyone forking out the serious money required for any of these drones to at least first check the feature list, documentation, and reviews.

Yes it was frustrating that DJI initially indicated an SDK update could be expected, and later changed their tune and said that there were no longer ANY plans for SDK updates to support either the Mini 3 Pro or the Mavic 3. That's lost them some sales, sure. And people who bought those drones during that window of time on the expectation of an SDK coming along later would be justified in feeling shortchanged.
But that SDK was always going to be "virtual stick"-only.

 

[pyrolator]

DJI don't even support waypoint missions in the Mavic 3. Why would anyone expect the Mini 3 to have them?

Sure, DJI's use of "Pro" in the name of the Mini 3 always seemed a bit of marketing whimsy, but I would have thought anyone forking out the serious money required for any of these drones to at least first check the feature list, documentation, and reviews.

Yes it was frustrating that DJI initially indicated an SDK update could be expected, and later changed their tune and said that there were no longer ANY plans for SDK updates to support either the Mini 3 Pro or the Mavic 3. That's lost them some sales, sure. And people who bought those drones during that window of time on the expectation of an SDK coming along later would be justified in feeling shortchanged.
But that SDK was always going to be "virtual stick"-only.

Better "virtual stick only" than no waypoint missions.

 

[Siam]

I love these threads.

1: Someone buys a product (months after it has been released) and has been known to everyone who researches that waypoints are not available. Numerous threads about this on this forum and others

2: People expect a drone in this price range and weight to have everything. It does not happen

3: People complain that a company markets one product vs another product line to generate profit. Duh.....duh....duh....OMG what (I was going to say a decade) century do you live in?

4: Research what you are buying. If you buy something 6 months or more after it was introduced it is on you to figure out what it does what it does not do.

5: First-time drone pilots I give a pass..then again, they most likely don't know about advanced features anyway.

6: Sad that some people think a company should make everything avialable for every product they make. Buyer beware.

I am not a DJI fanboy at all. I have posted before my displeasure with them for many reasons (being in bed with the US Gov; influencing drone laws that benefit their products... etc...etc...

I feel bad for anyone that has been a drone pilot for awhile and just assumes things.

 

[Xitor]

I'm not asking for it for free, I'm asking they make it available with premium app - there is nothing in the Air 2s for instance that prohibits it from doing waypoints, only the fly app. Give me. FlyMore app.

 

[RogerDH]

...

2: People expect a drone in this price range and weight to have everything. It does not happen
...

It was hard to keep reading after that, since you don't seem to understand that we're talking about a feature that had been ubiquitous in GPS-enabled drones before the DJI Mini, regardless of price. Furthermore, the only reason is DJI's new, unique, and widely unexpected business policy: If you really need waypoints, then you should be willing to pay for an "enterprise" level drone, and if you don't need them that badly, then pound sand.

...

5: First-time drone pilots I give a pass..then again, they most likely don't know about advanced features anyway.

...

I feel bad for anyone that has been a drone pilot for awhile and just assumes things.

I'll say again, someone familiar with drones would be even more likely than a first-time pilot to assume that a modern DJI drone would have waypoint missions. Yes, I get it: A lot of people who don't care about that feature also don't care that DJI screwed anyone who didn't think to check for waypoints before buying. Anyway, I do hope there will be a lot more people now who know they need to "beware" when buying from DJI.

 

[Elthree]

I think there are also regulatory pressures behind these things.
For example there is a difference between an autonomous AV (e.g. one running a programmed mission) and one with automation that you as the pilot (who is maintaining VLOS) can override at any point.

One of those is definitely not allowed by law in my country at least.

 

[Elthree]

Better "virtual stick only" than no waypoint missions.

Not arguing there. Both of my drones (bought in 2022) were chosen based on criteria that included SDK support...

 

[Droning on and on...]

Didnt stand the "Pro" in the Mini 3 P(ro) for Professional ?
So i feel a bit screwed from DJI.

I have to say, reading this thread I'm rather surprised at the number of people for which the modifier "Pro" has such meaning, and the specificity of features they feel are required by the moniker. I've tried to take it seriously, but I just can't.

"Pro" appears everywhere, and means nothing. I know others here will argue with this, but to make your case, you've got to point to some independent source that defines what Pro means, and what it specifies.

Absent that, it means nothing. It's a marketing label, whose only purpose is to incur some sort of hype, impression, without being specific.

It's like "Ultra", "new and improved". Would you buy a car because it was the "Pro" version, or would you demand to know first what that meant?

DJI made an explicit promise regarding the SDK and reneg'd, so that's on them. EVEN THEN they never said anything about waypoint support.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm not asking for it for free, I'm asking they make it available with premium app - there is nothing in the Air 2s for instance that prohibits it from doing waypoints, only the fly app. Give me. FlyMore app.

Well, ask and you shall receive!

Already done. You just don't like the price.

 

[Droning on and on...]

If you really need waypoints, then you should be willing to pay for an "enterprise" level drone, and if you don't need them that badly, then pound sand.

Yup. Exactly that.

This does not make DJI a uniquely bad actor. Rather run-of-the-mill actually. I run in to this situation frequently.

No business is obligated to provide you with what you want. DJI evaluated their business model and product structure in light of where the industry has evolved and learned this feature, in the overall market, was much more valuable now than in the more nascent past. They've evolved their plans to maximize profit.

Simply put, you want this feature PLUS all the great new stuff, it costs an enterprise model. THAT'S WHAT IT COSTS NOW.

I get you don't want to pay it. Maybe your need for it, in your judgement, isn't worth it. Cool. That's you.

The explosion of professional (defined: Use for profitable business) applications has made the waypoint feature more valuable. Enough so that the few thousand $$ difference for an Enterprise version is noise in the financials for a business.

And that's it. The market has changed. Hobbiest pilots that use waypoint features have become a rounding error in the millions of units sold every year. The Mini line has forced this to a large extent.The vast majority of mini owners don't understand the camera settings on the drone, let alone "get" waypoints.

 

[RogerDH]

...

This does not make DJI a uniquely bad actor. ...

Shortly after I discovered that the Mini did not support waypoints, which only requires a trivial amount of software on top of what's already there, I also found out that it has a 4K camera that can't be enabled for 4K, and it has the necessary object recognition subsystem required for ActiveTrack but only used it for a couple of QuickShot modes. As far as I'm concerned, DJI is indeed a bad actor in the drone market -- certainly, no other manufacturer has that stinky an attitude toward consumer-level customers.

 

[Xitor]

I have to say, reading this thread I'm rather surprised at the number of people for which the modifier "Pro" has such meaning, and the specificity of features they feel are required by the moniker. I've tried to take it seriously, but I just can't.

"Pro" appears everywhere, and means nothing. I know others here will argue with this, but to make your case, you've got to point to some independent source that defines what Pro means, and what it specifies.

Absent that, it means nothing. It's a marketing label, whose only purpose is to incur some sort of hype, impression, without being specific.

It's like "Ultra", "new and improved". Would you buy a car because it was the "Pro" version, or would you demand to know first what that meant?

DJI made an explicit promise regarding the SDK and reneg'd, so that's on them. EVEN THEN they never said anything about waypoint support.

I think the point is the Mavic 2 "Pro" did have waypoints, so you can imagine that the Mavic 3 with the similar naming conventions that one would expect the Pro to have Waypoints.
Phantom 3 Standard had waypoints, zip forward to Mavic 2 and you had to get "Pro" version for waypoints. Zip forward to Mavic 3, and you now need enterprise? The only person who couldn't understand why people are upset about this are likely those who already paid the money for the more expensive drone and like the cost differential to keep the hobbyist out of their competitive commercial space.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

Shortly after I discovered that the Mini did not support waypoints, which only requires a trivial amount of software on top of what's already there, I also found out that it has a 4K camera that can't be enabled for 4K, and it has the necessary object recognition subsystem required for ActiveTrack but only used it for a couple of QuickShot modes.

Are you sure about that?